Ask for tips when dragging bones

[Panha]

For long time that I am having this problem with Moho. However, it has become the habit or it is just that I don't mind living with the problem since it does not cause too trouble for me. The problem is that "I most of the drag the wrong bone or it is hard to drag the right bone especially when bones are next to each other". Anyone here has the solution for this?

[slowtiger]

Yes, I sometimes have this with my rigs, especially in side view. 3 tips:
- build the rig in a way that it's not exactly sideways, meaning, that left and right leg bones are not at really exactly same positions
- zoom in really deeply before selecting a bone. It helps to name bones ("left thigh") to be sure
- bones which are too close together get an "operator bone" which is visibly outside the rig, via bone contraint > angle control bone.
Hope this helps.

[Daxel]

Those are great suggestions.

You can check Mult Rush' Pose Tool: https://mohoscripts.com/script/mr_pose_tool
On top of other great features, you can toggle on a mode that allows you only be able to manipulate the currently selected bone.

[Greenlaw]

I like to color code my bones for Left, Right, and Center. Typically, I use Blue or Green for Left, Red for Right, and Orange for Center, but these colors can change depending on the character art colors. This color coding is for the character's skeleton as well as Smart Bones.

Also, I place a non-rendering L and R graphic (with matching color code) next to the character. This keeps the bones clearly identifiable when the lmbs are overlapping, such as in a side pose, and when the character is completely turned away from the camera.

Here's an example...



Although I haven't used it in the above example, I'll sometimes color-code the layers too.

[SimplSam]

You can also use Shy Bones / Hide Bones to declutter the scene.

[Greenlaw]

You can also use Shy Bones / Hide Bones to declutter the scene.

Yes, I agree!

@OP, I recommend using Shy Bones over Show/Hide Bones because it's easier to toggle a specific set of bones off and on with this setting. A keyboard shortcut can be assigned to the Show/HIde Shy Bones command, and I have a button in my MQC panel for it.

[Panha]

Yes, I sometimes have this with my rigs, especially in side view. 3 tips:
- build the rig in a way that it's not exactly sideways, meaning, that left and right leg bones are not at really exactly same positions
- zoom in really deeply before selecting a bone. It helps to name bones ("left thigh") to be sure
- bones which are too close together get an "operator bone" which is visibly outside the rig, via bone contraint > angle control bone.
Hope this helps.

Thank you for your tips.I will tried it.

[Panha]

@Greenlaw
Thank you for your tips. One of the disadvantages of using color bones is that it creates color keyframes on the timelines. However, we can still go to view > timeline channels to turned the color keyframes off which helps solve the problem.

[Greenlaw]

Here's another trick that might come in handy: use Bone Constraints so you can 'remote control' bones from outside the rig.

It's common to use this technique for animating eyes...the external controls make it easier to animate the positions when there are many bones in the face region. Some fhe demo rigs, like the Gorilla for example, use this setup.

Another example is the necktie in the Boss Baby dinosaur on my 2020 demo reel...I used constraints to control the tie because the chest/neck area could get very crowded with bones. To do this, I rigged the tie as normal, then made a duplicate rig outside of the character and linked the constraints to the original, and then used Shy Bones to hide the original rig to reduce the clutter.

Hope this helps.

[Greenlaw]

One of the disadvantages of using color bones is that it creates color keyframes on the timelines. However, we can still go to view > timeline channels to turned the color keyframes off which helps solve the problem.

Yup, I cover this topic in this video starting at 8:54...

Better Default Settings For Moho Pro

If you're new to Moho, watch the entire video for more UI tips. Some of the info may be dated, but most of it is still good. I plan to replace it with an updated video with more tips soon.

[Panha]

One of the disadvantages of using color bones is that it creates color keyframes on the timelines. However, we can still go to view > timeline channels to turned the color keyframes off which helps solve the problem.

Yup, I cover this topic in this video starting at 8:54...

Better Default Settings For Moho Pro

If you're new to Moho, watch the entire video for more UI tips. Some of the info may be dated, but most of it is still good. I plan to replace it with an updated video with more tips soon.

I watched it twice already. It's a great tutorial. Thanks for the tutorial.