I'm used to doing a lot of animation simply by moving points and bones by hand (Anime Studio Pro) and manually adjusting the Timeline (setting keyframes automatically as I do this). I like to be able to do as much animation, manually, as I can - but it seems Creature forces the animator to work by numbers.
Since I don't create art by numbers - I don't want to animate by numbers, either.
Maybe I'm missing something - but Creature's Timeline seems very rigid and number oriented - lots of fields to complete - just to make a simple animation.
Can I simply adjust some bones by hand, and record a keyframe manually - without having to deal with numbers?
Greg Smith
Animating Without Physics/Motors - By Hand
Re: Animating Without Physics/Motors - By Hand
Hello Greg,
Creature does not restrict you to set animation by numbers
By default when you create and rig a character for animation, the entire rig is setup for FK animation. FK animation is the style you are probably referring to as "manual" animation.
In the default FK mode which comes with the character, you simply go in and yes, drag/rotate the bones around. You can then scrub through the timeline and drag/rotate the bones to another pose. There is no requirement at all to even deal with entering numbers into the attributes pane.
I would recommend watching the "Quickstart Tutorial" on the documentation page to see what I am talking about. The Dinosaur animation example has the jaws animated with full manual mode. The jaws are dragged opened and closed over the timeline. Keyframe poses are created and interpolated for you as you do it. No entering of numbers was required in that animation.
Creature's Timeline(the spreadsheet window) has 2 modes: Knots and Splines/Curves.
The Knots mode is the mode where you put numbers into the animation for each keyframe.
Switching to the Splines/Curves view gives you the animation curves. You can go in and drag the different tangent handles for easing in/easing out the animation.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Cheers,
Chong
Creature does not restrict you to set animation by numbers
By default when you create and rig a character for animation, the entire rig is setup for FK animation. FK animation is the style you are probably referring to as "manual" animation.In the default FK mode which comes with the character, you simply go in and yes, drag/rotate the bones around. You can then scrub through the timeline and drag/rotate the bones to another pose. There is no requirement at all to even deal with entering numbers into the attributes pane.
I would recommend watching the "Quickstart Tutorial" on the documentation page to see what I am talking about. The Dinosaur animation example has the jaws animated with full manual mode. The jaws are dragged opened and closed over the timeline. Keyframe poses are created and interpolated for you as you do it. No entering of numbers was required in that animation.
Creature's Timeline(the spreadsheet window) has 2 modes: Knots and Splines/Curves.
The Knots mode is the mode where you put numbers into the animation for each keyframe.
Switching to the Splines/Curves view gives you the animation curves. You can go in and drag the different tangent handles for easing in/easing out the animation.
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Cheers,
Chong