Animation issues a general problem?

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Hi team, I recently reinstalled my OS on Mac and now have Version 4.14.0.8 I have ventured back into animation but am having lots of problems getting it to work properly. Too many to go into so my question is a general one.

Having watched and purchased a copious amount of tutorials I still cannot get the Timeline/Animate2 to behave. It appears that, after scouring the forums, there are issues with the software in general going back several months and as far as I can see (Although I confess I haven't read all of the change logs) that 4.15 does not address this.

So, is it the software or me? Or can anyone recommend an alternative platform to make animations on? (I know, that's 2 questions) I'm not looking to make Despicable Me 4, my needs are simple, though I do want to produce something more than a fancy looking Gif. Don't really want to move away from Daz as I am familiar with the layout but am very frustrated.

I am happy to provide examples but didn't want to bore you initially, there are plenty of discussions that highlight issues with animation and no real resolution. Some also asking if they can roll back their version to an older one (No you can't)

Thanks

Kevin Sanderson

Rolling back can be done if you have saved the old installers. The newest features, though, are in the latest. If you don't want to move from DS, then you have to get used to what you can do and can't do. Or, you can go to blender, or Maya which have more animation features but a learning curve that's more involved than DS. I have an old MacMini I never use, so no help in Mac land, though if you want to do animation you will have to wait for a long time for renders to get done. PCs free you up to get the latest and greatest Nvidia cards for Iray.

The timeline has been updated, though not recently. aniMate 2 is an older plugin which hasn't been touched in a while by GoFigure.

Here's a link to their old help pages.  https://web.archive.org/web/20180413184339/http://www.gofigure3d.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=86

Here's a helpful YouTube video on the advanced features of the timeline.

GoFigure still has their YouTube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/GoFigure3D

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Hi Kevin, many thanks for that info and the link. Following your advice I quickly tried my 4.12 version of DS, which I had archived prior to my OS update, and it is already doing what the 4.14 version won't. Eg. when moving an arm from say Frame 0 to frame 5, frame 10 etc. it is applying the keyframes automatically which 4.14 does not. So I will pursue that again tomorrow (It's late here in Spain!) Hopefully I will not have to go any further. I will also try my options on the PC, I have both, to see what results I get there. I never found the GoFigure3D in all of my research and it looks quite comprehensive so again, thank you for that. Hopefully the options you have advised me on will provide me with a solution and negate the need to move to another platform

Kevin Sanderson

You are welcome. The user here to check for is Ivy, she has done many animations with mainly DS. Wolf359 has done much but his are more involved and he now uses other software mostly. Bennie Woodell also is familiar with DS and blender. Bryan Steagall, Joe Pingleton, Auroratrek, WendyLuvsCatz, Dartanbeck are just a few of the others who have posted work. You can find some help https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/358051/the-animators-assemble-thread-for-daz-animation-wips-clips-and-tips/p1 I was busier at it before my stroke in June 2019. Trying to do it again with my left hand since the right can only do a little as I recover.

Since you have a PC, too, you can try Filament for much faster renders that look better than OpenGL. There are faster render tricks for Iray if you have an Nvidia card that Solomon Jagwe and Free Nomon have written about and shown on their YouTube channels. Check their comment sections. Not as fast as Filament, but better quality. They crank out a frame in about 30 seconds using lower samples and the denoiser.

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Some great advice there Kevin and a few avenues I can and will pursue. I bought Ivy's tutorial so I am aware of her skills and will check out the thread quoted.

Good luck with your recovery, I hope you get back to full function

All the best

Richard Haseltine

4.15 should be capturing keyframes, please give some more details on what you are doing and how.

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Hi Richard, I started a new thread on this so as not to confuse issues, I hope that was the right thing https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/473671/animation-issues-hand-and-fingers#latest

Ivy

NM

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

NM...?

Ivy

NM = NEVER MIND It would have been a double post. ..lol

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Cool

wolf359

Congrats on wisely keeping an archived installer
of version 4.12!!!

That is the last version of Daz studio I had installed before
leaving the Daz Eco system for Blender and Reallusion.

That is the version I used to finish my Feature length film

It is very stable and even better 
if you have the original GraphMate & keyMate plugins.  

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Thank you Wolf, I'm glad I did but I still get the hand animation issue :(

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Also Wolf, I don't have the original Graphmate and Keymate plug ins, are they still available somewhere?

Ivy

it really has me stumped. I ran through every part of the timeline this afternoon. I see no reason for what you are experiencing.  you've about covered everything that could be doing it . The only thing i can suggest is you make a subtract on the animate2 timeline and create a aniblock for the hands.  if you layer the animation in the animate2 timeline that way it should work.   but other wise. I can't reproduce the same issue your having.  This issue really acts like you have baked animation or a baked animated preset. . Are you using a animation that has been saved as a preset. because in that case its possible that the hands were included in translation of the animation sequence when it was saved. which I would resolve that by saving the animation as a aniblock and use subtracts for corrections. well that be the easist way

malcolmkarpeta_40f9af0b00

Hi Ivy, originally I was using a preset pose for my figure but when I started getting problems I was tried different default figures for G2,3 and 8. I'll have a go at the Animate2 aniblock method but I may then have to try a reinstall, which will of course mean I have v4.15. Would it help if I made a short screen grab video of what I am experiencing?

Thanks for all your help