Pro: Reverse Rig and Artwork from Right to Left

[RendCycle]

Hi! I have a character being animated for a game. This character have different left and right look as he holds an item in his right hand while his left hand is empty. I have finished animating a walk cycle facing the right side. Now, I want to animate a walk cycle for him facing the left side. Is there an easy way I can convert the Rig and Animation to face the other side so I only need to replace the hand body part images of the character and any item he is holding to face the other direction?

[Daxel]

Yes, in this case you can simply flip the bone layer or flip the root bone of your character. By the way, a lot of games, like the successful Dead Cells, use the same sprites and just flip them to reduce art work and for performance reasons, even if the character has a big sword in one hand. I thought that would look bad but in practice, it doesn't. I guess our brains are not very good at differenciating left and right on another person.

[RendCycle]

Yes, in this case you can simply flip the bone layer or flip the root bone of your character. By the way, a lot of games, like the successful Dead Cells, use the same sprites and just flip them to reduce art work and for performance reasons, even if the character has a big sword in one hand. I thought that would look bad but in practice, it doesn't. I guess our brains are not very good at differenciating left and right on another person.

Got it! I tried flipping the Root Bone of my character then Transformed it's X Position from negative to positive value. How do I then replace the linked PSD file? After updating each image in Photoshop, do I have to manually re-link each Layer in Moho? Is it possible to have a new filename for the linked PSD file so I don't mess up the first right-facing version linked to my original Moho file?

Actually, I'm also considering just flipping the Character Sprite in the game if converting it's facing direction will be too much work. Be that as it may, it's still good to know how to do it if I really need to later on. Thank you!

[Daxel]

How do I then replace the linked PSD file? After updating each image in Photoshop, do I have to manually re-link each Layer in Moho? Is it possible to have a new filename for the linked PSD file so I don't mess up the first right-facing version linked to my original Moho file?

Oh, If the art is not following the bones then you are probably flipping the root bone on frame 0. You can do it on frame 1 and the artwork should follow. Is that what you meant?
Also if you have target bones for example or any other bone that is not linked to the root bone or any of its children, those will stay and won't flip with the rest of the rig, but you can solve it parenting those unparented bones to the root bone before fliping it, and and then you can unparent them again.

The other option should work too, and it's probably simpler: just flip the bone layer (works even on frame 0). You can even make a smartbone to activate the flipping at any time. I don't see any problem with that method but I'm curious to know if other Moho users have a preference for one or the other (fliping bone layers vs flipping bones).

Actually, I'm also considering just flipping the Character Sprite in the game if converting it's facing direction will be too much work. Be that as it may, it's still good to know how to do it if I really need to later on. Thank you!

I'm glad that helped!
Flipping the rig in Moho is pretty easy as you can see, but you have to consider the time wasted on making each animation (walk, run, attack, jump, etc) twice, the time setting all those animations on the game and the run performance cost, loading time cost, and size cost. Those will be considerably more important than the time wasted on flipping the rig in Moho.

[RendCycle]

The other option should work too, and it's probably simpler: just flip the bone layer (works even on frame 0). You can even make a smartbone to activate the flipping at any time. I don't see any problem with that method but I'm curious to know if other Moho users have a preference for one or the other (fliping bone layers vs flipping bones).

Nice, flipping the Bone Layer by clicking the Flip Layer Horizontally button above while Transform Layer in Tools menu is selected is easier! After that I can see that I can just update the needed Image Layers in Photoshop so they will face the correct direction and then slightly adjust the Moho file later on so they will reflect therein.

I'm glad that helped!
Flipping the rig in Moho is pretty easy as you can see, but you have to consider the time wasted on making each animation (walk, run, attack, jump, etc) twice, the time setting all those animations on the game and the run performance cost, loading time cost, and size cost. Those will be considerably more important than the time wasted on flipping the rig in Moho.

Yes, I think I will just have one side for now. After the prototype is done, will revisit the option again. Thanks for your help!