New to rigging: front leg works but back leg is wonky

Question

I just started using Flanimate a couple of days ago - I have the Pro version.

 

I have a dog - I'm trying to get the legs to bend at the knees only (not feet, too). I'm trying to use the circle joints like were used in this video's Bunny Boy: 

I got one front leg to work correctly but it took hours and many redos (because I'm a newbie and a BIT of a slow learner). The next day, I started in on the bag leg and thought it would be easier since I had done it once, but I've tried several times it's still not working correctly. I think some of you will be able to diagnose it just by seeing the images I'm going to attach, but here's also a verbal description:

1. I can rotate the upper leg 360 degrees. It does stay attached to the lower leg, but the result is that I can grab the upper leg with the SMR tool and rotate it such that the upper leg is below the lower leg - upper leg not touching body at all.

2. When I grab the lower leg with the SMR tool, it can also rotate 360 but, although it rotates AROUND the lower leg, so they're still attached, it's not bringing it with it. In other words, when I grab the lower leg with the SMR tool, the circle joint of the lower leg separates from the circle joint of the upper leg so that they're no longer on top of each other. They seem attached, but as I rotate the lower leg, I end up with 2 circles. As with how the upper leg is behaving with the body, I can rotate the lower leg so that where the foot would be (except that I don't have a separate foot joint) is pointing straight up into the upper leg.

 

The first image is the knee joint - I tried to bend front and back legs the same way so you could see how it's SUPPOSED to look (front leg), vs. what the back leg is doing. 3 rotations starting from 0 rotation to 180:

 

 

This is the body joint. I didn't make another 0 rotation image - it's the same as in the knee image. I also colored the left front leg to make it easier to see what's happening in the bottom 2 rotations. In the bottom one, the front leg has been rotated so it's up in the body - you can see the circle under the collar. The back leg won't do that at all.

 

 

Thanks for any help you can provide. I KNOW this is an issue with incorrect rigging or misaligned pivot points and magnets. But I'm too new at this - and also, unfortunately, don't have the kind of natural common sense to diagnose it just by what I'm seeing - and may not be doing some things correctly, too.

 

Susan

Answer 1

Hi Susan,

 

I'll start by quoting myself from this short article's sections Your first character rig and RTFM!:

 

Do a few tests with rectangles, before attempting to rig an actual character build.

It's much easier to scrap everything and start over when you do it with something you have not invested time into.

Get a good grasp how Magnet Targets and magnet snapping work.

.

Read the articles on Smart Magnet Rigs. All of them – from Overview to Rigging Process, FK and IK.

Actually read them! Don't skim through the text to only watch the videos.

 

SMR is a mature and complex system with many interconnected tools and features. The more you know, the more creatively you will be able to use it.

Joints and other rigging basics are discussed here in much detail:

https://flash-powertools.com/character-rigging-for-flash-animation/

 

The internal workings of SMR are discussed here:

https://flash-powertools.com/advanced-smr-1-the-invisible-force/

This article is quite important, but it comes after the users are already familiar with the basics.

 

There is a learning curve and I realize that there is a lot of information that needs to be processed, but this is a technical field and there really are no shortcuts that I am aware of.

Rigging is engineering.

As one gets experienced problems can be easily anticipated and avoided, but it takes time and experimentation, and this is why it is good to learn with test structures before going into real production.

 

We provide multiple sample rigs which users can download, play with and study:

https://flash-powertools.com/tag/free-download/

 

Last I will mention this fundamental article, which sets the framework for how animation production should be effectively organized as a whole:

https://flash-powertools.com/workflow/

 

--

 

Finally, since I understand the desire of users to get quick tangible results, if you like, email me your dog rig FLA.
I will look into it and fix the joints.

Just use the email address shown above the contact form.

Comments

Nick, I am just in awe.

 

I have to admit, when I saw this line from your opening statement, I felt found out:

"Actually read them! Don't skim through the text to only watch the videos."

That’s exactly what I’ve been doing—exactly. But after reading your message (and realizing how right you are), I spent most of my afternoon and evening actually reading your tutorials and watching the videos properly. I’m about 80% through, and I already see so many possibilities I never knew existed.

 

That said, I’d love to take you up on your generous offer to look at Bark’s back leg. To be honest, the rigging I’m working on will probably only be a very tiny piece - maybe about 10 seconds - at the very beginning of a series of 18-19 videos I’m creating to help market my product (PSYBooks). I originally thought I could learn rigging in a day and knock out that intro quickly, but here I am—two and a half weeks into it. I first tried Animate’s Modern Rigging (which is completely unusable), and after switching to Flanimate a few days ago, I’m finally making progress—but I still have so much to learn. And that’s just one leg!

 

What I’d love is for you to fix that back leg and then walk me through exactly what I did wrong so I can learn from it. Meanwhile, I’ll finish your tutorials and practice rigging some simple shapes to get a better handle on everything. I’m sure I’ll have more questions, but I’m at a point where I really need to speed things up.

 

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your time and expertise. Your tutorials alone have been a game-changer, and your offer to help is beyond generous. Thank you so much for everything!

 

Susan and Bark (who was beginning to worry that he'd NEVER get rigged!)