The "Xpression Fairy" Tool v1.0
=======================

Figure(s): DAZ Victoria 4.x & clones, SASHA-16
Program: POSER 9 and up
build 01-08-17 2200

[[File:f6t17p21n21.rar|none|auto]]


WHAT'S THIS?

Ever tried to save a facial expression in POSER, using the standard library [+] button?



Then you probably know that POSER will write *each and every single bloody dial* in the head actor into the pose file, thus practically making it a "full head injection".
Depending on the "character" you had at the moment you saved the expression, applying the new "expression" file to another character will "inject" the head morph of the character from which you saved the pose from!

Not quite how it was meant to be!


"Xpression Fairy" was made to let you write clean expression files as they were meant to be, without facial shape morphs and other unnecessary dials like scaling.
*Only* the expression!
No more need to edit the created .fc2 files to weed out the unnecassary junk!


You can even use it to quickly convert and repair any third party expressions which contain face shape morphs or otherwise mess up your character!


"Xpression Fairy" simply strips out all morphs and dials which aren't needed in an expression.





INSTALLATION:

Just copy the contained "runtime" files into your "SASHA" library, or any other library you wish.
The files will land in the correct place in your POSER "Expressions" library.




HOW TO USE:

Go to POSER's "Expressions" library > "SASHA Library > ### XPRESSION FAIRY" folder.
You'll find three thumbnails there:

- # Xpression Fairy Full
- # Xpression Fairy Xpress
- # Zero Face (note: Only works if you have SASHA-16 installed. Otherwise use any "Zero Face" pose you have)


The difference between the "Full" and "Xpress" versions of "Xpression Fairy" is the way they load:

The "Xpress" version will load a coloured box only, as placeholder for the "head", and it loads very fast. Otherwise it has the same functionality as the "Full" head.

The "Full" version will load a standard V4 head into the scene, fully functional and with eyes, jaws and tongue too. It will take a little time to load but has the advantage that you can check how an expression looks on a standard V4, and you can also use it for generating a library thumbnail.



# APPLICATION CASE 1:

You have a V4 based character (ANY!, incl. SASHA-16) and have created an expression that is so overwhelming that you want to save it for future use.

- Load "Xpression Fairy -Full-" into the scene.
- Select the "head" of your *source* figure, and press [CTRL]-[C] on your keyboard.
- Select the "head" of "Xpression Fairy" and press [CTRL]-[V] on your keyboard. "Xpression Fairy"s head should now have inherited the source expression, less the unneeded dials.
- Position your camera for the library thumbnail "snapshot" - *IF* you want to create a new thumbnail you should use a "Full" version!)
- Make sure that you still have the "head" of "Xpression Fairy" selected.
- Write your expression to the library. DONE!


# APPLICATION CASE 2:

You want to convert a bunch of annoying third-party expressions from the library.

- Load an "Xpression Fairy" into the scene.
- Position your camera for the library thumbnail "snapshot".
- Select the "head" of "Xpression Fairy".
- Load the expression from the library.
(!FULL version only!): "Xpression Fairy"'s face should now show the source expression, less the unneeded dial - if you want, now is your chance to tweak the expression)
- Save the fixed expression back to the library.

You can use the original name or save it under a different name. I prefer the latter.

--> If you want to save by the original names, but keep the original library thumbnail without creating a new one:
Open the library folder that contains the expressions you want to convert and set all the thumbnails (.png) therein to "write protected".



# APPLICATION CASE 3 (merchants):

You want to create a set of expressions for redistribution.

- Load "Xpression Fairy -Full-" into the scene.
- Use the head to create your expressions. All V4 dials you need are in the head.
- Create your expression.
- Save your expression.
- Zero face and create next expression.

You may use "Xpression Fairy" to generate your expressions for personal use or for retail without any restrictions or royalties.
However, a small credit like "generated with Karina's 'Xpression Fairy' " would be very kind.


I hope this little tool is useful to you. Have fun, and keep smiling!


July 2017

Karina


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PRO TIPS:

• - You can make visible / invisible both the "Xpress" box and the "Full" head. This might be handy if you want to generate your library thumbnail from something else in the scene. Example: Point the camera at your own character to generate your custom library thumbnail. ! Just make sure that "Xpression Fairy" is the active figure when you save the expression file to the library!
• - The generated .fc2 expressions will contain the special SASHA expressions too, however they will work on *all other* V4 based figure without problem. Poser will ignore the additional SASHA dial settings if they aren't applicable.
• - Point your main camera at your source figure, and the face camera at the head of the "Full" version head of "Xpression Fairy".
  Now you can toggle quickly between both cameras (or split your viewport) to check and countercheck both faces. Convenient for fine tuning an expression.
• - For a consistent look of generated thumbnails make sure that your camera doesn't move when generating or converting a row of expressions. Good idea is to either lock the camera, or memorize it's position.
• - You can create your own customized "Xpression Fairy":
  Apply any texture you want, add hair, or even inject your own face morph.
  In the latter case the face morph must be in .obj format and loaded in via Poser's "Object > Load Morph Target" menu. Note that the organs in the head like the eyes are locked into place; if they need re-adjustment you must unlock the dials in question before you can adjust them!

Somebody already played with this and can give some feedback?

I'd like to publish it at SHARECG because it can as well be used with any other V4 figure, but before that I'd also like to know what you think of it.

Thank you!

Karina

@ duanemoody:

This is just a quick shot at it; it might be improved, but for the moment it does what I want. Look at the "SASHA-16 Various Expressions" that come with it; they were all made with Xpression Fairy, base on expressions in scenes I did in the past..


@ Barzing:

Thank you for your idea:

Zitat

---

Maybe you should have another version where all the morphs of the Xpression Full or Xpress are linked to the figure.

---

In fact it wouldn't be a big issue to code the dependencies.

BUT, there it starts:
WHICH figure?

Let's suppose that you have more than a single figure in your scene:
Which figure should Poser pick the morphs from?
So it would require a Python script to select figures.
This might confuse some people and even stop people from using this utility because many still balk upon using Python scripts...

So I followed the KISS principle: *1
About 99.9% of people using a computer do understand the "Copy/Paste" principle nowadays, so to me it seemed the most obvious way to go.

However, I think this approach of saving correct pose files still has potential.
So if you have suggestions, don't hesitate to post them.

Sometimes I don't see the forest for the trees.

Keep thinking out of the box! [idea]
The most amazing features of Poser were invented by people who did so in the past.

Et nihil desperandum!

Karina


Footnote *1: KISS
Keep It Simple, Stupid! (the "Stupid" refers to me to keep it simple!)

OK, you've nearly convinced me.
I'll add that to my ideas list, It's never a bad thing to have options.[cool]