Shape keys should be able to be part of specific actions
I am working on game animations. Sometimes you want to add a shapekey for one specific animation.
For example, moving clothes a bit when you stick a hand in a pocket.
But i cannot tie this shapekey just to this specific action/animation. Making the entire workflow much more complicated than it needs to be.
When i keyframe any shapekey i want to be able to make it part of the same action that my rig is in, just with another action-slot (seems it one of the things action slots are made for)
3 Comments
i wanna clarify, that the actual shapekeys could still be on the mesh, but i want to be able to keyframe the shapekey sliders in specific actions
developer.blender.org/docs/release_notes/4.4/animation_rigging/ I feel like the "slots" here might be relevant? But I haven't tried them yet. This particular issue is one reason I never used shape keys much, but another is that it's just so easy to break them.
I concur: the Action Editor (with further development of the Slotted Actions I believe) should be able to get more generic/pervasive, having more 'rooted' control of Keyframe Data, including when it comes to the handling of Shape Keys Mesh Data for Keyframe Animation in the same Action.
Currently, the Action Editor can be used to Add, Edit and trackdown Keyframed Shape Keys in the same Action of an Armature Object/Skeleton.....!!!! Yes! We can spot it there! However, it's rather incomplete and inconsistent, and can lead to strange situations: the Keyframed Shape Key Channel doesn't even show its overarching Mesh Object Channel in the current Action in the Action Editor, nor does it show its created by default "Key" (as for "Shape Key") Slotted Action in the Action Editor (these fundamental informations, can only be seen from the Shape Keys Editor)!
Furthermore, if the Action is removed from the Action Editor, confusingly, the Mesh Object with the Keyframed Shape Key Channel will still be occuring in the playback !! because it only shows its 'root' in the Shape Keys Editor (with its Mesh Object Selected); while the Action of the Armature Object Skeleton would have been removed successfully as expected.