Is there a way to have all the advantages of appending a character to a scene(access to the whole model, layers, mesh as well as the armature), but like a proxy have it reference the original file?
I.e I can’t make fundamental changes to the appended model, only on the original model file.
Proxies (for characters) are useful for team productions, but strike me as more of a hinderance for a one man band, which I imagine most Blender users are.
So how do animators in Blender swap between low and high poly models on the fly?
If it’s an appended model I can simply switch between my high rez and low proxy models on different layers.
I’ve tried switching the Groups in the ‘Duplication’ panel, but the new model doesn’t follow any of the animation from the previous model.
In case anyone comes across this while searching ‘Proxies’. I thought I’d finish the thread off by explaining how I’ve managed to make working with character proxies in Blender bearable, particularly how to easily swap between a high and low resolution model while animating.
If anybody has a more elegant solution please let me know.
Create a low res model for your character, (it will use the same armature as your high res model) and put it on a different layer. Both high and low in the same model file for convenience.
Open your new scene, link your armature first into the scene on layer 1. Then select a new layer (2) and link your high res model so it will import into this separate layer. With both the layers visible, select your armature and make it a proxy (Ctrl Alt P).
Go to another new layer (3 now) and append your low res model. (You can link if you wish, but it gets a bit tricky and you generally don’t need to update your low proxy model ever). Go to the modifiers of this model and in the ‘object’ field make sure it’s using the ‘proxy armature’.
You’ll now be able to animate your character using either model, e.g using the low res for blocking in and playing back in realtime. Then the high res for final passes, facial animation and render tests.
P.S Although I use groups in the model file, I don’t link groups because I’ve found it impossible to separate different objects in a single file and put them on separate layers.
Also linking groups tends to ignore all the things you’ve hidden on different layers, like bone shapes, so it’s a real mess to sort out once imported, if indeed you can.