Bitmap character breakdown.

[studiosjj]

Hi All,

I'm having an issue with a bitmap based character of a chicken, my question is in regard to the rigging.

The problem i'm having is with bone influence via flexi/region.

The structure i have is:

Bones body>
Bitmap-body
Bitmap-head
Bitmap-wing
Bones leg>
Bitmap-leg



The reason i have done this is so the body bones have no influence over the leg bitmap and visa versa with the leg bones. The leg has a 3 bone and 2 toe bone structure in the one bitmap.

The problem i have now is that i cannot attach the leg bones to the body bones?? Does anyone have any idea how to do this? Am i going about this the wrong way? I'm using version 11 pro.

[slowtiger]

Layer binding.

With Offset bone (yes, I still use that) it's easy to build such a character in only one bone layer.

[Víctor Paredes]

Also, you can have only one bone layer and use the "Use selected bones for flexi-binding". That allows you to isolate the influence on each layer.
For instance, select the Bitmap-leg layer, then select the bones related to the leg and go to Bone->Use selected bones for flexi-binding
Now the leg will be bent only with the bones you selected, ignoring the strength of the rest.
Repeat the process with all the layers you want to isolate.

[Víctor Paredes]

And if you want more refined control, you can also use Smart warp for some parts.

[studiosjj]

Thanks for the info Victor.

I am finding that doing as you suggest i'm still getting movement in the other bitmap layers?

[Greenlaw]

Just adding to what Victor wrote:

Smart Warp is a Moho 12 feature but, yes, that would give you more precise control over bitmaps because it lets define the actual shape and resolution of the deforming mesh. The resolution of the mesh that's 'auto-generated' in 11 can tend be too low for long, thin images areas (like tails, thin legs, etc.) Smart Warp is also the only way to take advantage of using Smart Bones in your rig to correct poor 'bend' deformations. If you intend to do a lot of bitmap rigging, I highly recommend the upgrade.

But even if you're staying with ASP 11, again, I'm in total agreement with Victor: use 'Use Selected Bones For Flexi-Binding'. With this method you won't even need Smart Warp most of the time.

At the studio where I work, we animate a lot of bitmap-based rigs and when I'm rigging I rely on 'Use Selected Bones For Flexi-Binding' at least 95% of the time. This binding method offers all the smooth-deforming benefits of the basic 'global' Flexi-binding but with specific control over which bones affect which layers. Smart Warp did help me out greatly on a recent character rig but it's still a rare situation when I absolutely need to use it.

You might also work with Smooth Joint. It works great with many bitmapped characters for clean joint bending, even with textures. It doesn't work well for every case but when it does it looks great! When it doesn't, well, that's when I turn to Smart Warp.

[Greenlaw]

Thanks for the info Victor.

I am finding that doing as you suggest i'm still getting movement in the other bitmap layers?

It sounds like you're not binding it properly. Just select the layers you wish to bind, the bones you want to associate, and then apply the command. If you've applied another binding method previously, you may need to clear that first.

Also, be sure to explicitly bind ALL of the layers to a bone or bones. A layer that isn't bound to at least one bone is affected by all bones that have strength.

The bones that bind a layer will highlight when you select the layer, so I will work my way down the layers panel and check to see if I missed anything.

Also, note that you can bind multiple layers to multiple bones at one time--a huge time-saver if you have elements made up of many layers that will use the same bone sets.

[studiosjj]

I think it was mixed up binding and the clearing helped but the key point was explicit binding. That has done the trick, it's more or less a bit of trial and error now with extra bones to help with the deformation of the bitmap layers.

So thank you for the expertise Greenlaw it's much appreciated.

[Greenlaw]

Yeah, it takes a bit of practice and experimentation to figure it all out. In general, the Use Selected command is probably what you'll want to use most of the time.

It doesn't help that the manual refers to many legacy rigging tools and techniques--that can get confusing for new users. But it's important to know that stuff too. Sometimes, the old techniques can be just the trick you need in a...um...bind.