Setting Neutral Poses

You can set the neutral pose to "zero out" an object's transformations. This is useful if you want an object to return to a pose other than the origin of its parent's space when you reset its transformations. For example, you can set the neutral pose of a chain bone so that it returns to a "natural" position when you reset it. Neutral poses are also useful for visualizing the transformation values — it's easier to imagine a rotation from 0 to 45 degrees than from 78.4 to 123.4 degrees.

The neutral pose acts as an offset for the object's local transformation values, as if there was an intermediate null between the object and its parent in the hierarchy. The neutral pose values are stored in the object's Local Transform property, and can be viewed or modified on the Neutral Pose tab of that property editor.

You can set neutral poses using commands on the Transform menu or with an object's Local Transform property editor.

When you set the neutral pose, any existing animation of the local transformation values is interpreted with respect to the new pose. This may give unexpected results when you play back the animation. You should set the neutral pose before animating the transformations of an object.

NoteWhen you set the object pivot or neutral pose, the local transformation no longer reflects the position of the object center with respect to its parent. The position of the object center is a composite of the local transformation, object pivot, pivot compensation, and neutral pose.

To set neutral poses with menu commands

Select one or more objects or branches.
Position the selected objects as you want them to be for the neutral pose.
Choose one of the following commands from the Transform menu:
- Set Neutral Pose stores the current values for local scaling, rotation, and translation as the neutral pose and sets them to the default values.
  
  You can also choose Create Skeleton Set Neutral Pose from the Animate toolbar.
- Set Neutral Scaling stores the current scaling values in the neutral pose and sets the local scaling values to (1, 1, 1).
- Set Neutral Rotation stores the current rotation values in the neutral pose and sets the local rotation values to (0, 0, 0).
- Set Neutral Translation stores the current translation values in the neutral pose and sets the local translation values to (0, 0, 0).

To set neutral poses with a property editor

Open the Local Transform property editor for one or more objects.

One way to do this is to select all the objects and press Ctrl+K.
Position the objects as you want them to be for the neutral pose.
On the Neutral Pose tab, click Use Current Pose.

The current transformation values are stored in the neutral pose and the local transformation values are set to the defaults.

Removing Neutral Poses

When you remove the neutral pose, the neutral pose values are added to the local transformation before being reset to the defaults. The object does not move in global space as a result.

To remove neutral poses with menu commands

Select one or more objects or branches.
Choose Transform Remove Neutral Pose, or Create Skeleton Remove Neutral Pose from the Animate toolbar.

To remove neutral poses with a property editor

Open the Local Transform property editor for one or more objects.

One way to do this is to select all the objects and press Ctrl+K.
On the Neutral Pose tab, click Reset.