KineBody Pro Help: Saving Poses

KineBody Pro Operating Instructions:

(last updated 221204)

Saving Poses

Overview

‘Saving a pose’ can mean a lot of different things, in KineBody Pro. So, this background section will try to clarify the term, and some related issues.

A 'pose' refers to a collection of numbers, representing the body position and orientation, and all joint angles. These numbers constitute the essential information required to reconstruct a 3D posed body in the app.

Note that this collection of numbers is only a subset of all the data it takes to recreate a KineBody Pro pose: information such as bone geometry, joint locations and axis orientations, and more, are not saved. Instead, this 'internal' information resides only within the KineBody Pro app. When you reload a saved pose, that data is combined with the internal data, to reconstitute the pose in its entirety.

Also, the term ‘pose’ could be used to describe a 2D graphic rendition of the content shown in the KineBody Pro viewing area, but we’ll generally use the term ‘image’, for such data.

Pose data can be saved several different ways, in KineBody Pro. For one, poses are saved automatically while you manipulate the body & joints, as a 'history' that you can review, using the the Undo & Redo buttons. Although it's automatic, this method of saving poses has some shortcomings: a) you can't add names or labels to the poses, b) if you go back in the history (by Undo-ing), and make any changes, the forward history (reached by 'Redo') is overwritten by the changes, and c) the operation history is deleted, whenever you close your KineBody Pro session.

These limitations of the pose 'history' can be circumvented by other KineBody Pro pose-saving features, such as:

Saving named poses to dedicated app storage
Saving poses from dedicated app storage to a file
Auto-saving your most recent pose.

Each of these is described in detail in the following sections.

Note that the pose data saved using the methods listed above is encoded, and not intended for editing or for importing into other applications. However, those operations can be performed using another KineBody Pro pose-saving method, which allows you to export or import pose data to an editable text file. For more info, please visit our Export/Import Poses page.

I. Saving named poses to dedicated app storage (requires PoseTools): (Jump to Instructions)

You can assign a name to a pose, & then save it to a dedicated storage area of your app or browser. Later, you can reload that pose into the viewing area, by selecting its name from a menu. From there, you view and modify the pose: spin it around, move the joints, hide bones, etc, just as for any other pose.

For convenience, we call the dedicated storage area the KineBody 'Repository'. Poses saved in the Repository will be available whenever you use KineBody Pro – they’re not discarded when you exit the application or close your browser or app*. Thus, you can begin to create an intricate pose (or series of poses) during one KineBody Pro session, and if necessary, continue with your task at a later time.

* Note that the KineBody Repository stores your poses from one session to the next, but there's a possibility of 'inadvertent deletion'. If you're using our Webapp edition, the Repository is part of the 'browser data' (for KineBody Pro); if you clear the browser data, the poses will be deleted. If you're using our Android edition, your poses will be deleted if you uninstall the app. To make a more permanent copy of your poses, you can save your Repository to a file, as described in the next section.

The KineBody Repository can potentially hold hundreds of poses. The actual number depends on your browser or app, which limits the storage used by any particular website. The number of poses in the Repository also depends on the complexity of the poses: each degree of freedom with a non-zero angle increases the ‘size’ of the pose, thereby using more of the browser/app-defined storage capacity, and reducing the overall number of poses you can store.

For convenience, you can re-use the same pose name multiple times: KineBody Pro adds a unique numeric suffix to all pose names. This can be handy when you're saving a group of related poses.

You can also remove one or more named pose(s) from the Repository, at any time. This involves selecting the pose(s) by name from a menu, then pressing a button to perform the removal. For more information, see the Instructions below.

Note about privacy: Poses saved in the KineBody Repository are stored on your device; they are not sent or accessed by the KineBody.com website server. The only way they can be accessed by anyone else is if you choose to share them, by distributing them as a repository file, or, by allowing others access to your browsing data (for example, by syncing browser accounts).

Instructions (I)

To:

Do this:

Save a Named Pose

Decide whether to use the ‘current’ pose name, or to change it.

The current pose name is initially set to 'my pose', as shown in the right-most textbox in the line '[Save pose] as [ my pose ] -00x'.

To use the current pose name:

Press the [Save pose] button.

To change the pose name:

Click on the pose name textbox.
Edit the name.
Press the [Return] (or [Enter]) key, to complete the entry.

(Caution: The pose is not saved yet! Pressing Return only indicates that you’ve finished editing the name!)

Press the [Save pose] button.

After the pose is saved, a confirmation message of the form
'Pose saved to repository as <posename & number>'
will appear (temporarily) below the pose name text box.

Restore a named pose

All poses saved in the KineBody Repository are listed in the menu labeled 'View a stored pose'.

Select a pose from this menu. It will appear in the KineBody Pro viewing area.

Delete one or more named pose(s)

Open the ‘Delete, Export, Import’ section at the bottom of the Save & Restore panel.

Select one or more poses by name, from the 'Select pose(s)' menu. Note that this is a ‘multiple selection’ menu - so you can:
* Click on any entry to select (or deselect) it alone.
* Select multiple entries by holding the [Shift] key (for contiguous names) or [ Ctrl] key (for arbitrary names).
* Or, press [Ctrl]+A to select all.

Press the 'Delete Pose(s)' button. A popup will appear, asking you to confirm the deletion(s). (If a popup doesn't appear, check browser or app settings, to allow popups for the KineBody Pro app).

Details

This section provides additional info regarding the instructions above.

Saving a named pose: A numeric suffix follows the pose name (e.g. ‘-001’); this suffix will be automatically appended to the name. The numeric value increments automatically whenever you save a pose, so you can reuse the same name multiple times, without ambiguity (& without the hassle of having to confirm whether to overwrite the previous pose of the same name). Note that the numeric suffix cannot be edited. Also, it is limited to 3 digits: after it reaches '-999', the next suffix will be '-000' again.

If you start to edit the pose name, but then change your mind, you must still press the [Return] key, to indicate that you're no longer editing.

Note that the [Save Pose] button is disabled while you’re editing the pose name. It will be re-enabled after you press [Return].

To confirm that the pose has been saved, open the pose menu (labeled ‘View a stored pose’): the newly saved pose name will appear at the bottom.

Restoring a named pose: The instructions in the table above describe how to restore a pose currently saved in the KineBody Repository. If the pose you want isn't included in the current repository, but rather in a repository file, you must first restore the repository, as described in the next section.

Deleting named pose(s): After you press [Delete Pose(s)] and confirm the deletions in the popup window, the pose(s) are removed from the current KineBody Repository. You can confirm this by reopening the pose menu – the pose(s) you just deleted will no longer be listed.

This action only removes the pose information from the repository - it does not delete the pose from the viewing area.

FYI: The menu for selecting poses for deletion is also used by the 'Export Poses' feature, so the controls for Exporting and Importing are included near the pose deletion controls. Apart from the shared menu, the operations to delete poses and export poses are independent. For more information about Exporting poses, see here .

II. Saving poses from dedicated app storage to a file (requires PoseTools): (Jump to Instructions)

The KineBody Repository (described in the previous section) resides locally on your device. It's contained within a special file, intended only for use by your browser or app: you can't select the filename or edit the contents, and you probably shouldn't share it, as it contains additional info besides your named poses. Plus, although you can store hundreds of poses in the Repository, that may not be adequate if you're a serious user. Finally, there's a chance of 'inadvertent deletion': if you use the Webapp edition, and choose to clear your browser data, your Repository poses will be deleted. A similar issue arises for the KineBody Pro Android App: you'll delete your Repository poses if you ever uninstall the KineBody Pro app.

To work around all of these limitations, KineBody Pro allows you to backup your current Repository to a file you choose. You can make as many backup copies as you like. Later, you can restore a repository from your device back into KineBody Pro.

This capability provides several benefits:

You can back up the KineBody Repository for safekeeping.
You can build a library of poses, to access as needed.
You can move poses between different platforms or browsers.
You can share your pose files with colleagues or friends.

Caution: When you restore the Repository from a file, the previous contents of the Repository will be overwritten. If you have an active PoseTools subscription, you may want to backup the old Repository contents before loading the new contents.

Further caution: Android users need to take extra precautions, when saving a Repository to a file. Please see our page Saving KineBody Pro Files to Android, for more info.

Instructions (II):

To:	Do this:
Save the current Repository to a file	(Optional) Enter a filename, with extension, into the textbox to the right of (or below) the [Save Repository ] button. This filename is originally set to ‘KineBodyRepos.txt’. If you change it, your filename will be retained for reuse, in your browser/app storage area. If you reuse the filename, the operating system will add a suffix, e.g., KineBodyrRepos (2).txt. (That is, it won't overwrite any previous versions of the same filename). (Optional, but infrequent) Modify the location (path) for the file. If you're using the Webapp edition of KineBody Pro, the repositories are automatically saved into the ‘downloads’ folder that you designate for your browser. You can review or change where this folder is located, via the browser settings page: Chrome: main menu > Settings > Advanced > Downloads section. Firefox: main menu > Options, Downloads section. Caution: these browsers also offer an option 'Always ask you where to save files' or similar - if you select this approach, it will apply to ALL of your web downloads, not just KineBody Pro files. Click on the [Save Repository] button. After the pose is saved, a confirmation message of the form 'Repository saved to <path &/or filename>' will appear (temporarily) below the repository filename name text box. Using the Webapp, you can also confirm the save by reviewing the new contents of the dowloads folder, typically by pressing [ Ctrl ] J.
Restore a repository from a file	[Optional] Backup your current KineBody Repository to a file, using the instructions provided above. This is advisable because the current Repository will be overwritten with the one you restore from a file. Click the [Load Repository] button (in the Save subpanel). A file browser window will pop up, allowing you to navigate to and select your desired file. Once you’ve selected the repository file, it will be loaded into KineBody Pro as the new/current Repository, replacing the previous Repository contents. You can access its poses by following the instructions for 'Restoring a named pose', in the section above.

To:

Do this:

Save the current Repository to a file

(Optional) Enter a filename, with extension, into the textbox to the right of (or below) the [Save Repository ] button.

This filename is originally set to ‘KineBodyRepos.txt’. If you change it, your filename will be retained for reuse, in your browser/app storage area. If you reuse the filename, the operating system will add a suffix, e.g., KineBodyrRepos (2).txt. (That is, it won't overwrite any previous versions of the same filename).
(Optional, but infrequent) Modify the location (path) for the file.

If you're using the Webapp edition of KineBody Pro, the repositories are automatically saved into the ‘downloads’ folder that you designate for your browser. You can review or change where this folder is located, via the browser settings page:
- Chrome: main menu > Settings > Advanced > Downloads section.
- Firefox: main menu > Options, Downloads section.
Caution: these browsers also offer an option 'Always ask you where to save files' or similar - if you select this approach, it will apply to ALL of your web downloads, not just KineBody Pro files.
Click on the [Save Repository] button.

After the pose is saved, a confirmation message of the form
'Repository saved to <path &/or filename>'
will appear (temporarily) below the repository filename name text box.
Using the Webapp, you can also confirm the save by reviewing the new contents of the dowloads folder, typically by pressing [ Ctrl ] J.

Restore a repository from a file

[Optional] Backup your current KineBody Repository to a file, using the instructions provided above. This is advisable because the current Repository will be overwritten with the one you restore from a file.

Click the [Load Repository] button (in the Save subpanel).

A file browser window will pop up, allowing you to navigate to and select your desired file.

Once you’ve selected the repository file, it will be loaded into KineBody Pro as the new/current Repository, replacing the previous Repository contents. You can access its poses by following the instructions for 'Restoring a named pose', in the section above.

III. Auto-saving your most recent pose (requires PoseTools): (Jump to Instructions)

Each time you change the body or joint position in KineBody Pro, the new pose is automatically saved in your browser or app. If you close the app and then reopen it, the most recent pose you created will be shown automatically. This can be important if your app session ends accidentally, but it's also useful even if you closed the app intentionally - as a simple way to continue your work between sessions. The key benefit of saving a pose this way is that it's automatic: you don’t have to remember to save your last pose & you don’t have to assign a name to identify it.

Note that when a pose from a previous session is restored this way, it's also saved in your 'Undo' history - as the second pose. The first pose in that history is always the 'anatomical position': standing upright, facing forward, arms down & slightly abducted, and palms forward.

Note that the restored pose may not look the same as it did previously, if you changed the size of the browser window or viewing area - e.g., a smaller window could cause portions of the saved pose to appear truncated. That's because the auto-saved pose is restored without rescaling; instead, it's restored to the same body distance as when it was saved. In such a case, you may need to adjust the window or viewing area size, to recreate the original view.

Instructions (III)

To:	Do this:
Save a pose using Auto-save	You don’t have to do anything – the new pose is automatically saved after each change in body or joint position.
Restore an auto-saved pose	Again, you don't have to do anything: when you restart KineBody Pro, the initial pose shown is the same as the last pose from your previous session.