Space Switch Process

Warning :
While Space switch can do wonderful things in akeytsu, please keep in mind that it’s still a constraint and it can only stay in akeytsu.
We advise you to carefully hierarchize your joints. For example, props like a sword are better when parented under the root than a wrist, especially if you intend to throw sword in the air or plant it in the ground.
Also, always export your work in a compatible framerate with your target engine. This will avoid tier softwares to auto-interpolate (which rarely leads to stable results)

Define your available spaces into Rigging mode…

As a case in point, we are going to animate a classic juggling act, making use of Space Switching in Akeytsu.

In Rigging Mode - and in Bind Pose, we’ll start by defining possible spaces. Click space icons opposite to joints in Picker to enable them as available spaces. For juggling we’ll activate Wrist_R, Wrist_L and Root.

… And then start to play with space switch directly in your animations!

Switch over to Animation Mode and start a new animation.

Concerning the joint we want to space switch (in our case ⇒ Potion_Healing) we will position our object at the desired place (in our case ⇒ the hand). Once the object is correctly positioned, we’ll change the Space (through the Space Switch channel in the transform window of the potion)

Changing the space for our current controller will automatically open the Space Switch dialog, where we’ll set the space we want to switch our potion (here - Wrist_R).

And that’s it! Now, on this keyframe, the potion will follow the hand.

To ease the process and give a better feedback :
- If you’ve selected a layer where one joint’s space changes, you’ll see a link/space switch icon on the key where the space changes into the Stacker and Timebar as well as into the Picker onto the concerned controller.
- If you don’t select the joint which changes on this layer, you’ll still get the feedback (in order to inform you that, in the current stacker, there’s — at least — one joint/controller that space switches). The icon will also be greyed out.

When you change a space, it’s like changing transforms : if you change it only on one key, the space will change only on this key. Akeytsu will warn you with a new space switch icon on the next following keyframe, it’s normal : your space should remain untouched.
Also, when you create a new keyframe, the space assigned will be the one your joint already uses

If you create a key from an existing key, then your new key will keep the existing space.
When the same controller is used in several layers : if you slide a key with a Space change, or change the space of a key that has not fully corresponding pile of keys across all layers, then akeytsu will warn you on other layers with a : “!”
When you copy/paste transforms, space switch channel is also taken in account
The copy/paste still relies on the bind/ref pose
If objects you copy doesn’t have the same world transforms in the bind (or ref) pose, then copy/paste won’t magically place them at the same world transforms even if objects gets space-switched to the same joint

There' an exception : if the new key get created at a time where another space switch is active (on a different layer for example), the existing space will prevail ! This way all your existing transforms remains untouched.

In our juggling animation, we used 3 space switch keyframes.

The Potion joint is parented (by default, here) to the Root joint. The Potion joint is first space switched to the Wrist_R joint, then to the Root joint (“flying” period) and finally to the Wrist_L joint (plus a loop key at the end).

Of course, you can update the space of existing keyframes. In order to do that, select your keyframe, go into the Transform window and click on the Space Switch channel. That will open the Space Switch dialog, where you’ll be able to redefine your space.

Enjoy !