Character reference

[Jkoseattle]

I am looking to maybe use some of Moho's library characters. But there is no way to see what they look like without importing them one by one. I don't know (or care) about any of the "Partners" listed, nor do I know (or care) what random names Moho has decided to assign to any of them. Is there a better way to audition characters, perhaps some sort of online reference so I can quickly choose what I need?

[Greenlaw]

I'm not sure how practical this is with many characters but you might try importing a bunch of them into a single project. Then, when you use Moho's Import command, you can select which character you want visually from the list window that appears. This list lets you select one or more characters as you need.

I've used this system when I wanted to be able to review several variations of the same character (like cats with different patterns and colors,) from one location, and it worked well.

I can see how the project file can get too heavy if there are too many complex character rigs in the file, but if that's the case, you can break out a batch into another project or two. A small handful of multi-character projects will still be a lot easier to manage than many dozens or more individual character projects.

Another option is to use Moho's Library window. Just place all the rigs you want into one folder. When you look at the files in the Library window you'll see a thumbnail for each character to choose from. Clicking on a thumbnail will show more info about the file along with a bigger thumbnail. There is also a Slider for resizing the thumbnails in the list so you can make them bigger.

Hope this helps.

[Jkoseattle]

So... there is nowhere I can quickly look through simple images of all the characters? This is sort of insanely inefficient. I'm surprised there isn't just some URL "To see what all the library characters look like, go here"

[Greenlaw]

So... there is nowhere I can quickly look through simple images of all the characters? This is sort of insanely inefficient.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're asking for but this is what it looks like in Moho's Library window...



Just open the Library folder containing your characters and you should see images of the characters. If the images are too small, you can size them up using the slider. Clicking on a file shows a larger image in the panel underneath the folder window, Double-clicking the file or dragging it into the workspace will import it.

If you want all of the character images to appear in a single folder, you can move or copy the files to the new folder. (This might work with shortcuts but I never tried that.)

[Greenlaw]

Hmm...I have a question about what I wrote above: I always assumed the 'factory' content was stored in the Library folder of the active Custom Content folder but this doesn't appear to be the case. Only the user's content is stored there.

Anybody know where the 'factory' project files are stored for Moho 13.5?

[synthsin75]

Anybody know where the 'factory' project files are stored for Moho 13.5?

On Windows it's:
C:\Program Files\Moho\Resources\Support\Common\Library

[SimplSam]

... Anybody know where the 'factory' project files are stored for Moho 13.5?

On my system: C:\Program Files\Lost Marble\Moho 13.5\Resources\Support\Common\Library\Characters (for 'Characters' on my custom install path)

p.s. Note to Jkoseattle - I would not totally ignore the Partner content, as it includes contributions from many talented people - including Victor Paredes. And you might actually find that a lot of the official Moho content was made by/with partners anyway ...

[Jkoseattle]

Ahh, ok. I was going File / Import / Library. I didn't know there was a Library window.

I had no intention of ignoring the partner content. I just didn't know there was a library window.

Almost all these characters look Moho-y. I was hoping for some more generic business-y looking people. There are some though, and it will be good practice for me to try and adjust them to my needs. Thanks!

[Greenlaw]

Thanks guys! I thought I looked there but I obviously didn't look deeply enough.

For me, being able to pick apart the factory content was incredibly helpful back when I was figuring out rigging. Because the content came from a variety of users and productions, I learned many different ways to solve rigging and animation problems, and this knowledge helped me develop my own techniques.

So even if I never use the factory content in my own projects, they still served an important purpose.

[SimplSam]

... Almost all these characters look Moho-y. I was hoping for some more generic business-y looking people. There are some though, and it will be good practice for me to try and adjust them to my needs. Thanks!☺ ...

One alternative is to go and find some vector characters on the web (SVG, Illustrator, EPS etc) - and SVG import into Moho. Downside: These web assets are typically designed for presentation rather than animation, but there are still lots of useable stuff out there.

So typically you may need to assemble/disassemble/reassemble parts of the character and then rig as necessary.

You can also check out the new SVG import tool https://www.lostmarble.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35438 - if the built-in tool does not import the SVGs correctly.

[Víctor Paredes]

Just in case this is still useful. You can use the search bar in the Library to filter files and have a quicker preview, without navigating through every folder there.
Simply search for ".moho" and you will see all the .moho files at once.
You can also try with ".anime" and ".anme". These are older Moho formats and some of the files on the library still use them.

[SimplSam]

Whilst we are talking about the Library - It would be good to be able to filter by Type (Image, Audio, Video, Project ...). i.e. If I search for 'tree' and I have a load of Images, Projects and Audio files, the results can get messy. Or allow the use of the '&' character to specify multiple terms which must match like: 'tree & .jpg'

[Greenlaw]

Good tips guys! Thanks for sharing.

BTW, I think I broke my Library Window for Moho 12.5 at work yesterday, and I'm wondering if anyone here knows how to fix this:



When you compare this to the 13.5 image posted earlier, notice how there is an area that displays the current selection with some additonal file info. I had this in 12.5 but as I was resizing the panel, I somehow lost this region and am not able to recover it. I tried dragging upwards on the edge near the bottom but this isn't doing anything right now. (This works fine in 13.5, btw.)

I'm guessing it's either a bug in 12.5 or my Library settings file somehow got corrupted. If it's the latter, does anyone know where that file is located? I want to try deleting it to see if that solves this problem.

I'm thinking of using the Library window for my personal projects. For the devs, I have a request to add a editable 'Notes' or 'Comments' area in the current selection area. When I'm working on a big personal production, I keep detailed project notes in a spreadsheet, but it could also be helpful to attach short descriptive notes directly to the project files in the Library.

(Edit: I noticed I didn't have a file selected when I made the above screen grab. Just to be clear, when I do have an image selected, the area remains collapsed. I wanted to mention that before anyone suggested it.)

[synthsin75]

Whilst we are talking about the Library - It would be good to be able to filter by Type (Image, Audio, Video, Project ...). i.e. If I search for 'tree' and I have a load of Images, Projects and Audio files, the results can get messy. Or allow the use of the '&' character to specify multiple terms which must match like: 'tree & .jpg'

You can sort the search results by Kind.

[synthsin75]

I tried dragging upwards on the edge near the bottom but this isn't doing anything right now. (This works fine in 13.5, btw.)

You might have to drag upwards further than you expect before to pops open. Might need to make the library window bigger?