MMD Mother Bones Allow Easy Dancer Model Movement From Stage Center

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What are MMD Mother Bones in MikuMikuDance? Where is the Mother Bone in my MMD model? How do I use the Mother Bone in Miku Miku Dance?

Mother Knows Best … MMD Motherbones!

You’ve downloaded MMD. Now what?

As you have guessed right now, MMD is a VERY bare bones program. All you get is a cast of characters and a default stage and not much else.  None of the really cool stuff you see on YouTube. You now embark on literally DAYS of downloading models, stages, motion data, WAV files, accessories, effects etc. (NOTE: I highly recommend using WINRAR  or 7zip … See the Posts regarding fixing broken models by saving the original Japanese file names).  Downloading from sites you may or may not be familiar with e.g.: DeviantArt, Youtube, Nico Nico Douga,  Mediafire, BowlRoll, ad nauseum.

When you opened the first model you noticed that the square bone (kinematic bones {IK bones}) between the model’s thighs was highlighted (the Center).  You then went to the Bone Manipulation Menu clicked on Move and a hand and 2 arrows popped up on the Center.  You then clicked and TORTURED THAT POOR DEFENSELESS MODEL! DIDN’T YOU! SHAME ON YOU! But I digress.  Did you happen to notice that wherever you pulled the center, the model’s feet and ankles stayed drawn to the coordinate axis point.

Now what I really want to talk about: MMD Mother Bones. A model with a Mother Bone-also sometimes called a Master/Parent Bone will have a highlighted IK bone between the model’s feet and ankles. Models with (properly saved) Mother Bones allow you to move the entire model with one mouse click. So loading two or more models is a snap. To a noob like myself they are a great timesaver. Models with “improperly” saved Mother Bones allow you to move the bone … but the model doesn’t move with it … very frustrating!!

So look for models with Mother Bones.  If you find a new model without an MB sometimes you can contact the original creator and ask them (nicely) to upload a modified model. They might … or, they won’t.  Please respect the time, effort and vision of the artist. They ARE artists. Please respect and credit them for their work.

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– SEE BELOW for MORE MMD TUTORIALS…

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