Custom Animations

Have you ever wondered if you can make your own animations in Second Life? Perhaps you wanted to make a custom walk, or wanted your avatar to realistically interact with an object you made. Luckily, there is an open source (free) program called QAvimator that lets you make your own animations! It was designed specifically for Second Life avatar animations,


QAvimator Screenshot

If you've worked with any 3D animation software before, the interface should be self-explanatory. For those new to animation, Torley Linden made a nice tutorial explaining all the basics.



I created a dance (the Macarena) using QAvimator, uploaded it, and added it to a poseball. I then made a speaker system to play the Macarena. It is a very simple demonstration, but it shows the creative potential that this program has.



We are working with the Cleveland Clinic on a project to help train doctors who will be interacting with patients. We hope to recreate these meetings in Second Life to help them prepare for the real thing. In order to do this, we need to create animations that make avatars behave the way real patients do. For example, a patient with schizophrenia could "exhibit purposeless agitation" (Wikipedia).

QAvimator can be downloaded here.