23 Ideas

[Hoptoad]

I'm not a professional animator. I am a regular (unpaid) user of Moho who simply loves animation. The following Feature Requests are based on issues that I have experienced while using Moho. Many of these Feature Requests might already be possible with Moho and I just don't know it, in which case...oops, sorry. To be clear, these are my issues. It's not like Moho is doing anything wrong. Moho is great. It's simply that I am self-taught and got confused multiple times while making characters or animating, and so I wished Moho was a little easier for me to learn. As the developers are always adding new features to the software, I thought I should share my ideas. Okay? Okay.

Allow the user to re-arrange colors in the Styles menu.

"Bake" a layer so all its numbers go to zero. That way, if you import it into another project, it won't do anything unexpected (like translating across the screen).

Nudge all keyframes to the right and left of the time slider, using (,) and (.).

Create different colors for the layers (more bright and colorful than the ones at present, which I sometimes fail to notice).

Lock a layer so that the art cannot be changed.

Allow a switch layer to be bound to a bone even though the vector layers inside the switch layer may use bind points. (This would be helpful, as my latest switch layer has 40 hands and I can't bind it to a hand bone.)

A new, more convenient way to access switch layers, so you don’t have to use the Layers window. Maybe there could be two or three switch layer buttons in the workspace, and the user could assign specific switch layers to them? And the user could also choose an icon for the button, like a mouth icon for the switch layer with mouths?

When you create a new Styles color, make it appear as the default color (Style 1). That way, if I immediately make a shape, it will be the new color.

Make it so that you can set Smart Bone Action defaults. For example, I would set it so that a keyframe will appear on frames 1 and 96 and one on the midway point, frame 48.

Make masks easier to use by including some helpful text to remind you what all the choices do, and the correct order of layers.

Make it possible to copy two things at once: a smart bone action and a single layer. That way you can duplicate an arm or a leg and keep the associated SBA. Also, automatically rename the copies by adding “copy” to the names. Or automatically change "R" to "L" or "Right" to "Left."

Put a “reset bone” button on the workspace so I don’t have to use the menu. (This seems like a common thing when animating, but maybe it's just me.)

Oftentimes when I create a new shape on a layer with multiple shapes, the arrow keys won’t lower the shape until I exit the shape and re-select it. The newly created shape is selected; I see the checkerboard pattern. I feel like it should be able to be lowered by the arrow keys.

“Document Markers” seem to take up more space on the timeline than they need. They take up as much space as three rows of keyframes.

Create a way to 100% isolate Bone Strength. For example, presently if a puppet raises his arm, points in his neck move a little. What if you could draw a “force field” between the arm and neck, so that bone strength stopped at the force field?

I sometimes have bones that overlap exactly, which makes it hard to select the correct bone. Invent a quick way to select the desired bone when multiple bones are stacked. Maybe a menu choice called wiggle bones? It could move every bone a few random degrees, making it easier to grab the desired bone. A wiggled bone will not effect any artwork, of course, and would return to normal once a bone was selected.

Set the default “cycle” to frame 2 instead of 1, since that’s the one used most often, or allow the default to be changed.

Have a tip of the day. Like, every time you open Moho, you get a tip. “Did you know that you can...?” Include a link to the page of the Manual with more information, or to an online tutorial. Also, you can click a button and get a new tip.

When I select a bone and use End Flip or Side Flip, the bone rarely does what I want. I guess I want a button that will Mirror the bone? If a bone is pointing downward slightly to the left (7 o’clock), for example, I want it to point downward slightly to the right (5 o’clock).

Group the Styles colors into folders based on characters, folders that can be closed and expanded. This will make the menu tidier when you have a ton of colors.

If you like the random rag doll physics of a particular object-impact on a character, save that exact animation so that it repeats. Some rag doll physics I like more than others, but they change every time.

Make it so that you don't need Bone Strength to use rag doll physics. Maybe just give bones a default Bone Strength for the impact only?

Color adjustment in a Layer Setting (or wherever). Sometimes I want everything to look more blue because it's night, or more yellow because it's hot. Something quick and fast that doesn't involve masks. Maybe a Color Adjustment Layer that only affects all layers below it in the Layers window?

That's it!

Moho is an awesome program. Keep up the excellent work, Lost Marble!

[Greenlaw]

Some good suggestions there. A few comments below, some of which may address some your requests...

Lock a layer so that the art cannot be changed.

If you don't know about it, check out synthsin75's Lock Layers. This script has been around for a while but it was recently updated (by simplSam) to display a lock icon when active. Pretty nifty. I'd like to see a native implementation that works directly inside the Layers window (like in Ae,) but for now, Lock Layers does the job nicely.

Allow a switch layer to be bound to a bone even though the vector layers inside the switch layer may use bind points. (This would be helpful, as my latest switch layer has 40 hands and I can't bind it to a hand bone.)

Don't use Layer Bind on a Switch layer when you want to affect layers in side using other bones. Layer Bind does exactly what it's supposed to: it binds the layer and all its content directly to a single bone. By design, it's supposed to block the affect of other bones.

If you want to use bones and point binding inside a Switch layer, you should instead use Use Selected Bones for Flexi-binding and/or Point Bind directly to the contained layers. In other words, do not bind the Switch Layer; bind the layers inside the Switch layer. This isn't as tedious as it may sound; simply select all the layers, select the bones, and run the command...done! You may then use Point Binding where you need it.

A new, more convenient way to access switch layers, so you don’t have to use the Layers window. Maybe there could be two or three switch layer buttons in the workspace, and the user could assign specific switch layers to them? And the user could also choose an icon for the button, like a mouth icon for the switch layer with mouths?

There are already many way to access the Switch layers. Here's a list of the ones I'm aware of...

1. Workspace Ctrl-Alt Click. This used to be my favorite method. It's simple: just Ctrl-Alt Right click over the shape inside the Switch layer, and a list will pop up. To use it effectively, you should give your Switch content descriptive names. When I have an 'empty' shape layer, I like to place an invisible shape inside it, which makes the 'empty' space selectable. Another trick I like to do is to place a transparent red box set to 'Don't Render' inside the group so I know a 'click zone' exists and where to click.

Here's an example using one of my rigs...



2. Switch Selection. My current favorite method. Just select the Switch layer and open this window. All the contents will be accessible in the Window and when you move the slider, a keyframe is set to the current drawing.

Tip #1: add an invisible box to each drawing group to keep the size and position of the drawings constant inside this window.

Tip #2: Use Shift-Alt Click to select the Switch layer. What this actually does is it selects the group the layer you clicked on belongs to, so it really only works if your mouth shapes are in a single layer and not nested inside a group.

Tip #3: For an even better way to select a Switch layer, use synthsin75's Layer Shortcuts. I like to set up a button with this tool so I can select the Mouth Switch layer directly and it appears instantly inside the Switch Selection window. For me, this is a very fast, intuitive way to work. It even has a stealthy mode where it can select a Switch layer without expanding the layers in the Layer window. Check out my video about Layer Shortcuts to see how this works.

Here's an example of what Layer Shortcut buttons look like in a rig...



In this setup, the six buttons above the character let me select corresponding Switch, Vector, or Bones layers. If it's a Switch layer, I use Switch Selection to animate it, and if it's a Vector layer, I use the Magnet tool to reshape the drawing.

3. Switch Icons. Synthsin75 has a new visual way to work with Switch layers. Check it out here: Switch Icons. I haven't had a chance to use it yet but the user comments have been very positive. (Hmm, I' think I'll try it out right now.)

Make masks easier to use by including some helpful text to remind you what all the choices do, and the correct order of layers.

Masking is pretty easy in Moho 13.5.1:

1. Put the art you want masked inside a group.
2. Draw your mask in a new layer beneath the art layer. (The bottom layer in a group is always the mask by default unless you change its settings.)
3. Right-click on the Group and select Mask - Inside Bottom Layer. Done.

If you wish to mask the outside of the shape, use the other option Mask - Outside Bottom Layer.

Before we got this new Right-Click option, all you needed to remember was to set the Group's Group Mask setting to Hide All. This is the most common setting and it works the way users of most other graphics programs expect a mask to work. (The other options are useful for more advanced masking tricks. I suggest getting used to the basics first, and then learning the advanced techniques as you need them.)

Put a “reset bone” button on the workspace so I don’t have to use the menu. (This seems like a common thing when animating, but maybe it's just me.)

This is why I have a Reset Bn/Pt in MQC. It's accessible anytime you need it, and it works for either bones or points.

“Document Markers” seem to take up more space on the timeline than they need. They take up as much space as three rows of keyframes.

Can you explain more clearly? I use document markers a lot, and I mean A LOT in a project. For me, Moho's markers work great.

Tip #1: keep the first line short but descriptive, then fill in further detail in the rest of the box. When you close the window, the marker takes up very little room, and when you need to see the full text, just hover over the marker and the full text will appear. I like use this to indicate certain action cues, and also for dialog reference for lip sync.

Tip #2: You can assign colors to markers, and it's not uncommon for me to have many markers inside a single project of various colors. For example, I might have one color for animation notes and another color for dialog or sound effects cues.

I sometimes have bones that overlap exactly, which makes it hard to select the correct bone.

Yeah, this one is tricky. In general, I avoid getting bones to close to each other in my rigs, but it is possible to work with stacked bones. To do this, hover over the bone until the bone highlights, then use the mouse to rotate, press Alt to Move the bone, or Ctrl to stretch.

You might also use Bone Constraints to use another bone to animate with. I like to do this with eye bones because it removes clutter from the face region. And the other day, synthsin75 suggested using it to control a cluster of finger bones I was dealing with. It's a very handy technique.

Set the default “cycle” to frame 2 instead of 1, since that’s the one used most often, or allow the default to be changed.

I would like to see that too. I'm setting it 1 from later than the default almost every time. I almost wish it would do that by default with an option in the Keyframe panel to work the way it does now.

Anyway, good suggestions, and I hope some of my comments help you in the meantime.

[Greenlaw]

Regarding the 40 hands in a switch layer, I did something similar a while back when I was doing some development work on Harvey Street Kids. IMO, having this many hands inside a switch layer can be a bit unmanageable during animation. It's better to make multiple switch layers inside a switch layer so you can group the hands by their turning angle. You should also keep the hand angles in sync throughout each sub-Switch. Basically, I had four sub-Switch layers for Palm, SideIn, Back, SideOut, and Special. The contents of the first four sub-Switches should be self-explanatory, and the fifth Special sub-Switch was for any custom one-off hands that were created during animation. If any of the animator created or requested a new Special, I'd go ahead and add it to our master rig. Once I set up this system, it became a lot easier for animators to work with a large number of hand poses.

This was a pretty straightforward way to animate hands, but for Boss Baby, I came up with an even better system which required far, far fewer drawings for almost endless posing and animation possibilities. Also, because this system doesn't require any hand bones, it's actually okay to use Layer Binding on the Switch layer. Last week, I described this setup in another thread last week, and later this year I'll put together a tutorial to go into further detail.

Hope this info is helpful.

[synthsin75]

You should also keep the hand angles in sync throughout each sub-Switch.

You can do this by making each a reference of one sub-switch. As long as all the sub-switch sublayers have the same names, the art and sub-switch names can be different and they will still follow the original sub-switch. This means that you'll switch between angles with your main hand switch layer and switch between hand poses with your master sub-switch layer:
Hand angles switch
- Palm switch (animate poses here)
- - Fingers open vector layer
- - Fingers closed vector layer
- Back switch (reference of Palm switch)
- - Fingers open vector layer
- - Fingers closed vector layer

etc..

[Greenlaw]

That's a very interesting idea, Wes! In that 'Harvey' example from a few years ago, I had done this using Smart Bone Dials (1 dial/hand for angles, 1 dial/hand to flip through poses) to keep everything in sync, but your method sounds easier.

Sigh! I was getting ready for bed, but now it looks like I'll be trying this out first.

[Greenlaw]

It works! That's pretty cool, Wes. Thanks for sharing the tip.

I made a Switch called Angles, with three hand Switches inside: Palm (original), Side (reference) and Back (reference,) each with two crude Open and Closed hand drawings in their corresponding angles.

It was a little tricky animating only the Palm Switch to get the pose I wanted in the Side or Back Switches, so I made a single SBD to scroll through the hand poses inside Palm. When I switched the Angles switch, the hand would be synced to the open or close drawing set by the SBD.

I guess could add another SBD for the Angle to make this easier to animate, making it essentially what I made before but with a much simpler SBD setup.

Or, I could just use Layer Shortcuts for each of the two Switches, of course. (So many choices!)

Tip: If you do this, you'll want to break the Reference connection between each drawings because otherwise if you ever need to re-synch the Switch layers, it will reset the point positions in your drawings, making them all look the same. For example, after I re-synched my side Switch, I lost my side pose drawings. To fix this, I undid the changes, broke the connection for these drawings, and then re-synched the Switch. This time the sync worked while keeping my side pose drawings.

Ok, now I can go to sleep.

[synthsin75]

It was a little tricky animating only the Palm Switch to get the pose I wanted in the Side or Back Switches, so I made a single SBD to scroll through the hand poses inside Palm.

I think I'd be more apt to make a master "Pose" switch layer to control the reference "Palm", "Back", etc.. That way it's more obvious which one to animate. And my main hand angle SBD wouldn't include that one, but my pose SBD would only animate that one.

[Hoptoad]

Thanks for your informative reply, Greenlaw! You provided me with a lot of excellent ideas on how to improve my animation process. Your suggestion to bind the actual layers within the Switch Layer, not the Switch Layer itself, was extremely helpful. I was like..."Huh? Why didn't I think of that?!"

I'm using Moho version 12.5, so alas, some of your suggestions don't seem to work for me. I couldn't find a way to open a Switch Layer and see all the sub-layers, like in your picture. That looked handy.

MQC looks amazing too, but alas, I'm on a Mac and it's a Windows thingy.

I am going to implement your idea about breaking my collection of 40 hands into smaller groups based on hand orientation, and I'm going to use an invisible box with mouths so alt-right clicking on a mouth is easier. I may do the red box set to Don't Render, too, and some of the other things you said. You certainly have a lot of clever solutions to save yourself a few clicks! The fewer the clicks, the better, imo!

Thanks again for your comments. They have helped me considerably.

[synthsin75]

I'm using Moho version 12.5, so alas, some of your suggestions don't seem to work for me. I couldn't find a way to open a Switch Layer and see all the sub-layers, like in your picture. That looked handy.

Window>Switch Selection

[Hoptoad]

GASP! It has previews of the art for each switch.

Thank you.

[Greenlaw]

I think I'd be more apt to make a master "Pose" switch layer to control the reference "Palm", "Back", etc.. That way it's more obvious which one to animate. And my main hand angle SBD wouldn't include that one, but my pose SBD would only animate that one.

Clever! I'm keeping this system in mind for a future rig.

[Greenlaw]

GASP! It has previews of the art for each switch.

Yeah, the Switch Selection window is pretty cool, and I use it routinely these days.

Which is funny because after it was introduced a while back, I resisted using Switch Selection for a long time. This was mainly because I had a really good SBD-based system in place for the show I was working on, and I didn't want to toss it out for something new. Plus, I had some objections to how the drawings appear in the window. (I still do, but I've since figured out ways to improve this.) However, the SBD-based system required more work/time upfront, plus I wasn't able to use Interpolate Sub-Layers with it. This latter part became more important when we got the ability to use Interpolate Sub-Layers with nested groups.

Anyway, now I love using the Switch Selection window, especially after Wes came out with Layer Shortcuts, which gave me a simple and direct way to select which Switch Layer I want to load into Switch Selection window.

BTW, alternatively, you can use Stan's Layer Selection Buttons to select the Switch layers. This tool takes a different approach to layer selection concept. It doesn't have the workspace customizability of Layer Shortcuts (which I really like), but it is much easier to setup and it works great too.

Speaking of visual systems, Wes created another way to view and select Switch layer drawings called Switch Icons. AThe difference with this tool is you can view thumbnails of all of the drawings all at once and select the one you want. I think this could get overwhelming in some situation, but as I stated last night, I haven't had a chance to use it yet, so this concern might be unfounded. Since I'm thinking about it and I have a little time, I'll give it a go right now.

Sigh! There really are many ways to handle animating Switch layers...and thank goodness for that! Like other Moho techniques, one method can be better suited for a certain character design or animation style than another, so it's great that we have many options to choose from. (And a great forum like this one to share our ideas.)

[Hoptoad]

...There really are many ways to handle animating Switch layers...and thank goodness for that! Like other Moho techniques, one method can be better suited for a certain character design or animation style than another, so it's great that we have many options to choose from. (And a great forum like this one to share our ideas.)

Thanks for showing me some more ways to speed-up the usage of Switch Layers. Decisions...decisions...

Oh, here is a picture of the marker issue I'd mentioned that you asked for clarification about. I had used markers during a walk cycle so I would be sure the "down" and "up" frames would correspond with the character being at their lowest and highest points in the walk cycle. I thought the amount of space taken by the notes was more than was needed. A whole keyframe row could fit in the empty space. Maybe two. And the wider the timeline space, the smaller the workspace, of course. It's a trivial issue, I admit, but there is no rule saying trivial feature requests cannot be submitted. Ha ha.

[hayasidist]

"Bake" a layer so all its numbers go to zero. That way, if you import it into another project, it won't do anything unexpected (like translating across the screen).

there's the script you already know about - http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtop ... 15#p196894

(and see http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtop ... 13#p194770)

but yes - that and bake to png could be native to Moho

[Hoptoad]

there's the script you already know about - http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtop ... 15#p196894

(and see http://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtop ... 13#p194770)

but yes - that and bake to png could be native to Moho

I am using that script. But I think it should be native because it's confusing to import a layer into a new project and have it change size, or whatever. A lot of folks don't use scripts, I suspect, thinking Moho should work fine as-is. Personally, I am always hesitant to add a script. I ask myself, "Do I really need this? Really?" And when I do, half don't work for me for whatever reason -- probably because the script is old and hasn't been updated, or the script is new and I'm not running the latest version of Moho.