I'm trying to figure out how to use the pose library in 2.8 as I never learned how to use it in the last version. For some reason the "+New" icon is grayed out and I can't select it. Any help?
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asked Aug 21, 2019 at 2:50
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$\begingroup$ is it still grayed when you switch to Pose mode? $\endgroup$– moonbootsAug 21, 2019 at 6:06
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1 Answer
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Choose the tab at the top of the screen that says "Animation". This will put a narrow "Timeline" panel at the bottom. Change the Timeline panel to "Dope Sheet"
The "Dope Sheet" panel has another drop-down menu near the panel-changing menu you just accessed. From this drop-down menu, change it from "Dope Sheet" (or whatever it may be) to "Action Editor".
This next step assumes your model is rigged to its intended armature. Select that armature and press CTRL + TAB. This will put you in "Pose" mode and the armature will turn a light blue color. In the top-middle of the Action Editor panel, there is a button that says "+ New". Click that to create a new action. You can also rename it.
Now, This is important, click that little icon near that button that looks like a gray shield. The program does not indicate this (and they should have, sine at least 2.79) but this is the button that saves your animations. I am telling you to press it now because if you don't, you will start posing your character, save your scene, exit the program, and be startled to find it's gone when you return. You don't have to save the animation immediately, but you have to before you change Actions or close the program, so be in the habit of doing it immediately.
answered Aug 21, 2019 at 13:06
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$\begingroup$ Excellent response, thank you. I'd just like to reiterate the part about selecting the entire armature because I missed it and it only saved the pose for my selected bone. $\endgroup$ Aug 21, 2019 at 18:51
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$\begingroup$ when you have a single bone selected in pose mode and you have the cursor in the "Modeling" viewport, and press the "i" key, keyframes are only added for the selected bone. However, if the cursor is in the "Timeline" panel or "Action Editor" panel, you will get a prompt to set keys for only the selected bone or the entire armature. You will get smoother animation if you only set keys for the specific bones you pose (the bones' parenting takes care of the rest automatically). Otherwise animation will be stiff when you set new keys. Setting keys has nothing to do with saving an Action. $\endgroup$ Aug 21, 2019 at 19:16