Timeline
Acid Bubbles updated Timeline with a new update entry:

Timeline v5.0.2

- Correctly increment animation numbers after 19
- Do not apply pose when recording
- Improve performance and memory of in-game 3d curve preview
- Fix physics glitch when selecting a target
- Fix multiple sequencing when starting clip from trigger leading to an incoherent state
- Log time now counts seconds from animation start time

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Hey, the latest version of timeline seems a bit buggy for me. I use Idle Poser in my scene to play different animation from timeline. So when i go to State one "Slow" its all good, after i switch to a other state like "Faster" timeline switches too but it seems like the "SLOW" animation is still running somehow. The animation is lagging somehow. when i stop timeline and start an animation again it works :/. With an older version i didn't have that issue.

Oct. 3rd: Ive just noticed its really as i thought. If you play the next animation in list, timeline doesnt stopps the last animation. So its getting juggly. I try using an older version.
 
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Hey love the plugin. Wanted to say that the newest version doesn't quite work for my purposes, as a lot of my animations I used "blend-in" overtop of themselves, often having several animations at different weight values in the same layer. It seems that the blend-in aspect of animations aren't working, as I don't even see the weight these animations have when they play. I like to use this for custom facial animations.

Example of the blending in action in the older version:
1633316820635.png


The sequence setup to make it work:
1633316876194.png


I only modify the first keyframe in each animation. Then I set the animations to run at a random length and blend over a long period of time. The effect is 2 or more animations going at the same time to make up subtle facial movement. Combine that with quicker intentional facial movement, like the mouth corners, squint, or eyebrows and you can have a lot of variety in animations.

Anyway, in the new version the blend-in is ignored by the play next value. Results in animation weights seemingly having no impact.

Or did I miss something?
 
@Mopze @hentai_senpai Timeline 5 went under a very, very large rewrite of large sections of the code, including the blending and sequencing logic, so it's perfectly possible that I might have missed something. Are you able to share a scene that shows the problem with instructions? I don't _display_ the weight anymore in the button (so we can see the anim name) but the blending should work, at least it works in my tests. A sample scene (simple if possible) with instructions on how to reproduce (what's expected, what's happening) will go a long way to help me fix the problem :)
 
Hey thanks for the quick response! Hope the fix isn't too challenging. Just in case, I have some shots to describe the situation I'm seeing:

Atoms in my scene:
1633312463041.png


Setup Timeline on a person atom (I added 3 floats):
1633312515942.png


Make some loop anims with different floats set to max on the first keyframe (screenshot to show timing & length (default) and looping is set:
1633312770935.png


Set sequence to blend-in over 5 seconds on each anim, randomize from 2 up to 5 seconds in length before transitioning (also set the anims to cycle to the group/*). Preserve loops is off, but each animation should play over 2 seconds (interrupts blend to start another blend with a different animation) or random up to 5 second play time (for full blend-in):
1633312851555.png


Now what should happen is that we should be able to play the animation and get a blend of 2 or more anims as they transition (the weight increasing/decreasing from 0-100 over a period of 5 seconds). By itself it's alright, but blended with other layers that target specific facial groups really brings it to life.

Instead, what's happening is the anims play very snappy over each other. I don't visibly see any blending and there's no indication that the weight values are changing like they should:
1633313065926.png


This screenshot is kinda pointless, but I'm trying to illustrate that the weighting is off and the timing is snappier than it should be. You should be able to setup the same scenario if you follow the screenshots above. You can also go back to the previous timeline version and duplicate the other shots in my previous post to recreate the desired effect (which I got a shot off 3 anims morphing at the same time).

I hope this helps!

*I should also add that I have no idea if this is in line with what was ever supposed to happen, but the functionality is amazing.
 
@hentai_senpai yup, I can reproduce what you're saying! I'll bring back the blending (at least while it blends) and I'm currently investigating this. I should blend smoothly so yeah there's something wrong :D Thanks for taking the time to make those detailed instructions, it helps a lot!
 
Aaaaah no OK I got it now, I went back to v4 to compare and I see what happened. So this was indeed a _bug_ of v4, it was actually blending from whatever blend value it had, for the blend duration, rather than "finish" the blend or "rollback" the blend from where it was.

For example, in v4: Anim 1 is blending in for 4 seconds, so after 2 seconds you're at 50%. You play something else, so it blends out for 4 seconds starting at 50%, effectively blending out at half the speed it's supposed to.
In v5, if Anim 1 is blending in for 4 seconds, after 2 seconds you're still at 50%. But if you play something else, it blends out for 2 seconds starting at 50%, blending at the expected speed.

I'll try and see if I can make a setting to keep the old behavior...
 
Acid Bubbles updated Timeline with a new update entry:

Timeline v5.0.3

- Bring back support for VaM 1.19
- Fix major issue, play triggers with preserve loops resulted in blending never finishing
- Show blend value in Animations screen
- Stop with blending in Animations screen
- Correctly refresh float params in Targets screen when switching animations
- Option to "force blend time" (Timeline 4 blending behavior, it will always blend for the blend in duration, when partially blended blend speed will be slower)

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Hello. I love your Timeline.
In the new version, did you make the morph not have a negative value? I often use the negative value of the lip pucker morph to create expressions. I used to be able to set the negative value by hitting a few keyframes using the smooth setting feature of the animation curve, but not in the new version. Is there any way to improve this?
 
Hi @UJVAM ! I love you work too :) What changed is that before, it would go further than the allowed range in the morph, and this would actually _change_ the range. For example, you make a smile, when it went back to zero it would continue under zero, which is undesirable. So Timeline 5 now respects the constraints of the morph.

If a morph however has a constraint that starts from zero, _normally_ VaM prevents you from going under that, but Timeline actually was letting you do that (which is a bug).

So I guess the only option I'm seeing is a special option like "Force set invalid value" or something like that. I can't try now by I think you could set a negative value manually in the morphs tab, if that doesn't work I can check if there's a workaround later.
 
Hi. I have a problem. When i am adding new animation with a completely different pose my other animations are getting f***d up. Should i use subscene instead of creating a new animation?
 
Hi @UJVAM ! I love you work too :) What changed is that before, it would go further than the allowed range in the morph, and this would actually _change_ the range.
I, for one, appreciate that this was fixed! I had a variety of morphs that would get pretty crazy if I didn't catch that it had changed the range, and it made setting it directly back to zero particularly challenging, since you can't click and type a number (feature request?) ;)

Mouth and eyes open were KILLING me! Haha
 
Hi @UJVAM ! I love you work too :) What changed is that before, it would go further than the allowed range in the morph, and this would actually _change_ the range. For example, you make a smile, when it went back to zero it would continue under zero, which is undesirable. So Timeline 5 now respects the constraints of the morph.

If a morph however has a constraint that starts from zero, _normally_ VaM prevents you from going under that, but Timeline actually was letting you do that (which is a bug).

So I guess the only option I'm seeing is a special option like "Force set invalid value" or something like that. I can't try now by I think you could set a negative value manually in the morphs tab, if that doesn't work I can check if there's a workaround later.
Thank you for your answer?.
I tried to set the morph directly from the Morph tab. I was able to manually enter a value of minus 1.0, but it reverted to 0 when animated in the timeline…..!!

I also understand that there are times when the setting is set from ZERO downward, as you think it should be. It would be helpful to have a manual setting.

I also think it would be more intuitive and easier to use if the ANIMATION graph could be adjusted directly.
 
Hi. I have a problem. When i am adding new animation with a completely different pose my other animations are getting f***d up. Should i use subscene instead of creating a new animation?
are you using the edit tab to save and apply the pose on animation change?
 
@Milanin it's a good timing to have that problem :D Timeline 5 has a feature for that, poses: https://github.com/acidbubbles/vam-timeline/wiki/Pose (this is what @Lamp was referring to)

Otherwise it's normal, Timeline only records animations for targets you specify, but it doesn't record those target physics settings and other nodes positions. Posing solves that, and because it's part of Timeline it's fairly simple to setup and solves potential conflicts.
 
@UJVAM it works for me:
1633395282407.png


What I did was go to the Morphs tab, set the value of a morphs that initially started with 0 to -1, and in Timeline I'm now able to set values in that new range (See the top right for the negative value, and the graph to see it goes under zero)

As for being able to edit the curves directly, I agree, it's in the list of things I'd like to do but as a single, adult human being with too many responsibilities, I cannot do it all :D I actually had a prototype for it once but it's tricky to do right for a couple of reasons. I wouldn't expect this to be developed in the short term, I have the Walk plugin I'm currently working on, and I have a lot of other competing improvements in my list.
 
@Acid Bubbles Dang, I knew what I was doing was a bug XD. A happy accident for my purposes then!

You summed it up perfectly, I was taking advantage of the blend time behaving in that way. I can see how both versions make sense. Although from the sound of it, I won't be able to abuse the 'same layer blend interaction' the way I was in the new version.

I'm not sure if it's worth your time, but I think there's something to be had here with the "bugged" functionality. I'll try to publish the scene that I have, as I think it showcases the utility of it. And thanks for being as active as you are in the discussion, really pro of you imo :)

*Once I finish the scene I'll have to spend some time in the new version of timeline all the same, I think!
 
@UJVAM it works for me:
View attachment 68943

What I did was go to the Morphs tab, set the value of a morphs that initially started with 0 to -1, and in Timeline I'm now able to set values in that new range (See the top right for the negative value, and the graph to see it goes under zero)

As for being able to edit the curves directly, I agree, it's in the list of things I'd like to do but as a single, adult human being with too many responsibilities, I cannot do it all :D I actually had a prototype for it once but it's tricky to do right for a couple of reasons. I wouldn't expect this to be developed in the short term, I have the Walk plugin I'm currently working on, and I have a lot of other competing improvements in my list.
Thanks for the answer ?.
I am very happy that you answered my request sincerely.
I will try the workaround for the negative value tomorrow. I'm not able to touch the machine because I'm on a business trip.
Also, I see that ANIMATION graphs have been tried in the past and found to be difficult. I understand, I was thinking it would be easier to do it if I could touch it directly like Maya, but please prioritize what you want to do. I will support your activities.
Thank you.
 
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