Action cycles with odd characters?

[Mr. Bill]

Hello all:

 

I am animating a character with a stem and a wheel at the end of it...no legs. I am making 'walk' cycles for him and am having to do all but the arms in every keyframe. In other words, it won't let me make any significant moves of the stem body, and the hips (other than up and down, of course) if I want to mirrorcopy to another keyframe. What happens is: My character becomes a lump on the floor with a head and a wheel.

 

My character has been specially modeled and so has its own rig.

 

So, is there any way at all to use mirror copy with a character like this?

[Dhar]

One stem, and one wheel? So, what is there to mirror?

[Mr. Bill]

One stem, and one wheel? So, what is there to mirror?

 

Well, Dhar:

 

When the character moves (at least in this test cycle) he bends and swivels his stem-body in order to gain momentum. He shifts his hips side to side and, in faster sequences, his upper body and head move side to side as well.

All I can get the program to mirror is arm movement and some head motion. It seems that the side to side action along the X-axis cannot be mirrored across the Y-axis. Is this because I have moved the character's 'stem' off-center? That would seem likely, anyway. So, my question was: is there anyway to make this happen correctly, given this situation, so that I only have to animate his sway and swivel motion to one side?

 

Thanks.

 

Mr. Bill

[Dhar]

I see what you're getting at. Yeah, the mirror seems to work only on some child bones.

 

Well, since it is a cycle, all you need is a couple of poses which you can do manually. The cycle action will take care of the rest.

 

Sorry I couldn't solve your problem.

[Mr. Bill]

I see what you're getting at. Yeah, the mirror seems to work only on some child bones.

 

Well, since it is a cycle, all you need is a couple of poses which you can do manually. The cycle action will take care of the rest.

 

Sorry I couldn't solve your problem.

 

 

Not a problem, Dhar.

 

I just thought maybe there was something that could make it even easier/faster. We're always looking for that, aren't we?

I figured such was the case, i.e. that the program wouldn't accomodate that irregularity. But, hey! It can't do EVERYTHING, can it? If it did, what would there be for us to do?! I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

[robcat2075]

mirror will only act on non "left/right" labeled bones (like spine bones) if they are exactly centered in the model. CHeck the properties window for each bone for that info.