Gradient shapes

[tazmilia]

Hi there animators , i really enjoy using gradient in my shapes as it gives a better look of what I'm aiming for , but i could never figure out how they work exactly , they keep drifting away from my shapes , i'v read that gradient get effected by bone strength , but I'm working with a character with all bones strength is 0 since I'm working with point binding but still the gradient doesn't follow my character , is there a fix or a work around for that ? and thanks in advance

[Daxel]

Hi! Welcome to the forum.

Basically, point binding is not able to act upon shape effect handles. You can use layer binding, o bone strength.

This was discussed here too, so check it to know more about it:
viewtopic.php?p=204266#p204266

[Greenlaw]

Hi,

The Gradient effect should deform with the bones when using Point Binding, but the bones do need bone strength for this to work.

FYI, when you're using Point Binding, removing bone strength is unnecessary. If the intention is to prevent other layers from being affected by these bones, you should be using Link Bones to Layer (formerly Use Selected Bones for Flexibinding,) for those other layers. (As a matter of fact, you can even mix these binding modes in the same layer if you wish--I do this all the time.)

IMO, the safest thing is to make sure all layers using Flexi-binding are linked to specific bones unless you really want the layers to be affected by all of the bones.

Hope this helps.

[tazmilia]

Hi! Welcome to the forum.

Basically, point binding is not able to act upon shape effect handles. You can use layer binding, o bone strength.

This was discussed here too, so check it to know more about it:
viewtopic.php?p=204266#p204266

Edit: this is not mentioned there, but you can also animate the handles in smart actions so they always follow the bone you want them to follow.

yeah i actually read that post a while ago , but couldn't figure it out entirely , thanks for the suggestion

[tazmilia]

Hi,

The Gradient effect should deform with the bones when using Point Binding, but the bones do need bone strength for this to work.

FYI, when you're using Point Binding, removing bone strength is unnecessary. If the intention is to prevent other layers from being affected by these bones, you should be using Link Bones to Layer (formerly Use Selected Bones for Flexibinding,) for those other layers. (As a matter of fact, you can even mix these binding modes in the same layer if you wish--I do this all the time.)

IMO, the safest thing is to make sure all layers using Flexi-binding are linked to specific bones unless you really want the layers to be affected by all of the bones.

Hope this helps.

i tried it now and it actually worked , i kept the point binging and i just selected all the bones and added just a little strength to them and now the gradient do actually follow the character , but would you please explain it so i can know what to do exactly next time , if i want the gradient to follow their shapes what should i avoid and what i shouldn't

[Daxel]

yeah i actually read that post a while ago , but couldn't figure it out entirely , thanks for the suggestion

It's just that point binding acts only upon points, and nothing else. So the effects that have handles, like the gradient effect, are not moved by point binding. As Greenlaw explained, that doesn't mean you can't use point binding to move points, just don't expect it to move the effects with them. The Moho features that do move the effect handles are layer binding and bone strength, so you need to have one of those to move the effect.

[tazmilia]

yeah i actually read that post a while ago , but couldn't figure it out entirely , thanks for the suggestion

It's just that point binding acts only upon points, and nothing else. So the effects that have handles, like the gradient effect, are not moved by point binding. As Greenlaw explained, that doesn't mean you can't use point binding to move points, just don't expect it to move the effects with them. The Moho features that do move the effect handles are layer binding and bone strength, so you need to have one of those to move the effect.

Oh i see , well thank you so much , it was something that always confused me , you explained it well , thanks again

[Greenlaw]

i tried it now and it actually worked , i kept the point binging and i just selected all the bones and added just a little strength to them and now the gradient do actually follow the character , but would you please explain it so i can know what to do exactly next time , if i want the gradient to follow their shapes what should i avoid and what i shouldn't

I think the confusion comes from thinking the shape's points deform the gradient, but that's incorrect. The points don't deform anything. It's the bones that deform the points, and it's the bones that deform the gradient. Or, maybe more correctly, Moho deforms the Gradient effect the same way it deforms an Image layer.

When Flexi-binding is used for an Image layer, Moho generates an unseen mesh for the image, and the bones deform the mesh to deform the image. My guess is that when you add an effect like Gradient or Image Texture to a shape, Moho generates a similar unseen mesh for the effect so the bones can deform them. And if the bones have no strength, they can't deform this mesh.

Point Binding and Layer Binding, on the other hand, rigidly bind the items to a single bone, so they do not need bone strength, they just move with their assigned bone.

Hope this helps.