INTRODUCTION:

I am wondering if there is any easy way to substitute one prop with another.  I have two scenarios that I may involve different answers, but are so closely related I felt it was sensible to put them in the same post.

SCENARIO 1:

Suppose I have my character working with a prop, such as a shovel.  I have dummy props for prop/hand interaction and all that good stuff.  I do all my animation including hours of careful keyframing.

Then later I decide a pitch fork would be better than a shovel.  Same size prop with same fundamental geometry.  Same avatar actions.  Just a different prop.

Is there an easy way to swap the shovel with the pitchfork without having to re-do all the keyframing animation work?  I assume the props would have to be "similar" to each other.

What about physics?  What if I had Chuck throwing a baseball, but decided it would be better to throw an apple or tomato that is the same size?

SCENARIO 2:

Now supposed I start a project with a rudimentary prop, and my project went so well I now have time to create a better, more detailed prop.  (I have 3DXchange if you want to include that in the scenario.)

For example, I might start with a basic wooden chair, but I'd like to replace with with an ornate throne.  The critical dimensions are the same - seat height, arm rests in same place, etc.

You can assume this is a prop I made, so can I "overwrite" my crude prop file with my detailed prop file, and will it magically appear the next time I open my project file?

I'm thinking this would be nice if I'm making a project and need props to get started, and I could refine them by making higher-quality versions of them later on.

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This is something I've wanted since day one! I WANT TO BE ABLE TO MORPH!!! :w00t::w00t:

There's probably a better way ... but what you can do is attach both props and turn one's visibility off in the Display Tab and then at the right time turn on the other prop and then turn off the currently visible prop. It's instantaneous but it would work. If you're sharp you could edit in your NLE and do a dissolve if you needed to.


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Hi Mark,

Thanks for your reply. I've noticed "morphing" requests in the Wishful Features thread. But I'm afraid you missed my point, perhaps I wasn't clear.

I'm talking about a case where I've changed my mind. Rather than morph from one prop to another, I want to REPLACE one with another in the entire scene/project.

Suppose I want to collaborate with someone on a project. My partner might make a kitchen oven that is basically a simple cube that has a square flap for the door and a cylinder to act as a handle. I could use that to work on the scene. I might even have my avatar open the oven door to put in a tray of cookies to bake.

Meanwhile my partner could be making a much more detailed oven, complete with burners on the stove top, an electric element inside that glows red hot, a window in the door, and rails to support the oven racks.

Later, I could simply replace the ugly stand-in prop with the beautiful stove. My avatar's actions would remain the same because the key geometry is the same size/location.

The benefit is I don't have to spend all my time up-front on detailing props which may or may not be relevant, and I don't need to re-do my avatar animations if I decide to upgrade the quality of my prop.



If my prop is static, and my avatar does not interact with it, then it's easy to remove the old one and put in the new one.


One more example might be an entry door on a house. There are many varieties, many with different window arrangements in the door, but the hinges and knob would be in the same place. When I'm done making my scene where the avatar turns the knob and opens the door, what if I decide I want a different style door? Maybe swapping one with no windows for a nice solid oak door with etched leaded glass panes.

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In your Scenario #1:

Align the new Item with the old item in frame one (1). Turn the old original item to a dummy (modify panel) and remove all it's materials to reduce it's size, if desired, or keep the materials, your choice..

Remove all animation from the replacement, after it has been aligned.

Now attach your replacement to the original item, which is now a dummy, but still retains all the animation you originally intended or experienced when editing the original, but is now invisible to the viewer.

The replacement will do the same thing the original did, as long as both are aligned.

In the case of dummies, you can detach them from the original, and re-attach them to the replacement, as long as there are no direct transforms to the original prop, other than the character moving it around. Otherwise, leave the original in place as an invisible dummy itself for the replacement to latch onto.

Scenario#2:

Just align the new item where the old one was, and remove any animation used to get it there, then remove the old one. If you were using reach targeting dummies on the old one, then detach those from the original item and re-attach to the replacement. Done.

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Thanks, Cricky.

Scenario 1 - That makes sense. It sure is a LOT better than having to redo all the detailed animation work. I expect after doing it 2 or 3 times it will become almost second nature.

Scenario 2 - I guess that makes sense too, I'll have to try it.

Follow-up question on Scenario 2... Does iClone "internalize" all the props into a project file? I may have to actually try this when I have some more time, but what happens if you overwrite a prop file with a new, updated copy? I'm used to some NLE software that creates temporary files (for smooth viewing of effects, etc.), but you can delete them and they will all regenerate for the next time you open the project.

If nobody chimes in with a confident answer, I'll try to carve out some time and do some experiments regarding Scenario 2, but it will probably be a few days at least.

Thanks again for the tips.

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Hi Dennis,

I hope I'm guessing this right,

iClone does not update a project file when you make any changes to a prop or whatever without doing it while working on the project.

If you have a red prop in a project and then change it to blue in another project it will still remain red in the first project. Every single item in a project is saved within one file and these items in the file will not be affected by any changes made to them outside of the project file.

Hope that helps some.

Gerry

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Gerry,

My curiosity motivated me to try a quick test last night, and, assuming I did it correctly, my results confirm your statements.

Changing the prop file does not affect your project the next time you open it.

I can see advantages to both ways.  It is nice that you don't have existing projects spontaneously change and surprise you.

On the other hand, since the project seems to contain more than a "link" to the prop files, iClone must be saving all this data somewhere.  That chews up disk space.  If you have a dozen projects all using the same high-quality props, you have a lot of copies of those props stored somewhere.  I always recommend doing a lot of "Save As" operations for safety sake.

I might have to go in the "Wishful Features" thread and request a "Refresh Prop" option where it would re-read the prop file.  That would be really handy for my "Scenario 2" I described earlier.

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iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
Laptop - Windows 10, MSI GS63VR STEALTH-252, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 (6GB), 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD

Unlike Pinnacle Studio that has a Project Folder containing a number of Sub-Folders & Files, iClone has just the one Project File that increaes in size relative to the number of  Edits.

iClone also has one Temp(orary) Render Folder for all Projects that also increaes in size, until you Delete it. My jvc Power Tools Program automatically Deletes that, each time I Run it. You can Select the Temp Render Folder Directory in iC5 Preferences. 

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Thanks, Colour.

I do need to spend some quality time with iClone, both the interface and some of the inner workings.  I did try to pace myself and be somewhat methodical during my Christmas vacation.  I am eternally hopeful that I can continue my learning "this next weekend."  Sigh.  It always seems to be one weekend away.

At some point, soon hopefully, before I get too much stuff jumbled up, I'll have to organize my resources.  I have a 256GB SSD as my C: drive, and I don't want to fill it up too much, so I'll have to learn about some best practices for organizing purchased content, personally added "custom" content, temporary files, and all that good stuff.  It's not my priority yet (I'm not capable of learning everything simultaneously) but it is on my list.

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iClone 7... Character Creator... Substance Designer/Painter... Blender... Audacity...
Desktop (homebuilt) - Windows 10, Ryzen 9 3900x CPU, GTX 1080 GPU (8GB), 32GB RAM, Asus X570 Pro motherboard, 2TB SSD, terabytes of disk space, dual  monitors.
Laptop - Windows 10, MSI GS63VR STEALTH-252, 16GB RAM, GTX 1060 (6GB), 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD

Just searched and found this older post.

What I did was :
Placed my new prop over the old one
Link to the old one.
Set the old one to visible off.

Cheers

SteveW