Posing Panel version 1.2

• Load Poses. Load pose from one or several .duf files.
• Load Animations. Load animation from one or several .duf files. Note that a file in a pose directory often contains a single-frame animation.

The difference between a pose and an animation is how they are represented in the DAZ file. An animation is described by an animation structure with keyframes for the different bones, whereas a pose is a collection of translations and rotations. Normally it is an animation that we want to load, but there is no harm done if we attempt the wrong type; there warning message is simply written in the terminal window.

When the Import Pose or Import Animation button is pressed, we are redirected to a file selector, where we can select a file which we believe contains an animation; such files are often located in a directory called Poses.

The file selector both shows .duf/.dsf files and image files. Image files are often used as thumbnails which display a small version of the pose. Set the display mode at the top to thumbnails to see the images.



The import options are:

• Load All: Load all files in the selected folder. Default False.
• Includes. If Load All is selected, only include .duf/.dsf files containing this string.
• Excludes. If Load All is selected, don't include .duf/.dsf files containing this string.
• Convert Poses: The Genesis figure has evolved over the generations, and poses for one generation are not compatible with others. If this option is enabled, the importer attempts to make a conversion to the active rig; how well it succeeds is another matter. In the future it may also be possible to convert poses to the MHX and Rigify rigs. 
• Selected Bones Only. Only pose the selected posebones.
• New Action. If Insert Keys is selected, create a new action for the keyframes, otherwise use the existing one.
• Action Name. If Insert Keys and New Action is selected, a new action is created. Its name is deduced from the character's name and this field.
• Clear Pose. Zero the translations and rotations of all bones before loading the animation. The default is True, and it is very rare to change this option.
• Affect Object. The animation may contain keyframes both for the various bones and for the entire object. Sometimes we only want to animate the bones, leaving the object where it is. The default is True.
• Animate Values. Include morph values in the animation. For this option to take effect, the morphs must have been loaded to the character first.
• Insert Keys. Insert keyframes for all bones, starting from the current frame. The default is True. If the Load All option is enabled, keyframes are always inserted irrespective of the value of Insert Keys.

After we selected the .duf file in the file selector and pressed Import Animation, Ana is posed. We see that her pose is very similar to the thumbnail. There is a slight problem with the feet, due to different rest poses, but this is easily fixed afterwards; just rotate the feet sixty degrees around the X axis. Multiple poses can be fixed in the graph editor.

The poses in a given directory are often related, and you may want to load them all. For convenience, this can be done in one sweep. If Load All is selected, all poses in the directory is loaded to the active character. Keyframes are always created in this case, irrespective of the Create Keyframes setting.

However, sometimes you only want to import a subset of the poses. The selected poses can be filtered using the Includes and Excludes fields. E.g., this folder contains poses both the the Genesis 3 female and male, and mirrored versions as well. Assume that we only want to import the unmirrored female poses. We set Includes to "G3F", since this string is included in all female files but not in the male files, which contain "G3M" instead. Moreover, we set Excludes to "G3F M.duf", because the mirrored poses contain this string but the unmirrored ones do not. Alternatively, the same filtering could have been achieved setting Includes to "G3F.duf" and leaving Excludes blank.

The progress can be followed in the terminal window. The poses are inserted at consecutive keyframes, starting with the current frame. The numbers to the right are the frame numbers.

The action name is deduced from the character name and action name.

Above we see the effect of the Affect Object option, and below a pose has been loaded with Selected Bones Only enabled.

The previous poses were designed for Genesis 3, and since Ana is a Genesis 3 character there is no compatibility problems. However, if we try to import a Genesis pose to a Genesis 3 character, we run into problems because the two generations have a different bone hierarchy with different bone names. To circumvent this problem, the importer attempts to convert the poses.

 The picture above shows the same pose for Genesis (Female contraposto), imported without and with Convert Poses enabled.