Moho Forum

Hi Folks,

I am trying to cycle the animation on my running cow and am having a difficult time doing so. I've used the tutorials and it demonstrates cycling by using frame 0 as a reference point to cycle back to, while also using the Reset All Bones tool. However, I can't cycle back to frame 0 because my character is not in the running position at this frame. I also can't use the Reset Bones tool because the position my character needs to be in during the cycle can't be achieved by resetting bones (the cow goes back into the standing position rather than in the running position it needs to be in). So could someone help me understand what I'll need to do in this case?). Thanks so much.

Joel Miller

Hello Joel,

As I see it, you have three choices.

1. The compositor's solution:
Create a cycle from frame 0 (in a separate Moho file) and join it after your standing part with a video editor (break your movements into separate Moho files).

2. Moho feature solutions to your problems:
Instead of resetting the bones (which basically copies and pastes frame 0), copy and paste the keyframe/s you want (in the timeline: while in any frame but 0, drag a selection around the keyframe markers to copy, hit the Copy button, set the time marker to the frame where you want to paste, hit the Paste button).
When you set the last frame in the set of keyframes to cycle, choose relative instead of absolute, then specify the number of frames back that the cycle starts (e.g. if you want frames 36 to 60 to cycle, set the keyframe at 60 to cycle, relative, 24 frames). The cycle will start at frame 36 and continue from there (until the timeline hits another keyframe).


3. The non-linear animator's solution:
Make your walk cycle in an action timeline, rather than the main timeline - you can start from frame 0 within the action. Insert a reference to your action in the appropriate keyframe in the main timeline (e.g. frame 36) to start the cow running at that keyframe (i.e. frame 36 of the main timeline will use the first frame of the action). See Tutorial 5.6 for a quick introduction to actions.

Regards, Myles.

That's great. Thanks for the tips! I tried copying and pasting the keyframes but I was using the Copy and Paste tools in the Edit menu rather than from the Timeline. I should be good to go now. Thanks again!

Joel Miller