Introducing the Direct Puppet Panel

1. Dummy Pane

Select one of the effector points for puppeteering.

icons:

  • : A selected effector point. You may use it to lock the corresponding body part or puppeteer the effector point to produce movements for the corresponding body part.
  • : A free effector point. Auto-update the location and orientation of the corresponding body part when you are puppeteering another body part.
  • : A move-locked effector point. It causes the corresponding body part not to move when you are puppeteering another body part.
  • : A rotate-locked effector point. It causes the corresponding body part not to rotate when you are puppeteering another body part.
  • : A locked effector point. It causes the corresponding body part not to move nor rotate when you are puppeteering another body part.
  • : A quick lock. Use it to quickly lock or unlock the T and R ( ←→ ) of the corresponding body part.
  • : Lock the translation of the selected effector point.
  • : Lock the Rotation of the selected effector point.
  • : Lock translation and rotation on both legs.
  • : Lock translation and rotation on both hands.
  • : Lock translation and rotation on all limbs.
  • : Lock translation and rotation on both toes.
  • : Remove all pin

Please refer to the Locking Bones section for more information on how pinning works.

2. IK Settings

  • Enable the Mirror option so that you can simultaneously adjust the effector points of both limbs.
  • Enable the Realistic Shoulder option so that when you move the character’s elbows or hands higher than the shoulders, the shoulders will raise automatically.
  • Select either/both boxes in the Pinning section to lock either the Move and/or Rotate values of any particular effector point.
  • Please refer to the Locking Bones section for more information.

3. Triggering Methods

Switch tabs to define a triggering method for character motions.

Please refer to the Direct Puppeteering - Move and Direct Puppeteering - Rotate sections for more information.

4. Preview
(Space bar)

Click this button and then press the Space bar to preview the motions triggered by your input device (Mouse by default).

5. Record
(Ctrl + Enter)

Click this button and then press Space bar to start recording a motion clip. When you move your mouse during recording, the results will be captured as a clip and stored into the Motion track.