APEX Scene Animate geometry node

Edits the animation on an APEX scene.

On this page	Parameter editor Animation menu Edit Animation window Evaluate menu Inputs Outputs
Since	20.0

This node allows you to edit the animation on an APEX scene using the animate state, the viewer state on this node. See the animate state page for information on the available tools and functionality for animating, and the animation workflow page for examples of how to use this node.

Parameter editor ¶

The parameter editor displays the animation layers on the node as well as four menus - Animation, Evaluate, Layers, and Settings. The Animation and Evaluate menu options are listed below, and the Layers and Settings menus are the same as the ones in the animation layers pane.

Animation menu ¶

The Animation menu provides the following options:

Inherit Animation Layers from Input

When turned on, inherits animation layers that are added upstream from this node. The inherited layers are read-only within this node, but upstream changes to the layers are propagated down and merged into this node. This allows for procedural chaining of animation using multiple APEX Scene Animate SOPs. Inherited animation layers are not written out to the cache.

When turned off, copies the upstream layers to this node. These layers are not inherited, so they can be edited, and any upstream changes are not reflected in this node.

New Clip

Creates a new animation clip and sets the active clip to be the new clip.

Edit Animation

Opens a window that allows you to stash, delete, and rename the animation clips in the current scene.

Reset Animation

Removes the animation that was added in the animate state. If no animation was previously added to the scene upstream from this node, the animation folder is deleted from the scene’s character folder structure.

Reset All

Removes all the changes made in the animate state, including the animation and constraints that were added. Deletes the animation and constraints folders from the character folder structure.

Reset Custom

Removes specific scene elements that were added in the animate state.

Allow APEX Characters

When turned off, only APEX scenes are considered valid inputs and the node will error if the input is a simple APEX character. Turning it on lets you use APEX characters, but this is not recommended. This parameter exists for backward compatibility and can be found by clicking beside the node name in the parameter editor.

Edit Animation window ¶

The Edit Animation window contains the following top-level folders:

Rigs - The input character rigs.

Clips - The input animation clips.

Stashed - The animation that is stashed (stored) on the node.

To...	Do this
Rename a rig or animation clip	Double-click the item in the `Stashed` directory. Enter the new name and press `Enter`. Click Apply.
Delete an item	click an item in the `Stashed` directory and select Delete. Click Apply. The item is only deleted after you click Apply. If you decide not to delete the item after selecting Delete, click the item and select Keep.
Set a clip as an active clip	click the clip and select Set as Active Clip.
Copy the input animation clip to the stash	click the clip in the `Clips` directory and select Copy to Stash.

The following options are available in the Edit Animation window:

Option	Description
Refresh	Updates the Edit Animation window with values from the current node. The window doesn’t react to data changes if you tweak an upstream node.
Keep Open	When turned on, keeps the Edit Animation window open after you click the Apply button.
Group by Rig	When turned on, groups the items in the `Stashed` directory by character. When turned off, groups the items in the `Stashed` directory by animation clip.

Evaluate menu ¶

The Evaluate menu provides the following options for the second output:

Unpacked Geometry

When turned on, the node’s Evaluated output geometry is unpacked, with each scene output merged together.

Animation

When turned on, the scene is evaluated using an animation clip at a specified frame. These Animation Clip and Frame parameters can be set in the window that opens when Evaluate Parameters is selected. If Animation Clip is left empty, the scene’s default clip is used. When turned off, the scene’s animation is not used and the output geometry appears at its rest pose.

Set Output

A submenu of options that determine what to evaluate for the second output.

Evaluate Parameters

Opens the full set of evaluation parameters. These are the same as the APEX Scene Invoke SOP.

Inputs ¶

Scene

The animation scene to add animation to.

Outputs ¶

Scene

The animation scene with the added animation.

Evaluated

The evaluated animation scene ready for use in non-APEX workflows. Use the parameters in the Evaluate menu to customize this output.