This project is a work in progress - it doesn't work yet. The basic idea is to see if the PFNN can be adapted to run in HighFidelity using JavaScript. The C++ code is being translated into JavaScript. GLM-JS is being used for simpler translation of C++ glm functions. Many thanks to HumbleTim and Fluffy Jenkins for their help so far.

• Analysed PFNN data files: Xmean, Xstd, Ymean, Ystd (analysis in PFNN-io-parameter-definition.xls)
• Converted PFNN binary data into JSON files and loaded into HiFi JavaScript.
• Floor markers implemented to provide visual feedback whilst developing (see above)
• PFNN character armature and HiFi armature have a number of structural and naming differences. Quick and dirty re-targetting has been implemented but not yet tested.
• Initialisation functions implemented. Variable values verified by comparing with corresponding C++ output
• For a simulated first frame, all of the local and global transforms in the JS version have been verified against the C++ version
• bvh reference files have been added to aid visual verification

• Projecting the 'character.jointAnimXForm' array of matrices onto the HiFi aavatar to re-produce the 'mean' pose (as extracted from the C++ version)
• I'm now hitting frame execution times of over 60mS, so optimisations have already become a necessity

Ideally, the C++ project must first be compiled and run so it can be used as a reference. Then the JS project is set up for High Fidelity. There are too many PFNN data files to put on GitHub, so the 'pfnn-data' directory must be downloaded from here: https://davedub.co.uk/downloads/hf/pfnn/pfnn-data.zip Once downloaded, simply unzip into the same folder as 'ddAnimate.js'. Relative paths are used in the code, so it should work fine.

Link 1: For an explanation of and some background on the PFNN, please see here: https://theorangeduck.com/page/phase-functioned-neural-networks-character-control

Link 2: For the C++ source code for the demo see here: https://github.com/sreyafrancis/PFNN

Link 3: For the GLM-JS library, see here: https://github.com/humbletim/glm-js

Link 4: How the PFNN fits in to my larger project: https://davedub.co.uk/davedub/wordpress/character-animation-for-virtual-reality/