Auto set "step" keyframes for a particular bone

[peng]

I am using a smart bone to control a switch mouth layer.
And i want the keyframes set by the bone to automatically to be "step keyframes" while all other bones will set "smooth keyframes".
Is this doable in moho 14?

[Greenlaw]

Whenever I create Smart Bones, I always set a keyframe at frame one in the Smart Bone Action. This serves two purposes:

1. Frame 1 is the first frame in a Smart Bone action, not frame 0. So to avoid a pop due to interpolation from frame 0, I make sure frame 1 is my first keyframe. The key at frame 1 is often a copy of the key at frame 0...which means...

2. I can make the Interpolation at frame 1 different from the interpolation used on the Mainline.

So, when I need Step keys in my Smart Bone Action, I make sure frame 1 is a Step frame. Then I set the interpolation mode on frame 0 to Smooth, Linear or whatever I need for my Mainline animation.

Additionally, for my Default Interpolation, I always set it to Use Previous Key. Once you set the interpolation mode in the timeline, this default makes it a lot easier to keyframe animations without constantly changing modes.

Hope this helps.

[Greenlaw]

Here's an additional tip for new users:

For Smart Bone dials, you usually want to use Linear keys. Avoid using Smooth here.

Inside Smart Bone Actions, you usually want to use Linear keys and sometimes Step Keys. Avoid using Smooth here.

Smooth works best on the main timeline keys, but you don't normally want smooth curves inside the Action. Using Smooth inside a Smart Bone Action can make it difficult to sync up with keys other layers in the action and other actions. It can also mess up your animation on the Mainline because you're effectively 'double-smoothing' your keys.

[peng]

OMG these are so helpful. thank you so much!!!