How to fix "Jumping" Tweens when using Layer Parenting?

[sheenufilms]

I'm creating an animated face involving numerous layers parented to each other. Each layer makes up the face, nose, mouth, eyes, pupils, .etc. All the drawings are Graphics and I want them to move all at once, so I create my keyframes and move each part of the face to the place that I desire, and apply a Classic Motion Tween to all the layers. It seems to work at first, but for some reason by the time it gets to the last keyframe, all the parts of the face "Jump" to the last keyframe. It's as if the Clasic Motion Tween didn't track the first and last Keyframes properly. So in the end, I have a face that transitions from its initial keyframe and then suddenly cuts to the final keyframe. It's really annoying and I want to know if anyone ever experienced this or if there is a way to find out why it's happening and how to prevent it from doing that. Thanks.

[n. tilcheff]

Hi mate,

This topic from two days ago may contain some relevant information Can't understand parenting in Animate

Layer Parenting is full of bugs and dead ends. At this stage it is not a production-ready feature.

If you un-parent and the tweens still 'jump' then you may need to learn more about symbol registration.

Good luck!

[sheenufilms]

The face animation seems to break only with the pupils and brows. I read everything you sent me but it seems I've done everything correctly. None of the transformation points are altered throughout the tweens and the symbol registration should be good. My only guess is that this is a bug with Flash itself.

[n. tilcheff · Accepted solution]

Yeah, if it only happens with Parented Layers it must be a bug.

I've come across similar erratic behaviour when moving or Alt-dragging parented keyframes and have reported it a month or so ago.

Can you not nest the facial features inside the head rather than parenting them?

That's what we usually do.

Then you sync the head symbol and you do your facial animation inside the head.

[sheenufilms]

Hopefully a new update will fix this issue. I should learn not to expect big updates like these to work right off the bat. It usually takes an update or two to get it right.

I did consider nesting the facial features in the head like you said, but I originally thought it might be a bit time consuming and harder to animate/sync. But thinking about it now, it seems to be the best option right now.

Thanks!

[n. tilcheff]

At least you will have no unpleasant surprises.

Set your head container to play once and sync with the outer timeline. It always gives you good control over not just the timing, but scaling and all the rest. Inside you can have shape tweens and classic tweens to simulate slight head turns and so on.

I've made some sample rigs, if that may be of some use to see how I do the nesting.

Best

NT