I'm using PP2010.  I've set two figures side by side and created a short 30 frame walk path for each. Using the Walk Designer I've applied a basic walk to each.

Before I applied the walk, I set each figure in place at a starting point, and used "drop to floor" for each, but once I applied the walk, the figure on the right dropped below the ground plane slightly (see pic), and now I can't move either figure using the tools or the dials, almost like they're locked or something.  The figure to the left is Poser 7 Ben, which seems to work correctly, the figure to the right is Daz' Kids 4, which is out of position vertically.

When I play the animation, both are walking ok, just the Kids 4 sets below the ground for some reason.

Is there a way to set and correct the Kids 4 figure so his feet are correctly even with the ground?

Any help would be appreciated....Thanks!

MM

After applying the walk cycle to the figure, in frame one, load a Poser square prop, make it invisible. From the Figure menu, set the Figure Parent to be the square. Raise the square until the figures feet are on the floor, then lock the square. The same method can be used if you want to have the figure walking on a level above or below the ground plain.

You say "...now I can't move either figure using the tools or the dials, almost like they're locked or something.". I use P6, and have never had that happen after applying a walk cycle. Perhaps there is something different about the way PP2010 works, or perhaps it is just a transient glitch.

In some circumstances, adjusting the the altitude of the Body actor in frame one (after the cycle has been applied), is sufficient to place the feet on the  ground. But if the figure is acting as if locked, obviously that option is not available. The method using the square prop should work even when the figure is locked.

Hi lesbentley, thanks for the advice. I understand what you're saying about making the square be the parent, I just don't know how to "lock" the square. I'll have to look that up in the manual.

I don't know why the figures seem locked either. I should be able to move them at least with using the dials, but when I move a dial, the numbers don't change, and the position of the figure doesn't change either, strange.

The other thing I noticed is if I don't use a walk path and just use a "walk in place", poser's walk designer automatically puts the character in the original position that it was loaded in the center of the screen, even if I've already moved it over prior to applying the walk cycle. This is not good because if I have two or more figures in a "walk in place" cycle, they end up on top of each other, so I used the walk path instead.

Quote - Hi lesbentley, thanks for the advice. I understand what you're saying about making the square be the parent, I just don't know how to "lock" the square. I'll have to look that up in the manual.

The part about locking the square is not really essential, just a precaution, to help prevent some problems that can sometimes occur. To lock it, with the square selected, from the menu bar, Object > Lock Actor.

Quote - I don't know why the figures seem locked either. I should be able to move them at least with using the dials, but when I move a dial, the numbers don't change, and the position of the figure doesn't change either, strange.

Yes very strange. Check to make sure it is not locked. Look in the Figure menu that "Lock Figure" is disabled. Also select the Body, and from the Object menu, make sure the Body is not locked.

Quote - The other thing I noticed is if I don't use a walk path and just use a "walk in place", poser's walk designer automatically puts the character in the original position that it was loaded in the center of the screen, even if I've already moved it over prior to applying the walk cycle.

The walk cycle will start from the start of the walk path. Create a second walk path for the second figure, and move it slightly to the side, or wherever you want the second walk to start from. Remember to use Path_2 when applying the walk to the second figure. Or alternatively apply the walk to the first figure, then just move the original walk path before applying the walk to the second figure. Or, after applying the walk, parent the figure to a square (as in my first post), then you can move the square anywhere you want in frame one, and the figure will walk from that location. You can even position the square so the figure walks upside down on the ceiling!

Pretty cool stuff lesbentley, thanks for the tips, I'll give it a go.

As for not being able to move the figures, I'm pretty sure I didn't lock either one, but I'll check that again in the menu.

I also have to figure out how to grab (select) a whole group of objects at once in Poser in case I need to move a few objects/figures all at the same time, (ie...a prop, figure, walk path, etc...) can that be done?

When I mentioned the figures beginning their walk from the center of the scene, that was when I didn't use a walk path, but rather had selected "walk in place" in the walk designer options popup screen.  I had first moved the two figures to the left and right of the center of the scene, and selected "walk in place" for both figures. I applied the walk designer to each, then when I hit "play", they both snapped to the center of the scene to begin their walk in place.  So, I then checked the manual on how to use a walk path, and using a different walk path for each seemed to help keep them adhering to their own starting positions when I hit play.

Editing the walk paths seems a bit tricky and needs some getting used to. I wanted to make the path very short (30 frames) so I deleted all of the path except the last segment, which left me with the starting control point, and one other in front of the figure. When I try to grab the front control point and push it towards the starting control point to make the path shorter, the path segment seems to bend into a curve, when I wanted to keep it a straight line. Hope I explained that correctly.

Thanks again, much appreciate the help.  :-)

MM

Quote - I also have to figure out how to grab (select) a whole group of objects at once in Poser in case I need to move a few objects/figures all at the same time, (ie...a prop, figure, walk path, etc...) can that be done?

You can't select a group of objects in poser. What you can do is to parent a group of figures and-or props, to an invisible prop, then move that prop.

Quote - I had first moved the two figures to the left and right of the center of the scene, and selected "walk in place" for both figures. I applied the walk designer to each, then when I hit "play", they both snapped to the center of the scene to begin their walk in place.  So, I then checked the manual on how to use a walk path, and using a different walk path for each seemed to help keep them adhering to their own starting positions when I hit play.

You probably moved the figures by translating the hip. The pose you apply will contain translations for the hip, which will probably be zero, or close to zero. For walk in place, move the Body to the side, not the hip. A pose will not normally change any translation applied the the Body actor.

Quote - Editing the walk paths seems a bit tricky and needs some getting used to. I wanted to make the path very short (30 frames) so I deleted all of the path except the last segment, which left me with the starting control point, and one other in front of the figure. When I try to grab the front control point and push it towards the starting control point to make the path shorter, the path segment seems to bend into a curve, when I wanted to keep it a straight line. Hope I explained that correctly.

In addition to the control points that actually sit on the line, you have two control points that sit beyond the line. these are used to set the orientation of the ends of the line. To make a very short straight line, it helps if those end points are not too far away from the ends of the line itself, and of course they need to be in line with it.

If you want a very short straight straight line, the easiest way to achieve that may be to use the path's scale dials. Turn the xScale down to the very minimum, this should give you a straight line, and then use the zScals dial to set the length of the path.

Re the figure seeming to be locked. I came across this thread, which may relate to your problem. In that case the problem was "Static" interpolation applied to key frames.

Hmm...interesting! I don't exactly know what static interpolation is, but I'm guessing it's kinda like "dead" or "empty" keyframes?   (I've only had poser a few months, and just now beginning to get into the animation stuff.)  Thanks for finding that, much appreciated.  Will be offline tonight, but will check during the day tomorrow to see if that is in fact the culprit.

If you want to move multiple objects, you can try my script "Mouse Wheel Posing" from the freestuff, it lets you choose and move multiple objects.

Ok, thanks Dizzi I'll have a look, sounds like that would definitely come in handy!

Lesbentley, I tried parenting the figure to the box and yes, that does work.  I raised the altitude of the box, which raised the figure, and set the figure to ground level. Once I played the animation, the figure stayed at ground level. 

Just interesting to note that this is Daz Kids 4 figure so it must have different zero points than the figures that come with poser. That said, I noticed when the y trans for this Kids 4 figure is at zero is when he appears below the ground plane. When I move the figure up to be even with the ground plane, the y trans is at 0.510 (roughly). I found I could step through each keyframe and change the y trans to 0.510, and that works to keep the figure walking above ground during the whole animation.  But that's a lot of keyframes to change parameters for and takes more time than the box method, unless there's a way to change just the y trans parameter for all the keyframes at once.

Quote-Figure 1 is following the curved Path_1. Figure 2 is walking away from the camera on the straight Path_2. Figure 3 followed the straight central Path_3, but was then parented to a square that was then zRotated 180°, yRotated slightly, and yTranslated.

I tried rotating the square 180 and the figure follows rotation, but when I hit play animation, the figure flips back to feet on floor for the walk. Guess I must be doing something wrong.

Anyhow, making progress, thanks again

MM

Quote - ... unless there's a way to change just the y trans parameter for all the keyframes at once.

Yes, there is a way. Select the figures Body actor. From the parameters palette of the Body, click the little black arrow to the right of yTran, and select "Graph". This will open the Graph Editor for yTran. Hold down the Shift key, with the cursor above the red line at the far left of the graph, hold down the left mouse button, and whilst still holding the Shift key, drag the cursor to the far right, until all the frames are selected (dark grey). Release the mouse button and Shift key. Place the cursor over the dark grey area, hold down the Ctrl key, the cursor should change to two vertical arrows. Whilst still holding down the Ctrl key, Press the left mouse button, and drag up or down to change yTran for all the selected frames.

I figured there must be a way! :-)  Thanks lesbentley, appreciate the help and screencap, makes it much easier for me to understand with a piccie to go along with the instructions. Saves a lot of time as opposed to copying/pasting parameters for all those keyframes one at a time!

Edit:  Just tried it out, works like a charm, thanks!