Cineversity

Dr. Sassi,

Do you know how I can either, merge poses, or even better, combine two to make a third? For example, if I want to make a smile pose from a smile left and a smile right pose.

Thank you,
Jiro

Hi Jiro,

Doubling the same poses might require more attention while setting up the animation, as doubling the entries with similar information, might result in adding the movement of the mesh.

Let’s start with the fastest way, which might clutter your object manager and increase perhaps problems later on (copy and paste a character).
The simplest way would be to use the Object Manager> Object> Current State To Object [CSTO] command while the object with the desired pose is active.
Then drag that new object in editing mode into the PoseMorph, leave it as relative.
You can set the new object created with CSTO to invisible for Editing and Render.

Internally, you select the two (or more Poses) and right-mouse-click [RMC] on one while active. Use the copy, then the paste option. After that, select the new copies and RMC to get the flyout menu again, to use the Merge command. Rename it perhaps.

A good idea is to place the PoseMorph in question to be merged, in a folder, so it is clear which newly created pose will work as those, so even after a long time, the use of it is apparent.

Here is a one minute screen capture
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/RNVGit73Bk2qBfrNDdnzzwX2sLw9AUt2hDvyIOZ70iv

There is one gotcha, if the Mixing of the merged poses was previously not identical to the point, it can’t work as before. If one was Relative and the other one Rotational, this will not survive the merge process.

Here is a short illustration of the problem
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/2q25TfT7P1g1IKRGixnUvWqR43HBnKHmnZGSnBi6iC3
As shown, fi the rotational axis is the same, from all merged Poses, this can be fixed.

All the best

Just for reference
https://help.maxon.net/us/#TCAPOSEMORPH-ID_TAGPROPERTIES

Thank you very much, Dr. Sassi.

It’s funny. I could swear I tried just that; copy-pasting two poses, then choosing Merge on the duplicates. What seemed to happen, though, was that one of the two poses seemed to override the other. I can’t remember now if it was the top/first or bottom/second pose that took precedence. I’ll try this again later, when I’m able, but I’m working with a Fuse/Mixamo character that was exported to FBX with facial blendshapes enabled.

Can you think of a reason one pose would be overriding the other when I merge?

Thanks again!

Hi Jiro,

Typically I request a scene file, and again, I should have done so here.

(+100) + (-100) = 0

If one point moves in Pose 1 hundred units up, and in Pose 2 hundred units down, it will merge to zero. Yes, that would be my best guess. Since I’m not happy to guess, let me know how it goes, and if you have no success, share the file (I can send you an upload link, and keep it private if needed)

Perhaps set the resulting pose to an incredible large % value, to see if it really has canceled it out completely.

Cheers

Yes, please send an upload link.

I’ve reduced the file to include only a few poses (blink L & R, and smile L & R) on the Body object’s pose morph tag. I’ve also duplicated the blink poses in an attempt to merge them, but I’m still getting the same results where one pose seems to stomp the other.  I appreciate your time.

Jiro,
Please check your Private Message Box.

Thanks for the file, Jiro, this clears it.

The Targets that you like to merge can’t be merged in this way, they rely on external meshes. They have the letter ‘a’ instead of a target icon. Since each of them can hold only one mesh, the merge will take only one.

All the meshes are in your scene file. When you go to PoseMorph’s Advanced field, you can see the entry of the object. You need to create Targets that are stored inside of the PoseMorph, those can be merged.

Please have a look at the example that I have recorded in this screen capture:
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/syPdrGOjUUF4z0jTfFEVEr06OcQxP8iOxZLEBcNaqW2

Where do you find the objects in question? In the Advanced field, right-sided from the object entry, there is a button with a triangle, if you click on it and hold down, it will give you an option: “Show in Manager”. Then drag those into the list, reply the Alert with NO, and then merge the two. Rename. Done.

My best wishes

Thank you so much, Dr. Sassi. This is so helpful. Thank you for the screen recording, too. That made things very clear.

This morning, I watched another video that further helped me understand the difference between absolute and relative targets. Here’s the link:
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaylist/the_posemorph_tag/pose_morph_tag_-_part_3

Thanks again!

You’re very welcome, Jiro, thanks for the feedback.

Yes, I always assume that the tutorials for a given subject are known already.

However, I learn often a new application to keep this “hit the wall” feeling fresh (so far, I have learned around 200 apps in the past 25+ years). It is so easy to forget about that feeling to sometimes not even know what happens and why.  For that, I often have no patience for a long-winded tutorial and listen to some stuff on the web. This is why I provide one-minute clips (680 so far). Not as a replacement for any tutorial, just to keep the “ball rolling” again, and elevate so the motivation to dive into our content here again.

As a side note, relative as well absolute (or even external) sources have advantages and disadvantages. A consistent workflow should be developed before starting an intensive production.

All the best