Moving multiple instances of boned figures around stage

[marchdigital]

In Flash it is possible to select multple keyframes in the timeline of a given 'object' or 'objects' and then, providing you have certain onion-skinning features turned on, you are able to move all instances on the stage together at the same time. For instance, this is particularly useful when developing a walk-cycle because it enables you do create a single walk-cycle loop (set of keyframes) of a character, copy and paste the loop and then move the position of all keyframes of the pasted loop to a specific starting point (lined of with the ending point of the previous loop).

I have spent a fair bit of time in MOHO trying to accomplish the same thing using 'groups' but to no avail. Is there a way to achieve what I am trying to do already in Moho ... or is this a 'new feature request'?

[7feet]

If I'm getting you correctly, Chris, what you are looking for is the Actions. They're kind of like a bit of animation that you develop on a separate timeline and can then insert (or overlap) them in the main timeline. Very good for any sort of movements you might want to repeat, like walk cycles. But also for just about anything else. You could, say, make separate actions for the arms and legs for a walk cycle, so that you could have the character start doing something else with their arms while keeping the legs moving smoothly. Or making up a library of facial expressions. One of the other pretty cool things is that you can drop them in the tiomeline as a duplicate or a reference. If it's a dupe, you can tweak movements after they're in the main timeline on a frame by frame basis. If they are a reference, any changes you make in the action will be reflected in all of the references in the main timeline at the same time, say if you decide after doing a bunch of animating that your walk cycle isn't quite smooth enough.

Hope that's what you were looking for. And also, that's in Moho 5 only. Good new thing. It's fairly basic, but check out the "Actions" section of the tutorials. Fairly basic, but should give you the idea.

--Brian

[marchdigital]

Hi 7feet.

Yeah, I know all about actions but they dont provide the same type of ability as I am describing. Actions seem to place keyframes on the stage (page) at the same x,y,z location every time. So they aren't really much use if you want to create a simple walk cycle and then replicate it many times and then link the cycles (actions) together to make a character walk a long distance. Or am I still missing something?

[Lost Marble]

You could create an action with the walking motion, but no forward movement. Then, insert the action multiple times, and add the forward movement as a layer translation. Or, add the forward movement as bone translation - just leave that bone translation out of the action itself.