| 524 | | <edit below> |
| 525 | | |
| 526 | | 3.6 Animation |
| 527 | | |
| 528 | | 3.6.1 Rigging |
| 529 | | |
| 530 | | Rigs can be created with either Biped or standard Max Bones. The use of Biped is recommended for character animation, due it is character animation features and tools. Custom rigs can be created by combining Bones with Biped or completely new rigs from Bones. |
| 531 | | |
| 532 | | We will be using the Skin modifier in Max, not the Physique modifier. Skin is a little faster and a lot more forgiving than Physique. The Skin weight-table is fast and easy to understand, allowing for quick manual adjustments. Skin is compatible with both Ma Bones and Biped. Furthermore, due to the constraints of the engine, many of the more advanced features of |
| 533 | | |
| 534 | | Physique cannot be implemented. |
| 535 | | |
| 536 | | Physique is not supported by the current version of the exporter, however, as stated earlier, there is a plug-in to convert Physique to Skin. It produces excellent results, though its use is not recommended. Artists should rig with Skin to begin with, not get into the habit of using the converter. |
| 537 | | |
| 538 | | All vertex weighting should be rigid with only one (1) bone per vertex, vertex weight blending is not supported. In the event that there are blended bone weights on a vertex , the bone with the highest relative weight gets priority. Only the Bones specially listed in the Skin Modifier will be exported, so any bones which do not have any vertices weighted to them should be removed from Bones listing in the Skin dialog box . |
| 539 | | |
| 540 | | 3.6.2 Bone/Biped Structures |
| 541 | | |
| 542 | | It is possible, and advisable, to reuse Bone and Biped structures from model to model. The <blah> 3D format stores the geometry and bone animation data separate from each other, making it possible to use one set animation data for several different models. This should be exploited when ever possible, as it will reduce the work in Animation and it will also reduce system requirements for the engine. |
| 543 | | |
| 544 | | Note, however, that the <blah> animation structure stores both rotation and position. This means if you rig several models to one bone structure, you cannot change the size of any of the bones to fit the model. The rig must be exactly the same for each model, otherwise the model will be distorted and the animation will be incorrect and unusable. |
| 545 | | |
| 546 | | 3.6.3 Bones/Biped Limits |
| 547 | | |
| 548 | | There is a maximum total of twenty-five (25) bones per object. More bones than this are not supported by the engine, and will not be accepted as a valid animation file in the engine. The exporter will warn you if you are over the limit. |
| 549 | | |
| 550 | | 3.6.4 Character Animation |
| 551 | | |
| 552 | | For animated models, the geometry data is exported separately from the animation data. Each animation cycle will be exported separately from Max and will be cued at run-time from the game engine. The idle, walking, running animation should be seamlessly looping animations. The first and last frame of every other animation cycle should usually match the first frame of the idle animation. |
| 553 | | |
| 554 | | 3.6.5 Frame Rate and In-Game Interpolation |
| 555 | | |
| 556 | | Advanced Topic: The 3dsmax exporter takes a position and rotation keyframe for every bone at every frame of the animation. However the <blah> game engine actively interpolates between keyframes, and stores keytimes separately making it is possible to conserve animation file space by adjusting the 3dmax frame rate to a value lower than 30 fps. |
| 557 | | |
| 558 | | By sampling the animation at a lower rate, the file size of the animation is also reduced and due to in-game interpolation the animation will not become jerky. By setting the fps to 15, you effectively cut the size of the animation file size and memory requirements in half, the side effect is that the animation is only sampled on every other frame. Setting the fps to a value too low will adversely affect the integrity of the animation. |
| 559 | | |
| 560 | | Also note that because the engine uses linear interpolation (for speed), if you turn in a wide arc between frames youll see noticeable changes in the speed it’s moving. This is only recommended if you are comfortable with more advanced features of both 3dmax and the engine. If you are in doubt, just leave the 3dmax frame rate at the default of 30 fps. |
| 561 | | |
| 562 | | 3.6.6 Initial Default Animation Lists |
| 563 | | |
| 564 | | Note from Constantin: Every unit will have its personal list of animations. Below is just a generic run-down. Added Emotion Animation list, made available by animation blending. |
| 565 | | |
| 566 | | 3.6.6.1 Essential Animation List |
| 567 | | |
| 568 | | 3.6.6.2 Emotion Animation List |
| 569 | | |
| | 525 | Rigging |
| | 526 | <need to fill out> |
| | 527 | Bone/Biped !StructuresBones/Biped Limits |
| | 528 | <need to fill out> |
| | 529 | Character Animation |
| | 530 | <need to fill out> |
| | 531 | Animation Frame Rates |
| | 532 | <need to fill out> |
| | 533 | PASAP Animation List |
| | 534 | <need to fill out> |
| | 535 | Non Essential Animation List |
| | 536 | <need to fill out> |
| | 537 | |
| | 538 | [[BR]] |
