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 couple poses!

This product is a Flash sticker, similar to my Animator, but designed to provide everything you need to make pose-spots for two avatars!
Here is a screen shot of the sticker - with the features enumerated:


How to make a couple pose

This product allows you to create poses for two IMVU avatars. To create a couple pose you move the bones around with the mouse until you like the pose. For greater precision in your pose-making, you can experiment with activating the checkboxes at the top left.
-Body mesh (1) will display the mesh in wireframe.
-Gizmo (2) shows the Gizmo (17): 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 (16) 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 (3) places the current bone in the centre of the view and keeps it there.
-Zoom (4) Moving the mouse up and down will zoom rather than rotate the view. You can always zoom by using the mousewheel.
-Free joints (5) 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 (18). To see the avatars 'square on' from the front, back, left, right, top or bottom, press one of the 'view' buttons (6). The Hide (7) and Show (8) buttons allow you to work on just one avatar at a time (Hide hides the active avatar).

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. You can then use 'Reset bone' (9) to return that bone to its default position. If you wish to save your work to continue at some other time, click on Save (14) and Load (15) to save and load files in the native '.iaf' format.


Getting the couple pose into the Previewer

Let's say you've made a couple pose, and you're happy with it:


Now it's time to export the files you need and load them into the previewer. You need to export four files: namely two XAFs, one XMF and one XSF! So here it is step-by-step:

1) Click the XAF button (11). XAF files are the ones that actually contain the poses, so you will be exporting two of them - one for the red avatar and one for the blue avatar. Do this twice, to save both Red.xaf and Blue.xaf.
2) Click the XMF button (12). This will prompt you to save a 'mesh' file containing the single plane you need to have a marker on the floor. Whenever you export the xmf file from this tool, it is exactly the same file, called floorMesh.xmf.
3) Click the XSF button (13). This will prompt you to save a 'skeleton' file - but here the word skeleton has nothing to do with the avatar skeletons per se. The XSF file is the file that ties together all the different parts of the product (i.e. the pose-spot). It also contains the information about where the handles go (the blobs you click on to make you avatar go to a spot), so you will be asked where you would like the handles to go in relation to the avatars' bodies.

Once you have the four files (by default called Red.xaf, Blue.xaf, floorMesh.xmf and skeleton.xsf) open up the previewer. If you would like to automate speech bubbles, please derive from this product, otherwise derive from the default furniture (Floor). Either way, a grey chair will appear =)



In the previewer, click on the 'Geometry' tab, and browse to your mesh file (floorMesh.xmf). Apply changes, and the chair will disappear, leaving only its shadow. If you now go to the 'Materials' tab you can 'retexture' the shadow just as you would with any other product, to make a custom marker for the ground. I have not done that here for expediency's sake.



Next, click on the 'Special' tab and browse to your skeleton file (skeleton.xsf). Apply changes. You won't see much change, expect that the handles will appear in the right places when you move your mouse near them.



Now you have to load in your poses. Go to the 'Actions' tab. - Underneath where it says 'Actions' click the 'Add' button.
- In the text box marker 'trigger', type exactly stance.Red, paying attention to the capital letters.
- In the box marked '# ensembles played' type the number 0.
- In the red part, where it says 'skeletal animation', browse to the file Red.xaf.
- Activate the 'disable gaze' check box.

Once you have done this, click on 'Add' again and repeat the steps for the blue avatar. That means the trigger name must be 'stance.Blue', and the file you browse to should be 'Blue.xaf'.

Apply changes. Assuming all is well, you can now click on each of the handles, and your avatar will assume the corresponding pose.



To see it in all its glory, you'll need to upload the product to the catalogue, so you can try it out with another avatar!

Embellishments

This product provides all the files you need to make static poses. If you wish to add facial expressions to the avatars, you will need to create XPF files for the facial morphs. A simple way of creating them is using my Facemaker. You then load the XPF files into the previewer along with the skeletal (XAF) pose files, by browsing to them in the part marked 'Morph animation'.
If you would like to animate the couple poses, you can animate one at a time by saving your couple pose and then opening it in my Animator. The two poses will be placed in the first and last frame of the single avatar. From there, you can take one pose and use it as the basis of an animation. Note that if you load a file saved in the Animator into the Couple Poser, only the first frame of the animation will be used, and you will be asked which avatar you would like to use for that pose.


This product is fully working on the day that I uploaded it, 1st March 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!