Posted: Wed Dec 16, 2009 2:23 am Post subject:
Infantry Rigging problems - a real pain!
Subject description: Solved!
So my first attempt at infantry rigging resulted in statues that have no animation at all when they move around.
Steps:
Opened Art pack 2's Grenadier skin in max.
Hid the actual grenadier model (only the model).
Merged the 'GUSoldier' model into the grenadiers max scene.
Created a new 'WWSkin'.
Linked vertices to bones has normal.
Tested at the end using the test animation, all ok.
Exported the skeleton, then exported the new grenade soldier skin, using the 'use existing skeleton' option.
Used my new model has the default model in the grenadiers XML.
Big fail.
So I was hoping that the engine would know that all the animations were linked to the same 'grenadier' skeleton that I used, has anyone got any idea what I did wrong? Last edited by Madin on Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:04 pm; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 02 Sep 2007 Location: My avatar pretty much gives it away...
Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2009 11:59 pm Post subject:
Well... first of all, it would be nice to know what exactly you mean by "Big fail"... what exactly happens?
Anyway... from looking at a w3x animation file, I see that it references (the name of) the skeleton it was exported with, so I'd assume that the animations would only work if you export your model with the grenadier skeleton... well, not necessarily the exact same skeleton - the important thing is that the skeleton you export with has the same name as the grenadier skeleton.
You could at least give it a try. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Well... first of all, it would be nice to know what exactly you mean by "Big fail"... what exactly happens?
Anyway... from looking at a w3x animation file, I see that it references (the name of) the skeleton it was exported with, so I'd assume that the animations would only work if you export your model with the grenadier skeleton... well, not necessarily the exact same skeleton - the important thing is that the skeleton you export with has the same name as the grenadier skeleton.
You could at least give it a try.
Right, the big fail is the fact that the compiled infantry have no animations at all.
I gave your very good suggestion a try (using the same name for my exported skeleton has the name in the animation W3X file), and still no joy.
I looked at the original grenadier 'SKN' .W3X file and compared it to mine all seems correct (The only difference is the different grenadier model name). I also made sure that the exported Skeleton Hierarchy was exactly the same has the original grenadier SKL .W3X
The question remains, has anyone actually used a different model bound to EA's skeleton? If so did they 'simply' bind the new model to the existing skeleton, export the skeleton making sure it matched the name and hierarchy of the skeleton that the animations use, export the new 'SKN' using the previously exported skeleton?
After which any of the animations bound to the skeleton worked on the newer model?
Also why are there 6 different WWSkin's in the grenadiers max scene?
The game handles animations only by bone index, not by the actual name, and will in fact completely disregard the hierarchy names when trying to link the animation to the skeleton, i.e. it simply applies the animation data bone per bone without checking whether the skeleton is the correct one for the animation.
Thus, even if you mess up the names of SKN, SKL and animations, there should still be an animation playing (albeit a nonsensical one). If no animation plays at all, then you probably
a) didn't link the vertexes of the model to the skin, either by mistake or data loss . Check for error reports when exporting and try if the links work in 3DS.
or
b) set up the animation conditions incorrectly in the XMLs, thus never actually having the game use them.
It's definitely possible to re-use EA's animations - among others, GrenadeBall, TWA and TSR are all using the stock animations for new models. _________________ Off Duty. QUICK_EDIT
The game handles animations only by bone index, not by the actual name, and will in fact completely disregard the hierarchy names when trying to link the animation to the skeleton, i.e. it simply applies the animation data bone per bone without checking whether the skeleton is the correct one for the animation.
Thus, even if you mess up the names of SKN, SKL and animations, there should still be an animation playing (albeit a nonsensical one). If no animation plays at all, then you probably
a) didn't link the vertexes of the model to the skin, either by mistake or data loss . Check for error reports when exporting and try if the links work in 3DS.
or
b) set up the animation conditions incorrectly in the XMLs, thus never actually having the game use them.
It's definitely possible to re-use EA's animations - among others, GrenadeBall, TWA and TSR are all using the stock animations for new models.
Right, there must be a problem with the way I've exported the files from max.
The 'grenade' model that the grenadier uses in it's various animations still animates has normal in game.
The animation in the 'GUGrendr' max scene, which I presume is to assist in correctly linking and testing the bones to model, works fine.
The XML is basically exactly the same has the grenade soldier one except it has an include for my new skin W3X, and uses this skin instead of the default in the 'Modelconditionstate'.
You don't have to link the bone to model for each individual animation do you?
Note to self, try deleting the previous WWSkin modifier before adding another one to the stack (It might seem ok, export and compile without errors, but trust me no good!).
QUICK_EDIT
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Infantry Rigging problems - a real pain!
