TransPoser workflow

In the article below:

Introduction

The concept of TransPosing, introduced for the first time with v.7 of EDAPT Premium, is a major innovation brought to Flash animation professionals by the Electric Dog team.
TransPosing streamlines facial animation and provides polished tools for dynamic pose reuse in all contexts of character animation.

TransPoser increases production efficiency, improving bi-directional collaboration between rig artists and animators, empowering them to develop and expand a reusable library of carefully designed poses or expressions. These presets help speed up the animation process, while maintaining the desired level of visual consistency.

TransPosing adds flexibility and fits perfectly into the SMR workflow. It follows the same established UX conventions and techniques, which make it very easy to adopt and incorporate in existing SMR production assets.

Overview

TransPosing is the process of dynamically applying matrix transformations, First Frame settings and Library Item associations to target instances, based on the matching properties of preset source instances.

In practical terms this means that carefully designed symbol-based presets of facial expressions or character poses can be saved in one container (the Reference Symbol or REF) and then dynamically TransPosed in any order onto the timeline where the actual animation is produced. The TransPosed retain all editability and the layer structure. They can be tweened or serve as the basis for new poses. 

TransPoser panel provides a set of tools through which artwork is organized and TransPosed.

The main steps in this process are:

1. Setting a symbol as Reference (REF)
2. Creating Thumbnails for the preset poses in REF
3. Creating an Animation symbol (ANM) based on the REF
4. TransPosing by clicking on the Thumbnails

What does TransPosing bring to the animation process?

TransPosing, in combination with Transformers, RC Sliders and Visibility Switches, makes complex facial animation, such as nods and turns, commonly known as 2.5D, easy to control and reuse. This ease serves as the creative basis for added subtlety and organic feel to digital cutout animation.

It also enables the reuse of various character pose presets. These methods can be applied anywhere: from turns to matching base / idle positions in game loops, or just specific poses, which visually define the character.

Since TransPosing is so easy to do and the results can be intermixed to produce an infinite number of variations, or edited to achieve completely new poses, it opens the doors to more enjoyable experimentation and leads to higher-quality final output.

TransPoser elevates the Flash / Animate user experience, bringing much needed flexibility to all animation professionals. It is the mature and polished workflow solution to the decades-old need for advanced facial and pose reuse tools.

As all other EDAPT Premium features, TransPosing blends in seamlessly with the established Classic Tween workflows, adding powerful tools to animation professionals' arsenal.

How does it work?

TransPosing is realized on the basis of symbol instances, tagged with metadata (REF info).
Matrix transformations, First Frame properties and Library Item associations of the source symbol instances, placed inside a Reference Symbol container (REF) are applied to matching target instances in the current animation timeline (ANM).

Any bunch of symbol instances can be TransPosed.

The only requirement for setting up the REF symbol is that there is one instance per layer.

Since TransPosing is instance-based, in the ANM symbol, where the actual animation is worked upon, instances can change layers or even appear all on the same layer.

Preparation

TransPosing is mediated by the TransPoser panel.
The pose presets are placed inside a Reference Symbol, called REF for brevity.
Thumbnails are generated for those poses, and by clicking on a Thumbnail the associated properties are TransPosed to the current frame in an ANM symbol.

Setting up the REF

Any Graphic symbol can become a TransPoser Reference Symbol – REF.

This is done via the Set as REF button in TransPoser panel.

Tagging with REF info
When the button is pressed all instances within the current timeline are tagged with REF info.
This is why it is best to perform this operation when all the intended instances are already present on the timeline.

Adding artwork, additional tagging
If new artwork is added later, it will also need to be tagged with REF info.
To do so, press the Set as REF button again.

Only Symbol instances will be tagged with REF info, but there are no restrictions upon the content of a REF symbol. For example, on guided layers it can contain rough sketches, consisting of Drawing Objects or raw vector shapes.

When a symbol is set as TransPoser Reference, REF is added to its Library Item name. This is done for easy visual identification only. Users are free rename it, if they wish so.

Folder structure
There are some simple structural requirements for organizing the content.

When a symbol is set as REF two layer folders are added to its timeline: Meta and TransPose.

The Meta folder contains two layers: Groups and Thumbnails.
All these are mandatory and must not be deleted or renamed.

The TransPose folder is where users should put the content which they want to TransPose.
Anything placed outside of TransPose will be ignored during TransPose operations.

The layers in the Meta folder control how Thumbnails are organized when loaded in the TransPoser panel.
This is achieved by adding blank keyframes, with or without labels, on the two layers inside Meta.

Meta > Thumbnails – Add keyframes to determine the frames for which Thumbnails will be created. If you label them, these labels will be displayed below the Thumbnail.

Meta > Groups – Add keyframes to define where a group starts. Keyframes with identical labels can exist and will be merged into the same group in the panel.

Classic Tweens without easing are allowed in REF.
Thumbnails can be generated for frames in the middle of a tween, i.e. a Meta > Thumbnails keyframe can be placed over a tween frame.

Generating Thumbnails

When a REF exists in the Document it can be loaded in the TransPoser panel.
Clicking on the Load Thumbnails button will either display cached Thumbnails, if such exist, or create new ones.

What Thumbnails are created and how these Thumbnails are grouped depends on the Meta > Thumbnails and Meta > Groups keyframe setup in REF.

In-panel customizations
Once loaded the Thumbnails can be rearranged by Shift-dragging them. They can be deleted by dragging and dropping them over the Bin icon at the bottom.

Separators can be dragged out of the Separator pool in the Main Tool bar and placed between thumbnails.

Thumbnail background color can be set by clicking on thebutton.

New Groups can be created in the panel by clicking on thebutton.

All in-panel customizations are for convenience only.
They are saved between sessions and will remain intact until the user chooses to refresh / recreate the Thumbnails via thebutton. Then the structure will be reloaded from Meta > Groups and Meta > Thumbnails in the the REF symbol.

Creating the ANM

Automatically-created ANM
The typical and most straight-forward way of creating a TransPoser Animation Symbol – ANM – is by clicking on the Create ANM buttonin the REF Tool bar.
This will create an ANM, based on the REF. It will have the same Library Item name with an ANM suffix. Users can rename the symbol, if they wish so.

The newly created ANM contains the first keyframe and all non-Meta layers of the REF with all the tagged instances which can now be TransPosed.

For easy access and editing an instance of the REF is included on a guided layer inside the ANM.

Typically the ANM will be dragged to Stage (or swapped), then double-clicked to Edit in Place, and TransPosing and animation will be done on its internal timeline.

User-created ANM
If the user wants to animate elements from two or more REFs on the same timeline, they can copy the instances from those REF symbols via Copy Frames or Copy Layers and paste them on any timeline inside any user-created symbol.

To make this user-created symbol an ANM, it needs to be manually linked to all the necessary REFs.
While inside the symbol, this is accomplished by clicking on the Link to REF buttonsin each REF's Tool bar.

Open layer structure
There are no strict structural requirements for the ANM.
Layers can be renamed, rearranged or nested into folders.
As long as the ANM is linked to the REF and instances containing REF info are present in the current frame, TransPosing will work.

Adding a pose back to REF
Any pose which the user considers worth preserving for future reuse can be easily added to REF by pressing the Add to REF buttonin the REF's Tool bar.

Usage

TransPosing

Once the REF and the ANM are set and Thumbnails are loaded in the panel, TransPosing is a matter of choosing a frame in the ANM timeline and clicking on a Thumbnail.

If the current frame is not a Keyframe, a Keyframe will be created and the corresponding instances will be modified to match the selected pose in the REF.

Fine-tuning

There are several adjustments that can be made prior to invoking a TransPose operation, which will affect its result.

Flip
Activating the Flip Hor/and the Flip Vtoggle buttons will result in a horizontally or vertically flipped pose.

Match scale
Adding a __matchscale suffix to a layer name will scale the TransPosed proportionally to match the scale of the instance on this layer.
The easiest way to add or remove the suffix is via the drop-down menu, accessible by clicking the [ ··· ] button at the bottom right of the panel.
Typically __matchscale will be added to the torso or facial oval layers, when the pose needs to have scaling other than that of the REF. It is best to choose an element which has no skew or other distortions applied; only uniform scaling.

Exclude
Adding a __notranspose suffix to a layer's name in ANM will result in the instance being skipped during the TransPose operation.
The easiest way to add or remove the suffix is via the drop-down menu, accessible by clicking the [ ··· ] button at the bottom right of the panel.

Do not sync
Adding a __nosync suffix to a layer's name in ANM will apply the matrix transformation and Library Item association, but skip the First Frame property.
This is useful for mouth or eye animation, where the ANM poses need to differ from the REF presets.
The easiest way to add or remove the suffix is via the drop-down menu, accessible by clicking the [ ··· ] button at the bottom right of the panel.

Position precisely with Pose Anchor
Pose Anchor can be created via Create TransPoser Objects command or the dedicated button in SMR Helpers panel. There can be only one Pose Anchor per timeline.

Via Smart Magnet Joint `(tilda/~ key to the left of 1/! and below Esc) Pose Anchor can be snapped over a T‑point placed inside an instance.
This activates it and the next TransPose operation will build the pose around the position of the Pose Anchor.
Effectively this works as a TransPoser pin, where the relationship between successive TransPosed poses can be precisely controlled.

Adding elements (to REF and ANM)

If new elements are added after a symbol has been set as REF, these new elements will lack REF info.
They will need to be tagged, before they can be TransPosed.

To tag new instances, simply press the Set as REF button while inside the REF symbol. This will tag with REF info all instances which don't have metadata IDs.

If you already have an ANM, and you would like to continue working there, just copy the newly introduced and tagged instances from REF (copy frames or copy layers) and paste them into your ANM.
Otherwise, you can create a new ANM, which will include the new elements and start animating there.

You may also want to refresh the Thumbnails by pressing thebutton in REF's Tool bar.

After the new tagged instances are present in both the REF and ANM you will be able to TransPose them.

Trouble-shooting

When REF and ANM are properly set, there are three reasons why certain elements might not TransPose:

1. The instances are not placed inside REF's TransPose folder
2. The instances are not tagged with REF info
3. The ANM is not linked to the REF

To identify which of the three potential problems listed above you face, start by opening the REF and making sure that the instances are placed on layers nested inside the TransPose timeline folder.

If so, then select the instances and press the Check REF info button .
This will show a report in Output.
If the instances lack REF info, tag them by pressing the Set as REF button .

If there are no issues in the REF symbol, check the instances in ANM with Check REF info .
If they lack REF info, copy the properly tagged instances from REF and paste them into ANM.

Finally, pay attention to the Check REF info report to see if the ANM is linked to the REF.
If not, press the Link to REF buttonin the REF's Tool bar.

Related articles

TransPoser panel

Smart Magnet Rigs

Rig Architecture

Create TransPoser Objects

Create And Manage RC Sliders

SMR Helpers panel