Toolkit – Animated Couples Poses

Description

In this exercise we take a look at using the IMVU Toolkit for Blender to create a pair of animated avatar poses. While the Toolkit is not specifically designed to do this, creating a matched avatar pairing is possible by duplicating the main control rig and using it as a proxy, a second rig we can use to create new, or modify existing, animated action sequences that can be exported to FBX. In addition, any furniture or room will need to be set up to accommodate custom poses.

Duration: total c. 50 mins (00:50:00).
Info: 1080p.
Suitability: Beginner+.
Source: KatsBits – Toolkit Animated Couples Poses (c. 10 MB | *.blend, *.fbx, *.png).
Product ID: Animated Couples (68735787) | Animated Couples Facing (68736049).

Download: KatsBits – Couples Pose File – *.blend includes two avatars preconfigured for ‘couples’ animation and poses. For use with the IMVU Toolkit for Blender v 1.1.4 or above.

Design note: some additional considerations to keep in mind when making animated couples poses using the Toolkit for Blender;

Initial Setup/Pose

Depending on what the poses are for a reference object or objects may need to be loaded in to the scene. Where this is necessary use Append to import key elements sufficient to pose the avatar/s against, for example the furniture item or room shell the avatars interact with, so the furniture or room mesh, and seat nodes the poses are for. This should be done after an Animation Tool instance has been loaded into the scene – click Append Animation File [1] then use Append [2] to bring in the references else the pose rig will reset the scene and remove what’s been brought in.

Where reference are needed load the Animation File first [1] and then Append [2] any meshes, seat and or root node objects – shown above a stool mesh, seat and root nodes have been appended around which the avatars would then be posed.

Select All

Regardless of any initial poses, when selecting the rig for proxy duplication, make sure to use Select » All [3], A, to ensure the Anim and Morph data elements are included. This can be verified in the Outliner by checking to see if the Anim and Morph entries are highlighted [4] and/or whether the avatar meshes distort out of shape when the selected objects are moved in the 3D Viewport – the avatar meshes should remain intact. If this is not done the proxy rig won’t work correctly.

Important: to avoid issues and conflicts it’s critical to duplicate the scenes contents as described rather than adding a new toolkit instance. In other words do not click Append Animation File again as this duplicates the underlying project structure, all that’s needed is the avatar and the corresponding control rig.

Make sure to Select All [3] to ensure the Anim and Morph [4] data blocks are included so the proxy rig works correctly.

Object Mode

If an avatar instance needs to be rotated, moved or positioned away from the master rig, always use the ‘proxy’, and ensure this is done in Object Mode [5], while the rig is highlighted orange; DO NOT do this type of manipulation in Pose Mode unless the pose is supposed to move relatively, i.e. the avatar is animated facing one direction then turning to another. Orientation is generally defined by seat nodes.

If an avatar needs to face a particular direction this can be done by manipulating the proxy rig in Object Mode [5], which is then match up to a corresponding seat node.

Action Type Trigger

Avatar poses are created relative to what they are supposed to do in IMVU. This typically means they are either interacting with each other, furniture or room seat nodes/pose spots. In practice this means actions are triggered when seat node is used, or if not set, they default to the avatars idle standing until a pose is triggered by typing a phrase, or from the avatar menu (when available) – poses and animations need to be set up specifically to do one or the other in Studio by setting the Action Type [6] appropriately for a given Action; when Avatar is set actions can be triggered using a word or phrase; when Room is set, or the option is left blank, actions automatically trigged when seat nodes are used.

Aside: in this context avatars are not ‘interacting’ as they would be when engaged in a ‘co-operative action‘, actions both avatars perform together when triggered through the avatar co-op menu (right-clicking an avatar), instead actions are activated as soon as a seat node is occupied.

Set the Action Type [6] to define whether a given action activates a custom pose automatically or when using a seat node.

Timestamps

Times are approximate;
– 00:00 : Overview
– 03:00 : Pose 1
– 10:00 : Pose 2 & Export
– 23:00 : Furniture Setup & Export
– 28:00 : Studio Assembly
– 34:00 : Pose 3 & 4, Furniture Setup
– 43:00 : Studio Assembly