difference between Leader / Follower vs Magnet

[Tania orange]

I need help understanding the difference between "Leader & Follower" vs "Magnet" behavior. Because I can imagine either one being used if I want to have a game enemy follow my character automatically. 

Scenario  -  if I have a character move by movement of my mouse dragging on the screen, can the 'enemy' or a secondary independent shape move automatically and follow my character around, using either the "leader & follower" or "magnet"?

Thanks in advance for any clarification.

[Tania orange]

I am watching the Preview "Auto-Swap" tutorial and also the Magnet tutorial, and it feels like magnet is the one I want, I just don't know what are the pros and cons of using leader/follower vs magnet.

[j-saito · Accepted solution]

"Leader/Follower" is a rigging component to define the exact attachment of one layer to another. In many other animation tools, this is called a "parent constraint" which is powerful for connecting pieces not in the parent-child relations in the layer hierarchy. Other than for Auto-Swap to drive multiple body layers, here are examples:

• Blondyn the Brave (available on the Puppet Maker page) : attach the shoulder pad to the right arm
• Salem (available on the Puppet Maker page) : attach the back hair to the head
• Rigging a thobe dress: make a garment to follow the leg movement
• Animate a liquid: attach water to a glass

"Magnet" is more of a physics-like animation system. Differences between "Magnet" and "Leader/Follower":

• Magnets only trigger when two or more magnets come close to some threshold during animations
• Magnets attach to any other magnets coming close - no control over which ones to trigger or not
• Magnets have the strength control to soften the effect

Heather on the home screen holding an orb is a good example to try out.

As for your use case, while I feel neither Leader/Follower nor Magnet is good to make one character follow another, there may be creative ways to make use of them for your purpose.

[Tania orange]

Thank you, much clearer now.