Animation Transfer With "Import/Export Animation"



The "Import/Export Animation" tool is invoked with the button in the Maya "animate" shelf. It provides animation transfer functionality (splicing, time-shifting...) beyond that of the basic animation import/export utility in each character's Helm GUI. Due to the thorough processing of animation nodes, the "Import/Export Animation" tool may respond slowly when transferring numerous keyframes for multiple nodes across large frame ranges.

NOTE: This utility and the files it generates are not compatible with the animation transfer script that is embedded in the rigs and available on the character GUIs. The latter script is still useful for simple animation transfers, while the "Import/Export Animation utility described here supports more complex and flexible transfer scenarios.

file
 Specifies files for animation export and import.

It is recommended to set the file type to mayaAscii when exporting animation. If no animation file is specified upon export, the animation will be written to "/Temp/temp.anim".

character
 Specifies the character code for which animation is being exported and/or imported.

If this field is left blank and the export ALL button is invoked, ALL animation in the entire scene will be exported (including characters, props and other objects). Likewise, if this field is left blank and the export Sel button is invoked, animation will be exported for ALL selected nodes in the scene (even across multiple characters & elements).

The recommended usage is to specify a character or element ("tomy", "shad", "mike", etc...). When a character or element such as "tomy" is specified, the export and import buttons will filter their operations based upon the code (ie. - all or selected "tomy" animation is processed, while other animation is ignored).

The character field can be used to transfer animation between similar characters. A "tomy" animation file can be loaded into the file field, and then transferred to Mike by typing "mike" in the character field.

source character Specifies which character to transfer animation from when the source file contains more than one character.
import/export range
 The animation range to import and/or export.

If left blank upon export, the ENTIRE animation node range will be exported. If left blank upon import, the ENTIRE animation file range will be imported. Otherwise, specifying an export range (ex. - frames 11-30) will output that portion of the animation.

Specifying an import range can be used to shift and/or scale the imported frame range. For example, if your imported animation file has keys from frame 1-10, and you specify a frame range of 41-50 upon import, the imported animation will be shifted and applied over 41-50 according to the rules of your selected import mode (see below). However, if you specify a frame range of 41-60, your 10 frame long imported animation will be shifted and scaled to fit the longer range (see "snap keys to whole frames", below).

It is important to note that only keyframes and their tangents are exported, so you must take care to encompass all desired keyframes when specifying a range (ie. - if you have keys on frames 40 and 50, and specify an export range of 40-49, you will only export the animation from frame 40).

import file read range
 Specifies a sub-range of the imported animation file to read. For example, you can specify that you want to import frames 5-10 from an animation file which has a full range of 1-50. Essentially, this feature "clips" the imported animation file.
import mode
 There are six different import modes available in this pull-down menu, each with its own rules:
replaceAnim-all
 Replaces ALL existing animation on the specified character with the imported animation. Depending on the contents of the imported animation file, this can result in existing animation being deleted across nodes and frame ranges. This is the "cleanest" mode, but should only be used when you don't care about the existing animation in a scene.
replaceAnim-imported
 Replaces only the animation on nodes which are contained within the imported animation file. For example, if you are importing an animation file which contains leg animation, only the leg animation curves will be overwritten in your existing scene.
addKeys-overwrite
 Inserts imported keyframes into the existing animation curves. If imported keys match existing keyframes, the imported keys will overwrite the existing keys.
addKeys-skip
 Inserts imported keyframes into the existing animation curves. If imported keys match existing keyframes, the imported keys will skip the existing keys.
replaceKeys-existing
 The imported animation data will only overwrite existing keys. An example of when you might use this is if you wanted to extract the keyframes from a more developed scene which match the frame numbers of a more roughly blocked scene.
replaceKeys-segment
 Pastes imported keyframes within the specified import range, overwriting any existing keys inside that range, but ignoring any keys outside that range (ie. - the rest of the animation curve is preserved).

The most commonly used import modes are "replaceAnim-all", "replaceAnim-imported" and "replaceKeys-segment".

snap keys to whole frames
 Forces scaled animation keys onto nearest whole frame numbers (when fractional values are incurred).
export ALL
 Exports ALL animation for the specified character or element code ("tomy", "shad", "mike", etc...). If the character field is empty, exports ALL animation for every node in the scene.
export Sel
 Exports animation for selected nodes on the specified character or element code ("tomy", "shad", "mike", etc...). If the character field is empty, exports animation for every selected node in the scene.
import ALL
 Imports ALL animation for the specified character or element code ("tomy", "shad", "mike", etc...). If the character field is empty, imports EVERYTHING from the animation file.
import Sel
Imports animation for selected nodes on the specified character or element code ("tomy", "shad", "mike", etc...). Animation in the imported file which does not match selected nodes is ignored. If the character field is empty, imports matching animation for every selected node in the scene.

In the following example, invoking the import ALL button would read keys from frame 1 through 5 of the specified animation file, shift the start of this range to 41, and scale the range to 50, snapping the keys to whole frame values. Because the import mode is set to "replaceKeys-segment", any existing animation before frame 41 and after frame 50 is preserved. (If the import mode were set to "replaceAnim-all", any animation before frame 41 and after frame 50 would be deleted.)

Common animation transfer scenarios:

"I want to copy all animation from a character in one scene to the same character in another scene."
Specify the export file name and the character code. Click on "export ALL".

Open the new scene. Specify the import file name and the character code. Set import mode to "replaceAnim-all". Click on "import ALL".
"I want to copy all animation from a character in one scene to a different character in another scene."
 Specify the export file name and the character code. Click on "export ALL".

Open the new scene. Specify the import file name and the new character code. Set import mode to "replaceAnim-all". Click on "import ALL".
"I want to copy all animation from a character in one scene, and insert it at a later point in another scene."
Specify the export file name and the character code. Click on "export ALL".

Open the new scene. Specify the import file name and the character code. Specify a new start frame in "import/export range". Set import mode to "replaceKeys-segment". Click on "import ALL".
"I want to copy animation from part of a character in one scene to the same character in another."
Specify the export file name and the character code. Click on "export ALL".

Open the new scene. Specify the import file name and the character code. Select the character nodes on which to copy animation. Set import mode. Click on "import Sel ".

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