Now, I’m pretty new to TBS, and I’ve been experimenting with it and making short cartoons. The one I’m currently working on I plan to have a walk cycle from one side to another, etc. When I select the rotation tool to make the arms and legs move (to simulate the walking movement) the place where the rotation tool starts, is WAY too far from where my drawing is… Here’s a picture to help describe.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7430/tbsrotatehelp.png
As you can see, I’m attempting to rotate an arm, and the rotate tool starts way across the screen, in the middle. Now, I know to move the green circle to the joint, but then the black box stays where it is, making it impossible to see what I’m doing while I rotate it. Is there a way to move where the tool starts off? Or just a way to get it so I can see my character while I rotate the limbs? ???
Any help is appreciated, and sorry if I’m just stupid and there’s an easy solution.
What happens when you try to drag the tool?
When I drag the green circle, the obvious happens, the circle moves like it’s supposed to, but the tool stays in place.
When I try to drag the black box, it just rotates the tool.
When I try to drag the black circle or the black line OF the black circle, nothing happens. It just selects whatever is under it.
Try setting the pivot points first as pasted below from the F1 Help Guide:
To position the pivots:
1.In the Tools toolbar, select the Rotate tool.
2.In the Timeline or Camera view, select the first layer to set the pivot for.
3.In the Camera view, grab the green pivot point and drag it to its new position.
4.In the Camera view, rotate the part to see if the point is well positioned. If not, relocate it.
5.Repeat the whole process for each piece. Do not forget to set a pivot for the eyes and mouth. This is generally located at the centre of the drawing.
Do not forget to do this for your master peg. Positioning the pivot between the feet is often a good option.
Thank you for replying.
I already know how to set pivot points with the green circle, and when I set the pivot point, the black box and black circle stays alllll the way across the screen. I just want the ENTIRE tool to be closer to what it’s rotating. What I want to do is move the entire BLACK circle to a different position. The black circle, being the entire rotation tool.
The pivot point tool is oriented in relationship to the center of the cell of any element in drawing view. If you did your drawing or character construction strictly in camera view then the original positioning of your elements may be far away from the center of the cell as viewed in drawing view. This can create the problem that you are describing. You can only correct this by switching to drawing view and reorienting your body parts and character to the center of the cell. Then you can switch back to camera view and set your initial rotational pivot points for each body part. Then you can scale and position your character anywhere in your scene and the pivot arm will be positioned at an appropriate distance for use in animation.
You can review this article which I wrote to better understand the relationship of drawing view and camera view and elements and pivot points. TBS THE BASICS Part 2 -JK
That makes sense, thanks. I figured it might have something to do with the grid. I just hoped there was a way around it. Thank you very much for your reply and tutorial.