Biblioteca de poses

This section describes the pose library, which is based on the Explorador de recursos. For an overview of the asset system, see the Bibliotecas de recursos section. The pose library is meant to be used in Pose Mode. In other words, it only works when posing an armature, and not for general object animation.

Nota

The pose library is implemented as an add-on. This add-on is enabled by default; disabling it will remove the pose library from Blender’s user interface.

The «building blocks» of the pose library are actually implemented in Blender itself. The add-on only contains the user interface and the logic that determines what is stored in a pose asset. This was intentionally put into an add-on, so that artists or studios who want to change the behavior can do so with an add-on of their own.

¿Qué es un recurso de pose?

Un recurso de pose es una acción que ha sido marcada como un recurso y que deberá contener datos correspondientes a (exactamente) un clave de animación. Usualmente éstas serán creadas mediante el botón Crear recurso de pose (ver debajo), sin embargo cualquier acción que contenga exactamente un clave podrá ser vista como un recurso de pose.

Cada pose de la biblioteca será almacenada en su propio bloque de datos de acción. Esto significará que podrá tener su propio nombre, su propia miniatura de previsualización, así como ser organizada en Catálogos de recursos.

Creación de una biblioteca de poses

A pose library file is typically a blend-file that is dedicated to poses. It can link in a character, props, etc., which can then not only be used to create the poses, but also for rendering previews.

../../../../_images/asset_browser-pose_library_ellie.png

Example pose library of the Sprite Fright character Ellie.

Creación de poses mediante el Editor de acciones

To create a pose in the library from the Action Editor, pose the character, select the relevant bones, and click the Create Pose Asset button. This will create the new pose Action, which will contain keys for the current value of each bone’s location, rotation, scale, and Bendy Bone properties.

../../../../_images/asset_browser-pose_library-create_from_action_editor.png

To create a new pose asset, use the Create Pose Asset button in the Action editor.

The created Action is now assigned to the armature. This makes it possible to inspect which bones are included and to tweak anything. In that respect, it’s an Action like any other, and you can add or remove keys as usual. Just make sure that the keys are all on the same frame, in order to keep this a «pose» instead of an «animation snippet»; the latter isn’t supported at the moment.

True to its name, the Create Pose Asset button automatically marks the Action as Asset. Not only does this make it available in the pose library, it will also act as a fake user to ensure the Action isn’t lost after you unassign it from the armature.

The pose asset can be renamed in the Asset Browser. There you can also right click on the thumbnail, then choose Assign Action to assign the Action to the active Object (see description above).

Nota

The Create Pose Asset button creates a new Action. To make sure that this is actually visible in the user interface, so that you know that something happened, it tries to make sure that the Asset Browser shows the newly created pose asset. Because of this, it requires that there is an Asset Browser visible, and that it’s set to show the Current File asset library.

This is especially relevant to pose assets, compared to other assets. You cannot mark an object as asset multiple times, but you can create ten pose assets from the same character pose.

Creación de poses a partir de una animación existente

Animators eat and breathe time, so there is a fair chance that you already have some poses lined up on the timeline. Creating a pose asset from existing animation is pretty much the same as described above, with a few subtle differences:

  • Go to the frame with the pose you want to turn into an asset.

  • Select the relevant bones and click the Create Pose Asset button in the Action Editor.

  • This creates an Action as before, but this time it also includes any bone property that was keyed on the current frame. In other words: any bone property (regular and custom) that’s displayed in yellow in the user interface will be included in the pose asset. This makes it possible to also include properties that control IK/FK switching, for example. As with the pose, the current value is copied into the pose asset, and not the keyed value.

  • Blender saves which action was previously assigned to the armature.

  • The new pose Action is assigned to the armature so you can give it a name and inspect/adjust its contents.

  • Click the Restore Previous Action button (back arrow icon) that appeared next to the Create Pose Asset button. This reassigns the previous Action, so that you’re back at the animation you had before.

Creación de poses copiadas desde otro archivo

As described in Limitaciones del diseño, Blender only writes data to the currently open blend-file. To copy a pose from some other file into a pose library file, see the following steps:

  • Pose the character and select the relevant bones.

  • Click the Copy Pose as Asset button, which is available in the Action Editor. This will create the pose asset (including its thumbnail) and store it in a temporary file somewhere.

  • Choose an existing pose asset, and open its context menu. Click the Open Blend File option.

  • A new Blender process will start, and automatically open the asset library file that contains the chosen pose. By the way, this works for all assets, not just poses!

  • In the Asset Browser, click the Paste as New Asset button. This will load that temporary file, and load all the assets it can find in there. In our case, it will only find a single pose, but future versions of Blender may extend this for other asset types. This is why the button is named so generically – it is not pose-specific.

  • Give the pose a name, and click on the «refresh» button in the preview image panel to render a new preview if you want.

  • Save the file and quit Blender.

  • The original Blender is still running in the background and notices that the new Blender has quit. It automatically refreshes the Asset Browser to show the newly added pose.

Asignación automática de catálogo

When you create a pose asset, Blender may automatically assign it to an asset catalog. This only works if there is an Asset Browser visible; Blender then assigns the pose asset to its active asset catalog. If there are multiple Asset Browsers open, it performs the following steps:

  • If the current window has one Asset Browser, it uses that one.

  • If the current window has multiple Asset Browsers, it uses the biggest one.

  • Otherwise Blender goes over the other windows (if there are any), and do a similar search. The first window it sees that has an Asset Browser wins.

Control de la apariencia de las imágenes de previsualización

The pose library preview images are rendered with the active Scene camera. This approach was preferred over rendering a specific 3D Viewport for two main reasons:

  • There is only one scene camera active at any time, making it predictable which camera is used.

  • The camera, as well as the rest of the scene, can be set up specifically for rendering the thumbnails. Pose library files are intended for that purpose: to contain the poses and render their preview images.

The preview images are rendered using the Workbench Engine. Switch the scene to use that as render engine, and you’ll see various options to influence the look. Select a pose asset and press the Generate Preview button to re-render the preview image with the current settings.

You can also animate settings such as MatCap rendering, light positions, and intensities, etc. Use this to your advantage!

Animación de la escena para la creación de imágenes de previsualización

Sometimes it’s handy to have a few different background colors or camera angles for your poses. Many facial poses are made with a specific camera angle in mind.

  • Background color can be animated by placing a plane behind the character and animating its material. In this case just for fun, but for more serious applications this could be used to indicate a certain character, or a mood, or anything else.

  • The active camera can be switched by using camera markers.

Both make it possible to choose a specific frame to pick the background color and camera angle. Pose the character, click the Create Pose Asset button, and the pose action will be keyed on the current frame. This means it’s easy to edit the pose and refresh its preview image, because you know exactly which frame it was originally created on.

Utilización de la biblioteca de poses

The pose library can be used to pose a character in a few different ways. In short, you can fully apply a pose or blend it into the character’s current pose interactively. How exactly these operations work depends on where you use them. This section will explain the use from both the Asset Browser and the 3D Viewport.

Uso desde el Explorador de recursos

The pose library can be used directly from the Asset Browser. The Pose Library panels will appear when the active object is an armature and in Pose Mode. The catalog system and the filter bar at the top can be used to search for specific poses.

The following operators can be accessed by RMB on a pose:

Aplicar pose

Applies the pose to the character. If there are any bones selected, the pose will be applied only to those bones. This makes it possible to create a «finger guns» pose by applying a fist pose to the hand, and then an «open hand» pose for only the index finger and thumb. Double-clicking a pose will also apply it.

Aplicar pose invertida

Will mirror the pose from left to right and vice versa. This makes it possible, for example, to apply a left-hand pose to the right hand, reducing the number of poses you have to put into the library. This can of course also be applied for asymmetrical facial expressions that depend on the camera angle. While blending (see below), keep Ctrl pressed to blend the flipped pose.

Fundir pose

Allows you to gradually blend a pose from the library into the character’s pose. Click the button, then move the mouse left/right to determine the desired blend. A pose asset can be «subtracted» while blending. Drag to the right to blend as usual, drag to the left to subtract the pose. While blending, you can use Tab to toggle between the original and the blended pose. As usual in Blender, LMB or press Return to confirm; RMB or press Esc to cancel the operator. Blending can also exaggerate a pose, by pressing E (for Extrapolate) and applying a pose for more than 100%.

Seleccionar/Deseleccionar huesos de pose

Select or deselect the bones that are used in the pose. This can be used to create a selection set, or simply show what was part of the pose and what wasn’t.

Uso desde la Vista 3D

../../../../_images/asset_browser-pose_library-use_from_viewport.png

La biblioteca de poses, siendo usada mediante el Banco de recursos.

Nota

Previamente, la biblioteca de recursos existía en la Barra lateral, dentro del panel Biblioteca de poses. Dicho panel aún existe, sin embargo ahora contiene un botón para abrir el banco de recursos.

En la Vista 3D, las poses podrán ser rápidamente aplicadas desde el Banco de recursos. A diferencia del Explorador de recursos, el Banco de recursos permite una aplicación más rápida de las poses.

Hacer clic sobre una pose para aplicarla. Bastará con un solo clic. También será posible seleccionar y aplicar una pose mediante las teclas de flechas. Esto permitirá una exploración rápida de las poses, para apreciar el resultado directamente sobre el personaje activo.

Arrastrar la miniatura de la pose de izquierda a derecha para fundirla en la pose actual del personaje. Bastará con soltar el botón del ratón para confirmar la operación.

Biblioteca de poses antigua

In Blender 3.0, the Asset Browser based pose library, described above, replaced its predecessor pose library system. This section describes how to convert poses from the old pose library to the current system.

Conversión de bibliotecas de poses antiguas

Old-style pose libraries can be converted to pose assets in the following way:

  • In the Action Editor, select the Action containing the pose library you want to convert.

  • Make sure the scene camera is set up correctly for rendering preview images.

  • In the Action Editor’s Pose Library panel, click the «Convert Old-Style Pose Library» button.

  • Open the Asset Browser, and see the poses have been converted.

  • If you’re happy with the result, remove the old pose library Action.

  • Save the blend-file.

As usual, the blend-file should be saved to a directory marked as asset library in order to use the pose assets from other blend-files.

Nota

This conversion does not assign the poses to any catalog, and so they will appear in the «Unassigned» section of the «Current File» asset library.