Hey Bryan. The effect on preview and render times really can vary a lot depending on which type of limb you're using and which features. Bones should be faster than just about anything else out there but some of the ones in the Limb Library are very complex and can be slow if you then have lots of limbs in the same comp, for example. There are almost always ways to speed things up once you know what kind of style you're going for but there are so many variables here (no pun intended) that I'd need to see your rig to help. If you google me you can find my email and contact me direct, and we can chat it through more constructively?
I have been trying to rig a character I drew in procreate that I imported as photoshop layers. No matter what way I try rig it, each time these giant black dots show up when I "ok" the rig. Im assuming that I am missing something but any help you could give would be much appreciated, thank you.
I have been trying to rig a character I drew in procreate that I imported as photoshop layers. No matter what way I try rig it, each time these giant black dots show up when I "ok" the rig. Im assuming that I am missing something but any help you could give would be much appreciated, thank you.
Stuart.
Hey Stuart. Limber is uniquely designed to take full advantage of After Effects' dynamic Shape Layers. Concentrating on vectors in this way is what allows us to offer so many features that other tools can't match. This is why we don't support bitmap layers.
Hey Guido! You can always open a support ticket and send me an example of what you mean. If you just want a stroke around the outside of a taper that's pretty simple - just twirl down the limb layer > Contents > Limb and add a new Stroke property under the Upper and Lower Groups.
I just got limber and read every bit of the documentation and watched the videos, which was quite in depth and fun, thanks so much for all the details! I'm getting a hang of the functionality and everything seems to be working great, really loving it!
A few questions for you about using limber for bodymovin and lottie...
1. I'm currently creating character animations that will need to be delivered both for web and native devices. I've read a few of the comments below, where you mentioned you can bake the expressions so that it will work for native. Do you happen to have more details as how I can go about baking the expressions to keyframes?
2. I also saw you mentioned it will only work with "bones" not with "rig and pose" or anything tapered? Do you have any other suggestions or things to be aware of for implementing with lottie?
With the update to Limber v1.6, we've now got both Tapers and Bones working natively with Bodymovin and (with keyframe baking) Lottie. User artwork that is rigged using the Rig & Pose button may or may not work as expected because this function can embed any and all shape layer features inside a limb, whereas not all shape layer features are supported by Bodymovin. The main one to watch out for is Merge Paths - Bodymovin doesn't support it and this was the reason Tapers did not work before Limber v1.6.
In terms of keyframe baking, there is now an option inside the Bodymovin panel called 'Expression Options' which automates the baking process. If you are using default Tapers or Bones I am fairly confident you will be ok. I can't say the same for custom limbs, including those from the Limb Library, because we don't test all of those with Bodymovin. They may use both expression syntax and/or shape layer features that are unsupported.
The rule 101 is turn on Guide and Hidden Layers in your Bodymovin Comp Settings and use Limber v1.6 default limbs.
Those should be enough to get things working on the web. For devices, you will also need to bake expressions to keyframes which, as I mentioned, Bodymovin does now have built-in options for.
I've edited my answers to previous comments here to reflect the changes that have happened since they were first written.
I'm a very green Limber user, so I may have missed a step-- apologies in advance. I am using a Limber rig built by another artist, and purchased Limber so I'd have access to panel options like "Match FK > IK" while animating. However, I am not able to get those panel buttons to have any effect on my rigs; for example, I've highlighted a "wrist" controller and hit "Match FK > IK," but nothing happens at all. This seems to be the case no matter the value of the "Anti-pop" and "FK" properties on that limb.
In case it's helpful, I'm using Limber 1.6.0 on AE 17.1.4, in Windows 10.
Any insights you can provide would be much appreciated! This minor issue notwithstanding, this tool is ridiculous-- thank you for building it!
Hi Jared. This might be happening because your other animator used an earlier major version to generate the limbs, eg v1.5.x - twirl down any Limber layer in the timeline and look at the expression on Contents>Admin>Scale. That should tell you the version used. If it is 1.5.x then you will need to use Limber v1.5.7 with those limbs. That is included in the 1.6.0 download folder, inside the ‘Previous version’ folder.
Has anyone testet Limber with bodymovin / lottie? Does it work with *.json format?
Hi Igor
Since v1.6, Tapers and Bones work natively with Bodymovin and (with keyframe baking) Lottie. Custom limbs from the Limb Library and user artwork that is rigged using the Rig & Pose button may or may not work as expected - you'd have to run your own tests and troubleshoot those.
The rule 101 is to turn on Guide and Hidden Layers in your Bodymovin Comp Settings.
Those should be enough to get things working on the web. For devices, you will also need to bake expressions to keyframes, for which there is now an automated option inside the Bodymovin panel called 'Expression Options'.
If you're comfortable digging through shape layers and you know what you are doing, you could manually delete some expressions and replace them with static values. The Anchor Point, Position and Rotation of limb layers, for example, should always be simply zero'd out (assuming the layer remains un-parented) , but they normally do this via expressions, just in case someone parents the limb layer to another layer and transforms it by accident. If you make sure a limb layer is not parented, you could delete the expressions on these properties and set them to zero and save hundreds of effectively pointless keyframes.
The colors could also be optimised in a similar way, if you are sure you will not want to change or animate them with the controls in the Limber effect.
Strictly speaking, if you baked all the expressions on a limb layer, you could then actually delete both of it's controllers, since they would not be controlling it any more! But… obviously that would leave you with an un-editable character animation, so in practice you'd probably only do this in a duplicate comp or project to your animation, so as to keep your work intact. And then you've introduced a new workflow to manage… so it starts to get complicated.
I really like this limber, I just have a problem with rendering, whenever I have 3 or more characters with all limbs created with limber in a composition, it takes a lot of time to preview. Is there a way to switch some off the expressions and all those stuffs that slows things down, so I can preview my work faster while working?
I really like this limber, I just have a problem with rendering, whenever I have 3 or more characters with all limbs created with limber in a composition, it takes a lot of time to preview. Is there a way to switch some off the expressions and all those stuffs that slows things down, so I can preview my work faster while working?
Hey Alex. Setting aside the specs of your computer, I would say the first thing to consider is whether all of your characters really need Limber limbs for all of their arms and legs. If you're only using very basic FK on an arm it can sometimes be better to use simple parented layers or drawn paths than any IK-capable rigging tool. Less often that can also be true of legs.
Assuming you have reduced the number of limbs as much as possible, the next thing would be to use Bones rather than Tapers if you can. Bones run much faster. If you do want to use Tapers, and you are not customising them, then it is possible to temporarily swap them out for Bones. This was something we actively promoted when Limber first launched, but over time, as Adobe optimised the expression engine, and PCs got faster, we gradually dropped the idea. But this is how you might do it:
Select your limb and make sure 'Bone' is selected in the Type dropdown, then hold Alt and click 'New' - your Taper limb will be replaced with a default bone which should preview much faster. Before you come to render, you'll need to do the process again but with 'Taper' selected in the dropdown - colours and sizes etc will be retained as they were. BUT this only works with default limbs - if you've used Rig & Pose or customised the limbs in any way, those customisations will be lost through this process. If you really need it, there is a workaround for customised limbs but it gets a bit complex.
Also bear in mind that Limber's expressions are optimised to reduce the amount of code when certain features are set to zero. So keep your auto-rotations set to zero if you are not using them, keep anti-pop and Rounding at zero unless you need them.
I’m having an issue where the limb controllers are not generating within the limb but outside to the right. I’m wondering if there is a fix or is there something that I toggled on accident?
Hello,
I’m having an issue where the limb controllers are not generating within the limb but outside to the right. I’m wondering if there is a fix or is there something that I toggled on accident?
Hi Taco Cherub. This can happen if you change the Position or Anchor Point of the limb layer, or those of a shape Group within it. Non-square pixel aspect ratios can also cause this. If you need help the best thing is to open a support ticket and attach an example AEP file with your issue in it. I can then trouble shoot for you specifically. Cheers, Steve.
Hi Steve, The new version of limber is awesome and I think people should give it a second try because the old comparison videos between rigging scripts are not accurate anymore! I guess limber is the #1 for 2020/2021!
I made a set of character animations where limbs are rigged using limber and sold the pre-rendered video files on videohive. People are now asking for access to full animation source files however source files contain your rig so I wanted to ask if it is okay to provide these character animations aep files or if there are some restrictions. Is this the same situation as if people use Joysticks and Sliders in their templates? Limbs are of course custom and nothing from your library. Thank you Steve! Frederik
Hi Steve, The new version of limber is awesome and I think people should give it a second try because the old comparison videos between rigging scripts are not accurate anymore! I guess limber is the #1 for 2020/2021!
I made a set of character animations where limbs are rigged using limber and sold the pre-rendered video files on videohive. People are now asking for access to full animation source files however source files contain your rig so I wanted to ask if it is okay to provide these character animations aep files or if there are some restrictions. Is this the same situation as if people use Joysticks and Sliders in their templates? Limbs are of course custom and nothing from your library. Thank you Steve! Frederik
Hi Frederick. I haven't seen inside your template product so I can't say for definite, but in principle this kind of usage is allowed under our license agreement. Personally, I'd be happier if you credit Limber and and provide a link to our product page somewhere obvious, so that any of your customers can find it easily if they want to.
Hello, I don't know if it's been answered yet, but is this compatible with bodymovin and lottie? Thanks!
Hey Elie. Yes, Limber is compatible with Bodymovin and (with keyframe baking) Lottie. Custom limbs from the Limb Library and user artwork that is rigged using the Rig & Pose button may or may not work as expected - you'd have to run your own tests and troubleshoot those.
The rule 101 is to turn on Guide and Hidden Layers in your Bodymovin Comp Settings.
Those should be enough to get things working on the web. For devices, you will also need to bake expressions to keyframes, for which there is now an automated option inside the Bodymovin panel called 'Expression Options'.
Is it possible to use the default taper limb on ae and then export it directly to bodymovin and run it in lottie?
Also, if a detailed tutorial or explanation of this would be great.
I know that the current version supports bodymovin, but when I tried to put it in lottie it didn't work. I think the process is wrong.
Thank you! Nami
Hi Nami. All of Limber's default limbs work with Bodymovin (for web). Lottie for apps is a different beast because it doesn't handle expressions - they have to be 'baked' to keyframes. If you do that, it should work. There can be pitfalls and issues around using Limber with Lottie, but they're really just pitfalls and issues around using Lottie, period… Lottie isn't a simple export format like ProRes. To use it effectively can require some extra development chops.
It's been while since I have used Limber, I thought that I could do a 'rubberhose' type limb with Limber, am I wrong?
Hey Steve. You can get a ‘rubberhose’ type limb by selecting Bone in the dropdown and then clicking New, and then increase the Bone Curvature property. (We added this curvature property to the default Bones in v1.6).
It's been while since I have used Limber, I thought that I could do a 'rubberhose' type limb with Limber, am I wrong?
Hey Steve. You can get a ‘rubberhose’ type limb by selecting Bone in the dropdown and then clicking New, and then increase the Bone Curvature property. (We added this curvature property to the default Bones in v1.6).
| | <-- Top of the boot (essecially part of the leg) (Brown
----___
[_____] <-- Foot (Brown)
I can see in the library there is a bendy bone, with 2 colours and a foot, but I can't seem to find a way to modify that to add the top of the boot. Is it possible?
| | <-- Top of the boot (essecially part of the leg) (Brown
----___
[_____] <-- Foot (Brown)
I can see in the library there is a bendy bone, with 2 colours and a foot, but I can't seem to find a way to modify that to add the top of the boot. Is it possible?
Hey Steve. If you're seeing Bendy Bone in the Limb Library you are probably using an older, outdated version of it, and possibly the script itself. So firstly I'd suggest you check and download the latest version. There's a limb in the v1.6.1 Limb Library called Colored Bone if you need it to respond to the Color controls. This one does not have an integrated foot though, so you'd need to parent a layer of your own to get a foot. There is also another limb in the library called 3 Part Bone with Foot, but that one doesn't respond to the Split controls… if you need a sort of hybrid of these two, with the splits working AND an integrated foot, we'll have to work some magic and combine them. Can you google me and drop me an email and I'll see if I can help? Cheers
Thanks for clarifying. Yes I am using 1.6.1 and was refering to the 3 Part Bone with Foot as the bendy bone sorry. that Coloured Bone might seem to work, and then just do a simple path for the foot. will most likely pester you again :-)
Hey Steve. If you're seeing Bendy Bone in the Limb Library you are probably using an older, outdated version of it, and possibly the script itself. So firstly I'd suggest you check and download the latest version. There's a limb in the v1.6.1 Limb Library called Colored Bone if you need it to respond to the Color controls. This one does not have an integrated foot though, so you'd need to parent a layer of your own to get a foot. There is also another limb in the library called 3 Part Bone with Foot, but that one doesn't respond to the Split controls… if you need a sort of hybrid of these two, with the splits working AND an integrated foot, we'll have to work some magic and combine them. Can you google me and drop me an email and I'll see if I can help? Cheers
Thanks for clarifying. Yes I am using 1.6.1 and was refering to the 3 Part Bone with Foot as the bendy bone sorry. that Coloured Bone might seem to work, and then just do a simple path for the foot. will most likely pester you again :-)
No problem! You are not pestering, I like helping people.
Is anyone having an issue in AE using Limber? I've cleared cache, updated AE, uninstalled and reinstalled Limber and it is still giving me these errors as soon as I go to dock the Limber panel.
Error 1: "JSON validation error undefined"
Error 2: "Unable to execute script at line 5. null is not an object"
Is anyone having an issue in AE using Limber? I've cleared cache, updated AE, uninstalled and reinstalled Limber and it is still giving me these errors as soon as I go to dock the Limber panel.
Error 1: "JSON validation error undefined"
Error 2: "Unable to execute script at line 5. null is not an object"
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks
Hi Richard
This might be dropbox related but it’s the first I’ve heard of it. Please open a support ticket so we can help you properly.
Is anyone having an issue in AE using Limber? I've cleared cache, updated AE, uninstalled and reinstalled Limber and it is still giving me these errors as soon as I go to dock the Limber panel.
Error 1: "JSON validation error undefined"
Error 2: "Unable to execute script at line 5. null is not an object"
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks
Hi Richard
This might be dropbox related but it’s the first I’ve heard of it. Please open a support ticket so we can help you properly.
I am also getting this error and cannot use limber
Hi Steve. To start, I absolutely love Limber. I'm a customer for life! Having said that, I've run in to a bit of an issue. Is there a way to prevent the wrist controller from moving beyond the limbs the limb length? I have stretch turned off but, if I'm not careful, I can pull the wrist controller out much farther than the limb itself. The problem with this is that, since the hand is connected to the wrist controller it can fly away from the arm. How do I constrain the wrist controller (and hand) to the "forearm" so that it doesn't detach itself?
Hi Steve. To start, I absolutely love Limber. I'm a customer for life! Having said that, I've run in to a bit of an issue. Is there a way to prevent the wrist controller from moving beyond the limbs the limb length? I have stretch turned off but, if I'm not careful, I can pull the wrist controller out much farther than the limb itself. The problem with this is that, since the hand is connected to the wrist controller it can fly away from the arm. How do I constrain the wrist controller (and hand) to the "forearm" so that it doesn't detach itself?
Hey Sean. Thanks! The easiest way to solve this is to just add an FK controller. As long as the FK property is set to zero when you click that ‘Add FK’ button, Limber will re-parent your hand to the new FK controller - you could then disable it’s visibility or move it to the bottom of your layer stack or whatever works for you. But it will stay constrained to the right length when your IK controller goes beyond a distance where it’s turned red. Hope that helps!
Brilliant. Thanks! It would be great if that was a hidden default on a future build. I'm guessing a hand wouldn't ever need to detach from the limb (unless specifically needing it to).
Brilliant. Thanks! It would be great if that was a hidden default on a future build. I'm guessing a hand wouldn't ever need to detach from the limb (unless specifically needing it to).
We have talked about making FK Controllers default but we thought it might confuse some users. I will add an entry to our FAQ though. Thanks!
Hi Victor. Yes there is a way. Please open a support ticket and we can help you there. Thanks
Hi Victor. Please Open a support ticket here. Thanks
Hello,
I’m having an issue where the limb controllers are not generating within the limb but outside to the right. I’m wondering if there is a fix or is there something that I toggled on accident?
Hi Taco Cherub. This can happen if you change the Position or Anchor Point of the limb layer, or those of a shape Group within it. Non-square pixel aspect ratios can also cause this. If you need help the best thing is to open a support ticket and attach an example AEP file with your issue in it. I can then trouble shoot for you specifically. Cheers, Steve.
I made a set of character animations where limbs are rigged using limber and sold the pre-rendered video files on videohive. People are now asking for access to full animation source files however source files contain your rig so I wanted to ask if it is okay to provide these character animations aep files or if there are some restrictions. Is this the same situation as if people use Joysticks and Sliders in their templates? Limbs are of course custom and nothing from your library. Thank you Steve! Frederik
I can not find Groups, C2, C3
Does Limber no longer support this feature?
*I am Korean. So my English may be poor. Please understand.
Hi Aries. I’ll reply to you via the support ticket you’ve raised.
Thank you!
Nami
Hey Steve. You can get a ‘rubberhose’ type limb by selecting Bone in the dropdown and then clicking New, and then increase the Bone Curvature property. (We added this curvature property to the default Bones in v1.6).
Thanks so much!
| | <-- Trouser (Blue)
| |
---
| | <-- Sock (Red)
Hi Richard
Hey Sean. Thanks! The easiest way to solve this is to just add an FK controller. As long as the FK property is set to zero when you click that ‘Add FK’ button, Limber will re-parent your hand to the new FK controller - you could then disable it’s visibility or move it to the bottom of your layer stack or whatever works for you. But it will stay constrained to the right length when your IK controller goes beyond a distance where it’s turned red. Hope that helps!
We have talked about making FK Controllers default but we thought it might confuse some users. I will add an entry to our FAQ though. Thanks!