Load Exp Data (PHM)

This is the payoff for using SaveExpData in the first place. Dial in an expression once, save it, and every future workflow gets to drop in a Load Exp Data node and pick it from a list instead of re-tuning ten sliders from scratch. It's a small node, but it's what turns Expression Editor from a one-off tool into something with a preset library.

What it does

It reads back a previously saved expression file and hands it downstream as an EXP_DATA object, at a strength you control. Practically, this is how you reuse a specific pose - a wink, a smirk, a shocked-open mouth - across different source faces or different projects without redoing the manual slider work each time.

Inputs and outputs

file_name is the field to know: it's an enum populated from whatever's actually sitting in the pack's saved-expressions folder, not a free-typed string. That means the dropdown only lists files that already exist on disk - there's nothing to type, you just pick. ratio (0–1) is the blend strength: 0 applies none of the loaded expression, 1 applies it in full. There are no optional inputs. The single output, exp (EXP_DATA), feeds into Expression Editor's add_exp input to layer the loaded expression on top of whatever you're editing live, or into anything else downstream that consumes EXP_DATA.

Installing it

Standard for the pack - search ComfyUI-AdvancedLivePortrait in ComfyUI Manager, or:

cd ComfyUI/custom_nodes
git clone https://github.com/PowerHouseMan/ComfyUI-AdvancedLivePortrait

Restart afterward. This node needs SaveExpData to have actually written something first - there's nothing to load out of the box.

Where people get stuck

An empty dropdown with nothing to select almost always means one of two things: either you haven't saved anything yet with SaveExpData (check ComfyUI\output\exp_data\ for files), or you saved one recently and ComfyUI's node menu hasn't picked it up - file-populated dropdowns like this one are a common spot where a restart or a page refresh is needed before a newly written file shows up as an option.

The other thing worth knowing about ratio: at 1.0 it replaces the expression outright rather than blending on top of your current pose. If your intent is to modulate an existing edit rather than override it entirely, back the ratio down and combine the result through Expression Editor's add_exp input - don't expect LoadExpData alone to do contextual blending, it's a straight strength dial on the loaded data, nothing smarter.

Beyond that, this node has exactly one job and does it simply - most of the actual troubleshooting for a save/load workflow happens on the SaveExpData side (did you actually connect save_exp, did you overwrite a file by accident), not here.