Feature requests for new animation editor

Miriel, thanks for the feedback. I do know about this bug, and it will be fixed in 0.5.

I've released a new version of avimator. More details here:

/52/14/98675/1.html

This version supports a new save file format that stores keyframes.

I'm working on another new version that allows deleting of keyframes, setting FPS, turning on/off looping in playback, prompting to save on exit, and setting all frames of a loaded BVH as keyframes so that they can be edited at all, and various bugfixes. Check back in the Animations forum in a few days.

Allowing users of avimator to move keyframes along the timeline by dragging them around

Being able to delete keyframes and having the resulting animation adjust itself.

Are these 2 features in the pipeline for avimator?

Just curious

Avidly using avimator for my poses/animation needs.

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i like this animator also ...

but for me the missing feature is the ability to creat a pose
without the animator returning back to the first frame ...
and continually LOOPING ...

(unless there is something i missed )

when i created a sitting pose, i was expecting my av to stay seated
at the final frame.

but instead, my av automatically looped back to the first frame
of the sequence jumping me to standing ... then sitting ... then standing ...
and so on ...


can this animator be stopped on the last frame without looping?

looping is fne for walking and dancing moves etc ...
which i will create for myself with this program ,
because its nearly impossible to find dances that are completley seamless ...
which dont jerk or bounce around from the last frame of a sequence
to the first frame of it.


but it would be nice if this animator would be able to create
a pose that could just sit or lay down indefinitly



any comments to my comment will be appreciated

plus any info on another free animator i could try ...


GOOD JOB VINCE!!!



thanx


*´¨`·.¸¸.*Arsenic


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No, you have to loop your animation. Stopping means looping the exact same scene in animation. All you have to care is which frame should be looped. It is just the last frame, isn't it? See this animation guide's "The Basic Knowlege For Creating SL Animations"/"12. Uploading window"/"6".Just put down 100(%) in Im(%) field.

The new version I'm working on allows you to disable looping on playback.

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Seagel ...

Thankyou very much for your helpful hints and info ...

after several trys ... i set the upload at:

priority: 0
Loop: checked
in %: 100
out %: 100

and it worked fine ....



PLUS ...
on another point ...
when i have previously bought sitting and reclining poses/animations
(which cost @ L100), my AV was sitting, BUT it was
also hovering above the ground around mid-thigh level ...
if not higher


when i wrote to the creators of the anis about this
perplexing and unwanted levitation ... in each case i never got a reply

to me anyway, it is unconscionable that some vendors do not reply
regarding a legitimate complaint, let alone their creating and charging money
for sitting and reclining ani-poses that obviously hover unreasonably
off of the ground.

yes, you can test and or demonstrate animations on a stand,
but one can never be sure how they will work and look
AFTER one has purchased them.


SO ...
when i just now created my first sitting animation
using Vince's Animator, i made sure that the HIP level,
in the final sitting position frame was set at Y-Position -1.

**in Vince's Animator this gives the appearance
**that the AV is sitting a little below ground level
**because part of the lower hip and upper thigh disappeared from view

however when i uploaded the ani-pose to SL ...
the AV does appear to be sitting directly on top of the SL ground ...
(most of the time ... from most angles) ... instead of hovering way above it.

altho i will try Y-Postiion -2 to see if that setting will be even more accurate.


another factor ... about hovering *female sitting and reclining positions* are:
is that the models in the Animators are BAREFOOTED ...

however most girls (and some guys), wear hi-heeled shoes ...
which actually raises the avatar higher off of the ground on SL ...
which also raises their seated butts more off the ground


so my advice for animators of sitting and other reclinging poses,
is to take into account that while the animator model is bearfooted,
the avatar that will be using the pose, is actually wearing shoes and or heels.

consequently, feet and leg positions should be adjusted accordingly
for the avatar wearing shoes.

i mean ... paying attention to the little details will only improve
the creativity and quality of ones work ...
as well as the satisfaction of a paying customer.


n'est pas?


Arsenic ·.¸·:

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When you test your animation for levitation and such like that, try it with avatar shapes of varying heights. You'll find that some float above the ground, some sink into it. That's the bane of animators, and we really can't do a thing about it due to the way LL implemented custom animations. That may be why your vendor didn't reply... they can't really do anything about this, and they probably get this complaint a lot.

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Lex ...
my first reaction from reading your comment was to laff
while cynically thinking to myself ... this must be the animator
from whom i bought a few junky poses from ...


~wondering~ ... oh yeah!!! ... the model in Vince's Animator
is psychic, and knew exacty what the height of my Avatar is,
since the very first Animated Pose that i ever created
in a Poser Format for SL, didnt hover at all.


THIS I HAD TO SEE FOR MYSELF!!!!

so i immediately logged on to SL, and changed
the height of my avatar from 70 to 0 ...
(70 being the equivelant of 6feet, 4 inches)

and low and behold ... wouldnt you know ...

when i activated my animated sitting pose,
my avatar, now at the shortest height possible for my avatar,
sank halfway underground.


well Lex you were and are right! ...

and not only am i a little astonished by the outcome
of my little experiment, i also feel somewhat apologetic
for some of my comments above.


but after thinking about it for a moment ...
and bearing in mind, my not having any experience to speak of,
other than a little success with my first attempt
at making an animated-sitting pose ...

i think vendors of poses and animations then do have
the responsibility of informing thier customers,
that their Animations will only work with, OR are most effective
with just *Certain types of Avatars and or Sizes".

This, to eleviate any frustrations and feelings of being ripped off
on the part of the customer.

afterall, it is their creation and their product they are selling.
if they are getting complaints about it, then they should be prepared
to deal with them, if not to just stop selling it to unwitting customers.


*********************************
for example:
i bought a reclining female pose in whch the avatar is laying
on the ground on her stomach, slightly elevated by her elbos,
whilst slowly raising and lowering her legs.

it was a very well done animation to be sure ...
however the avatar hovered horizontally
approximately 3+ feet off of the ground,
as well as 3+ feet above any surface.

i wrote several times to the animator and didnt get a response.

i could send this pose to you, or a picture of it,
to see for yourself how useless it is
**********************************

vendors who do not repsond to legitimate inquiries
should not be in business on SL.

its a matter of curtesy, no matter what the response is.

besides, the attitudes of indifference by some vendors towards customers,
reflects more on SL than it does on them ...

this is the bane of customers like me

(but all this is another issue for another topic)


Lex ...
i do thank you for your comment ...
it was a revelation for me, as well as a learning experience



*´¨`·.¸¸.*Arsenic



on a final note ...
when and if i buy another pose, i will change the size of my av
when testing or demonstrating a pose prior to purchasing it ...
just to see if it does make any difference on the demo-posing stand ...

however, and withal "buyer beware", it would be a little too much
to ask of purchasers of poses, that they be required to do the same thing
everytime and for every animation or pose they would be interested in buying ...
(in my opinion)


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I don't see why any vendor should have to have any kind of disclaimer like this. It's kind of one of the things that goes without saying in SL: animations aren't perfect. Maybe lost of animation-shoppers don't know WHY they sometimes sink through the floor or float above it, but this kind of thing is something they're at least vaguely aware of.

A disclaimer like this on an animation will only serve to present the product in a weaker light. Only those animators that use a disclaimer like this will suffer from a weaker-seeming product. Considering that this applies to ALL animations, and it's an LL design decision rather than something that an animator chose to do, why should they have to do any kind of disclaimer?

That said, I think it might be cool to have "small, medium, and large" versions of an animation for sale, maybe even together, as a pack.

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i dont think so!
a product does not become weaker from an explanation ...
a weaker product is a product that fails to do what its supposed to do ...
(let alone luring customers into buying product that is obviously useless
by any standard)

if anything a Vendor and his Product become stronger,
as they endeavor to seek to improve their product,
as well as their image and their integrity.



i thought the very same thing yesterday after my previous post and experiment.

so i checked Vince's Animator to see if the size of the model
could be adjusted ... but, sad to say it cant be.




but you know ... if animators as a group ...
feel that they dont owe anything to their customers in the way of
curtesy, fair representations, or even warnings based on blaming
outside LL technology for possible errors ... do you really think that these
same groups of animators would be willing to go to all the extra trouble,
work, time and effort to make animations available to fit different
avatar sizes?

all that, when it would take less time to simply answer an im?

probably they would ... if it were profitable enuf for those with
Oil-Company-Profits-Mentality. And even then ... and more than likley ...
some of their same product would be just as inferior as before.

That is why Abramelin Wolfe / Abranimations is featured in my Profile.

When i previously had another question about Animations in the Forum,
in addition to the other responses, Abramelin *ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE*
personally contacted me thru IM to provide me with a solution to my issue.

he seemed to care ... he seemed to have integrity ... he also has good Product!
and i am grateful for his assistance.


i dont know, given everything that has been said in these last few posts ...
maybe its just that Abramelin is unique.


*´¨`·.¸¸.*Arsenic



PS TO VINCE:

i really enjoyed working with your Animator ...
i like the feautres of making the animation
as many frames as necessary, and the ability of
working it frame by frame, copy & paste,
and multi-dimensional viewing.

there are some minor aspects i will have to compensate for,
as i improve my technique, because on SL the animation
reacts slightly differently than on offline

i showed the results of my efforts to some frenz,
along with comparing it to other similar animations-poses that
we all have purchased ...

well, all i will say is that Vince's Animator and my animation both got high marks.

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I'll keep this short because it's not a feature request, so here goes. Vince, you rock my (pose) balls! Finishing a static animation from start to upload in ten minutes and having no silly Poser errors is brilliant. Working without an 'Undo' is kind of gestural (no pun intended) and in fact freeing, in a way, for a non-character animator like myself. GREAT WORK!

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i'll keep this short too

for added features i would recommend if possible

1. ability to change the height of the model/avatar

2. for optional use, a grid for detailing more precise movements and gestures

3. for optional use, making the ground transparent

4. the ability to save the finished animation at varying speeds
from slow to normal to fast, using a sliding or dialing tool ...
(regardless of the default fps setting)

5. the best feature of all, i wouldnt change ... that it doesnt cost $700


Arsenic ·.¸·:
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I would like to start a Big Cat Rescue in SL to raise awareness about the plight of the big cats in RL. I founded the world's largest exotic cat sanctuary called, Big Cat Rescue and have thousands of photos and videos of these magnificent cats. What I would like to see is someone who could bring them to life, like the Avatars, or perhaps even make them into Avatars, or perhaps animate them like the butterflies that follow an Avatar. They could be rented creating income for the person who helps me and their message about the real cats who are being rescued in RL would help me save more cats from extinction. Anyone got a lot of time and creative talent who wants to put it to use for a real cause that is saving tigers, lions, etc?

Why doesn't Vince's name show up under the people search!?

Oh well, I DLed it from google's cache of the webpage.

Oops, I forgot to mention that my last name was changed to Invincible... long story. This is my new SL name, and sorry for the confusion.

Welcome to SL!

lol... thanks!

Oh, hey, that's for that firefox thing, isn't it! Congrats on that, Mr. Invincible :D

Is he the one that won the mozilla contest thing?

I believe he solved one of Cory's challenges, yes.

I've just DLed Avmotion and love the easy interface. I've never used Poser before, but I know from working with other people's animations in my creature avs that Poser anims can be made with different priority levels on different body parts, and I don't see any way to do the same thing in Avmotion. I know it's a little-used feature, but tailoring priority levels to interact with SL's defaults is a great way to create a lively non-humanoid with a single pose rather than a full-blown a/o (and all the glitchiness and lag they entail). If there's no way to do this in Avmotion, is there a guide to .bvh files anywhere, telling which numbers to change?

bvh doesn't have priority information. And priority is not even the Poser's feature, but SL.
You can set priority on the uploading window. Set it at the max, 4 unless you have any idea. It will affect the parts you moved at the latter second frame. On the contrary, if you don't move some parts, those aren't affected, that is, they are set the lowest priority.
See this wiki, anyway.