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[Steve]

As suggested by nemyax in a previous post I'm working on a different way to edit bones (hot key 'J'). I have the first part finished where you click-drag on a joint and it only affects the bones attached directly at that joint. I'm still working on the second part where you can move a group of selected bones.

Please try build 1332 out and let me know what you think, especially the following points:

1. Do you like the new bone joints appearance?

2. Should this new mode be added to the existing Edit Bone tool (hot key 'E') or be a separate tool?

3. Any other feedback is appreciated.

Here's the original video that nemyax posted:

[ianross]

Wow, this is amazing! thank you, Steve.

[nemyax]

Steve
This is awesome news. I tried the new tool, and it worked fine in both ortho and perspective views. I did find a way to break it though =) Tweak the root joint, and downstream joints will start misbehaving.

[Steve]

Ahhh, the root joint! I think I can fix that.

[AlecJames]

1. I like the new bone joints appearance. 

2. As separate tool - the 2 functions are different - one moves all the downstream bones the other just moves the joint?

3. While not related to this change but bone related - In the figure if I set the bone X no limits=unchecked; limits min 0 def 45 max 90.  Then in sequence editor move the bone around a bit, then double click it to get the properties and then click OK, I get "invalid angle: out of range: 0 to 0".  To be honest I can't remember what I was trying to do when I came across this.  Maybe I was trying to set joint angle to a specific value?

[nemyax]

2. Should this new mode be added to the existing Edit Bone tool (hot key 'E') or be a separate tool?

I believe it should replace the Edit Bone tool eventually, because once multi-joint editing is supported, you'll have the exact same functionality in both tools, only performed in slightly different ways.
What's more, Edit Joint in local space could also subsume the bone length tool.

[AlecJames]

I'm easy; if both functions are handled in the same tool then one is better.

[slex]

Nice new feature,

it would be excellent if it could be added into "Sequence" and "Scene" mode, as it could be used for morphing

[Steve]

The new bone editing tool changed the length of the bones connected to that joint. This is only possible in the Figure editor. It would have to reposition the child bones, rotate them, it some combination to preserve bone lengths.

[Alpha2]

I'm currently using 1332, is there a way to change the size of the spheres or maybe just turn them off? Apparently either I make my models way too small or something in windows ten has inflated the spheres because they're ridiculously cumbersome to edit around, and it's too much to have to resize all of the assets and rigs in my projects to this size. I see I can still change the bone diameter itself but then I just have a small bone inside a big ball which offset the position of the child bones when I need them to be close to accurately rig my model.

[Steve]

Ah ha! I had this problem, too. Try Build 1348. I changed it o that when you change the diameter of the bone the ball at the end is reduced proportionally.

Note: you can change the default bone diameterin the Options->NewJointLimits menu command so you don't have to keep editing a bunch of newly added small bones, etc.

[Alpha2]

Thanks for the reply! I'm trying it now and this ...seems... to do the trick, for the time being at least. I still need to finish the hands on this model and test poses before I can really decide.

In earlier versions, when I create a model I was usually okay with the default size of the bones until I get to doing hands and fingers at which point I'd just adjust the length, diameter and limits as I created them because you need to be so fine with placing them inside the digits to avoid them looking like they were mangled when you bend a finger. I feel like having the bones connected directly at the ends made positioning them a little more precise. Less visual clutter to see exactly where the pivot points were inside the figure. The spheres seem do make it easy to grab and manipulate larger limbs in scene mode, like it's an easier target to click than the bone itself somehow, so that's a plus.

I see some merit in this method of adjusting the bones in figure mode. It's fast and depending on how you make characters it could increase work speed, but I'm not fully on board yet. It's hard to explain, but I feel like the rolling and twisting the axis discs do as I move the bone forces me to have to reposition everything and makes me hesitant to use it.

[Steve]

I just posted a build with a similar Joint Rotate tool added to the Scene editor here: build 1363. It is slightly different in that the child bones retain their global orientation and the bone length don't change.

Note: There are several things that I'm still working on. Joint limits aren't obeyed, and locked IK targets aren't obeyed.

I've included a simple puppet character with unlimited joint angles for you to experiment with. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

[Michel Colaço]

Hello Steve, this is very useful. I believe it will speed up the animation!