Please note that in order to use this sticker you have to put your page in preview mode.
You must also have a recent version of the Flash player - it must be Version 10.0.0.0 or better. To see what version you have, please go to the Abode version test page, and update your player if necessary. If you find a bug, please let me know by hitting 'help' and posting about it in the forum. Many thanks!!
Make poses and animations!
This product is a Flash sticker, similar to my Animator, but stacked full of all-new features for higher-powered computers:
-See the mesh in wireframe! No more scrunched up shoulders and twisted wrists!
-Save directly to file! No need to cut and paste code!
-Each bone has its own track! No more full-skeleton keyframes!
-Two independent timelines for skeletal and morph animations ! Incorporate moving facial expressions!
-Improved view handling!
-Export all bones or only selected bones for partial poses!
-Easy keyframe editing! Copy keyframes easily or move them along the timeline!!
-MUCH MUCH MORE!!
Here is a screen shot of the sticker - with the features enumerated:
Please look at the 'Bits and Pieces' section below for a complete description.
How to make a pose
This product allows you to create poses and animations for IMVU avatars. To create a pose you move the bones around with the mouse until you like the pose, set the duration (19), and then click the XAF button (15). This will prompt you to save a the XAF file corresponding to the pose to your hard drive, so you can then use it in the previewer.
For greater precision in your pose-making, you can experiment with activating the checkboxes at the top right.
-Body mesh (1) will display the mesh in wireframe.
-Auto hide (2) is not used in poses (but in animations - see below)
-Gizmo (3) show the Gizmo (30): three bands on the X, Y and Z axis, that allow you to rotate bones along one axis only. The PelvisNode has its own gizmo (29) for moving the avatar around - it is in the form of three arrows that appear above the avatar's head when the PelvisNode is selected.
-Centre bone (4) places the current bone in the centre of the view and keeps it there.
-Zoom (5) Moving the mouse up and down will zoom rather than rotate the view. You can always zoom by using the mousewheel.
-Free joints (6) Removes all restriction of movement on different types of joints.
While you are working on your pose, it is useful to rotate the view. Do this by clicking and dragging on the background (32). To see the avatar 'square on' from the front, back, left, right, top or bottom, press one of the 'view' buttons (7).
When you roll you mouse over a bone it turns yellow. If you click on it, it stays yellow, to indicate that it is selected.
To select more than one bone, hold down Ctrl as you click on the bones. To select the entire sub-tree, click on a bone while holding down Ctrl and Shift. For example, to select the whole arm and hand, click on the should bone while holding down Ctrl and Shift. To select the entire avatar you click on the PelvisNode with these keys held down.
If you have made a selection, you can use 'Reset sel[elected] bones' (8) to reset the bones marked in yellow. Sel[ection] to keyframe' (9) will include the positions of selected bones in the current keyframe - which in the case of poses is always zero. Clear selection (10) clears the selection, turning all bones from yellow back to red.
If you wish to save your work to continue at some other time, click on Save (17) and Load (18) to save and load files in the native '.iaf' format.
How to make an animation
Making an animation is a lot like making a pose. But instead of making a single body position in a single frame, you make a series of positions for the bones in different frames. When the animation runs, the bones move between each set position over time, creating an animation.
To create an animation, make an initial pose, and then move the Current Frame Marker (26) to a new frame and create a new pose there. When you click Play (20) the avatar will move between the two poses, in the form of an animation.
Do this for as many frames as you like. Frames in which a bone is set are known as 'keyframes'.
If you have the Mesh visible during playback, your computer has to work hard. If you do not have a fast computer, it may have trouble keeping up with all the calculations, so please close and programs you do not need open at that time. Other thing you can try are activating the 'Hide mesh' checkbox, which hides the mesh during playback, and only shows it when the avatar is static, or you can change the play quality (13) to a lower setting which is less taxing in the computer.
You can move keyframes around by selecting them and dragging them. To select them, draw a rectangle around them with the mouse. Selected frames turn green. If you hold Shift down as you drag them, you will copy them rather than move them.
How to add facial expressions
This animator contains separate timelines for skeletal (27) and facial (28) animations. In order to synchronise facial expressions with body movements, you must first load all the expressions you wish to use into the Animator, in the form of XPF files.
The simplest way of creating XPF files for facial morphs is to use my Facemaker. You might create a set of XPF files, such as 'smile', 'kiss' and 'lookLeft' which you can then use in the Animator.
In the Morph menu (11) select 'Load morph xpf' and load your individual xpf files, each in turn. They will then be available in the menu for placement in any frame of the animation. Note that the menu contains two other options: repose (blank expression) and no morph (removes a previously selected expression).
When you click on the XPF button, the Animator will prompt you to save an XPF file that represents a face morphing between the fixed expressions you indicate on the timeline.
How to make a triggered pose
(i) In the previewer, derive from something (such as the Empty Clothing product).
(ii) Click on the ‘Actions’ tab.
(iii) In the ‘Actions’ box, click on ‘Add’.
(iv) Next to where it says ‘Trigger:’ type in a trigger word.
(v) Where it says ‘.XAF’, browse to your XAF file. (Do the same for your XPF files if you have made facial expressions.)
(vi) Where it says ‘Composition’, select ‘Replace’.
(vii) Activate the box that says ‘Disable Gaze’.
(viii) Click 'Apply Changes'.
(ix) Click the ‘Play Action’ button to preview your animation.
How to make pose-spots
Please see this thread. If you would like to include speech bubbles with your pose or animation spot, please see this product.
This product is fully working on the day that I uploaded it, 8th February 2010, and I put it here in good faith, having every reason to believe it will work in perpetuity. However, if IMVU should happen to change something about the way Flash stickers work, or anything else should occur (such as but not limited to updates in the Flash player or web browsers) to break this program in a way that I cannot fix, by buying or gifting this item you agree that I am not responsible for that eventuality.
Have fun!
((hugs))