Action looping index

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Suanko
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:10 pm

Action looping index

Post by Suanko »

It looks like several peoples experieced the same problem as i do but i couldn't find any answer to this :

I'm trying to make my character walk. He's staing up on my stage and i made a "walk" action to follow the way it is done in the tutorial 5.6.

But there is something i can't manage to do : in the "step" action of the tutorial, the body is exploded on frame 1 and Moho do not cycle on it. This process looks very important because if i don't do it this way, while my character is walking, it goes back to the stand position on each loops.

Here is the question : how do i ask an action to loop on frame 2 and not on frame 1. Is there a more detailed action tutorial anywhere?

Thx.
myles
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Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 3:32 am
Location: Australia, Victoria, Morwell
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Post by myles »

Hello Suanko,

if you want your character to stop walking on-screen, it is best not to use a real "Cycle" keyframe , but to insert multiple copies of a walk action as shown in Tutorial 5.6
You can set the last keyframe(s) on a walk action to Cycle, but then you will have trouble making your character come to a smooth stop in a standing position.

However, you can use an action that starts and finishes with keyframes that have the legs apart in the middle of a walk, rather than at a stand position (i.e. you don't have to do it exactly as ain Tutorial 5.6) at the beginning and end of your action.

You will need to keyframe a standing position on the main timeline before starting a walk or after ending a walk.

Here's a quick example.

The exploded body is okay - note that is on frame 0 (the build frame), not frame 1. This is important, all actions start on frame 1, not frame 0.

Once you have set up your character with the Offset Bone tool (Tutorial 3.4) in the main timeline, it will also automatically un-explode (come back together) on frame 1 of any action (not frame 0, where it will still look exploded).

When you insert multiple copies of an action, one after another, the first keyframe of the next ection overrides the last keyframe of the action before it, so there is smooth "cycling" instead of a jump at the end.

Just make sure the first (keyframe 1) and last keframes of your action are exactly the same.

Regards, Myles.
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted."
-- Groucho Marx
Suanko
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Sep 20, 2006 1:10 pm

Thanks a lot

Post by Suanko »

You gave me the answers i was searching for in less than 24 hours
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