Hiding vs Different Layer

I had never used layers in Blender before this course, so I'm a bit unfamiliar. Usually, you put things on different layers to hide them briefly. In this video at around the 10:15 mark, you put one bone on a different layer to hide it temporarily and then you hide a couple of other bones just using "hide." What was the reasoning behind the two different methods? Is it personal preference or do these two actions have different effects overall that would change which one you choose?

  • Adrian Bellworthy replied

    Hey ssebhelgeson,

    When Wayne uses the H key to hide a bone it is only temporary, to make it easier to select the correct bone.

    Using layers, such as when Wayne moves the MCH bones to another layer, is because the animator never needs to use the MCH bones whilst animating and this layer won't be selected and therefore the bones are not visible.
    If the animator wanted to hide a bone temporarily, with H and then subsequently unhide with ALT+H, without using layers all those bones that are not needed by the animator would also reappear.
    Imagine this in a more complex rig with lots more MCH bones.

    Having the Root on layer 16, the body on 1, the top and bottom on 2, and the spin on 3, suggests Wayne has OCD when it comes to neat and tidy organization, which is a good thing.

    It basically comes down to organization and making the rig easier to use by the animator. The rigger and animator are not always the same person.

    2 loves
  • Wayne Dixon replied

    Hi Seb,
    I don't recall the exact circumstances in the video but Adrian is spot on.

    Most of the time, H and alt-H might be suitable.  However, if there are a bunch of things that are already hidden....alt H is not a riggers friend.  You will be forever hiding and unhiding the same bones.