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Inspiring
Feb 14, 2022 7:30 PM UTC
Question

Fix Top of Puppet in Place?

Hi again,

I'm working on a non-traditional character that has no legs and is attached to the wall. I'd like it to be fixed in place in two spots (the nails) and have it have just a little bit of movement everywhere else to give it some expressiveness. It currently bulges slightly around the eyes, but I'd like it to be more like a slight and smooth movement around the fixed points. Can this be done?

Here is my current structure:

Thank you!

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3 replies

Inspiring
Feb 14, 2022 7:44 PM UTC

Made these changes:

and that's fixed most of the bulging and given it more side-to-side movement. I'll stick with this for now, but if anybody has any better solutions or ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

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alank99101739
Legend
Feb 14, 2022 8:23 PM UTC

Not sure if "better", but I notice you had "waist" tagged and hips. If you turn the yellow mesh icon on (so character covered with triangles) you can see where things get "stuck". I worry about the waist getting stuck. Normally you would have neck between the shoulders and waist closer to the hips. But in your case, I am wondering if you can just delete more of the tags. They matter for walk behaviors, but I don't think you are using them. If the mesh shows any of those points "sticking", then you might try deleting more handles.

 

There are other tricks, like people have got tails to move more smoothly by adding a series of short sticks along the tail. You could try that along the arms, or down one side of the character to see if it looks "better". (Sorry, not sure what "bulge" meant exactly.)

 

But frankly, if its working well enough, its probably time to move on! 😉

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Inspiring
Feb 14, 2022 8:30 PM UTC

I meant that the shape was getting skewed and bulging on top while staying in place on bottom. I've deleted the waist and hip tags as you recommended and it doesn't seem to have affected the puppet, so I'll keep them off. Thanks!

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