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ValiciousMirus
Participant
June 30, 2020
Question

Segmented arms that work like an actual puppet (w/ examples)?

  • June 30, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 2224 views

So what I'm trying to do is create a puppet in Character Animator whose limbs move as if they're attached by those paper fastener pins (below)

As far as I am aware, I can't use Arm IK because that always adds an elbow, which I don't want. What I'm kind of after is this effect shown in the two images below (if you know what the source material is then I'm very sorry);

(Sorry for the bad quality, I really had to go digging.) As you can see, the above character's lower arms pivot around the elbow point, and the upper arms pivot around the shoulder point, if that makes sense.

 

I literally don't know if this is possible in Character Animator either, although i did manage to find something close around the 6:30 mark of the 'Adobe Character Animator: 40 Secrets' video, in which he used transform behavious on segmented arm layers to create a similar effect:

As great as this is, it seems that it isn't possible to have the lower arm layer over the top of the uper arm, as the lower arm cannot connect to the upper arm if it's above it in the layer hierarchy.

 

Gonna be honest, I have no idea where to start, so any guidance would be amazing and help me greatly. If you need any more info from me I'd happily provide. Thanks!

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

alank99101739
alank99101739
Legend
June 30, 2020

I did not say explicitly sorry, but "attach to" is based on nesting, not ordering. "In front of" is based on ordering". So you just need to get it ordered right.

 

There are cases that *are* impossible. For example, you cannot have a head in front of the body and neck (attached to it), but the rear hair goes behind the body. You cannot do both the nesting and the layer ordering at the same time in that case. Luckily your example with the arms can be done.

R
RLora
Inspiring
October 11, 2021

Hello Alank. I've been trying to follow your recommendations here to do a pin-joint-type puppet. However, although I've nested the parts of the arm, used Attached to, and used Hinge as you suggested, the arm segments don't drag each other properly. They just pivot at their origin without dragging anything. Could you PLEASE have a look at where I might have detoured from your suggestion?

alank99101739
alank99101739
Legend
October 11, 2021

At work at the moment, but the origins when they overlap the parent artwork should turn green to indicate attachment. Not sure why they are not green on your screenshots. Are you able to "Export Puppet" from the menu, share that file via Google Drive or Dropbox or similar? It shares the artwork and rigging hierarchy. On the surface what you are doing makes sense, but obviously something is going wrong. If you are allowed to share the puppet, it can help diagnose quicker. (If you share on the forums someone might jump on before I can after work, otherwise feel free to direct message me.) I think you are 90% of the way there.

alank99101739
alank99101739
Legend
June 30, 2020

There is a trick to it and restrictions. To get the layers correct is not that hard actually. To have the lower arm over the top of the upper arm you just move that layer higher:

 

Body

. +Arm

. . +Lower Arm

. . . +Hand

. . . . Hand artwork

. . . Lower arm artwork

. . Upper arm artwork 

 

The hand is then in front of the lower arm which is in front of the upper arm. (You then use "Attach To" of type "Hinge" not "Weld" to get the pin effect.)

 

The problem is when you come to draggers. If the arm  is independent to the body, you will need a dragger near the elbow of the upper arm, and another dragger at the wrist (at the end of the lower arm segment). Without this, dragging at the wrist will not move the upper arm. This is because nested independent layers will not move the parent. So you have to record the elbow drag and the wrist drag with this puppet. It works, but is more work during recordings. (If the Arm can be dependent you avoid the problem - but as soon as you have two independent nesting levels the problem occurs - each level needs a dragger.)

 

Does that answer the question?

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