This is where I started my research on setting pivots as I couldn't understand how to edit the pivot on a peg layer. This is because pegs have their own pivot points. You'll notice now that when you select any of the peg layers, the pivot is in the center of your scene and not where you set them on the drawing layer. Making sure the Pivots are Correct Across the Timeline of your Character Build: (If you're using Animate Pro, you will just need to reorder the connections (compositing order) in the network, very visual and user friendly.) You must make sure your animate button is ON when you're animating and OFF when you're not, otherwise you are going to hate yourself later. I basically just remember to hit up when I want down and down when I want up.) AND MAKE SURE THAT THE ANIMATE BUTTON IS OFF WHEN YOU ALTER THE Z DEPTH! This is pretty important.
(Conversely, to nudge a layer up, I would hit ATL + down. I am using Toonboom Animate so to place an element further away on the Z depth, (for example nudge the hand under the forearm), I'll select that drawing layer and then hit ALT + up. Elements will most likely not be ordered properly at this point. You will have to make sure the Z depth is set properly for each layer. rotation) of each element in a hierarchical system via the pegs!
Now you have the ability to select the pegs OR the drawing layers and you may squash/stretch/skew on the drawing layer, but animate the position (e.g. To put it back into a hierarchy, you will want to drag the PEG of the hand to the peg of the forearm, and the peg of the forearm to the peg of the upper arm. So now each drawing layer is outside of a hierarchy. So you will want to take those 3 arm elements out of it's hierarchy, then select all 3 drawings and hit on the "add peg" button to add pegs to each drawing layer. rotation) of each of these drawings, but what happens when you want to skew, squash or stretch a single layer that has a child that you don't want to squash? For example, squashing the forearm but not the hand? You will want to be able to manipulate each piece of the hierarchy separately and individually. If you set up a basic arm hierarchy, for example, with a hand parented to a forearm and that forearm parented to the upper arm, and the pivots are set properly on each drawing with the pivot tool, you will easily be able to animate the position (e.g. Now here is some important and valuable information right here. So, You want to Alter a Single Layer that has a Child that you don't want to Alter? I've actually found that it's far easier to do this when using Animate and not Animate Pro. Meaning separate templates for front, 3/4 front, side, 3/4 back, back views. * Sometimes as an alternative, some people will dodge needing to set drawing level pivots by separating the various views into their own hierarchies. (right?) So, the time that it's most important to set a pivot on the drawing layer is when you have multiple views on the same timeline. from front view to 3/4 front view), and the position of the hand changes, the pivot will be correct for those hands since their pivot is also on the drawing layer. But when you swap to a different view, (e.g. The reason this is useful: When you have a character rig/build and there is for example a hand layer with multiple hands, the pivot point will be correct on all the hands if they overlap in the right spot. You may use the pivot tool to set a pivot point on drawing layers. There are multiple ways of doing pivots and multiple layers of pivots: * Don't forget to check out my previous Toonboom Tips on Symbols in Flash vs. That was great advice, but it's not like it's got to be that way. The first time I started using Toonboom in 2008 I was told to always animate on the peg layers, not the drawings. I was animating a character and was having difficulty understanding what was going on with the pegs. Admittedly, now that I've been using Toonboom to build a few rigs and animate some characters, I realise that the information I'm about to write about here is just about the first thing I should have learned about.