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  • Workaround for Separating Transform Constraints for X and Y?

Hey all,
As I saw here (Transform Constraints: Horizontal and Vertical Mix?) and here (Control X and Y separately with a transform constraint · #342 · EsotericSoftware/spine-editor), separating transform constraints between x and y is not yet built. I was wondering if there is a workaround I could use.

I saw Erika's suggestion of using 2 bones, but I am still confused on how that could work.
If I only move X-constraint bone and not the Y-constraint bone, then wouldn't it look weird for the mesh to not move enough in the X direction because it is weighed by the not-moving Y-constraint?
And if I parent the X-constraint bone to the Y-constraint bone, although it would look fine when the X-constraint bone moves, wouldn't it look weird if the Y-bone moves because some of the mesh will not move much because it is constrained by the non-moving Y-constraint?
And if I try to use a transform constraint between the X-constraint bone and the Y-constraint bone, wouldn't it defeat the purpose?

Thanks for your help!

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Hello, the trick consists in

  • parenting the two bone one to the other
  • binding the whole thing only to the child bone
  • if one bone is moved horizonally, curves are applied, and the other bone is moved vertically, with curves applied, and then the keyframes are offset, the result will be a circle!

I am lost though, what are you using the constraints for? they are not required to make this kind of motion and yes they may interfere.

Hi Erika,
Thank you for your response.
Unfortunately, I do not completely understand because I did not explain clearly.
My character's head was drawn in a 3/4 point of view facing to the left.
Currently:


My character can shake his head left and right


Goal: My character nodding his head up and down
Because of the 3/4 point of view, my left eye area is 80% weighed to the nose (AKA head-control) and right eye area is 100% weighed to the nose. This makes sense when rotating the head left and right.
Unfortunately, when I move the nose bone up and down, the right eye moves upwards way faster than the left eye.
How do I make sure that


both eyes move upwards/downwards at the same rate


but they move left/rightwards at a different rate because the image is a 3/4 point of view?
Also, if you have any general suggestions on how to improve the left/rightwards weights, I would appreciate if you let me know. (I've looked at the elderly lady video, which has been helpful.) Currently, I am still working on improving my left-right weights for the left-right head rotation. It still looks fine, but the eyes still need improvement during the left-right rotation.
Thanks for your help!

For now, there is likely no technique that can mimic independence of the X and Y value in a single Constraint. You may have to manually Translate, Rotate, and Scale the face bones and parent to an extra bone if you need a circular motion as well.

Thank you, skarasuko. That makes sense.

Unfortunately, if the eyes are at 3/4 they can't look perfectly due to the difference in size, because the smaller eye needs to distort to be enlarged on need. As skarasuko said, you'll likely need to manually set some keys to get the best results.