imvu making a pose spot

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Deliverance

Message Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:27 am

Post subject: Pose-Spot Tutorial

This tutorial will explain how to create pose-spots (not triggered poses, but pose-spots). It assumes only that you are familiar with the previewer and that you know how to submit products. It does not assume that you have any expensive 3d software.

The tutorial is divided into two parts: (i) Getting the necessary files together, and (ii) Putting it all together in the previewer.

PART 1: Getting the necessary files together You will need a series of files in order to make your pose-spot. As you get them, I recommend you place them all in the same folder. The files you need are: Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Posts: 178 Location: Denmark

1) .xaf files. These are the files that actually contain the poses or animations. If you do not have any, you can obtain these in a few ways. You can get a few for free thanks to the generosity of people who have published some in the free-pose thread, or you can roll your own with free tools such as Boris' or my own. You will obviously need at least one of these .xaf files to make a pose-spot. Collect the .xaf files you wish to use for your posespot in your folder.

2) .xpf files. These are optional. They contain facial expressions. The only free way to create these that I know of is using the xpf generator on my page. Follow the instructions there, but only as far as step 4 (i.e. you do not need to create additional .xaf files for the neck and head, since you already have .xaf files for the entire body). As stated, you do not need these .xpf files to make your pose-spot, but if you do want to include facial expressions, you can re-use the same .xpf files in more than one pose.

Collect any .xpf files you wish to use in your folder, along with the .xaf files.

3) .xmf file. This is the file that contains the mesh. The mesh is necessary to display a marker on the ground so you and your customers know where the pose-spot is. To get the .xmf file, right-click and download this. Save it to the folder as "mesh.xmf".

4) .xsf file. This is the skeleton file, and contains information the client needs with regard to such things as how many poses or animations your pose-spot contains, and where the 'handles' go (the blobs you click on to make your avatar go to a spot). Decide how many poses your pose-spot will contain (i.e. how many .xaf files have you got?)

If it is to have 1 pose right-click and download this.

If it is to have 2 poses right-click and download this.

If it is to have 3 poses right-click and download this.

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpbb2&file=viewtopic.php&t=255307[2/11/2010 10:47:59 AM]

IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

If it is to have 4 poses right-click and download this.

If it is to have 5 poses right-click and download this.

If you need more than 5, copy and paste the URL below into your browser, and replace *** at the end with the desired number of poses. http://www.deliverancenow.info/IMVU/MeshTools/skeletonGenerator.php? numberOfXafs=*** Make sure that you save the file to your folder as "skeleton.xsf" (some browsers may want to save it as "skeletonGenerator.php" so be sure to double-check the name).

5) .jpg files for the marker on the ground to show where the pose-spot is.

You will need one for the texture and one for the opacity. You can make your own or use these two by dragging them from this webpage into the folder where you are collecting your files.

Texture.jpg

Opacity.jpg Once you have all these files, you can put them all together in the previewer =)

PART 2: Putting it all together in the previewer 1) Open the previewer. Go to File > Create Derived Product > Derive Furniture (Floor) 12908. A grey chair should appear:

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IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

2) Go to the 'Geometry' tab. Click on 'Browse' and select the mesh.xmf file. Hit 'Apply Changes'. The chair will disappear, leaving only its shadow:

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpbb2&file=viewtopic.php&t=255307[2/11/2010 10:47:59 AM]

IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

3) Go to the 'Materials' tab. Replace the Texture and Opacity with your jpg files, as you would for any other product. Hit 'Apply Changes', and in the previewer you should see something like this:

4) Go to the 'Special' tab. Click the 'Browse' button near the top and select the skeleton.xsf file. Hit 'Apply Changes'. If you now move your mouse around the pose-spot, you should see one or more 'handles' above it (each of which will correspond to a pose), looking something like this:

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpbb2&file=viewtopic.php&t=255307[2/11/2010 10:47:59 AM]

IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

5) Go to the 'Actions' tab. a) Click on 'Add'. b) Where it says ‘Trigger:’ type exactly ‘stance.MyPose01’, without the quotes. Pay attention to the capital letters. c) Where it says ‘# ensembles played:’ type ‘0’. d) Where it says ‘After playing’, select ‘Pick same Ensemble’ from the dropdown menu. e) Look at the red part, underneath. Under the heading ‘Skeletal Animation’, where it says ‘.xaf’, browse to one of your .xaf files. f) IF you have .xpf files for facial expressions: Under the heading ‘Morph Animation’, where it says ‘.xpf’, browse to the corresponding .xpf file. g) IF you want the head (and facial expressions if present) to be fixed (unmoving): Check the ‘Disable Gaze’ box, and select ‘Replace’ in the dropdown menu next to where it says ‘Composition’.

For reference, the previewer should now look something like this:

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpbb2&file=viewtopic.php&t=255307[2/11/2010 10:47:59 AM]

IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

h) Hit ‘Apply Changes’. If you click on the lowest (or only) handle in you pose-spot, your avatar should assume the pose.

http://www.imvu.com/catalog/modules.php?op=modload&name=phpbb2&file=viewtopic.php&t=255307[2/11/2010 10:47:59 AM]

IMVU - View topic - Pose-Spot Tutorial

Repeat steps a-h for all the other poses you wish to include BUT instead of typing ‘stance.MyPose01’ for the triggers, you should type ‘stance.MyPose02’, ‘stance.MyPose03’ etc. Each subsequent pose/animation you add will correspond to a ‘handle’ further up the column.

Good luck! ((hugs)) Last edited by on Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:17 am; edited 3 times in total

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ggdancer

Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:37 pm

Post subject: great tut

yet another great tutorial and some great resources. thanks Deliverance _________________

5

Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 18 Location: Australia

Back to top Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2009 8:29 pm

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