control a switch layer's interpolation with bone/smart bone

[amanandink]

Hi All

Does anyone happen to know of a way to control a switch layers interpolation with a bone or smart bone. I have a bird character with a turning head and I have done a closed mouth and a wide open mouth in a switch layer, and the both work on a head turning smart action. But rather than build the in-between beaks at various degrees of open and re-matching there turn I would like the animator to be able to use a bone to select any partially open beak with a switch layer interpolation creating the animation.

without the head turn I can does this with a smart action doing the beak from open to closed but its too complicated to work it with a head rotation as well.

I have tried an interpolated switch layer inside a smart action but to no avail, it seems the smart bone can't register the sub animation of the switch layer.

I have used Vern bone control a switch layer script but this only lets me choose between the two keys I have set but not rest on any of the in-betweens. So the animator is still only using the open and closed, but at least it animates between them.

And in the past we have done 5 different beaks of various degrees of open but this is a lot of work that I'm trying to avoid.

Any ideas of work arounds would be very much appreciated.

J