Best Practices for Character Animation Workflow

[Gibble]

Hey Gang!

I’m seeking advice on creating an efficient workflow for animating a character I’ll use often, focusing on hand and arm gestures.

I'm looking to make the "ultimate arm rig" where its both super simple to use and has a wide selection of gestures.

The character will mainly be animated from the waist up or in a medium close-up (MCU).

What’s the best way to set this up? Any tips would be appreciated!

Q2: Should I animate one arm- then just copy/paste animation to the opposite?

I want to build a library of gestures that is 1. easy to use and 2. easy to update.

In summary, I'd prefer not to have to make any arm animations more than once. Instead, I'd make a great single animation- throw it in a library and then "paste" it as needed in the future. And over time, I'd have a library that contains 90% of what I'd need when using that angle and framing.

What is the best way to set this up? Any tips on setting up this workflow would be greatly appreciated!

Q2: What I need to do to make this library useable for other characters? Or is that even possible?? **Assuming they have the same skeleton and similar proportions.

Note: the default pose can be arms down, in a neutral pose where animation can start/finish from.

[GCharb]

Have you looked into Vitruvian bones for an advanced arm setup?

Here are two videos on the subject...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaT3De3 ... T&index=28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oChwMaSq0go

[Gibble]

Thanks for the suggestion @GCharb! Very much appreciated. I have been waiting to use Vitruvian Bones- but I =guess now is the time!

Reusing Animation: How do you save and reuse animations?
Q2: Do you set up one arm only? And animate a single arm??
And then copy/paste it for the opposite arm??

[Greenlaw]

Since there's a lot of foreshortening involved, I'd look into one of the Pin Bone rigging techniques. This can make it easier to shorten the arms. There are a couple of tutorials about this technique on YouTube, with varying complexity. I'd go with a simpler setup. (IMO, simpler is almost always better. I want to make a tutorial about my version of arm foreshortening, but it'll be a while before I can get to it.)

If you're using Vitruvian Bones, you can switch between a regular arm rig and the Pin Bone rig. I'm almost certain Onion Skin works between the two sub-rigs so you can align the poses...I'll have to check on this later. But even if it doesn't, it's no biggie to step between the frames to match the poses.

Hope this helps.



Update: I searched on YouTube for 'Pin Bones Arm Rig Moho' and a bunch of them popped up. Watch a few and go with the one you feel most comfortable with. I'd avoid any setups that look overly complicated.

[Gibble]

Thanks so much for the Pin Bones suggestion, DR. Very much appreciated. I have no idea why I waited so long before tackling Vitruvian Bones, I guess the name made it sound intimidating...? I dunno but its such a simple and handy workflow. I am hoping Pin Bones is the same

[Greenlaw]

Yeah, Vitruvian Bones are awesome. I use it to switch head rigs when a character goes from 3qt view to profile...it's so much easier now. It's also great for switching front and side views for digitigrade legs.

[Gibble]

This might be a dumb question but...
Can I fully rig a Vitruvian/Pin Bone Arm (Right Arm) then simply duplicate it for the opposite arm (Left Arm)?
In other words, can the rigging and smart actions be duplicated? Or is it just the geometry-only that can be duplicated?

[Greenlaw]

Sure! A sub-rig that's been defined as a Vitruvian Bone is still just a regular part of the rig. You might need to remove the V-Bones group before dupicating the sub-rig, and then create separate V-Bones groups for each sub-rig. (Note: I'm writing from memory, but I belive this is correct. I'll test it out here when I get a chance, and let you know if I missed anything important.)

You'll still have to deal with the usual tasks when duplicating limbs and such, like mirroring artwork and potentially renaming Smart Bone Actions, etc. This depends on how you rigged the character, of course.

Note: When making a mirrored limb, I often find it easier to make a duplicate project, and then flip the parts and rename the Smart Bones Actions there. When I'm done, I'll copy/paste, and reparent the bones in the original project. This prevents any conflicts from occuring.

If you'd rather do it all within one project, check out some of Mult Rush's rigging tools at MohoScripts.com. These are advanced tools, but they are designed for this situation.

[Gibble]

That is a HUUUUGE HELP and timesaver!! Thanks so much DR! I am glad to hear that the work just needs to be done once

[Gibble]

Hey DR!

Note: When making a mirrored limb, I often find it easier to make a duplicate project, and then flip the parts and rename the Smart Bones Actions there. When I'm done, I'll copy/paste, and reparent the bones in the original project. This prevents any conflicts from occuring.

I found the MR Script you suggested and it looks like it'll be a massive help. THANK YOU DR!!
https://youtu.be/U8OVuOKyLrs?si=ItsjCzvCq1EFYgGs

[Greenlaw]

Oh, yeah! Transform Rig is amazing!

Thanks for posting the link to the video. I'm re-watching it now because I don't understand all the options yet and I wish to make better use of this tool here. This is 'mad genius' level stuff, isn't it? I confess, most of the time, I still do things the 'hard way'.

[Gibble]

This is 'mad genius' level stuff, isn't it?

I am not the guy to ask as I am a newbie to it but it certainly seems to be on the 'mad genius' tier based on what I have seen so far, DR.
Based on that one video alone, one can see how powerful those tools are. And that demo only features a fraction of what that tool can do- so it looks like there is to much more to learn yet.
Moho would be wise to start implementing these tools into the primary feature set of the next iteration of Moho. Its such a great too and it would elevate Moho considerably by integrating those features and making them native within the app.
Thanks again DR!!