Can I use aniBlocks and the timeline simultaneously?

jiryoo77

I have done the animations for my characters, and am wondering if these aniBlocks will be overwritten when I use the timeline for the camera. So far, I have done the aniBlocks and have done the lip sync using the lip sync plug-in, but someone previously answered one of my questions saying that I needed to bake the aniBlocks in. I didn't see his reply and have already lipsynced. What should I do? How can I animate the camera while keeping my blocks? Please help!!! :(

Jaderail

Once your AniMate work is done you Right click on the AniMate interface and do SEND TO Timeline. Then you do your work on the timeline. If you do not do the SEND TO you will lose the AniMate work you have done.

rek_2158272

You can not use both AniMate and the timeline at the same time. While you have AniBlocks active/visible (the eye icon next to the track name on the left side in AniMate) the AniMate plug-in is in control, and AniBlocks will play. Disabling all AniBlocks transfers control to the Daz timeline. Only one of these can be used at any time, not both together.
If AniMate takes control, any keyframes on the timeline will disappear.

As Jaderail says, you can bake AniBlocks to the timeline, but be aware that this will replace any previous animations on the timeline. (Not sure if all keys will be replaced, or only as far as the length of the AniBlock.) (Baking to the timeline will leave the AniBlocks in AniMate, but disable them as I mention above)

You can also create a new AniBlock with whatever is on the timeline, which you can then use in combination with other AniBlocks, for any relevant object/character in the scene. The procedure is the same as Jaderail describes above.

If you have the full AniMate 2 plug in, you can also save the AniBlocks you create for later use.

artistb3

You can always save an edited aniblock by right clicking and saving to a new file.

Sometimes I edit and save as a new aniblock. More often, if the original animation is offered as an aniblock, I will convert to timeline in order to edit using keyMate and graphMate. In addition to character movements, I found that graphMate is a very useful tool for editing camera movements as it provides TCB, linear, or constant interpolation between keyframes. keyMate is very useful for moving/copying/pasting keyframes. Also, if you are using dynamic cloth on the character, aniMate does not handle this well.

riccopt

artistb3 said:

You can always save an edited aniblock by right clicking and saving to a new file.

Sometimes I edit and save as a new aniblock. More often, if the original animation is offered as an aniblock, I will convert to timeline in order to edit using keyMate and graphMate. In addition to character movements, I found that graphMate is a very useful tool for editing camera movements as it provides TCB, linear, or constant interpolation between keyframes. keyMate is very useful for moving/copying/pasting keyframes. Also, if you are using dynamic cloth on the character, aniMate does not handle this well.

is there any tutorials on how to use GRAPHMATE?

Jaderail

Youtube has some good ones. Done by GoFigure so...

riccopt

Jaderail said:

Youtube has some good ones. Done by GoFigure so...

I prefer reading... but seems like videos are the only option... shame
anyway: thanks for the info

artistb3

Unlike DAZ, GoFigure provides pretty good written documentation which can be found at http://www.gofigure3d.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=86. For keyMate and graphMate, I recommend that tutorials found at http://www.youtube.com/user/ammgofigure?feature=watch.