All language subtitles for 04-07-Space switching fundamentals

In this video, we are
going to use the constraint

We've just seen before

to animate to different
parts of the robot character

using the base motion
we have created before.

To do so we will use a method
called space switching.

This is an often overlooked technique

but it is so powerful.

I've been introduced to this
technique and learned a lot

of things through the
Animation Sherpa course

by Richard Lico.

He's one of the coolest person I know.

And beyond that, he's one

of the best animators
in the game industry.

I will just show you the
very basic of space switching

but if you enjoy it

and get comfortable with
this animation course,

I truly advise you to take his
animation course afterward.

So let's start with a simple
up and down animation.

What I'd like to do is
make bone B react to bone

A having a bit of overlapping animation.

And instead of doing it by hand

as we did for the bouncing
ball or our scleral character

we will use constraints.

DID is to source the motion

of bone B in the work space
and slightly offset it in time.

Don't worry.

This will make sense in a few seconds.

Let's select a bone B press shift S

and snap the cursor to it.

Let's switch to object mode and add an MT.

We wanted the MT to behave
exactly as bone B to

do so I will select the MT,
go to the constraint panel

add a copy location panel

and source the armature.

Then I will select the bone B.

Now our MT is following
the bone B in space.

It is coping it's location in ward space

and I can no longer move
it, but we don't have

any animation information
we can play with,

the graph editor is empty.

So what we need to do is to
comfort the current motion

of the MT that is due

to the constraint in an actual animation.

And we can do this through baking.

To do so let's just have our MT selected

press F3 and search for bake.

We will choose the first one
object animation, bake action.

The bake action panel will open.

Here we can set the length of the action

we want to bake from
frame zero to frame 25.

I always used visual keying,

so that I'm sure that all
constraints are applied

when writing the action,

and we want to get rid of the constraints.

So I will enable clear constraints.

I won't choose override current action

since our MT don't have any action yet.

As I press okay Blender will
get free of the constraint

and I do now have an action
input into my graph editor.

If I played the animation, I can see

that the MT is kind of following bone B

but it's no longer constrained to it.

It's animation is just similar as bone B.

I will clean up the channel I don't need,

and keep this delocation on.

Now we have data.

We can edit.

We can offset the key frame or edit them.

And since those animation
data are assigned

to a single object, they
are using world space.

While bone B has no motion

in its local space, it is not animated.

It's just following bone A,

our MT does have an animation

but it is visually doing exactly
the same thing as bone B.

Now to see the power of space switching

let's select our MT.

In the curve, press shift
E add a cyclic modifier.

You find now select all the keys

press G and X and offset
them a bit in time.

You can see that now the
MT seems to have a formal

through animation compared to bone A.

So if I now select my armature

going to pose modes like bone B.

We can access the bone constraint.

So be very careful.

We are not constraining the
armature object, but the bone.

So we need to go into the bone constraint

not the object constraint.

From there,

we can add a copy location constraint

and then source the MT.

Now bone B will follow the motion

or the location of the MT.

From there, we can press
F3 and search for bake

or in my case, I've added
the bake action functionality

to my quick favorite so I can press

the Q key to access it.

I will use the same option

visual keying and clear constraint

and I will add overwrite current action.

Now bone B is no longer a constraint

but it's following the
same motion as the MT.

We can now get rid of MT and
shape the curves of bone B.

All channels have been written

but only the Z axis channel
is interesting for us.

You have just performed your
first space switching exercise.

Let's now see what we can
do with copy rotation.

In the example file, you
will find a second collection

with the copier rotation example.

It's a simple chain of three bones.

With bone A being animated.

It's a simple backend for
rotation on its X axis.

Bone B and C are simple
children without any animation.

Let's go back into object mode

and add two MTs.

For the sake of presentation,

I will add on the first MT a
copy, transform from bone B.

Go to the constraint,
add the copy transform.

Source the second armature and bone B.

Now our MT is snapped onto
bone B for the second MT.

I will add a simple copy
rotation and so it's

the same armature and bone C.

The first MT is now coping

both the location and
the rotation of bone B.

But in the end, what is interesting for us

is only the rotation.

If I was to isolate the
motion of the first MTs

that is also copying the location,

he will be rotating as
the one above, but it

can be a bit confusing to see
only the rotation of the MT

whenever the bones are currently childs

of another one and their
location is also changing.

But in this case, we will
only affect their rotation.

So I will switch to a
simple copier rotation

and so it's bone B.

And I will select both
MT, press my Q shortcut

and bake the action.

Now both the MTs have
lost their constraint

but we have animation that.

So we can now use those
two MTs to constraint

bone B and bone C.

But first let's make sure

that we have all the curves selected

for both MTs, press
shift E and make cycle.

Now let's select the armature

go into pose mode, select bone B,

go to the constraint panel,
add a copy rotation constraint

and source the first MT.

Big mistake here.

We've added the constraint
on to the object

as explained before we need
to use bone constraints.

So let's add the copy rotation source

the first MT select bone
C add the new constraint

and solves the second then from there,

when we played the animation

nothing changed since those
two bones copying the rotation

of something that was coping
their rotation previously.

But if I now offset to curve

of the first empty by one or two frames,

you can see the chain of bones changing.

And if I now also offset the second MT

by three or four frame,

I will get an overlapping
motion of my whole chain.

So the idea is to offset
by one or two frame,

the first MT,

then the next one by one
or two additional frame.

So three to four frames

and we'd get our
overlapping motion for free.

From there, we can select the armature

go back into pause mode,
select both constraint bone,

and bake the action and choose
overwrite current action.

And we can get rid of MTs.

And then we have our animation done.

Let's see a first example.

We've aimed space.

I have the sweeping motion,
but I don't want B and C to get

through this plane to create
the trucking constraint.

We need first to add a couple of MTs.

And then to those MTs

we will add a copy transform
so that they follow each bone.

So I will source bone B

for the first one and bone C
for the second one this way

both MTs are perfectly aligned with each

of their targets now to be able to get rid

of the constraint, but
keep those transform.

We can press control A and
choose visual transform.

I will do this for

both MT and get rid of their constraints.

But the cool thing is that now
they are transformed channel

as the same transformation

as bone B and bone C, but in ward space.

So if I go into my MTs
properties editor and switch

to arrows as a way to display them,

you will see that there are now aligned

with bone B and bone C.

They are sharing both the same orientation

and position in ward space.

We now need to offset them.

So I will switch the pivot
point to local with both

of them selected press G
and moved them on the Y axis

so that they are still
align with bone B and C,

but they are further away
on their local Y axis.

Now for them to follow
the motion of bone B and C

I need to make them become
child of those boards.

And we can use a new constraint such

as the child of constraint.

It's a very handy constraint
that will make the owner behave

as if it was a child of the target,

as a target let's source the armature.

And then bone B, we can
see that the MT got offset

just click set, inverse
to reset its position.

And let's repeat the process

with bone C and the second MT,

solve the armature.

Choose bone C and click set inverse.

Now, if we play our animation,

we can see both those MTs.

Following both bones,
let's select both MTs

and bake the action or bake the animation.

As before, whenever we
are baking the action,

we can choose to remove the constraint

and we can see our MTs
still following the motion

but now they do have an emission data.

We don't need any rotation or scale here

so we can get treated of the
rotation and scale curve.

You don't need to do it.

It's just to keep the
graffiti top cleaner.

Now, go back on the armature in post mode

go to the bone's constraint

select dumped truck constraint
and source the first MT.

Then repeat the process with bone C,

add dump truck constraint
and source the second MT.

When we played the animation as usual

nothing special happened, but

if I select the first MT press shift E to

make all the curve cyclic
and then offset them

by one or two frame, we can
see our bone chain offset.

And if I repeat the
process with the second MT,

but offset it by two frame.

Now you can see the chain
animated with a bit of overlap.

It seems

that the make cycle function
didn't work on this curve.

So I will fix this.

Now, if I want my chain to avoid
getting through or clipping

with the plane we have
created, I can simply work

on the curves or the animation
of the different MTs.

So I will select the first MT,

and work on it's Z location curve.

I will try to spot the key
where it goes under the ground

and I will select the key

and offset it a bit on the
Y axis in the graffiti.

It also is that it gets a little

we then go further whenever
it's leaving the ground

and I will duplicate the frame

I've just adjust on top of this one.

Those two keys represent our ground level

and I can get rid

of any keys that goes under these labels.

I can now repeat the process

with the second MT isolate to see location

curve spot, the moment
where it goes on the ground

then align its position with the ground.

Go even further duplicate the key frame

and get rid of any keys
that are under this label.

And when I played the animation now,

it seems that this whipping
motion is stuck to the ground.

Then as usual, we can go back

onto our bone chain and bake the action.

And if there are any
glitches in the animation,

you can remove a couple

of frames to get a smooth transition.

Using aim space is a
super powerful workflow.

Don't worry if you get
to be close to at first

we will repeat this process a lot of time

on the robot and you will
get very familiar with it.

Now, in the last example,

we will see all we can combine a

both the copy location

or location switch with this in space.

To do so I've created another armature

with another animation.

It's a simple up and down motion,

with have a little bounce,

so it's pretty close

to what we have between the body

and the cannon of our robot.

We will start with the location offset

with my bone B selected.

I will press shift S to snap the cursor

to it and add an MT.

To this MT I will add a
copy location constraint

sourcing the armature and the bone B.

Now the MT is following the motion

of the bone B in ward space.

I can press my Q key to get

to my quick favorite and bake the action.

I can get rid of all the curve,

but the Z location curve.

Press shift E and add a cyclic modifier.

From there I can slightly
offset the curve in time

by one or two frames to get
a nice overlap in motion.

I will then select back my armature,

go into pose mode

go into the bone constraint,

add a copy location,

so it's the MT and now bone B,

get this overlapping motion.

I can press Q and bake the action.

I won't delete the MT
because we will need it to

currently create the aim space constraint.

So the first thing to do is
to align the MT on the bone.

So let's add a copy transform concentrate

to the MT and source
as a target to bone B.

Let's press control A and
apply the visual transform.

We can get rid of the
copy, transform constraint.

And if we want, we can go

to the MT option and
switch to arrows to see

that it is oriented the
same way as the bone.

I will offset it along its local Y axis.

And now we need to add a child

of constraint to it, sourcing the bone B.

Click set inverse to reset its position.

And it's now following the motion

of bone B as if it was a child of it.

Let's bake this animation.

We can cleave the curve if we want,

getting rid of the curve

that doesn't have any animation.

Then press shift E and make
the current curve cycle.

Then we can use E to
constraint the bone B,

using a dump truck constraint.

If we now select back the MT,

an offset it's curved in time

we will have a bit of follow through

animation in the rotation.

So we have offset the motion

of the bone B using a location offset

and now also using a
dump truck constraint.

The cool thing about the
dump truck constraint is

that it's very easy to smooth a curve.

If, for example, I don't
want that much bounce

onto my bone B

and I want a smooth transition
as if it was very heavy.

I can get rid

of some key frames offset
to beat the lower key

and it will still follow
the original motion

of the bone B location wise.

So the base of the bone is
still have pretty crispy

and sharp bones while it's steep,

that is pointing

to what the target or the MT

get a smooth sort of motion.

The last thing we haven't seen
regarding any constraint is

that we can reduce the
interference of the constraint.

If I want to reduce the amplitude

of the rotation of the bone B.

It would have worked the same

with any other influence,

such as the location constraint

the bounce would be the same
but with a lower amplitude.

From there, we can bake
the current action on

to the bone B.

Don't worry if you're a bit lost at first

just try to redo the
exercise you've just seen.

We will repeat this a
lot through this chapter.

So you will get familiar
with this technique very fast

Learning those techniques
will become a huge time saver

for you later in the course.

To summarize,

we have seen that we can use constraint

and animation baking to source
data from a specific motion

and transferred them on to another bone

or another object.

We can use copy location

and copy rotation to create nice follow

through animation with ease.

We can have even more control

upon rotation of the target
using tracking constraint

such as dumped truck constraint.

We can use multiple constraint
to create complex mechanism

in a few clicks.

And finally, we can use the influence

of the different constraint to add more

or less amplitude to the
motion we are creating.