Pro 10 to Pro 13... where are all the Control Bones?

[rikberryere]

Hello all,

I'm quite new to this community, but I've been experimenting with Moho/Anime Studio since around 2010 with Debut 5.6. I went with Pro 10 to start work on Western Space Odyssey in 2015, and all was great until last fall. Pro 10 suddenly locked up into 'demo mode' and nothing I could do could fix it. Since I was planning to step up to Pro 13 anyway once WSO was wrapped up (very close to the finish line) I simply went ahead and bought Pro 13, albeit a little ahead of schedule. But I've noticed NONE of the smart bones (and their corresponding rigs) are visible or operational.

Is there something I should know here? If I have to unlock Pro 10, well... that's another issue I'll deal with later. I'd like to have 13 take over entirely, but I'm at a loss as to what to do here.

And if you're curious...here's our first trailer... like the movie, all done in Pro 10. Most of the animation is finished (the movie is approx 1 hr, 57 min long) but there's still some clean up I need to do, and with the control bones not working in Pro 13, I'm a little stalled. If I could unlock 10, that would be okay too. Any suggestions?


https://youtu.be/-R9S7Ea3X8E

[Greenlaw]

I'm not sure why the Smart Bones are not visible in your Moho 13.0 window, but before trying anything, I highly recommend regressing to 12.5 and contacting Victor about getting a license code. (Registered Moho 13.0 users are eligible for the downgrade.)

Moho 12.5 is currently the most stable and usable release, and if you still see display problems with this version, it will be easier to troubleshoot. You can download the last official 12.5 installer from here (click on the Moho 12 tab):

https://my.smithmicro.com/forum.html

Alternatively, you can wait for Moho 13.5, which is on its way. This release should fix many problems that exist with 13.0.

BTW, are you on Mac or Windows? Knowing this may help with troubleshooting, especially regarding display issues.

[Greenlaw]

BTW, you had mentioned that your ASP 10 stopped working. This probably because Smith Micro shut down their license server a couple of months ago. If you wish to continue using ASP on your project, be sure to also download the Anime Studio Pro 10 installer available from the same link. This new 'final' version should work for you.

Also, assuming you have license keys for each release, you can have ASP 10, Moho 12.5 and Moho 13.x running on the same computer. (As mentioned above, I would wait to 13.5 arrives.)

[rikberryere]

Happy guy! I've tried reloading/installing ASP10 previously, but was never able to unlock it. I followed your advice this time around, downloaded from the link and entered my key from before and bazoom! Pro 10 is back.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'll continue using 10 to finish up the WSO project, and continue experimenting with 13 with anything new. The missing control bones issue does not occur on anything I've created in 13, only with files created on 10 and imported into 13. Since 10 is back on duty, this isn't a problem I can't work with at the moment, and I haven't actually run into any issues with 13 itself, although I've certainly noticed it has attracted some commentary about same.

Thanks again for the advice. Have you been told today that you're a hero? You're a hero. (And the villagers rejoiced!)

[Greenlaw]

Ha, ha! Thanks. Normally, I only hear that after I feed my cat.

FYI, Moho 13.0 has an Action ID issue that can break existing rigs, workflows for re-using rigs and rig parts, and when duplicating characters. This might be the cause of your Smart Bone Dials breaking. This was the main reason I stopped using 13.0 and regressed to 12.5.

The upcoming Moho 13.5 should fix this problem. In the meantime, your ASP 10 should work the same as before.

If you are able to get the 12.5 downgrade from Lost Marble, I highly recommend it, at least until 13.5 comes out. Between ASP 10 and Moho 12.5, there has been a ton of improvements and new features added to Moho, like Smart Warp meshes, Sketch Bones, Pin Bones, Layer Comps and Moho Exporter, to name some of my favorites. Also, many tools have been combined and simplified, making Moho's UI a lot less 'mouse-clicky' than it used to be. I can't guarantee that your ASP 10 character rigs will covert perfectly when imported to 12.5, but I don't think you'll see any significant problems with that.

Good luck with your project!