How to change layer order using bone

[FireRun]

How to change layer order using bone?
I used a bone layer and a regular group (not at the same time), with support for layer animation, and I also used actions.

Are there any special features for this?

[Greenlaw]

Are you asking if you can use a Smart Bone Dial to animate Layer order? If so, yes, you can. The general rule is that if you can keyframe it in Moho, you can animate it using a Smart Bone.

To do this, you need to enable Animated Layer Order in the Group's Layer Settings>Depth Sort.

Note that if you animate layer order using a Smart Bone, this will override the ability to animate Layer order manually. IMO, this is a serious tradeoff so I avoid using Smart Boneas for animated layer order. I prefer one of two other methods: 1.) animate layer order manually because it's easier and doesn't require special setup,) or 2.) use duplicate layers and use a Smart Bone to animate layer visibility instead.

The first method (manual) is what I use for rigs in my personal projects. This is because I don't want to spend a lot of time rigging, and it's really not a big deal to move a layer up and down during animation.

The second method is what I use for rigs I create at my workplace when I know multiple artists will be animating with them. It's extra work but it can pay off for ongoing series productions.

But for one-off animations, iI don't think it's worth the effort. I'd rather just get it done quickly so I can move on to my next thing, so manual animated layer order is fine for me.

Hope this helps.

[FireRun]

Thanks for the information and quick response!
It turns out I did everything correctly, only on frame zero, so nothing worked

[Greenlaw]

Yes, to reliably test your rig and Smart Bones, you should use an animation frame (1 and above.) Frame 0 is the setup frame, and it's meant for drawing and rigging. While it's possible to test simple rigging features on frame 0, out of habit, I always test my rig on an animation frame because there are many features (Smart Bone Action setups, Mesh Warps, and Bone Targets for example,) that don't work on frame 0.

BTW, when I'm setting up and testing a rig, I like to use the Toggle Frame 0 command (what used to be called Design Mode in earlier versions of Moho) to switch between the setup frame and any animation frame. For older versions of Moho, I have this command assigned to a button on my MQC panel for Moho, and Moho 14 has a button for it above the Timeline to the left.

Hope this helps.