Action Editor: Animations no longer work after renaming bones. #104055

New Issue

Alex · 2023-01-21T22:31:23+01:00

Alex commented

2023-01-21 22:31:23 +01:00

Information & Blender version
Windows 10, 64 bit, CPU integrated/no graphics card [doubt it's relevant but: AMD A8-7600 Radeon R7]
Broken Blender Version: 3.3.0, master, 2022-09-06, hash: 0759f671ce
No idea if it worked in a previous Blender version.

Description
This happens while using Action Editor and creating several actions to store different animations.
If at some point you rename bones, the action that is currently active will automatically update it's paths and continue to work, but any previous actions will not update their path and the animation will no longer play.

Fixing it requires either:

manually changing the name of each affected path through the graph editor.
Select the bone, select the affected channel under the action summary, temporarily change the name back to what it used to be, then change it again to the new name. This way the path gets updated.

Reproduce Error & File
You'll need to create at least 1 bone first.
Create an action [dope sheet/action editor] and make an animation.
Create a new action, make a new animation, and change the name of the bone. The action that is currently active continues to work, but any previous actions now have a broken path and no longer work.

In this file I made 2 actions with different animations, I had "Action 1" active while I renamed the bone form "Box" to "Bone". Now "Action 1" continues to work, while "Action 2" no longer plays.

For this test I changed the name of the bone while in pose mode through Bone Properties.

Important note: This seems to not happen all the time, I'm not sure why.
While making this file to recreate the issue, I first created both actions actions and animations, and I had "Action 2" active when I changed the bone's name from "Bone" to "Box". This seemed to create the error for a moment, but when I changed from "Action 2" to "Action 1" and back to "Action 2" it resolved itself and I was able to see both animations.
I then had "Action 1" active while I changed the name of the bone from "Box" to "Bone", and now the error persisted. [even after closing and reopening the file]

I made the test again with a new file [not attached] and the error persisted, I saved the file, closed it, and after re-opening the file the error was gone.
So it seems sometimes the paths get updated automatically and other times they don't.

BrokenActionTest.blend

**Information & Blender version** Windows 10, 64 bit, CPU integrated/no graphics card [doubt it's relevant but: AMD A8-7600 Radeon R7] Broken Blender Version: 3.3.0, master, 2022-09-06, hash: 0759f671ce1f No idea if it worked in a previous Blender version. **Description** This happens while using Action Editor and creating several actions to store different animations. If at some point you rename bones, the action that is currently active will automatically update it's paths and continue to work, but any previous actions will not update their path and the animation will no longer play. Fixing it requires either: 1) manually changing the name of each affected path through the graph editor. 2) Select the bone, select the affected channel under the action summary, temporarily change the name back to what it used to be, then change it again to the new name. This way the path gets updated. **Reproduce Error & File** You'll need to create at least 1 bone first. Create an action [dope sheet/action editor] and make an animation. Create a new action, make a new animation, and change the name of the bone. The action that is currently active continues to work, but any previous actions now have a broken path and no longer work. In this file I made 2 actions with different animations, I had "Action 1" active while I renamed the bone form "Box" to "Bone". Now "Action 1" continues to work, while "Action 2" no longer plays. For this test I changed the name of the bone while in pose mode through Bone Properties. **Important note: This seems to not happen all the time, I'm not sure why.** While making this file to recreate the issue, I first created both actions actions and animations, and I had "Action 2" active when I changed the bone's name from "Bone" to "Box". This seemed to create the error for a moment, but when I changed from "Action 2" to "Action 1" and back to "Action 2" it resolved itself and I was able to see both animations. I then had "Action 1" active while I changed the name of the bone from "Box" to "Bone", and now the error persisted. [even after closing and reopening the file] I made the test again with a new file [not attached] and the error persisted, I saved the file, closed it, and after re-opening the file the error was gone. So it seems sometimes the paths get updated automatically and other times they don't. [BrokenActionTest.blend](https://archive.blender.org/developer/F14181945/BrokenActionTest.blend)

Alex commented

2023-01-21 22:31:23 +01:00

Added subscriber: @Aei-2

Philipp Oeser commented

2023-01-23 10:45:18 +01:00

Added subscriber: @lichtwerk

Philipp Oeser commented

2023-01-23 10:45:18 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs Triage' to: 'Needs Developer To Reproduce'

Philipp Oeser commented

2023-01-23 10:45:18 +01:00

Hm, this is not really a bug if I understand correctly.

While blender makes sure the name gets updated more or less everywhere it is used (see ED_armature_bone_rename), it is a different beast for this to go through all actions (that are not used)

NOTE: BKE_animdata_fix_paths_rename_all uses BKE_animdata_from_id -- but that only gives us the currently assigned action

I am not sure going through actions that are currently not in use and giving them the same treatment is a good idea.
How would blender know if this action is even intended to work on this ID/armature?

NOTE: as a workaround, you could still go in and manually rename the (red underlined, invalid) channels in the dopesheet to the new bone name and they should happily resume to a working state afterwards. To be 100% sure, you might have to call Channel > Revive Disabled F-Curves

So imho, this is not a bug, but will set to "Needs Information from Developers" so we can get proper feedback from the #animation_rigging module

Hm, this is not really a bug if I understand correctly. While blender makes sure the name gets updated more or less everywhere it is **used** (see `ED_armature_bone_rename`), it is a different beast for this to go through all actions (that are **not used**) NOTE: `BKE_animdata_fix_paths_rename_all` uses `BKE_animdata_from_id` -- but that only gives us the currently assigned action I am not sure going through actions that are currently not in use and giving them the same treatment is a good idea. How would blender know if this action is even intended to work on this ID/armature? NOTE: as a workaround, you could still go in and manually rename the (red underlined, invalid) channels in the dopesheet to the new bone name and they should happily resume to a working state afterwards. To be 100% sure, you might have to call `Channel` > `Revive Disabled F-Curves` So imho, this is not a bug, but will set to "Needs Information from Developers" so we can get proper feedback from the #animation_rigging module

Brad Clark commented

2023-01-23 17:06:57 +01:00

Added subscriber: @BClark

Brad Clark commented

2023-01-23 17:06:57 +01:00

This falls under remap or re-target actions between armatures. I am not yet sure of the best way to do this yet but it is on my list for the NLA roadmap.

Currently if the action is stashed/stored with the NLA and linked to the armature, when you rename a bone it updates the action.
If an action is just in the scene with no way to know or be linked to the armature then it won't update with the name change.

This falls under remap or re-target actions between armatures. I am not yet sure of the best way to do this yet but it is on my list for the NLA roadmap. Currently if the action is stashed/stored with the NLA and linked to the armature, when you rename a bone it updates the action. If an action is just in the scene with no way to know or be linked to the armature then it won't update with the name change.

Brad Clark commented

2023-01-23 17:08:39 +01:00

*so the current workflow without a custom rename script would be to attach all the actions to an armature and then rename the bone.

Alex commented

2023-01-24 18:48:40 +01:00

Thank you for looking into this and explaining the reasoning for why it behaves the way it does, as well as other workflows to look into!
I didn't know about stashing/storing with the NLA. I don't really know about animation yet, I am using these actions for rigging the face, using the action constraint.

Is there a better place to ask how to link/attach actions to an armature? I didn't realize they were not linked, does it work just by stashing them in the NLA?

Thank you for looking into this and explaining the reasoning for why it behaves the way it does, as well as other workflows to look into! I didn't know about stashing/storing with the NLA. I don't really know about animation yet, I am using these actions for rigging the face, using the action constraint. Is there a better place to ask how to link/attach actions to an armature? I didn't realize they were not linked, does it work just by stashing them in the NLA?

Brad Clark commented

2023-01-24 22:38:05 +01:00

Changed status from 'Needs Developer To Reproduce' to: 'Confirmed'

Brad Clark commented

2023-01-24 22:38:05 +01:00

I am marking this confirmed as it is what happens but not sure it falls under a bug.

It should work by stashing them from the action editor, the stash button is next to the action name. Once stashed you can see them in the NLA editor.

I am marking this confirmed as it is what happens but not sure it falls under a bug. It should work by stashing them from the action editor, the stash button is next to the action name. Once stashed you can see them in the NLA editor.

Alex commented

2023-01-25 01:11:24 +01:00

However you guys proceed with this, thank you for looking into it, I may wish it updated automatically, but you are the ones that have to know if it could break things elsewhere.
Thank you for letting me know of a different way to deal with the issue I was running into, I'll start stashing my actions.

However you guys proceed with this, thank you for looking into it, I may wish it updated automatically, but you are the ones that have to know if it could break things elsewhere. Thank you for letting me know of a different way to deal with the issue I was running into, I'll start stashing my actions.

Philipp Oeser removed the

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Action Editor: Animations no longer work after renaming bones. #104055