[BUG-231014] .ANIM format animations get uploaded incorrectly

[sl-service-account]

What just happened?

When uploading an animation to SL using the .anim format, It looks like second life uses linear keyframe interpolation instead of bezier and as result animations look very stiff, twitchy and unnatural, the BVH format does not have this problem.

What were you doing when it happened?

Exporting and uploading an animation using the ANIM format, Animations do not play smoothly.

What were you expecting to happen instead?

I expect the animations to look the same as in blender or when they are uploaded using the BVH format.

Other information

I have attached 4 files, the example .blend file with the animations exported in ANIM and BVH formats, a video of how it looks in blender, a video of how the BVH looks on SL and a video of how the ANIM looks on SL.

Attachments

• anim.webm 2021-07-25 11:05:19
• bb_animation.anim 2021-07-25 12:05:53
• bvh.webm 2021-07-25 11:05:19
• example2.zip 2021-07-25 11:05:22
• inblender.webm 2021-07-25 11:05:16
• interpolation.png 2021-07-25 11:06:07

Original Jira Fields

| Field | Value | | ------------- | ------------- | | Issue | BUG-231014 | | Summary | .ANIM format animations get uploaded incorrectly | | Type | Bug | | Priority | Unset | | Status | Closed | | Resolution | Not Applicable | | Reporter | Utilizator Mode (utilizator.mode) | | Created at | 2021-07-25T15:06:17Z | | Updated at | 2021-07-25T23:12:39Z | ``` { 'Build Id': 'unset', 'Business Unit': ['Platform'], 'Date of First Response': '2021-07-25T11:06:07.905-0500', "Is there anything you'd like to add?": 'I have attached 4 files, the example .blend file with the animations exported in ANIM and BVH formats, a video of how it looks in blender, a video of how the BVH looks on SL and a video of how the ANIM looks on SL.', 'ReOpened Count': 0.0, 'Severity': 'Unset', 'System': 'SL Viewer', 'Target Viewer Version': 'viewer-development', 'What just happened?': 'When uploading an animation to SL using the .anim format, It looks like second life uses linear keyframe interpolation instead of bezier and as result animations look very stiff, twitchy and unnatural, the BVH format does not have this problem.\r\n\r\n', 'What were you doing when it happened?': 'Exporting and uploading an animation using the ANIM format, Animations do not play smoothly.', 'What were you expecting to happen instead?': 'I expect the animations to look the same as in blender or when they are uploaded using the BVH format.', } ```

[sl-service-account]

BinBash commented at 2021-07-25T16:06:08Z, updated at 2021-07-25T16:07:07Z

The anim file data structure allows us to upload animations in very specific detail. There are no interpolations except for what we provide, a time and motion.

My experience differs from yours. I downloaded your example Blender file and exported that animation. I see a difference. I've noticed the choppy animations in the past, provided as anim exports, and have investigated it thoroughly. I understand why it happens.

This does not appear to be an SL issue. Provided is the .anim file I exported and then uploaded to SL. Nothing has been changed, although I believe you are using a different tool than the one I used for this process.  The file provided is bb_animation.anim .

[sl-service-account]

Utilizator Mode commented at 2021-07-25T20:51:31Z, updated at 2021-07-25T20:55:56Z

Im using avastar, i have tried baking down every frame and exporting it that way but still got the same choppy result so that lead me to believe that something happens to it on SL's end

What do you use to export your animations?

[sl-service-account]

BinBash commented at 2021-07-25T21:22:40Z

I am using the Blender add-on I made, which I have named "Bento Buddy".

When you baked the animation it gave you what you had hoped for in order to produce "smooth" motion.  Unfortunately if you used Avastar to export that  motion it will have reduced the keys using its own interpolation algorithm when exporting the anim file.  While this may be acceptable for most things, and usually not noticeable, some things lend itself better to more accuracy and require more data to represent.  You'll want to ask if they offer an alternative to keep more keys or to be less aggressive with key removal.

[sl-service-account]

Utilizator Mode commented at 2021-07-25T21:49:53Z

Thanks, i will give your tool a try, im banging my head against the wall with this problem.

[sl-service-account]

Utilizator Mode commented at 2021-07-25T22:44:30Z, updated at 2021-07-25T23:12:39Z

Looks like this was not an SL issue after all, im closing this report

Gaia Clary:

The .ANIM exporter of Avastar currently does export with simplify to reduce the size of the exported animations. But after i got aware of this been seen as a deficiency i now have added an option so that users can decide if they want to optimize for smooth animation or optimize for reduced use of resources.