Understanding joint selection handles

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The model now deforms with the skeleton,

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which is great because it will allow us to visualize how the

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controls are affecting the joints as we build the control rig.

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Ideally, we don't want the animator to be able to touch this skeleton. Though

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instead we need a layer of controls on top of this which will drive the joints

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with that said

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we also want to avoid driving this skeleton directly or adding other nodes into its

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hierarchy as this will cause issues when it comes to export to the Unreal engine.

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So we want to leave this as it is.

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So what options are available to us? With regards to controls?

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The most basic option available is to simply use selection handles

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to show these just select a joint and go to display

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transform display

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selection handles.

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You can also show them through the attribute editor.

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Just go down to the display tab and check display handle here.

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Now you may not have noticed it appear because it's in the

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same place as the joint which makes it difficult to see.

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We can however move the handle into a more visible place,

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switch to component mode, either using the button or just press F eight

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and select the handle option here.

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This lets you select and move the handle. So it's easier to see and select

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so we can use that now to select the joint.

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I realize I said at the start that we don't want to edit this skeleton directly.

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This is just a demonstration

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but you may have other joints driving this skeleton

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which you could use the display handles on.

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It's good to point out though that you can use display handles on other nodes,

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not just joints.

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Now, there are a few problems when it comes to display handles.

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Firstly, if I decide I don't want to show the joints,

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the handles become hidden too.

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The same happens if I hide the joints manually,

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so they are pretty useless for us at this stage.

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Another issue is when you have a lot of them on screen at once.

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This can make animation confusing because the animator

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doesn't know which handle controls which joint.

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So that selection handles.