Tweening problems

[Sneakers]

I don't know what I did wrong, or am doing wrong...but am doing this looped animation, and the one arm is suppose to bend...and have the two frames with the parts in the right positions...but when I tween them the one part seems to have a mind of it's own and taking some odd way of moving so it looks weird.

http://therealsneakers.deviantart.com/art/conan-dance-test-3 25051877

See the lower arm...it's not co-operating with the rest...and I checked the part...the center marker still looks centered in both star and end frames.

Thanks.

[mandog]

Tweening goes a bit like this

Two frames, on the first frame is the starting position, the last frame is the end position, so first frame the ball is on the ground, second frame the ball is in the sky, thats pretty much it, I don't see what you got wrong, can I download your fla.

[kmau]

Did you use motion or classic tween? Maybe the lower arm has a different acceleration than the upper arm and that usually ends up like this.

[Sneakers]

At 9/3/12 11:12 AM, mandog wrote: Tweening goes a bit like this

Two frames, on the first frame is the starting position, the last frame is the end position, so first frame the ball is on the ground, second frame the ball is in the sky, thats pretty much it, I don't see what you got wrong, can I download your fla.

Yeah, I am aware how Tweening works..had done it before...just the odd time, I get a part that decides not to move correctly. I made sure not to rotate it too much, and not to move the center marker, which both can cause problems....just don't know what cause this to happen.

[Sneakers]

At 9/3/12 01:03 PM, kmau wrote: Did you use motion or classic tween? Maybe the lower arm has a different acceleration than the upper arm and that usually ends up like this.

I used Classic Tween....never figured out how the motion tween works...never used it before.

[th1rt3en]

I think your problem is that Tweens take the shortest paths (straight line) but you're trying to have the end follow the elbow on the upper arm, which is rotating around a point. This is not a straight line.

To fix, you'll have to either add more keyframes and finesse it with easing, or use symbols-within-symbols to keep the elbow attached, or use the bone tool (which you should avoid).

[Sneakers]

At 9/3/12 09:30 PM, th1rt3en wrote: I think your problem is that Tweens take the shortest paths (straight line) but you're trying to have the end follow the elbow on the upper arm, which is rotating around a point. This is not a straight line.

To fix, you'll have to either add more keyframes and finesse it with easing, or use symbols-within-symbols to keep the elbow attached, or use the bone tool (which you should avoid).

Really? I thought it wasn't that much of a change. I first thought of that shortest path, and the movement of the center marker when you rotae stufff(Which is easy to accidently do), but didn't think I moved it that much to cause it problems... I mean why did the right arm move better then the other left...swore it was about the same amount of change.

not familuar with the bone tool...but if I should avoid it, guess i shouldnt ask about it....but how does the symbols within symbols work? I'll try tinkering with extra frames, but if you can explain the symbols-within-symbols, would be great...I just was getting frustrated with it. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Sneakers]

At 9/3/12 09:30 PM, th1rt3en wrote: I think your problem is that Tweens take the shortest paths (straight line) but you're trying to have the end follow the elbow on the upper arm, which is rotating around a point. This is not a straight line.

To fix, you'll have to either add more keyframes and finesse it with easing, or use symbols-within-symbols to keep the elbow attached, or use the bone tool (which you should avoid).

Got it fixed...just put extra keyframes in to tweak it into place. Thanks for the help....I just was hoping it wasn't that was the problem, as I just thought I avoided making that mistake.

http://therealsneakers.deviantart.com/art/Dancing-Conan-3253 06172

[th1rt3en]

So symbols-within-symbols is basically what it says it is. In your case, you would create the upper and lower arm symbols. Then you would create a symbol that holds both parts of the arm, then animate within that symbol the lower arm moving on it's elbow pivot. Then on the main timeline, you'd animate the entire symbol (essentially the upper arm's shoulder pivot). When synced up, this will have the same result without causing any disconnects.

It's more tedious but is useful for things like animating faces on a moving head and the like.

Also, protip: look into easing your tweens for a smoother looking movement.