How can I restrict the dot (pin bone) in the middle to stay within the circle area? I'm attempting to setup controllers for a rig.
As shown in this clip: https://i.imgur.com/afItcmv.mp4
Controllers for rigs?
Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger
Re: Controllers for rigs?
I don't think it's possible to constrain a joystick-style control inside a circle. In the setups I've seen and used, the circle is only meant to be a visual guide. It's possible to keep items inside a circle region using bones with constraints for angle and IK stretching, but this for constraining artwork and other bones in a rig, but not a bone you want to use as a UI object.
That said, for some reason I feel I've seen somebody do exactly what you want though, so hopefully I'm proven wrong. (It happens...and maybe too often.)
FWIW, I don't bother with joystick style controllers. Joysticks are cool for a rigging demo but in practice I find that setting them up is a lot of unnecessary work and they tend to limit the performance of a character when animating them. But that's just my opinion.
That said, for some reason I feel I've seen somebody do exactly what you want though, so hopefully I'm proven wrong. (It happens...and maybe too often.)
FWIW, I don't bother with joystick style controllers. Joysticks are cool for a rigging demo but in practice I find that setting them up is a lot of unnecessary work and they tend to limit the performance of a character when animating them. But that's just my opinion.
D.R. Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | Little Green Dog Channel on Vimeo | Greenlaw's Demo Reel 2020 Edtion
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | Little Green Dog Channel on Vimeo | Greenlaw's Demo Reel 2020 Edtion
Re: Controllers for rigs?
How about other control styles? Is it possible?
Re: Controllers for rigs?
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by other control styles. Natively, Moho only has Smart Bones for on-screen controls, and each Smart Bone can have two Smart Bone Actions associated with it. Smart Bones are very capable though as they can control anything you can keyframe in Moho.
A Joystick control is basically a clever trick for operating multiple Smart Bones Dials, but it's still just rotating Smart Bone Dials. There are other ways to manipulate Smart Bone Dials using constraints but how you set that up depends on what you want to do with it.
Awhile back, I requested a control kit, where we could could use other types of controls (like sliders, toggles, actual dials, and even joysticks) to drive Smart Bone Actions. I don't know if the devs are working on anything like that but I would still would like to see it someday.
For now, there are some good third-party on-screen 'control' options available. Here are some of my favorites:
Synthsin75's Layer Shortcuts and Stan's Layer Selection Buttons each offer an easy way to select any layer by clicking on an image or button. There's an issue when importing assets that use these tools, which I described elsewhere in these forums, but if you can live with that then these tools can add useful controls. (See my video on Layer Shortcuts for a real production example.)
Synthsin75 created a very interesting alternative for operating Switch layers called Switch Icons.
SimplSam made a neat script called Virtual Bones that let's you replace bones with images so you can make them look more 'control' like, plus it lets you do some things you can't do with regular bone. But this script doesn't change how the bones function for animation though.
Hope this helps.
Just curious but what do you need to do that you can't do using the regular Smart Bones? I agree that Smart Bones can use some more options but I've been using Moho in TV production for many years now, and what Moho offers for controls now has worked very well me and the artists I works with.
A Joystick control is basically a clever trick for operating multiple Smart Bones Dials, but it's still just rotating Smart Bone Dials. There are other ways to manipulate Smart Bone Dials using constraints but how you set that up depends on what you want to do with it.
Awhile back, I requested a control kit, where we could could use other types of controls (like sliders, toggles, actual dials, and even joysticks) to drive Smart Bone Actions. I don't know if the devs are working on anything like that but I would still would like to see it someday.
For now, there are some good third-party on-screen 'control' options available. Here are some of my favorites:
Synthsin75's Layer Shortcuts and Stan's Layer Selection Buttons each offer an easy way to select any layer by clicking on an image or button. There's an issue when importing assets that use these tools, which I described elsewhere in these forums, but if you can live with that then these tools can add useful controls. (See my video on Layer Shortcuts for a real production example.)
Synthsin75 created a very interesting alternative for operating Switch layers called Switch Icons.
SimplSam made a neat script called Virtual Bones that let's you replace bones with images so you can make them look more 'control' like, plus it lets you do some things you can't do with regular bone. But this script doesn't change how the bones function for animation though.
Hope this helps.
Just curious but what do you need to do that you can't do using the regular Smart Bones? I agree that Smart Bones can use some more options but I've been using Moho in TV production for many years now, and what Moho offers for controls now has worked very well me and the artists I works with.
D.R. Greenlaw
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | Little Green Dog Channel on Vimeo | Greenlaw's Demo Reel 2020 Edtion
Artist/Partner - Little Green Dog | Little Green Dog Channel on Vimeo | Greenlaw's Demo Reel 2020 Edtion