Smart Bone Action only works when rigging

[Jkoseattle]

This is driving me crazy. I'm sure I'm missing something stupid.

Because I have had so much trouble with Create Smart Bone Dial, I'm doing it by hand, which has eliminated the problems I was having, but introduced a new problem. I am creating my Smart Bone Action, and everything looks good. Then I return to Mainline to test it out --- nothing. Go back into the Action, works great. Back to Mainline -- nothing. I've deleted and created new bones multiple times, same result.

Create new bone
Set constraints
Name the bone
Show label
Create new action, accept default name which is the selected bone
In new SB Action, set the bone angle,
Also set the pupil movement
Drag around action timeline, works good
Return to Mainline
Go to Bone layer
Z to Manipulate Bones
Try the new bone - nothing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aQmQb4 ... sp=sharing

[synthsin75]

It says the file is in owner's trash.

[Jkoseattle]

This is not my day.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1am9IlO ... sp=sharing

[synthsin75]

Your LeftRight smart bone seems to be working fine.

Remember to test on a non-zero frame.

[Greenlaw]

I'm seeing the same: file is in trash.

But based on what I'm reading, here's a tip: Don't use a Smart Bone Dial (SBD) to move the pupil. It's easier/quicker to simply bind the pupil to a bone and move it by hand; you'll have more control over it too.

If you're concerned about the pupil bones cluttering the face region, you can hide the bones (I recommend using the Shy command) and use 'remote' bones located outside of the face with Position Control Bone constraint enabled to move the hidden pupil bones. (I think some of the stock Moho projects does that, like maybe that gorilla one?)

SBDs for the eyes should really only be for opening and closing them, and maybe scaling the size of the pupil if the character needs to do that. IMO, moving the position of the pupils with SBDs is overkill and can actually make animating the eyes troublesome. (IMO, less fun to animate too.)

Hope this helps.

Edit: Oh! I see you fixed the link. Will check it out when I get the chance.

[Jkoseattle]

OK, there's definitely something seriously wonky with this project. I just created a Blink action, in which I translate vector points in the two Eyelid layers. Looks great. But when I go back to Mainline to try it out, ONLY ONE EYELID MOVES! If I render, the eyes both close but never reopen.

Yet when opening the action and scrubbing the timeline, it looks great.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hGIBI6 ... sp=sharing

[Greenlaw]

Are you testing on frame 0? That's the setup frame so it's not reliable for animation testing. You need to test the rig on an actual animation frame (frame 1 and above.)

I like to test on frame 12 or 24, and I toggle between frame 0 and and my test frame using the Design mode switch.

[Jkoseattle]

Holy catfish, Batman! I figured it out. It's the old created-an-action-while-not-at-the-root-level trick.

[Greenlaw]

Ah! Yes you need to be in the bone layer to make a Smart Bone Dial (SBD). You should also be sure to select the bone you want to use as the SBD before creating the Smart Bone action and its secondary action. You can tell immediately if you've done this correctly because the Action pop-up window will automatically have the selected bone's name entered for you. If you don't see the bone's name, you need to cancel, check your selection, and try again.

Also, it should goes without saying that you should name your bones as you create them, otherwise the SBD will have a meaningless letter/number for a name.

Tip: You can save some time by creating a generic 'starter' rig that has the most commonly used skeleton and control bones already named. Then al you need to do is move and scale the bones to fit the character art.

[Jkoseattle]

This is an Action which manipulates the Eyelid Bone however, not an SBD, but I know the same rule applies.