{"id":422,"date":"2015-10-12T19:57:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-12T19:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/avastar.online\/?page_id=422"},"modified":"2015-10-12T19:57:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-12T19:57:02","slug":"my-first-animation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/reference\/my-first-animation\/","title":{"rendered":"My first Animation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10323\" title=\"splash\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/splash.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"320\" height=\"200\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">Here is how to create your first Animation using Avastar. I assume that you have a bit of experience with Blender. We will do a three frame animation. This is just to get you started, as your experience grows you will find there are much faster and fun ways to pose and animate your character. It&#8217;s assumed you&#8217;ve already installed Avastar.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"symple-box  yellow center \" style=\"text-align:left;\"> \n<strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Note:<\/span> <\/strong>Avastar supports .bvh and .anim format. Both formats are fully supported by all major viewers for OpenSim and compatible online worlds.<br \/>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Preparations<\/h3>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \">How to add a new Avastar Character<\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<h3>In Blender<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/93783928\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"create sl clone 1\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>Navigate to:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>add -&gt; Avastar -&gt; With Triangles<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">The Avastar character is based on the<br \/>\n<em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">SL Avatar definition files<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em>from <em>Linden Lab.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><div class='et-box et-info'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'>The Avastar is fully compatible with the character from Second Life and all similar online worlds like OpenSim for example.<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<div id=\"attachment_113\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/reference-001.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-113\" class=\"wp-image-113 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/avastar.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/reference-001-300x225.png\" alt=\"Create as new Avastar\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/reference-001-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/reference-001.png 513w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Create as new Avastar<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After a short time (typically 2-4 secs) a new Avastar character is created in the 3D View and at the current 3D cursor location .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rhcol span6\">\n<div id=\"attachment_152\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AvastarObject1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-152\" class=\"wp-image-152 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/avastar.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AvastarObject1-185x300.png\" alt=\"AvastarObject\" width=\"185\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AvastarObject1-185x300.png 185w, https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/AvastarObject1.png 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Avastar&#8217;s default Shape is compatible with SL&#8217;s default Shape.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Back in Second Life<strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>When you use Avastar&#8217;s default shape then you also need to test your work with a fresh created shape in SL.<\/p>\n<div class='et-box et-warning'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'>We do not use any of the Ruth shapes, because there is no clear definition what Ruth is. While there is an official definition of the default shape.<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<div id=\"attachment_154\" style=\"width: 195px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/default_shape.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-154\" class=\"wp-image-154 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/avastar.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/default_shape-185x300.png\" alt=\"default_shape\" width=\"185\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/default_shape-185x300.png 185w, https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/default_shape.png 288w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 185px) 100vw, 185px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-154\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The SL default Shape (Create new Shape).<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>In SL you create the default shape from your Inventory: (See image)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/new_shape.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-153 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/avastar.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/new_shape-300x126.png\" alt=\"new_shape\" width=\"300\" height=\"126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/new_shape-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/new_shape.png 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \"><strong>What else you should know<\/strong><\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<ul>\n<li>New Avastar characters can only be created when you are in Object Mode!<\/li>\n<li>A new character will be placed at the current 3D Cursor location.<\/li>\n<li>You can hide (&#8216;h&#8217;) or remove (&#8216;x&#8217;) not needed parts of the Avatar meshes (like the skirt or the hair for example) without breaking the tools.<\/li>\n<li>You can create as many characters as you like aside each other and so you can create multi-character animations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class='et-box et-warning'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class='et-box-content'>The character that you know from avatar.blend or from the workbench (sometimes also named &#8220;ruth&#8221;) looks different from the default Avastar character. this is not a mistake. Further explanations can be found in the <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/avastar\/compare-to-workbench\/\">Avastar vs. Workbench Skeleton<\/a> article.<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">Now we switch to Blender&#8217;s default <em>Animation screen<\/em>. You do this from the Top menu Bar.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Note:<\/span> <\/strong>Of course you can switch to whichever screen you prefer instead. But note that you will want access to the <em>Timeline<\/em>, the <em>3D View<\/em>, the <em>Dope Sheet<\/em> and the <em>Properties Editor<\/em>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7249 aligncenter\" title=\"first_steps_003\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/first_steps_003.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"241\" height=\"287\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \">Details about the Animation environment<\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">Here is an overview of Blender&#8217;s default animation screen:<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"animationScreen\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/animationScreen2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"271\" height=\"182\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>In the Dope Sheet switch the Mode from <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Dope Sheet<\/span> to <\/em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>Action Editor<\/em><\/span> with the pop up menu in the header.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint: <\/strong><\/span>If the Mode Popup menu does not appear, then move the mouse over the menu bar of the <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Dope Sheet<\/span> <\/em>window, then press middle mouse button and while keeping the MMB pressed, drag to the left side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"first_steps_004\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/first_steps_004.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"181\" height=\"144\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>In the <em>Action Editor mode<\/em> you can create new Actions. You find the corresponding popup menu in the Dope sheet menu bar:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/first_steps_005.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"first_steps_005\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/first_steps_005.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"62\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nPress the white plus sign to get a new action and name it &#8220;FirstAnimation&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Remind:<\/strong> <\/span>If you do not find the Actions menu on your screen, then MMB -&gt; drag to the left (as described above)<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint:<\/strong><\/span> you can edit the action name right inside the popup menu.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Adjust the timeline<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">On the <em>Timeline<\/em> click on the first frame of your animation, for this animation set it to zero. You can do that either by dragging the green progress indicator until the position indicator displays &#8220;0&#8221;, or by immediately typing &#8220;0&#8221; into the position indicator as marked on the image below.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint:<\/strong> <\/span>Use the scroll wheel on your mouse to zoom the timeline in and out and the middle mouse button (or hold down <em>Alt<\/em>) to pan.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7594 aligncenter\" title=\"timeline_overview\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/timeline_overview.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"476\" height=\"82\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Create the Start frame<\/h3>\n<p>I assume that you are still in Object mode now. In the <em>3D View<\/em> ensure that the armature is selected by right-click on one of the rings surrounding the avatar. The rings should now appear in bright orange.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">Then switch to <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Pose Mode<\/span><\/em>. Now all Skeleton handles appear in a green color. You can select any of these handles and move them and rotate them as you like.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"poseModeSwitch\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/poseModeSwitch.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"137\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>However while playig with the Pose you will note that we have placed a few constraints to the various parts of the skeleton. We did this mainly to keep you from ripping the character into pieces by dragging the bones to unrealistic positions.<\/p>\n<h4>Note on Rotation<\/h4>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>The easiest way to rotate the bones is to use the rotation manipulator controls. For your first steps you may want to select the curve segment in the 3D Manipulator widget so Blender will show the rotation manipulators when you select a bone:<\/p>\n<p>You may want to use the Rotation mode &#8220;Normal&#8221;. I found this the most convenient mode when working with the mouse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"manipulator_settings\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/manipulator_settings.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"277\" height=\"257\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As you get more experienced with Blender you will use keyboard shortcuts more and more. Maybe you will even skip the 3D Manipulator after a while when you realize how efficient the usage of shortcuts actually is.<\/p>\n<h4>More Animation details<\/h4>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \">More about Rig Display Properties<\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">You have full control over which parts of the Rig get displayed at a given time. The <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Rig Display control panel<\/span><\/em> is located in the <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Object Data<\/span><\/em> section of the Properties panel. Below you find a comprehensive documentation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10358 aligncenter\" title=\"properties_panel\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/properties_panel.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"245\" height=\"561\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \">More about the Rig Display<\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<h3>Rig Display Style<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">[PS Showtime url=&#8221;\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/map_rig_display.png&#8221;]<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>The Rig Display section gives you full control over which parts of the Mesh and the Rig can be seen at a given time. By default only the Control bones and the main parts of the Avastar mesh are visible. But sometimes it is desirable to hide or unhide parts of the Rig or parts of the Avastar meshes.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore the control bones (green) use custom shapes by default. That is, they are formed as rings which are placed around the Avastar body. The benefit of the custom shapes is that they can be selected easier. But sometimes it is desired to switch from Custom shapes back to Blender&#8217;s default shapes (Sticks or Octahedrons).<\/p>\n<p>The Rig Display panel is subdivided into three major parts:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11424 aligncenter\" title=\"properties_object_data_mesh_display_example\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/properties_object_data_mesh_display_example3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"266\" height=\"336\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 id=\"control_style\">Control Style settings<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>The first 2 buttons in the Rig display settings panel are used for switching between custom shape and blender&#8217;s default shape:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Custom Shapes: Set all control bones to use custom shapes (Default)<\/li>\n<li>Stick Shapes: Set all bones to use Blender&#8217; default shapes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11413 aligncenter\" title=\"properties_object_data_general\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/properties_object_data_general.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"180\" height=\"154\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>You can switch between both display options at any time. But when you switch to Custom Shapes, then the bone X-Ray setting is automatically disabled, while when you switch to Stick Shapes, the X-Ray setting is automatically enabled.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"symple-toggle state-closed \"><h3 class=\"symple-toggle-trigger \">More about the Skeleton<\/h3><div class=\"symple-toggle-container symple-clearfix\">\n<p>As explained above we can now move and rotate the skeleton as we like. We see that the mesh moves along with the bone movements and we will finally end with our start pose for frame zero of the animation (where you want the bones for the start pose) Remind that we are only moving and rotating the green skeleton handles for now.<\/p>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<h4>SL Control Bones<\/h4>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">All the green skeleton handles are the <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">SL Control Bones<\/span><\/em> and act as FK (forward-kinematic) controls. They have just been given funny shapes so they lie outside the avatar and are less visually distracting. When an element is shown in light green then it is currently selected and will react on your move, scale and rotate commands. You can select single bones by right click, or add bones to the selection by SHIFT right click.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<div id=\"attachment_18868\" style=\"width: 533px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/img-1-0021.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18868\" class=\"wp-image-18868\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/img-1-0021.png\" alt=\"img-1-002\" width=\"523\" height=\"651\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-18868\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Control Bones (and the IK Bones) are used for Animation.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Avastar Skeleton contains 2 additional Control Bones with very special properties:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<h4>The COG<\/h4>\n<p>Center of Gravity bone. Use this bone to set the location and rotation of the whole character. The COG bone will be recorded in your animation and its movements will also be transported to your online world later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<h4>The Origin<\/h4>\n<p>All movements are relative to the Origin bone. Moving this bone around will not affect the animation in any way. If you are doing multiple character animations set their origins slightly apart to where pose balls would start. Once you are happy with the location hide the bone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>SL Base Bones &amp; Collision Volumes<\/h4>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"rhcol span6\">Besides the (green) <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">SL Control Bones<\/span><\/em> we find many other bones in the Avastar Rig. We especially have two subsets of bones named the (blue) <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">SL Base Bones<\/span><\/em>. and the (orange) <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Collision Volume Bones<\/span><\/em>. These 2 subsets of Bones are used only for weighting (skinning) your character or attachment. But they are never(!) used for animating your character.<\/div>\n<div class=\"rhcol span6\">\n<div id=\"attachment_24894\" style=\"width: 338px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24894\" class=\"wp-image-24894 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/2-2.png\" alt=\"2-2\" width=\"328\" height=\"439\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-24894\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Never directly use the SL Base Bones and the Collision Volumes for animating! Animations are created only with the green Control Bones and the IK Bones.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rhcol span7\">\n<h4>Mandatory rules<\/h4>\n<div class=\"symple-box  yellow center \" style=\"text-align:left;\"> \n<ul>\n<li>Weight only the blue SL Bones (and the orange Volume Bones).<\/li>\n<li>Animate only the green bones (and possibly the IK Bones).<\/li>\n<li>Never add weight to the green SL Control bones.<\/li>\n<li>Never use the blue SL Base bones for animating.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<h3>Store the Intro Pose<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>Once you are happy with your first frame posture press the <strong>a<\/strong> key twice in the <em>3D View<\/em> to select all bones (it toggles the selection so the first time it will deselect everything if you had a bone selected). The Rig should now look similar to what you see on the image to the right.<\/p>\n<p>Now press <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>i<\/strong><\/span> to insert a new key frame. From the appearing popup menu select <em>Rotation<\/em> (see image below).<\/p>\n<p>Almost always you will set just rotation key frames. The exception is if you are moving the COG or IK control bones, in which case you should set the location too with <em>Location<\/em> or <em>LocRot<\/em> for both.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10369 aligncenter\" title=\"start_pose\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/start_pose1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"286\" height=\"462\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Note:<\/strong><\/span> You do <em>not<\/em> need to create a starting T-pose. The .anim format doesn&#8217;t require it and Avastar automatically inserts the required reference frame for the BVH format.<div class=\"symple-box  red center \" style=\"text-align:left;\"> \n<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Important:<\/strong> <\/span>Never use the Keyframe option <em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Whole Character<\/span><\/em>! This option would insert keyframes for all 139 bones (visible and invisible). The Avastar Animation exporter will complain about <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em>too many bones in Animation.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7415 aligncenter\" title=\"insertion_key_menu\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/insertion_key_menu.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"162\" height=\"263\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4>The Action Editor<\/h4>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>You should see the <em>Action Editor <\/em>gets populated with the bone names and a yellow diamond at frame 0.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Note:<\/strong><\/span>We have simply selected all bones for our pose. This poses a potential problem:<\/p>\n<p>Assume that you wanted the current animation to play &#8220;on top of&#8221; your default stand pose. In the Stand pose the avatar head can be moved freely. But when you add this animation, the head will move according to this animation and &#8220;override&#8221; the default head movements.If you do not want to override the head animations, then you have to remove the head data.<\/p>\n<p>The easiest way to do that is by left click on the corresponding Bone name in the <em>Action Editor<\/em>(&#8220;Head&#8221; in our example) and then delete the entire bone from the animation (press &#8220;x&#8221; on the keyboard).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7419 aligncenter\" title=\"dopeSheetEditor_01\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/dopeSheetEditor_01.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"289\" height=\"449\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Note:<\/span><\/strong> You can also &#8220;mute&#8221; the bone by clicking on the little speaker icon next to the bone name. If a bone is not listed in the action or is muted it will not be controlled by the animation.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Note:<\/span><\/strong> In more advanced work you can play with creating sets of animations which control only a few bones each, and which you can mix and match with the Gesture editor in Second Life.<\/p>\n<h3>Add the Ending Pose<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<ol>\n<li>Lets imagine the animation will run at the equivalent of 25fps. Click on the timeline on frame 25 which is one sec later (see image below)<\/li>\n<li>Repose the avatar how you want it to appear one sec later and again select all the bones and insert a rotation key frame (<strong>a<\/strong> to select all and <strong>i<\/strong> to insert key frame). Do something simple like a bow or a hand wave for your first animation.<\/li>\n<li>Click on the timeline at 50 (two secs into your animation), then pose and key frame the bone rotations for the final frame.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint:<\/strong><\/span> In the <em>Timeline<\/em> use the play buttons to preview your animation:<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/timeline.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"timeline\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/timeline.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"127\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint: <\/strong><\/span>You also can scroll through your animation by grabbing the green time locator and drag it from left to right and back.When you want to set intermediate key frames, then just move the time locator to where you want to add a key frame, then adjust your pose and finally press <strong>a<\/strong> twice ( to select al bones) and then <strong>i<\/strong>(and select rotation)<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Hint: <\/strong><\/span>You can delete a keyframe with ALT+i but take care here: This will only work when you have selected the bones which you want to remove from the time line.You can always first select all bones, then ALT+i to ensure you remove the entire key frame.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h4><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10374 aligncenter\" title=\"timeline_25\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/timeline_25.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"429\" height=\"61\" \/><\/h4>\n<h3>Prepare the Export<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<p>You find the &#8220;Animation Export&#8221; panel in the Render Properties section of the Properties window.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure the mode is set to <em>BVH<\/em><\/li>\n<li>set the <em>FPS<\/em> to 25<\/li>\n<li>Set the <em>Start<\/em> frame to 1<\/li>\n<li><em>Set the End<\/em> frame to 50.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure <em>Prepend reference <\/em>is checked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-10375\" title=\"animation_export\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/animation_export3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"253\" height=\"329\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong><strong>Note:<\/strong> <\/strong><\/span>You can also export to .anim format. But then you will need a patched SL Viewer. We have verified that Phoenix and Firestorm can import anim files.<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Note<\/strong>:<\/span> For anim Imports you will need to use Bulk Upload and NOT the Animation upload! A detailed description of this will follow in the reference guide.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Export the Animation<\/h3>\n<div class=\"row-fluid\">\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\">\n<ol>\n<li>Finally, export the animation by clicking on the <em>Export Animation <\/em>button. You will be prompted for a filename and location which by default will take on the name of the action you set before.<\/li>\n<li>Once saved, fire up your Viewer, and from the file menu select <em>Upload<\/em> then <em>Animation<\/em>. Find and upload your animation, it will appear in your <em>Animations<\/em> folder. During upload you will have to choose an <a title=\"Avastar Animation Priorities\" href=\"\/?page_id=7334\">appropriate priority<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Run it and show off your creation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"span6 rhcol\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><strong>Note:<\/strong><\/span> If you don&#8217;t see the animation play out, you may need to switch off your AO. This happens if the animations in your AO have been badly designed and are running at the highest priority).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This tutorial has only scratched the surface of what is possible. Things you will want to explore next are using the IK controls, looping part of the animation, animating only certain bones, using the Graph Editor&#8230; Feel free to download my own <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.machinimatrix.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/myFirstAnimation.blend\">firstAnimation<\/a> with Avastar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is how to create your first Animation using Avastar. I assume that you have a bit of experience with Blender. We will do a three frame animation. This is just to get you started, as your experience grows you will find there are much faster and fun ways to pose and animate your character. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":620,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-422","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-reference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/422\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalab.org\/avastar\/legacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}