Animate2 vs Timeline Control?
So I know I can bake an animation block to the timeline...and that shifts control over to the timeline or in my case keymate. When this is done, I can't seem to add aniblocks anymore...they have no effect on the character. So is there a way to restore control of a character back to Animate2?
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Hi. Once you bake the keyframes to timeline, make sure to delete the aniblock or it will cause problems and you won't be able to tweak the keys effectively. It can also delete the baked keys on the timeline and reset your figure back to 0. I use Graphmate after that to clean up any jerky movements (delete a number of keys in that area, which will stand out from the other keys as a raised or lowered part of the graph curve) and then you will see a smoother motion. I don't know why more people aren't doing this. It's quite easy once you have the tools and understand what keyframes do, how to tweak them, and get away from Animate once you have an aniblock baked. I am getting professional results now this way and its quick. No need to use Carrara, Max or Maya, but it would be nice if they would update the timeline to have more features as in those high-end programs.
You can add facial expressions as a subtrack in Animate2, after you bake the body movements, or during the intitial grouping. I prefer to add them later, then bake them with the body bake so I have a complete figure that I can tweak, if needed, in graphmate.
Here are the cool things that a lot of people may not realize - Once you get Graphmate (I hardly ever use Keymate, don't need it) and Animate 2, then buy some aniBlocks (mo-cap) you can cut the parts you need in Animate2 and create your own motions, save them as a new aniBlock (which works about half the time so test each one, as I do for BVH files) and then you can reuse the aniBlocks you made in the same way. You can also make your own aniBlocks from morphed motion you create, something unique to Daz! The Split Aniblock tool in aniMate2 is great. There is also a graph, which works fine if you blow it up. Not sure why the program didn't write this out but here goes- TO BAKE THE KEYS TO THE TIMELINE- right click on the darker gray bar near the icons in Graphmate2. Use the defaults. TO FIND THE GRAPH- Click once on the blue track, then double click that. I have keymate, aniMate2, Timeline, and graphMate in one tab window group so they are all together and quick to access. I often run it across the bottom of BOTH screens as graphMate often freezes when I try to work within the graph window. Might be something on my end, but the workaround is the old Control-Alt-Delte, but don't state the Task Manager (PC). I wonder if anyone else has this problem. Anyway, with those 4 programs in one window, I just double click on the top of the window blue frame and this expands to full screen, so I can see a much larger graph. Don't really need it most of the time, but it does help refine the keys on tight curves.
Again, you can get professional results comparible to the high end programs in a fraction of the time and stay in Daz Studio, once you learn aniMate2 and graphMate, and understand the timeline. I mean, why build an entire scene, light it, and use the morphed cool characters you built up, then switch to another program for animation? That whole process has problems and takes time. The negatives with Daz Studio are that there are no physics (cloth and hair do not follow gravity and wind, so they sell conforming and other clothing to help, but for animations it requires sometimes frame by frame tweaking of the motion morphs, not a killer but it takes time and not as smooth as real physics) and the timeline itself could use updating so you can copy and paste sections, smooth areas, etc, without having to go into a separate graph program.
Hope this helps. If you have questions, let me know. Phil