Can someone explain Vitruvian bones?

[Pinesal]

I am coming from Anime Studio 11.x and I just updated to 14 because of the $100 off deal and I am trying to catch up on the new features.

How are Vitruvian bones different from regular bone?

[Greenlaw]

Vitruvian Bones allow you to switch between two branching bone chains in a Vitruvian Bones Group. For example, let's say you have an arm rig with normal elbow and wrist joints, and another arm rig with rubber-hose arms; V-Bones allow you to switch/cycle between the two using Ctrl-C or Ctrl-W (the same shortcuts for the Switch Layer.) To use the shortcuts, make sure you're on the Bones layer, and have the active V-Bone selected (it has a special icon in its base.)

To create a Vitruvian Bones Group, you need two bone chains that share the same parent. The artwork needs to be assigned to each bone chain using Link Bones or Bind Layer. If you're using Link Bones, you can also use Bind Points in addition. Now select the parent bone for each bone chain (don't select their parent bone). Select the Vitruvian Bones tool and create a Group. Once the Group has been created, only one bone chain and its artwork will be visible, and you can switch between the chains and art from the list. Alternatively, you can use the shortcuts mentioned earlier, which are easier because you don't need to select the Vitruvian Bones tool to switch between the chains.

Also, you're not limited to two chains, so go nuts!

For more details, see Victor's tutorial here...

https://youtu.be/oChwMaSq0go?si=bQqZxXpPyK2r1aKa

And Chad's tutorial here...

https://youtu.be/BaT3De3YBC0?si=N6IgNUwBCBhkbmha

There are many uses for V-Bones. I'll show some of the ways I like to use them in an upcoming tutorial.

Hope this helps.

[mtbuck24]

To add onto the resources provided by Greenlaw

[Pinesal]

Awesome. Thanks. I see. So basically, if you want to create a character which has parts that a single bone configuration doesn't work with, you can create different bone configs to work with different shapes on a single character.

This is cool because I can think of a situation I had in the past where this would have come in handy.

Thanks.

[Greenlaw]

You got it!

Yes, Vitruvian Bones are essentially a replacement for Victor's old rig-swapping technique, but V-Bones are much easier and smarter to work with.

I'm actually using V-Bones for a complex rig setup in my current job, which would be impossible to make without them. I can't talk about the project, but I'll share my new tricks and techniques in a future tutorial video.