Animations zeroing out
supercell1970
Posts: 1
Hello. I downloaded a Mixamo animation to apply to my Genesis 8 figure. Got it to working but the problem is, the character keeps going back to zero position after I move it somewhere else and play it's animation. I am a film producer. VFX artist and animator. Can I get some help?
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How are you moving the figure - hip node or figure node (the one with Genesis 8 or character name as its label)?
You should be able to move the figure as the translation keyframes are (usually) only for the hip.
If the animation is stored to an aniBlock, you have a few options.
When using aniBlocks, they take over the timeline (replace it), so if we make changes directly without first entering aniMate 2's Keyframe mode, the aniBlock will override your changes if they're made on something controlled by the aniBlock.
For moving things around in the scene in X and Z (not Y), we can use the handy aniMate tool in Daz Studio, which looks like an "M" on your toolbar. This will put a black and white target on the ground that we can drag around anywhere along the animation to get the proper placement. Note that it's only a one-shot sort of thing. In other words, it cannot be altered along the animation - it is where it is. But it's incredibly helpful in that regard - we can position precisely where the character is during that crucial moment, and the whole animation will adapt to that position.
Another option is to right-click in an empty portion of the aniMate pane and select "Bake to Studio Timeline"
This puts the DS timeline back in control and disables the aniBlock.
The issue with Mixamo transfers is that it moves the figure along X, Y and Z using the root of the figure, where Daz Studio/aniMate are looking at the Hip bone for such things.
So whenever I bring in Mixamo animations (from Mixamo), the first thing I do is to run 3D Universe's Bone to Hip tool, which works particularly well for just this situation.
So with the figure's translation (movement in x, y, and z) applied to the hip, we can safely delete all of the keyframes (except the first) under Genesis X > Parameters > General (just above the Hip in the timeline) to omit those key frames, and then simply use the X, Y, and Z dials (or translation tool) to freely move the figure anywhere we want.
I have a lot of information along with links to many subjects in my Power of aniMate 2 page that you may find beneficial.
I don't make it into the forums much these days because I'm quite busy working. However, I always answer my PM's from my inbox here at Daz 3D. So if you're going through that stuff and come upon questions that need answering by me, please send a PM or reply to any of the forum threads that I link in there - and I'll help as soon as I see the posting.
In order to see all of the keyframes applied to a figure, we also need to tell Daz Studio to show them to us - it doesn't by default - something that I find rather odd.
There's a small (Jay calls it a Hamburger Menu) menu on the far right of the DS Timeline. Click that and go up to preferences > Property Types Displayed > and I select all but Hidden to be displayed.
If you're workin gin the timeline and changes are being made, but you're not seeing keyframes (and it's not being controlled by aniMate), check those timeline display options. Make sure it's showing everything. Sometimes I've had this issue and found that I had to enable "Hidden" as well. So I did that, made my changes, and then went in and turned "Hidden" off again to save from the added clutter.
If you've already baked to the timeline or this animation is Not an aniBlock, look at the root of the figure in the timeline.
By "Root" I mean the actual figure. So if you're using Genesis 9, for example, select Genesis 9 and look at the timeline.
Click open the uppermost hierarchy triangle to expose "Properties"
Click open Properties to expose "General"
Click on the word "Translation" on the left in the timeline to highlight that line in the timeline
Drag-select all of the keyframes except the first one
Using the + and - keys on the bottom panel of the timeline, click the "-" button to delete the selected keyframes. Never use the "Delete" key on your keyboard or you'll delete the whole figure - or whatever is selected in the Scene pane.
Run the animation and see if it still works. If it does, you'll no longer have the issue you're mentioning having. It was that set of keyframes causing that snapping
If that didn't work, Ctrl + Z to undo.
This means that you need those keyframes for the animation. We have another trick we can use.
With Genesis 9 still selected, go to your menu bar and Create > New Group > leave default settings - give it a name if you want, which would be the lower of the two spaces for entering a custom name. The other is its internal name, which you may also name.
Now use that Group to place your figure anywhere you like.
And this method does allow the movement of the figure to be animated - unlike what I said two posts up about using the aniMate tool.
So if you need precise placement later in the timeline, and you need the whole animation to retain that position,