SmartBones Layer Order Control

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DK
Posts: 2849
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:06 am
Location: Australia

SmartBones Layer Order Control

Post by DK »

Don't know if anyones already suggested this but.....It would be extremely usefull to be able to adjust layer order with Smartbones.

Cheers
DK
Last edited by DK on Thu May 02, 2013 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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heyvern
Posts: 7035
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:49 am

Re: SmartBones Later Order Control

Post by heyvern »

This would be awesome.

Layer order is defined in the parent layer (which is odd to me but makes sense). So let's say you create a smart bone action, and then you change layer order. The key is in the PARENT layer of the bone that has the action and not the layer that was moved.

Aha! That would work. Just like when keying another bone's translation in the same bone layer of the action. It should just be another "key" in the action associated with the bone action.
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DK
Posts: 2849
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:06 am
Location: Australia

Re: SmartBones Later Order Control

Post by DK »

Hey Vern.
yes I tried creating a layer order Smart Bone in Smart Bone mode and succeeded in creating a keyframe there on the timeline but it would'nt activate when i returned to the main actions timeline.

DK
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funksmaname
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Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 11:31 am
Location: New Zealand

Re: SmartBones Later Order Control

Post by funksmaname »

it won't be currently supported if it hasn't been announced... you can use layer z depth sorting with smart bones though (use teeny tiny increments for no visual impact)
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heyvern
Posts: 7035
Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 4:49 am

Re: SmartBones Later Order Control

Post by heyvern »

DK wrote:Hey Vern.
yes I tried creating a layer order Smart Bone in Smart Bone mode and succeeded in creating a keyframe there on the timeline but it would'nt activate when i returned to the main actions timeline.

DK
oops! Sorry dude I was trying to say that it COULD be done with smart bones IN THE FUTURE by adding that functionality. Layer order would be a key frame of the layer that could be controlled by smart bones. I tend to think in terms of the programmers adding in the feature and how tough it would be for them. Layer order keys are a bit different from other key types. Layer order keys are "arrays" or lists of the layer ID numbers so they are a bit different from other channel key types.

Funks solution works great though. I use that trick with scripts to avoid dealing with layer order keys. Layer order is a good feature but managing keys and sorting the layers can get a bit troublesome.
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