Wow sunchirp awesome to see your work being published. Chris looks really cool. Quick question is it really boned? Doesn’t look like it because there isn’t really any joints. Pretty cool though.

Eric added these pithy words on Oct 28 08 at 8:15 pm

Wow chris it looks pretty cool! I was wondering that the bones tool could be useful for this kind of more elaborated animations (I don’t have Flash CS4 yet) because some people commented that the bones tool is more suited for mechanic things like cranes or something, but after watched this nice animation, I’m convinced of the great animations we could create with this tool.

Robert added these pithy words on Oct 28 08 at 11:58 pm

@ Pasquale: The root bone can be tricky – yes it doesn’t move when manipulating other bones in the armature – but you can move the entire chain by selecting everything with the Free Transform tool and then dragging it across the stage. There’s also hot text sliders in the Properties panel that will appear when you select the entire armature on the stage. You will see a POSITION and SIZE category that will allow you to type in an X and Y value or drag each to move the entire armature.

chris added these pithy words on Oct 29 08 at 3:20 pm

@ Robert: True robert, the Bones tool is very suitable for mechanical animations, but as you can see, it works very well for character based animations also. But there are some limitations depending on your animation style. During the beta cycle, when this feature was first tested, there was no easing at all – which meant very mechanical movement. We begged for easing of some kind and Adobe added easing that can be applied to the entire span. This is cool but it doesn’t allow for easing in between keyframes – not a deal breaker but something I will be pursuing for Flash CS5

chris added these pithy words on Oct 29 08 at 3:24 pm

@ sickboy38: Thanks for commenting. Are you talking about the easing hot text slider in the Properties panel? I can’t get it to apply to individual keyframes within the same span. it always applies itself across the entire span. it was like this throught the beta process. In fact, IK initially had no easing whatsoever. I pleaded my case that IK would have to have some amount of easing for it to be useful. Adobe agreed and added the Properties panel ease knowing its drawback would be that it is applied to the entire span. I use the Motion Editor to create more sophisticated custom ease curves between keyframes within the same span.
let me know if you found a way to use the hot text slider between keyframes within the same span. You can always email me directly if you prefer.
Thanks!
-chris

chris added these pithy words on Nov 06 08 at 12:32 pm

[...] Flash CS4 Bones tool sample [...]

I’ve been trying to rig a character with bones and have been frustrated by how the symbols will lose their alignment as I move the rig around. If I’m moving a leg for example, the symbols of the other leg and arms slowly slide out of place even if they haven’t been touched. Know why it does this?

Ryan added these pithy words on Nov 16 08 at 11:15 am

Have you guys tried constraining the amount that the bones can rotate and move?

chris added these pithy words on Nov 18 08 at 1:27 am

Thanks for posting this. I think that in order to properly demonstrate IK you really need to have a slightly more complex character. Something with knee or elbow joints would help, otherwise it’s not really clear what part the IK is playing in the animation.

The only hint of IK I see here is that the arms stay in alignment with the body as it moves, but this could just as well be done with nested movie clips. It is a cute dino though.

Patrick added these pithy words on Nov 30 08 at 7:35 pm

oqzhahtbplsuwksiwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch

OpeloKinyweatonew added these pithy words on Dec 27 08 at 12:26 am

Comments 14 to 17 have dealt with what I call “loose bones” as they (in some cases) seem to shake their symbols loose and they shift around (including attachment point). My son and I have struggled with this continually in one of his files. I wonder if the file itself is corrupt. I haven’t seen any solutions posted. This is a huge investment in time lost if we have to abandon the armatures. Any solutions to fix this?

PatH added these pithy words on Jan 03 09 at 12:08 pm

…did you notice the animation is slower in explorer compared to chrome and firefox… why?

Michael added these pithy words on Mar 13 09 at 4:23 pm

JD, true – in fact there are many shortcomings to the IK tool – and the biggest for me is that there is no way to control nested animations whatsoever. The IK tween span does not allow it. You can scale the entire armature if you select it with the Free Transform tool however – but I have found this creates unexpected results with the positioning of the entire armature. Best practice would be to animate an armature inside a symbol and then scale the symbol.
Early in the beta the IK tool didn’t support easing at any time – I was a huge advocate to have this feature added at any level – and Adobe did of course add it.
But overall, I agree, the IK tool is not something I would ever use to rig an entire character with – not a traditional character anyway – it is best when used sparingly and for very simple applications like an arm assembly or leg, or mechanical things like pulleys and pendulums.

chris added these pithy words on Apr 07 09 at 8:54 am

Hi all,
When symbols do not swap when bone tool is applied on it?

Thambidurai added these pithy words on Nov 21 09 at 1:22 am

Сорри за оффтопик, не подскажете, где мона такой же симпатичный шаблон для блога взять?

myukaht added these pithy words on Jan 05 10 at 6:29 am