How do I deal with rigging limbs again?

[ZV1LLE]

video showcasing my issue: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VomyNR ... sp=sharing

Hello! its been a long while since i last posted anything in here (for a ton of reasons too) but thats beside the point

I've recently started trying to rig up this plain character base for my all characters. its VERY wip (just started working on it again after so long too) so ignore how the arms dont have 2 bones for limbs, will prob make a separate post on them if needed.

But i've been trying to make these legs bend somewhat properly (atleast enough before i do some tweaks to make the points levelled) and tried using smart actions to do the trick, but it doesn't really help when trying to use 2 limbs like this (as seen in the video) so I'm wondering how else its possible to approach this?

Its been a long time since i really used moho, so bare with me if this is a stupid question or I ask some pretty obvious questions, but im just hoping i can get this done with so i can continue progress on this rig cuz im really stuck rn

thanks in advance

[synthsin75]

If the two smart bone actions, for the two leg bones, have the same point keyframed, these are adding together. You likely only want the thigh bone to handle the hip points and the shin bone to handle the knee points.

In smart bone actions, it can be important to make sure you only keyframe what you really need to.

[ZV1LLE]

welp, the issue with that is that theres only 6 points on the legs, meaning that i cant exactly have a knee and leg approach with this

perhaps i could add 2 more points to each side of the leg, but im worried about it doing more harm than good.

would be interested to hear your thoughts on this idea though

[synthsin75]

The two points in the middle of the leg are the knee joint.

But another problem could be that the thigh bone is not centered on where the hip rotates. That alone could be forcing you to keyframe too many of the leg points, in the smart action, to realign them when the thigh is rotated. Again, if both bones try to move the same points, those points will move further than you intend.

[ZV1LLE]

Yes, i know, i was just thinking of 2 points at once on each side instead of one on each side

Hmmm, can you elaborate more on this thigh bone not being centered thing? i tried raising the legs up but it kinda messed up the rigging of the leg and smart actions, but maybe it could fix my issue? idk

and yeah the points moving further than i intend from that def show me that smart actions wont really save me here

[synthsin75]

Here, check this out: https://ufile.io/qmembwm9

[ZV1LLE]

Oh my, this is incredible! I did see a video talking about using pin bones for limbs, but this angle constraint functions soooo well! I completely forgot about it lol

I could maybe work more with this, implement it into my rig, but there is still some stuff i'd also like to know about it before i can really use it to its full potential:

1) how exactly does the point binding work? looking at this theres no point binded to the thigh leg, yet that bone still controls the body? could you explain it to me more in detail? i'm very curious

2) is there a way to make the bones move more easily? rn they seem to have a bit more, friction to them? its not that big of a deal to me i suppose since ik could maybe fix it, but just incase y'know

3) I saw that there was a smart action for the lower leg bone (B7), which would allow me to make the leg less curved while it turns. would this angle constraint mechanism make it possible for me to use smart actions on the thigh bone for this, or would it just break the leg entirely? (sorry if this is a question i should just find out for myself, i've just got other stuff i wanna do today and im a bit lazy teehee)


But all that aside, Thank you SOOOO MUCH for your help synthsin, and the fact that you took the time to make an almost exact replica of my rig is just, wow. YOUR THE BEST!!!

[ZV1LLE]

Man, i am having such a hard time getting my leg the exact way you did it. While i'll still try my best to replicate your steps, it would be very nice if you could post a walkthrough (text or video) showing how you made this rig to actually work, would save me a TON of time

Smart actions wont even help me here since both the points being used by those smart bones in their smart actions just add up and make a big mess

thanks in advance!

[ZV1LLE]

this is a pretty old screenshot compared to what i was able to get now, but thanks to McKnackus on discord i was able to get help on this issue and shouldnt have to deal with any problems with limbs anymore, my issue is solved!