Issue with Adding Keys to Multiple Skins Simultaneously

Pentacles

Hi !

I'm experiencing an issue with my character animations in Spine. I use multiple skins for the eyes, each with its own animation clips (I am aware this is not recommended, but it is necessary for my project). I also have eye blink animations that move these clips for each skin. Until recently, everything worked correctly.

Previously, when I checked the "Show all skin attachments" option (The name can be different though, it's "Afficher toutes les pièces jointes d'habillage" in French), it displayed all the clips in the timeline (which is still the case), and I could add a key to the timeline for all the clips at once. This allowed me to synchronize the animations across all skins. The key would be added for all skins in the timeline.

However, this functionality no longer works as before. Now, adding keys only affects the currently displayed skin (even if other skins are pinned, whereas before I didn't even need to pin them). It no longer applies to all the clips simultaneously as it did before.

To test, I tried doing the same with "mesh deform," and I get the same result: the key only adds to the currently displayed skin in Spine.

I'm not sure if this is a bug or a change in functionality. If I'm not mistaken, you changed the animation mode functionality while working on physics a bit, no ?

In any case, thank you in advance for your support and your hard work.

Spinebot

It sounds like you're encountering an issue with keying multiple skins simultaneously in Spine. Based on the provided contexts, here are some insights and potential solutions:

Skins and Keying: Skins in Spine are designed to allow different sets of attachments to be used with the same skeleton and animations. When an animation shows an attachment, it is the skin placeholder that is keyed, not the specific attachment. This allows animations to be reused across different skins.
Keying Multiple Skins: Previously, you were able to add keys to all skins simultaneously by using the "Show all skin attachments" option. This functionality seems to have changed, and now keys are only added to the currently displayed skin.
Possible Bug or Change in Functionality: This change in behavior could be due to a bug or an intentional change in the software. There have been discussions and issues reported regarding similar problems, such as hidden keyframes on the timeline and issues with keying attachment visibility.
Workarounds and Recommendations:
- Pinned Skins: Ensure that all relevant skins are pinned in the Skins view. This might help in making sure that the keys are applied to all the necessary skins.
- Linked Meshes: Consider using linked meshes under skin placeholders in different skins. This can help in managing multiple skins more efficiently.
- Manual Keying: As a temporary workaround, you might need to manually add keys for each skin if the automatic keying functionality is not working as expected.
Further Assistance: If the issue persists, it might be helpful to check for any updates or patches that address this specific problem. Additionally, reviewing the Spine User Guide sections on skins, skin placeholders, and linked meshes might provide more insights.

For more detailed information, you can refer to the following resources:

I hope this helps in resolving the issue you're facing with keying multiple skins simultaneously.

Pentacles

As I'm pretty sure it's not that much clear ...Here is picture that show it, because one picture is worth a thousand words, right ?

After a click on the green key :

Where before (Haven't used it since a long time so I can't say for sure when) it would have done :
(I've done it manually by swapping active skin)

Misaki

Pentacles As Spinebot replied, this is actually the behavior that was changed because it was problematic. This change was added in 4.1.14:
https://esotericsoftware.com/spine-changelog#v4-1-14
(What you call the "green key" is actually called the Key shown button.)

Here is the issue ticket when we fixed this behavior:
EsotericSoftware/spine-editor712

By the way, did you know that it is not recommended to use the deform key very often? It appears that you are animating a large number of clipping attachments with the deform keys, but I would recommend instead that you bind the clipping attachments to bones and animate them by transforming the bones. See the following section of the User Guide for more information on why using deform keys is not recommended:
https://esotericsoftware.com/spine-keys#Deform-keys

Pentacles

Misaki
OMG, I just discovered that clipping mesh can have weight too 😱
I don't know why but I though it couldn't have weight. I was sure of it !

Okay, I'm gonna need a rework on everything 🫨
Oh my god this will be so much easier !!
Thanks a lot.

Misaki

Pentacles Ah, I see. Yes, the fact that clipping attachments can be weighted may be hard to notice!
To clarify: All attachments that have vertices, including path attachments and bounding box attachments, can be attached to bones and weighted.

I am glad to hear that my answer helped you. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask here. 🙂