Feature Request: Individual Dragger Keyframing

Report · Feb 08, 2021

Getting into Character Animator.

I am enjoying the performance features... but to be perfectly honest, CA is severely lacking with regards to traditional Rigged Character capabilities.

At the very least CA should have Limb Keyframes so that performances can be carefully and specifically choreographed without having to take multiple performances.

IDEALLY: there would be a "Dragger Key Fram Sub Timeline" so that not only can size and position be keyframed... every dragger trhat is present on a character (possibly even dongles) can be keyframed at will maually.

This would allow for specific body performances to be artoculated and then a "sweetening" performance could be passed for head, eye and mouth movements could be made to sell the animation performance with manimum drama and cartoon showmanship. Possibly even add the ability to have pupils possess both draggers and still be toggled to camera performance depending on the situation.

This "Dragger Key Frame" or at least "Limb Key Frame" feature would make CA particularly competative as it would allow for the best of motion capture and traditional puppet/rigged-character animation.

Hope this feature is considered.

KEEP UP THE AWSOME WORK!

Report · Feb 08, 2021

Thank you for this feature request. We agree that keyframeable dragger handles would be valuable. In the meantime, there is a way to something like you're asking, though it's not easy to use. The trick is to apply the Transform behavior to groups (in addition to the top-level Transform that comes already applied). See here for how to apply behaviors to groups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oChT4hyEsg

It can operate in two different modes: (1) whole-group mode and (2) handle mode. You get mode (2) if you have any handles that are tagged Transform within the group — and all of them will be transformed the same way. Otherwise you get mode (1), which works best when applied to a group that is independent (i.e. it has the crown icon enabled).

Once you have set up the Transform behavior (or behaviors) this way, you can keyframe all the properties in the normal way, which will give you individual control over the group or tagged handles.