Layers adding in values un controllably

Have you tried to use any advanced features of Poser? Did you know that there at least 4 different ways to adjust the value of a movement channel? You can move the part in the Pose window by clicking and dragging the part around. You can use the movement Dial to spin a value into the part. You can directly type the value you want into the value box beside the movement dial, and You can use the graph editor to drag the value up and down. All 4 methods work very well in a Base Layer ONLY scene. However as soon as you add in an additional layer which can happen if you use the Walk Designer then the 4 methods act differently depending on Mode and where the Layer is.

Start of Test Have a Base Layer and add in two Layers in Add Mode and name them L-A and L-B. L-A is the middle layer in the stack. The Base Layer on the First frame (0) and is a value of Zero. the line that starts with K is a Key Frame value and the break down is k (Key Frame Tag) a number (the Frame Number) and a second number (Value of the channel). Since the value on the Base Layer spans the entire time line there is no need to put in an ending key and Value as it stays the same until another Key is placed. Also Poser starts frames at Zero so you have to add 1 to each frame to see what the GUI will show. Below are the results of putting in the two layers in Add Mode and placing a key with no value. Basically just clicking the + key to add in the frames. Below is what you get when you look at the Scene file using a text editor.

Base Layer Key Frame

k 0 0

layer kfrm L-A

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 13 0 kfd 0 0

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

layer kfrm L-B

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 0 kfd 0 0

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

Below is what happens when you try to move either of the Layers using the Graph line. As seen below when you try and move the Graph Line it puts in a value and then stops updating after that. You can drag the line up and down and it jiggles but will not do any more changes. Notice that now the kfd field ONE equals the same value as the k value - minus the other Layers Values (going from Bottom Up)for the layers Key Value. Works as Follows L-A kdf first (0.00685714) minus L-A k (0.00685714) = Zero or the Base Layers k Value. L-B kdf first (-0.136747) minus L-B k (-0.0205714) = 0.00685714 or close since we are using Splines and they are a frame apart. As a further note Notice the Second value in the kfd remains ZERO. However in Poser 9 the Second Value takes on the value of the Key.

k 0 0

layer kfrm L-A

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 13 0.00685714 kfd 0.00685714 0

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

layer kfrm L-B

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 -0.0205714 kfd -0.0136747 0

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

Now we try to change the values with the Dials on the Layers. Started with L-A and as soon as you make a small movement of the Dial it jumps to a VERY high Value in this case 166. By selecting Layer L-B I can now use the Dials and make what ever change I want. In this case I dialed in a value of 22 (Although the GUI shows that the Value of input is 188). 188 - 166 = 22.

k 0 0

layer kfrm L-A

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 166 kfd 166 166

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

layer kfrm L-B

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 22 kfd 188 22

k 29 0 kfd 0 0

This is the Final inputs that I made. Whereas I can use the Dials (at least in the Top Layer L-B) to make a change trying to use the Dials in the Base Layer results in the Value jumping to 910.091 just by clicking the Dial. And it will continue to climb as long as the mouse button is held down. However on the Base Layer I can use the Graph and adjust the Line up and down and it works just like it is suppose to. Although to be fair it could be that the Poser Programmers want the different ways to adjust a channels value to work differently depending on if you are just using a Base Layer only animation or trying to use any advanced feature such as Layers.

k 0 0

k 15 910.091

layer kfrm L-A

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 166 kfd 1064.5 166

k 29 0 kfd 910.091 0

layer kfrm L-B

k 0 0 kfd 0 0

k 14 22 kfd 1086.5 22

k 29 0 kfd 910.091 0

As a final note the Poser manual implies that Layers have two Modes Add and Replace. And it even gives an example of Add in that one layer is 20 degrees and the other layer is 10 degrees. You can end up with a twist of 30 degrees if both are the same sign or 10 degrees if different signs that subtract against each other. The Manual also says that all layers are combined at Render time (which could be a simple scrub through the time line). It is my believe that the kfd line could be removed from the code and the Layers function would be fixed. As it appears that the code try's to use the Key value add in the kdf first value and subtract out the kdf second value, instead of doing the real simple thing of Add Base k + L-A k + L-B k which is what is happening anyway.