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Flash CS4 Bones tool sample
Entry Feed TrackbackJust playing around with CS4’s Bones tool. This is a basic example I am currently adding to the book using a character design by SUNCHIRP from the keyframer forums 
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It’d be neat to see some tutorials or resources to work these tools properly. I can’t seem to get the root moving around, or the bind tool working.
Pasquale at Oct 28, 08 at 7:52 pm
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 at Oct 28, 08 at 8:15 pm
[...] Flash CS4 Bones tool sample [...]
Free Sample Rhino51 Performance Enhancer Supplement at Oct 28, 08 at 9:53 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 at Oct 28, 08 at 11:58 pm
okay, you know he’s adorable. You just can’t stop making adorable things, can you?
TM at Oct 29, 08 at 12:31 am
@ 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 at Oct 29, 08 at 3:20 pm
To everyone: thanks for your comments - I am actively writing tutorials now for the next version of the book How to Cheat…
I will post variations of these tutorials here soon.
chris at Oct 29, 08 at 3:21 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 at Oct 29, 08 at 3:24 pm
@ Chris: Regarding easing on IK spans. The easing can be set at each pose, so it is basically the same as easing between keyframes. I hope this helps.
sickboy38 at Nov 5, 08 at 7:20 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 at Nov 6, 08 at 12:32 pm
@ sickboy38: I know what you are referring to now - yes, my bad - it’s the preset eases in the properties panel when using the Bone tool. Yes it works - I am creating an example right now. Thanks.
chris at Nov 6, 08 at 6:00 pm
[...] Flash CS4 Bones tool sample [...]
Free Dream Press Stationery sample pack at Nov 15, 08 at 9:35 pm
[...] Flash CS4 Bones tool sample [...]
Free REACH ACCESS FLOSSER sample pack at Nov 15, 08 at 11:41 pm
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 at Nov 16, 08 at 11:15 am
I’ve had the same problem as Ryan with symbols slowly moving out of position in my armature. I contacted Adobe support about it but they said they couldn’t recreate the problem. I don’t know what to do about it.
dbutt at Nov 17, 08 at 4:57 am
Have you guys tried constraining the amount that the bones can rotate and move?
chris at Nov 18, 08 at 1:27 am
Yeah I’ve tried that. It most frequently happens when adjusting the transformation point in free transform (to move the bone in the rig), that’s when other symbols begin to move a little.
dbutt at Nov 19, 08 at 1:56 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 at Nov 30, 08 at 7:35 pm
That’s awesome for a simple example. You’ve persuaded me to buy CS4
flashbynight at Dec 10, 08 at 9:47 pm
oqzhahtbplsuwksiwell, hi admin adn people nice forum indeed. how’s life? hope it’s introduce branch
OpeloKinyweatonew at Dec 27, 08 at 12:26 am
lol
abcman at Jan 1, 09 at 12:19 pm
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 at Jan 3, 09 at 12:08 pm
Hi. Can you scale the base bone ? to make it easy to drag with a shape bone?
racou at Jan 11, 09 at 7:39 pm
…did you notice the animation is slower in explorer compared to chrome and firefox… why?
Michael at Mar 13, 09 at 4:23 pm
24 posts and no one has mentioned that you can’t scale, skew, or swap symbols over time in an armature??? Chris made a nice example above, but its also missing all three of those elements for a reason. You can’t animate beyond location and rotation. I’m baffled that Adobe excluded just the simple ability to scale an object from one pose to the next. And for those who aren’t aware if this, if you do try to scale an object in the chain, it will be the same scale on every single keyframe. Same problem with skew. And how limiting is it that you can’t swap out one symbol for another?
Chris, what’s up? You beta tested this right? Did you have any comments for Adobe regarding this.
Google “Flash CS4 vs. Toon Boom Animate” There’s no contest between the two.
JD at Mar 23, 09 at 11:32 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 at Apr 7, 09 at 8:54 am
Awesome animation!
I’ll try it out as soon as I’ve gotten the stuff needed.
r4 at Jun 15, 09 at 9:20 am