QAvimator to Poser

Hi, I'm about to start using Poser, been working QAvimator but I can’t get a decent walk created like I want. So I was wondering what tips you experienced/helpful animators in Poser can give me for the transition from one program to the other. Is there special downloads I need to use in SL?
Anything would be helpful!



Thanks so much in advance.

Hi Jasckson,
First you should check this link for reference and obtaining SL Poser ready avatars. (dont need those for Qavimator)
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Using_Poser_5

Here is my observations with Poser/Qavimator.
Considering that you are using BVH files, switching from one app to another would be no problem (LL Have Poser ready male/female models for download).
Problem with BVH files is that when you save them in BVH upon importing them back to qavimator/poser you will loose keyframes (used for making computed interpolation of movements from one keyframe to another). Meaning, that to change anim from bvh you will have to edit each frame in between keyframes. That also means, that you will lose posibility for using curves for tweaking animations in Poser.
Speaking of which, when animating in Poser, make sure you save it as PZ3 scene, so that you preserve keyframes for anim, instead of just exporting them to BVH. Make a mental note: BVH kills it all, leaving only skeleton details, and interpolation data between key frames while native application extensions (pz3 or avm if using Qavimator) leaves you with everything intact.
Speaking of Poser animations, what i have noticed while working with walk designer (btw, prolly one of easiest way to make walk cycles) is to make sure that you turn of IK (Inverse kinematics)for legs. IK really helps you moving hip for specific poses such is crouching and such, so that your legs dont fall down through floor (note to animation geeks, this would be simplest explanation of IK i can think of, i know its more complicated that that ), so that you avatar doesnt look stucked in ground when you export to SL. If you leave it for SL char on, when you import animation, it will be totally different than Poser result (actually, i havent tested it recently, but last time i left it on in Poser legs were overlapping on walking/running cycles upon uploading it in SL).
Poser also feature one great option that lots of people forget to turn on, called Auto balance. VERY usefull if you pose character in 3d view with translation tools in poser, so Poser will even rest of the body according to character motion. Try it, when you get hold of it you will be amazed by results.
As of joint limits,i usually leave them limited, as SL mesh is low poly (way low polly if you ask me), and overkilling joint movements would lead to crazy mesh destruction. If you dont overkill, you can get away with limits off, and not so noticable mesh deformation in SL.
As of Qavimator, its free, great to work with, but lacks of advanced features. It has some IK support, but not very sophisticated as in rest of animation software. Dont get me wrong, its GREAT software, just bit limited if you are looking for advanced features. And also, windows version is not updated that offten as *nix version of it.

That would be in short my 2 cents about them, hope you will find it usefull.

Hi Jackson - in response to your question about walks...

Most walks in SL seem to be based on those in the Poser library. So once you have downloaded the SL avatar, you can use that figure with the Poser library walks and modify them to get the walk you wanted.