A Simple, Sexy Modifying Anim 120126
I was having some fun playing with modifying animations, which are animations that change how another dance or animation looks. I've talked about this before in terms of dance priorities, the joints of your avatar and how to make simple animations using Qavimator or BVHacker. But today I wasn't too concerned about the how to, I just wanted to have fun.
Two days ago, I was classifying more couples dances with Psyche Lunasea and we began to talk about the cultural aspects of dancing. We both agreed that dancing is very cultural and one of the nice things about SL is that we can explore a wide range of different dancing styles. So, I had on my mind how dancing expresses feelings.
In my culture dancing is very sexual and sensual. That got me thinking about how I could modify existing dances to make them different and maybe even sexier. So I thought about what type of body language conveys added sensuality ... well, hands behind the head. I Googled "hands behind the head" and didn't find much to support my feeling that this adds to the sensuality, but that didn't stop me. Hey, my guess is that most guys like to see breasts in a clearer view.
Anyway, this led to me creating a really simple modifying animation in Qavimator. It's not high quality, but it works. You can get it in the Modifying Animations inside the DANCE QUEENS Free Stuff Box in Dance Central. I call it "hands behind head."
If you click on it, you will see it only moves the hands to behind the head and leaves them there. Its a not too exciting non-looped move when used alone. BUT, start a nice dance that you like, then start "hands behind head" and WOW. HAHAHAHA. The dance looks very different.
"hands behind head" has only the shoulder, arms and forearms set as priority 4. All other joints are essentially a priority 0. Most dances are priority 4, so as long as you are using a second HUD or just activating the dance outside your normal HUD, and starting your dance first, it works. If you dance sequences, when the next dance in the sequence starts, the modifying anim appears to stop. Really the modifying anim is running in the background and is not visible until you stop your regular dance. Play with it a bit and you will see how to use it. Again:
1. Start a dance with your main HUD
2. Start "hands behind head" with second HUD or just by itself, but not in your main HUD
The modifying anim also works with stands. Stands are usually priority 3 so the modifying anim stays visible when you switch to a different stand.
Have fun with it you sexy creatures.
xxx
Nottoo