tie bones to switch layers

[Timothy 2020]

Folks, is there a way to tie bones to switch layers - so that as the bones move, the switch layers alternate?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Víctor Paredes]

Yes, you can use a smart bone to control one or many switch layers at the same time.

[Greenlaw]

Yes, you can use a Smart Bone Dial to flip through layers and group inside a Switch layer. I used to use this for mouth shapes (but now I pretty much stick with the Switch Selection window because it's easier to setup.)

Tip: If you use an SBD to control mouth shapes, I suggest having it also control a separate non-rendering switch layer with text describing the mouth shapes. This is very helpful for doing lip-sync animation.

[Greenlaw]

Another important tip: the SBD needs to be set to use Step keys to switch drawings for non-linear animation. Otherwise, it's just going to play the drawings in sequence. Sequential playback can be useful if you're using the SBD to control playback speed but it's useless this way for non-linear animation ike lipsync.

If you need instructions, I can put together a tutorial for this. (I'm about to start working on tutorial videos again.)

[synthsin75]

Smart bones also do not allow switch layers to interpolate. It's often better to have snappier lip sync, but something to keep in mind, like if you plan to animate singing.

[Greenlaw]

Excellent point!

Not having interpolation wasn't a problem for us when I used the SBD setup because we could make the lip-sync appear smoother by additionally squashing and stretching the Switch layer itself (be sure the set the origin in the center of the mouth Switch layer.)

However, as Wes noted, using the Switch Selection window (what I do now) instead of an SBD does allow for the option to use interpolation. It's not always necessary, but I have used this option to great effect with some of the more expressive characters in Boss Baby. (Especially in Moho 12.5 because this was where they added interpolation between groups of layers.)

[Timothy 2020]

Thanks Victor, Greenlaw & synthsin75 - that is very helpful!