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Problem with a widget in a rig losing control of its target parameter
I have been keyframing a widget which is controlling the Y rotation of a group containing a camera. It has been working fine until a particular point on the timeline when the widget ceases to control the parameter. I can control the parameter directly, even though it shows the joystick icon, but the widget no longer controls it. If I go to an earlier point in the timeline the widget works fine and the parameter can’t be controlled directly as I would expect. 8 seconds later in the timeline and the widget controls the parameter again. I have tried this a few times recreating the keyframes on a previously saved version, but at the same point in the timeline the same thing happens.
Any ideas whats up? I am a beginner with Motion I normally use AE but Motion is better for this project because the preview refreshes a lot quicker so I can keyframe more intuitively. I am assuming this is probably something I am doing wrong or have missed. I have looked though the layers at that point in the timeline to see if anything else coincides with the unexpected rig behaviour but I can’t see any thing happening specifically then. Its got me puzzled but I am hoping there is a simple solution. Are rigs generally reliable or can they be glitchy?
Martin
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4 Replies
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It would be difficult without sitting in front of your project to see what it’s doing, but it sounds to me like the point at which you’re losing control of your rig will probably coincide with a particular effect/behavior/layer in your project that’s taking control of the parameter away from your widget. Try to find the first frame where you lose control and then look through all your layers/effects/masks/behaviors to see what begins on that same frame. turn that layer off and see if your widget maintains control.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
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Thanks for responding Andy.
I had a good look at what was going on at that point in the timeline and there doesn’t seem to anything which is likely to be interacting. For good measure I tried deleting every layer except the Rig and the objects it acts upon so all I have remaining is the Camera, the group the camera is within and the rig. Nothing else and no behaviours or filters. The only parameters being animated on the timeline are the 3 sliders. I am still getting the same thing happening.
The rig has 3 slider widgets, one is controlling the FOV of the camera, one the x rotation of the camera and one the y rotation of the group the camera is within. It is just the group which is not being controlled at that point. However I noticed that if I slide the lower snapshot along the slider it changes the value of the group y rotation parameter, though the slider control itself doesn’t, so I tried adding a snapshot at a random point on that slider and then deleting it and that sorted everything out. Does this sound to you like a bug or does it give you a clue to something else that might be happening here. The rig is working fine again now so I am happy, but it would be great to know what was the cause.
Cheers
Martin
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Just out of interest. I have just tried adding and then deleting a snapshot to that same slider widget earlier on the timeline, before the slider lost control, and that also fixed the problem.
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[Martin Drew] “I tried adding a snapshot at a random point on that slider and then deleting it and that sorted everything out. Does this sound to you like a bug or does it give you a clue to something else that might be happening here.”
Possibly. It’s a little hard to say. Sometimes rig behavior can be a little murky and certain things can cause rigs to behave in a weird manner. Snapshots often screw up rigs too. But adding and deleting a snapshot makes me think that Motion thought there was a snapshot attached to the project which was wresting control of the parameter from the assigned widget and your add/delete cleared its “head” so to speak.
I’m glad it’s working for you now. Perhaps you just got a little gremlin behavior.
Andy
https://www.timesavertutorials.com
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