There are separate considerations about poses for imported avatars depending on whether the file is in FBX or OBJ format.
FBX Format
From FBX format files, VStitcher reads
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Geometry
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Skeleton
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Bind pose
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Skin weights
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Keyframes, and turns them into poses
Note
For smooth animation, you need sufficient keyframes to allow smooth transition from pose to pose. For more information, refer to Creating Avatars for Animation.
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Blend shapes, and turns them into deformation data that is initiated when you load a pose
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Textures
Unless you use the embed media function, which creates a combined FBX file - including the textures - you should have the textures in a separate file or files, as required.
FBX supports pose to pose simulation.
Note
VStitcher reads the keyframes and uses these to create poses. It is recommended to assign keyframes for each pose to the skeleton, and to assign blend shapes to each pose (keyframe). If you want a blend shape to be loaded with a pose, you must assign it to the same keyframe.
More About Blend Shapes
It is possible to apply a shape deformation on the avatars by applying keyframes to blend shapes/morphs for the avatar.
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First you should apply a skeleton keyframe so that VStitcher creates a pose on the poses drop menu. The pose is generated only if there is a keyframe for a joint rotation.
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Second you should select the blend shape when it is fully active on the same keyframe (pose) that you want it to be loaded with.
OBJ Format
From OBJ format files, VStitcher reads:
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Geometry
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Textures
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MTL file
Unlike FBX format files, OBJ files do not hold animation keyframe information. Therefore, to have poses using the OBJ format, you must prepare each pose as a separate OBJ file.
The structure of the topology must be the same for the different poses to work. For example, you can start with one file, duplicate it, and then make changes to the file but still retain the basic topology.
Naming Convention
When importing OBJ files for avatars with poses, you must obey the following naming convention:
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The main file to be imported should be called something that suitably identifies the avatar for your purposes. For example, model.obj.
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The other files should be names in the following format: model_pose_<name of pose>.obj. For example, model_pose_running.obj, model_pose_cycling.obj, and so on.
Note
If the change from pose to pose is extensive, instead of using pose to pose simulation with OBJ format avatars, it is recommended to use prepare mode between poses.
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