Basic Problem Descrition:
Im having a problem where the animations i start in blender are disappearing when ever i reopen the .blend file.
More Information:
my work causes me to switch between a hand full of computers a few times a week, as a result most of my .blend files are saved to a flashdrive. making models has never been an issue, rigs are an entirely separate beast im sure most of you have encountered at one point or another, but ive never had an issue taking the file from computer to computer and having all of my work be there. last monday i started a basic model, made a rig to go along with it, and then tweeked things like the process demands. the next thing i attempted were some simple idle animations in blender, which worked. the next day i decided the rig wasnt working the way i wanted and removed it, and made a few adjustments, and started the whole process over, saving the “new” version as its own file so id have a back up incase something went wrong. when i animate ive never really used the NLA and have always used the dopesheet for all of my key framing animations. thats apparently “wrong” but it usually works for me.
current status and what ive tried so far::
i believe something has gone wrong because the “new file” never has any of the animations i worked on from the day before. i can move the “old” file from computer A to computer B and the animations and everything are there, i can play it back, and everything works fine. the “new” file that has been altered, but is technically just an older version of the original file, looses any work ive done in the “dopesheet” page just seems to disappear when ever the file leaves the computer. it doesnt matter if i unplug it from computer A and move it to computer B, if i just take it out of computer A and plug it right back in, if i move it to computer F or anything in between, all of my keyframes in the dopesheet are always gone.
ive tried editing in the NLA, editing in the NLA and then moving to the dopesheet and vice versa, and all of the methods above coupled with importing and exporting each trial as a .bvh with no results or real hint as to what the problem is. i would say it could be the configuration of the computers since i work at a cyber cafe with certain locks my boss has on to keep people from downloading viruses and such, but “old” file doesnt seem to have an issue moving the keyframes along with the rest of the file so i have a hard time believing that to be the case. that bit of information coupled with the fact that it is just a slightly altered version of the “old” file leads me to believe that i may have pressed a combination of keys or messed with the settings at some point during the tweeking that causes the system to simply not save the keyframes anymore.
has anyone else ever run into this problem? is there a way to revert what ive done or simply save the key frames in a way that isnt being exported to an external engine such as Ogre or Unity? ive tried searching the internet for a solution already but the only “fixes” ive found are for people having issues exporting their animations to an external engine for their game or movie, but i want my animations to run specifically in blender, for now at least. should i post the two files? thanks in advanced for any help you guys can offer.