https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Domarius&feedformat=atomThe DarkMod Wiki - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T09:30:36ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.39.5https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add_new_poses&diff=8647Add new poses2009-07-22T11:03:18Z<p>Domarius: /* Apply pose to animation */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Start with a clean file ==<br />
<br />
*Delete any poses/anim clips in the Window, General Editors, Visor, Character clips tab AND Character poses tab.<br />
<br />
== Import pose to the character set ==<br />
<br />
*Open the visor and go to the '''Unused Poses''' tab (Not Unused Clips). Press RMB -> File -> Import<br />
*Choose the pose file (combat_pose.ma or idle_pose.ma in the proguard/clips folder)<br />
*Activate character set<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
*Open the trax editor. Window -> Animation Editors -> Trax Editor.<br />
*Click the icon with a red stick figure and a + to activate the character track called citywatch_body.<br />
*Go back to the visor and drag(MMB) the pose in the '''unused poses''' tab from the visor to the citywatch_body track in the trax editor.<br />
<br />
== Apply pose to animation ==<br />
<br />
*The pose is now attached to the character set and you can delete the pose clip from the trax editor and in the "Unused poses" tab in the visor.<br />
*Go to frame 0 and RMB -> Apply Pose on the pose file in the visor (Character Poses tab)<br />
*If you have autokey turned on it will key the whole pose, otherwise select a controller and set a keyframe which will also set keys on all the controllers for the new pose. It's a good idea to go to the last frame and set a key there as well, to make sure your character returns to the same pose once the animation is finished.<br />
*Remember to deactivate the characters set (see image above) if you want to start animating, otherwise you will keep putting keys on all controls regardless of which one is selected.<br />
<br />
{{Animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add_new_poses&diff=8646Add new poses2009-07-22T11:00:37Z<p>Domarius: /* Import pose to the character set */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Start with a clean file ==<br />
<br />
*Delete any poses/anim clips in the Window, General Editors, Visor, Character clips tab AND Character poses tab.<br />
<br />
== Import pose to the character set ==<br />
<br />
*Open the visor and go to the '''Unused Poses''' tab (Not Unused Clips). Press RMB -> File -> Import<br />
*Choose the pose file (combat_pose.ma or idle_pose.ma in the proguard/clips folder)<br />
*Activate character set<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
*Open the trax editor. Window -> Animation Editors -> Trax Editor.<br />
*Click the icon with a red stick figure and a + to activate the character track called citywatch_body.<br />
*Go back to the visor and drag(MMB) the pose in the '''unused poses''' tab from the visor to the citywatch_body track in the trax editor.<br />
<br />
== Apply pose to animation ==<br />
<br />
*The pose is now attached to the character set and you can delete the pose clip from the trax editor and in the "Unused poses" tab in the visor.<br />
*Go to frame 0 and RMB -> Apply Pose on the pose file in the visor (Character Poses tab)<br />
*If you have autokey turned on it will key the whole pose, otherwise select a controller and set a keyframe which will also set keys on all the controllers for the new pose.<br />
*Remember to deactivate the characters set (see image above) if you want to start animating, otherwise you will keep putting keys on all controls regardless of which one is selected.<br />
<br />
{{Animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add_new_poses&diff=8631Add new poses2009-07-19T04:16:20Z<p>Domarius: /* Start with a clean file */</p>
<hr />
<div>== Start with a clean file ==<br />
<br />
*Delete any poses/anim clips in the Window, General Editors, Visor, Character clips tab AND Character poses tab.<br />
<br />
== Import pose to the character set ==<br />
<br />
*Open the visor and go to the '''Unused Poses''' tab. Press RMB -> File -> Import<br />
*Choose the pose file (combat_pose.ma or idle_pose.ma in the proguard/clips folder)<br />
*Activate character set<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
*Open the trax editor. Window -> Animation Editors -> Trax Editor.<br />
*Click the icon with a red stick figure and a + to activate the character track called citywatch_body.<br />
*Go back to the visor and drag(MMB) the pose in the '''unused poses''' tab from the visor to the citywatch_body track in the trax editor.<br />
<br />
== Apply pose to animation ==<br />
<br />
*The pose is now attached to the character set and you can delete the pose clip from the trax editor and in the "Unused poses" tab in the visor.<br />
*Go to frame 0 and RMB -> Apply Pose on the pose file in the visor (Character Poses tab)<br />
*If you have autokey turned on it will key the whole pose, otherwise select a controller and set a keyframe which will also set keys on all the controllers for the new pose.<br />
*Remember to deactivate the characters set (see image above) if you want to start animating, otherwise you will keep putting keys on all controls regardless of which one is selected.<br />
<br />
{{Animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add_new_poses&diff=8630Add new poses2009-07-18T10:55:16Z<p>Domarius: note about deactivating character set</p>
<hr />
<div>== Start with a clean file ==<br />
<br />
*Your scene (meaning visor/trax editor) should be empty once you start applying poses/anim clips. Delete any poses/anim clips in the visor (character clips/ character poses)<br />
<br />
== Import pose to the character set ==<br />
<br />
*Open the visor and go to the '''Unused Poses''' tab. Press RMB -> File -> Import<br />
*Choose the pose file (combat_pose.ma or idle_pose.ma in the proguard/clips folder)<br />
*Activate character set<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
*Open the trax editor. Window -> Animation Editors -> Trax Editor.<br />
*Click the icon with a red stick figure and a + to activate the character track called citywatch_body.<br />
*Go back to the visor and drag(MMB) the pose in the '''unused poses''' tab from the visor to the citywatch_body track in the trax editor.<br />
<br />
== Apply pose to animation ==<br />
<br />
*The pose is now attached to the character set and you can delete the pose clip from the trax editor and in the "Unused poses" tab in the visor.<br />
*Go to frame 0 and RMB -> Apply Pose on the pose file in the visor (Character Poses tab)<br />
*If you have autokey turned on it will key the whole pose, otherwise select a controller and set a keyframe which will also set keys on all the controllers for the new pose.<br />
*Remember to deactivate the characters set (see image above) if you want to start animating, otherwise you will keep putting keys on all controls regardless of which one is selected.<br />
<br />
{{Animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Add_new_poses&diff=8629Add new poses2009-07-18T10:52:38Z<p>Domarius: spelling mistake</p>
<hr />
<div>== Start with a clean file ==<br />
<br />
*Your scene (meaning visor/trax editor) should be empty once you start applying poses/anim clips. Delete any poses/anim clips in the visor (character clips/ character poses)<br />
<br />
== Import pose to the character set ==<br />
<br />
*Open the visor and go to the '''Unused Poses''' tab. Press RMB -> File -> Import<br />
*Choose the pose file (combat_pose.ma or idle_pose.ma in the proguard/clips folder)<br />
*Activate character set<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
*Open the trax editor. Window -> Animation Editors -> Trax Editor.<br />
*Click the icon with a red stick figure and a + to activate the character track called citywatch_body.<br />
*Go back to the visor and drag(MMB) the pose in the '''unused poses''' tab from the visor to the citywatch_body track in the trax editor.<br />
<br />
== Apply pose to animation ==<br />
<br />
*The pose is now attached to the character set and you can delete the pose clip from the trax editor and in the "Unused poses" tab in the visor.<br />
*Go to frame 0 and RMB -> Apply Pose on the pose file in the visor (Character Poses tab)<br />
*If you have autokey turned on it will key the whole pose, otherwise select a controller and set a keyframe which will also set keys on all the controllers for the new pose.<br />
<br />
{{Animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=7724Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2009-02-14T02:18:54Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Note:''' Currently it's not advised to animate in MotionBuilder anymore, it's too complex and has too many points of failure. There are animation layers in Maya with a plugin, so there shouldn't be any need to animate in MotionBuilder.<br />
<br />
Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot". '''DO NOT SAVE THE FILE'''. You definetly don't want to save after plotting to skeleton - you lose all your layer and keyframe data. Everything gets flattened to one layer with a key frame every frame for the entire body.<br />
<br />
Click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
Now do "New" , "Don't Save" and then "Open" to re-open your file. <br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. If it says "Unrecognised File Type", just try it again... sometimes I try it 3 times in a row before it suddenly works.<br />
Also you may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue. <br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly in Maya at this point.<br />
<br />
Now save as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want for Doom 3 to use. If you get some error about "No Disk In Drive" you'll find you won't be able to recover from this. You have to CTRL+ALT+DEL and end task Maya, click End Program in the dialogue, and then click Cancel on Maya's error dialogue till it closes. Start Maya again, and to avoid this error, click File, then click the box next to Save As, and then set all the radio buttons to "Never", and try saving again, it should work from now on.<br />
<br />
After that you may have to close and re-open Maya to do another file, otherwise you get that crash.<br />
<br />
From here on, use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=7723Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2009-02-14T02:14:23Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Note:''' Currently it's not advised to animate in MotionBuilder anymore, it's too complex and has too many points of failure. There are animation layers in Maya with a plugin, so there shouldn't be any need to animate in MotionBuilder.<br />
<br />
Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot". '''DO NOT SAVE THE FILE'''. You definetly don't want to save after plotting to skeleton - you lose all your layer and keyframe data. Everything gets flattened to one layer with a key frame every frame for the entire body.<br />
<br />
Click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
Now do "New" , "Don't Save" and then "Open" to re-open your file. <br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. (Double click the file, don't press ENTER - otherwise it just says "Unrecognised file type"). You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue. <br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly in Maya at this point.<br />
<br />
Now save as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want for Doom 3 to use. If you get some error about "No Disk In Drive" you'll find you won't be able to recover from this. You have to CTRL+ALT+DEL and end task Maya, click End Program in the dialogue, and then click Cancel on Maya's error dialogue till it closes. Start Maya again, and to avoid this error, click File, then click the box next to Save As, and then set all the radio buttons to "Never", and try saving again, it should work from now on.<br />
<br />
After that you may have to close and re-open Maya to do another file, otherwise you get that crash.<br />
<br />
From here on, use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=7722Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2009-02-14T02:12:21Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot". '''DO NOT SAVE THE FILE'''. You definetly don't want to save after plotting to skeleton - you lose all your layer and keyframe data. Everything gets flattened to one layer with a key frame every frame for the entire body.<br />
<br />
Click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
Now do "New" , "Don't Save" and then "Open" to re-open your file. <br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. (Double click the file, don't press ENTER - otherwise it just says "Unrecognised file type"). You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue. <br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly in Maya at this point.<br />
<br />
Now save as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want for Doom 3 to use. If you get some error about "No Disk In Drive" you'll find you won't be able to recover from this. You have to CTRL+ALT+DEL and end task Maya, click End Program in the dialogue, and then click Cancel on Maya's error dialogue till it closes. Start Maya again, and to avoid this error, click File, then click the box next to Save As, and then set all the radio buttons to "Never", and try saving again, it should work from now on.<br />
<br />
From here on, use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=7715Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2009-02-12T12:02:21Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot". '''DO NOT SAVE THE FILE'''. You definetly don't want to save after plotting to skeleton - you lose all your layer and keyframe data. Everything gets flattened to one layer with a key frame every frame for the entire body.<br />
<br />
Click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
Now do "New" , "Don't Save" and then "Open" to re-open your file. <br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue. <br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly in Maya at this point.<br />
<br />
Now save as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want for Doom 3 to use. If you get some error about "No Disk In Drive" you'll find you won't be able to recover from this. You have to CTRL+ALT+DEL and end task Maya, click End Program in the dialogue, and then click Cancel on Maya's error dialogue till it closes. Start Maya again, and to avoid this error, click File, then click the box next to Save As, and then set all the radio buttons to "Never", and try saving again, it should work from now on.<br />
<br />
From here on, use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=ASE_to_TDM&diff=7161ASE to TDM2008-10-16T03:03:46Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Constantine''' http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=8317&st=0&#entry164626<br />
<br />
Some time ago I wrote a small program to process ASE files. It automalically corrects strings after the BITMAP keyword, for example:<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "D:\Games\doom3\darkmod\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture.tga"<br />
<br />
is replaced by<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "\\base\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture"<br />
<br />
DDS paths are also processed correctly.<br />
See [[Problematic_Paths_in_Models]] for details.<br />
<br />
You can download the program here:<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ASE2DarkRadiant.zip<br />
<br />
Usage: type ASE2DarkRadiant <modelname> in the command line.<br />
<br />
For the convenience, I added this command to the context menu for ASE files.<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export3.png<br />
<br />
And now, when I need to export a model, I first, hm, export it:<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export1.png<br />
<br />
And then I choose Export command again and do so:<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export2.png<br />
<br />
... and then click Cancel.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=ASE_to_TDM&diff=7160ASE to TDM2008-10-16T03:03:10Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Constantine''' http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=8317&st=0&#entry164626<br />
<br />
Some time ago I wrote a small program to process ASE files. It automalically corrects strings after the BITMAP keyword, for example:<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "D:\Games\doom3\darkmod\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture.tga"<br />
<br />
is replaced by<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "\\base\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture"<br />
<br />
DDS paths are also processed correctly.<br />
See [[Problematic_Paths_in_Models]] for details.<br />
<br />
You can download the program here:<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ASE2DarkRadiant.zip<br />
<br />
Usage: type ASE2DarkRadiant <modelname> in the command line.<br />
<br />
For the convenience, I added this command to the context menu for ASE files.<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export3.png<br />
<br />
And now, when I need to export a model, I first, hm, export it:<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export1.png<br />
<br />
And then I choose Export command again and do so:<br />
<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export2.png<br />
<br />
... and then click Cancel.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=ASE_to_TDM&diff=7159ASE to TDM2008-10-16T03:02:10Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>'''Constantine''' http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=8317&st=0&#entry164626<br />
<br />
Some time ago I wrote a small program to process ASE files. It automalically corrects strings after the BITMAP keyword, for example:<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "D:\Games\doom3\darkmod\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture.tga"<br />
<br />
is replaced by<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "\\base\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture"<br />
<br />
DDS paths are also processed correctly.<br />
See [[Problematic_Paths_in_Models]] for details.<br />
<br />
You can download the program here:<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ASE2DarkRadiant.zip<br />
<br />
Usage: type ASE2DarkRadiant <modelname> in the command line.<br />
<br />
For the convenience, I added this command to the context menu for ASE files.<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export3.png]<br />
<br />
And now, when I need to export a model, I first, hm, export it:<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export1.png]<br />
<br />
And then I choose Export command again and do so:<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export2.png]<br />
... and then click Cancel.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=ASE_to_TDM&diff=7158ASE to TDM2008-10-16T03:01:38Z<p>Domarius: New page: Someone who knows about the subject should actually make a proper tutorial out of this :) http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=8317&st=0&#entry164626 '''Constantine''' Some tim...</p>
<hr />
<div>Someone who knows about the subject should actually make a proper tutorial out of this :)<br />
http://modetwo.net/darkmod/index.php?showtopic=8317&st=0&#entry164626<br />
<br />
'''Constantine'''<br />
<br />
Some time ago I wrote a small program to process ASE files. It automalically corrects strings after the BITMAP keyword, for example:<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "D:\Games\doom3\darkmod\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture.tga"<br />
<br />
is replaced by<br />
<br />
*BITMAP "\\base\textures\darkmod\some_folder\some_texture"<br />
<br />
DDS paths are also processed correctly.<br />
See [[Problematic_Paths_in_Models]] for details.<br />
<br />
You can download the program here:<br />
http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ASE2DarkRadiant.zip<br />
<br />
Usage: type ASE2DarkRadiant <modelname> in the command line.<br />
<br />
For the convenience, I added this command to the context menu for ASE files.<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export3.png]<br />
<br />
And now, when I need to export a model, I first, hm, export it:<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export1.png]<br />
<br />
And then I choose Export command again and do so:<br />
[Image:http://hedonism.nm.ru/programs/ase_processing/ase_export2.png]<br />
... and then click Cancel.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Modeling&diff=7157Modeling2008-10-16T02:58:19Z<p>Domarius: /* Other */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{index-page|category=Models|topic=models}}<br />
== Basic Modeling ==<br />
<br />
* '''[[Starting to Model for TDM]]''' ''-- (Instructions for new team members)''<br />
* '''[[Model Folder Structure]]''' ''-- (Instructions on where to save your new model)''<br />
* [[Modeling - Basic Tutorial]] ''-- (Using Blender)''<br />
* [[Using Blender for Doom 3 Modeling]]<br />
* [[Creating an ASE model using multiple Materials]]<br />
* [[Meshes from Lightwave to D3 with Normal Maps]]<br />
* [[Model/Texture Guidelines]]<br />
* [[Problematic Paths in Models]] ''-- (if your .ase models are showing black, check here)''<br />
* [[Modeling Tools: Unfold3D]]<br />
* [http://www.realtimecg.com/template.php?id=Qubizm.php&n=18 Low poly body reference]<br />
* [http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Tutorials/ExportingModels/ExportingModels.rar Exporting from all the popular 3D apps]<br />
* [http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Tutorials/ExportingModels/exportModelsD3.pdf PDF Tutorial on the export process using Doom 3]<br />
* [http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Tutorials/ExportingModels/MayaImportx86(Maya7).rar Maya Importer DLL for Maya 7 (Above tutorial shows you where to use it)]<br />
<br />
== AI ==<br />
<br />
* [[Swapping Heads on AI Models]] ''-- (For mappers who want to put different heads on their AI)''<br />
* [[Adding Heads and Weapons to AI]] ''-- (How to modify AI def files to add newly modelled heads or weapons)''<br />
* [[Multiple Head Definitions for AI]] ''-- (Accurate but redundant)''<br />
* [[An AI consists of 6 Models]]<br />
* [[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
* [[Setting up Ragdolls for Custom Joint Hierarchies]]<br />
* [[Scaling And Rotating AI Meshes]]<br />
* [[How to Make Your AI Unique]] '' -- (how to use skins and attachments to add variety to AI) ''<br />
* [[AI Skins--List of Available Choices]]<br />
* [[Heads Available for AI]]<br />
<br />
== Textures and skins for models ==<br />
<br />
* [[Creating Textures with Normals out of Models]]<br />
* [[Creating Multiple Skins For A Model]]<br />
* [[Turning Shadows Off]] ''-- (How (and why) to turn shadows off to varying degrees) ''<br />
<br />
== Other ==<br />
<br />
* [[.def files]] ''-- (How to turn your model into an entity in game)''<br />
* [[AI Attachment Ingame Editing]] ''-- (Console commands for def_attaching models during game)''<br />
* [[Trees and how to make custom ones]]<br />
* [[Nonsolid models]]<br />
* [[ASE to TDM]]<br />
<br />
{{models}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Using_Character_Sets&diff=6801Using Character Sets2008-08-18T09:48:24Z<p>Domarius: /* Step 2) Importing animation clip to builder forger */</p>
<hr />
<div>''by Squill''<br />
<br />
This guide explains the basic use of character sets in Maya. Character sets can be used to exchange animations between Darkmod characters who are using the same animation rig but also to layer your animation. This guide only covers exchanging animation. <br />
<br />
Global steps:<br />
*Create animation clip from existing animation<br />
*Export animation clip <br />
*Apply animation clip to another character<br />
<br />
Characters must use the same animation rig to exchange animations. '''citywatch_rig_00.mb''' is the basic Maya animation rig which contains a character set.<br />
<br />
[[Image:Animation_rig.jpg]]<br />
<br />
{{important|headline=Important|text=Don't forget to turn character sets '''OFF''' when your animating. Otherwise your creating keys on all animation controls.}}<br />
<br />
== Step 1) Create animation clip and export ==<br />
<br />
For this example i'll be using '''idle_armwipe.mb''' as the animation which we'll apply to the '''builder forger'''.<br />
<br />
Open idle_armwipe in Maya. To activate the character set, press the arrow which is on the right side below the timeline.<br />
<br />
Citywatch_body is the name of the character set. You'll also see all the keyframes appear on the timeline. <br />
<br />
Check the length of the timeline in this scene (85 frames). Later on we'll need to set the same amount of frames in the new scene.<br />
<br />
An important thing before exporting: With the character set activated, select any control and set a key at the beginning and end of your animation to ensure that all the animation controls are copied and have their keys beginning at frame 0.<br />
<br />
[[Image:time_line.jpg]]<br />
<br />
<br />
With the character set activated open the '''Trax Editor''' (window -> Animation Editors).<br />
<br />
Go to Create -> Clip -> Option Box.<br />
<br />
Leave settings at their defaults and give it a name like '''idle_armwipe'''.<br />
<br />
# Press Create clip and close the Trax Editor.<br />
# Open the '''Visor''' (Window -> General Editors)<br />
# Under Character Clips you'll find animation clip -> idle_armwipe.<br />
# Right click on it and choose -> Export.<br />
# Give it a name, something like '''armwipe_clip''' and save it as an '''ma file''' in the builder_forger_mb folder<br />
<br />
== Step 2) Importing animation clip to builder forger ==<br />
<br />
# Open '''builder_forger_rig_01.mb'''. You don't have to save idle_armwipe.<br />
# Save this file as another animation file (something like idle_armwipe.mb) in the forger folder.<br />
<br />
[[Image:forger_rig.jpg]]<br />
<br />
#First set the timeline to the same amount of frames like the idle_armwipe animation. <br />
#Activate the character set citywatch_body.<br />
#Open the Trax Editor.<br />
#Go to File -> Import clip to characters, click the option box, and check '''Put clip in Trax Editor and visor'''.<br />
#Click '''import clip''' and select the armwipe animation clip in the builder forger folder.<br />
You'll immediately see the animation on the forger model.<br />
<br />
[[Image:forger_anim.jpg]]<br />
<br />
Last thing, go to the Trax Editor.<br />
<br />
On the trax toolbar click on the first button to create a new track.<br />
<br />
[[Image:trax_editor.jpg]]<br />
<br />
Right-click on the citywatch_body track and select -> '''Activate Keys'''<br />
<br />
All keyframes appear on the timeline and you can delete the track again. You can also delete the animation clip in the visor<br />
<br />
Now you can save the file and make adjustments to the animation if necessary.<br />
<br />
The animation clip you saved earlier can be applied to all the characters who are using the same animation rig. <br />
<br />
{{animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Maya_Animation_Layers&diff=6731Maya Animation Layers2008-08-07T11:29:19Z<p>Domarius: /* Usage */</p>
<hr />
<div>=Introduction=<br />
This assumes you know how to work with animation layers, this page is just how to use this plugin.<br />
<br />
The only difference with Maya files saved using Animation Layers is you need the layers plugin to view the extra layers. If you don't, you only see the base layer key frames, the other frames will be lost if you re-save it. Also, before putting a layered animation into the game, you need to bake the keyframes into one layer. This puts a key frame on every frame, so the resulting file should not be considered a working copy anymore. Save the original with the layers.<br />
<br />
=Installation=<br />
[http://www.neoreel.com/library/index.html NeoReel Download Page] - this page tells you everything you need to install it.<br />
<br />
Test it by opening the Layers editor. Window\General\Display Layer Editor. At the top of the Layer Editor, there is usually just "Display" and "Render" radio buttons, but if the animation layers plugin is active, you will see a third option - "Anim".<br />
<br />
If this doesn't show up, then simply follow these one-time-only steps;<br />
*Open the script window - Window\General Editors\Script Editor<br />
*Type "neoreelLibrary -config" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER, the config pane comes up<br />
*Under Utilities, check nrToolbox<br />
*Under Animation, check nrLayers<br />
*Back in the script window, type "neoreelLibrary -refresh" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
*type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
<br />
That should get it going. If this is the case, then every time you start Maya and want to work with Layered Animation files, you need to open the script window and type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers", but that's a small price to pay to have animation layers in Maya.<br />
<br />
=Usage=<br />
*Open the Layers editor. Window\General\Display Layer Editor.<br />
*Click the "Anim" radio button at the top of the Layer Editor.<br />
*In the menu on the Layer editor, you can click Layers\Create Empty Anim Layer. This is how you create your animation layers.<br />
*Go to the first frame and click Keys\Set Zero Key, this makes sure each layer starts with the body parts in the same position. <br />
<br />
When you select an animation layer, the main animation timeline changes to only show the keyframes in that layer. Beyond that, Maya works exactly as it usually does - but now you have the control of layers. <br />
<br />
When you are ready to export<br />
*First save this file somehwere as an original copy. Currently I'm saving to model_src\[modelName]\Maya_Layered<br />
*Click Layers\Bake Anim Layers. This puts a keyframe on every frame of the Base layer, effectively flattening the animation<br />
*Now save it as a different file and export it into the game. Remember this is not a working file anymore, to make changes you should go back to the original.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Maya_Animation_Layers&diff=6730Maya Animation Layers2008-08-07T11:22:41Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>=Introduction=<br />
This assumes you know how to work with animation layers, this page is just how to use this plugin.<br />
<br />
The only difference with Maya files saved using Animation Layers is you need the layers plugin to view the extra layers. If you don't, you only see the base layer key frames, the other frames will be lost if you re-save it. Also, before putting a layered animation into the game, you need to bake the keyframes into one layer. This puts a key frame on every frame, so the resulting file should not be considered a working copy anymore. Save the original with the layers.<br />
<br />
=Installation=<br />
[http://www.neoreel.com/library/index.html NeoReel Download Page] - this page tells you everything you need to install it.<br />
<br />
Test it by opening the Layers editor. Window\General\Display Layer Editor. At the top of the Layer Editor, there is usually just "Display" and "Render" radio buttons, but if the animation layers plugin is active, you will see a third option - "Anim".<br />
<br />
If this doesn't show up, then simply follow these one-time-only steps;<br />
*Open the script window - Window\General Editors\Script Editor<br />
*Type "neoreelLibrary -config" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER, the config pane comes up<br />
*Under Utilities, check nrToolbox<br />
*Under Animation, check nrLayers<br />
*Back in the script window, type "neoreelLibrary -refresh" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
*type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
<br />
That should get it going. If this is the case, then every time you start Maya and want to work with Layered Animation files, you need to open the script window and type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers", but that's a small price to pay to have animation layers in Maya.<br />
<br />
=Usage=<br />
*Open the Layers editor. Window\General\Display Layer Editor.<br />
*Click the "Anim" radio button at the top of the Layer Editor.<br />
*In the menu on the Layer editor, you can click Layers\Create Empty Anim Layer. This is how you create your animation layers.<br />
*Go to the first frame and click Keys\Set Zero Key, this makes sure each layer starts with the body parts in the same position. <br />
<br />
When you select an animation layer, the main animation timeline changes to only show the keyframes in that layer. Beyond that, Maya works exactly as it usually does - but now you have the control of layers. <br />
<br />
When you are ready to export<br />
*First save this file somehwere as an original copy. <br />
*Click Layers\Bake Anim Layers. This puts a keyframe on every frame of the Base layer, effectively flattening the animation<br />
*Now save it as a different file and export it into the game. Remember this is not a working file anymore, to make changes you should go back to the original.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Maya_Animation_Layers&diff=6729Maya Animation Layers2008-08-07T11:08:22Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>=Introduction=<br />
<br />
The only difference with Maya files saved using Animation Layers is you need the layers plugin to view the extra layers. If you don't, you only see the base layer key frames, the other frames will be lost if you re-save it. Also, before putting a layered animation into the game, you need to bake the keyframes into one layer. This puts a key frame on every frame, so the resulting file should not be considered a working copy anymore. Save the original with the layers.<br />
<br />
=Installation=<br />
[http://www.neoreel.com/library/index.html NeoReel Download Page] - this page tells you everything you need to install it.<br />
<br />
If you have problems running it, as I did, simply follow these one-time-only steps;<br />
*Open the script window - Window\General Editors\Script Editor<br />
*Type "neoreelLibrary -config" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER, the config pane comes up<br />
*Under Utilities, check nrToolbox<br />
*Under Animation, check nrLayers<br />
*Back in the script window, type "neoreelLibrary -refresh" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
*type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
<br />
That should get them going. If this is the case, then every time you start Maya and want to work with Layered Animation files, you need to open the script window and type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers", but that's a small price to pay to have animation layers in Maya.<br />
<br />
=Usage=</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Maya_Animation_Layers&diff=6728Maya Animation Layers2008-08-07T11:01:55Z<p>Domarius: New page: [http://www.neoreel.com/library/index.html NeoReel Download Page] - this page tells you everything you need to install it. If you have problems running it, as I did, simply follow these o...</p>
<hr />
<div>[http://www.neoreel.com/library/index.html NeoReel Download Page] - this page tells you everything you need to install it.<br />
<br />
If you have problems running it, as I did, simply follow these one-time-only steps;<br />
*Open the script window - Window\General Editors\Script Editor<br />
*type "neoreelLibrary -config" to open the configuration pane<br />
*Under Utilities, check nrToolbox<br />
*Under Animation, check nrLayers<br />
*Back in the script window, type "neoreelLibrary -refresh"<br />
*type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers" in the bottom pane and press CTRL+ENTER<br />
<br />
That should get them going. If this is the case, you need to type "neoreelLibrary -load nrLayers" every time you run Maya and want to work with Layered Maya files, but that's a small price to pay to have animation layers in Maya.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=6727Animation2008-08-07T10:50:33Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{index-page|category=Animation|topic=animations and models}}<br />
<br />
Articles related to animating models:<br />
*[[Using Character Sets]] - How to exchange animations in Maya<br />
*[[Animation_Information|Animation Information]] - How Doom 3 animation is handled in the Dark Mod<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] - What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
*[[Creating a walkcycle]] - animation tips by Squill<br />
*[[Animation guide Squill]] <br />
*[[Maya Animation Layers]]<br />
{{animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation_Links&diff=5895Animation Links2008-02-05T09:57:20Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>= Movement cycles =<br />
<br />
Check out [[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
<br />
[http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml idleworm tutorial] 2D walk cycle, contains useful info about focusing on contact points and recoil.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/04_walkcycle_project.html centre for animation & interactive media tutorial] A variety of very different walk cycles, which can be viewed by rolling over with the mouse.<br />
<br />
[http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm anticz tutorial] Nice simple breakdown, re-affirming what's learnt in the previous links.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html Preston Blair Walk Cycles] "these animation cycles are almost canon in the industry, and can be found in a large percentage of any animation book that you might pick up."<br />
I noticed they're very cartoony and exaggerated, but this is good to see the kinds of movements that can go on.<br />
<br />
[http://www.metamotion.com/mb_page_assets/3d_paths.html Curved paths in Motion Builder for smooth movement] - Plot paths manually or with keyframes, and have objects follow the path. Not that useful because it doesn't work with limbs, but could be useful for prescripted anims.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation_Links&diff=5894Animation Links2008-02-05T09:56:23Z<p>Domarius: /* Movement cycles */</p>
<hr />
<div>= Movement cycles =<br />
<br />
Check out [[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
<br />
[http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml idleworm tutorial] 2D walk cycle, contains useful info about focusing on contact points and recoil.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/04_walkcycle_project.html centre for animation & interactive media tutorial] A variety of very different walk cycles, which can be viewed by rolling over with the mouse.<br />
<br />
[http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm anticz tutorial] Nice simple breakdown, re-affirming what's learnt in the previous links.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html Preston Blair Walk Cycles] "these animation cycles are almost canon in the industry, and can be found in a large percentage of any animation book that you might pick up."<br />
I noticed they're very cartoony and exaggerated, but this is good to see the kinds of movements that can go on.<br />
<br />
[http://www.metamotion.com/mb_page_assets/3d_paths.html Curved paths in Motion Builder for smooth movement]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation_Links&diff=5893Animation Links2008-02-05T09:56:09Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>= Movement cycles =<br />
<br />
Check out [[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
<br />
[http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml idleworm tutorial] 2D walk cycle, contains useful info about focusing on contact points and recoil.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/04_walkcycle_project.html centre for animation & interactive media tutorial] A variety of very different walk cycles, which can be viewed by rolling over with the mouse.<br />
<br />
[http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm anticz tutorial] Nice simple breakdown, re-affirming what's learnt in the previous links.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html Preston Blair Walk Cycles] "these animation cycles are almost canon in the industry, and can be found in a large percentage of any animation book that you might pick up."<br />
I noticed they're very cartoony and exaggerated, but this is good to see the kinds of movements that can go on.<br />
<br />
<br />
*[http://www.metamotion.com/mb_page_assets/3d_paths.html Curved paths in Motion Builder for smooth movement]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=5892Animation2008-02-05T09:55:26Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{index-page|category=Animation|topic=animations and models}}<br />
<br />
Articles related to animating models:<br />
*[[Animation_Information|Animation Information]] - How Doom 3 animation is handled in the Dark Mod<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] - What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
*[[Creating a walkcycle]] - animation tips by Squill<br />
*[[Animation guide Squill]] <br />
{{animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=5887Animation2008-02-04T09:27:16Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{index-page|category=Animation|topic=animations and models}}<br />
<br />
Articles related to animating models:<br />
*[[Animation_Information|Animation Information]] - How Doom 3 animation is handled in the Dark Mod<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] - What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
*[[Creating a walkcycle]] - animation tips by Squill<br />
*[[Animation guide Squill]] <br />
*[http://www.metamotion.com/mb_page_assets/3d_paths.html Curved paths in Motion Builder for smooth movement]<br />
{{animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5883Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-02-03T04:56:52Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot". '''DO NOT SAVE THE FILE'''. You definetly don't want to save after plotting to skeleton - you lose all your layer and keyframe data. Everything gets flattened to one layer with a key frame every frame for the entire body.<br />
<br />
Click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
Now do "New" , "Don't Save" and then "Open" to re-open your file. <br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5850Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-01-29T13:27:34Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This rig should already be facing along the X axis, but just ensure this is the case. Motion Builder defaults to the Z axis with a new model.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot".<br />
<br />
Then click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_tutorial&diff=5845Motion Builder tutorial2008-01-29T12:13:01Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>oDDity's motion builder tutorial for all us animators.<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Tutorials/MB_tut_01.avi<br />
Requires this codec:<br />
http://www.divx.com/divx/play/<br />
<br />
Reminder - face the character along the X axis before animating (Motion Builder defaults to Z). Doom 3 uses the X axis as the forward axis. Don't rely on the export settings in the def file to fix this, because the vision cone will still be wrong.<br />
<br />
One thing not explained in the video - layers are actually for seperating animation timelines for the entire body, not seperating body parts.<br />
<br />
Body parts already have their own channels within a layer - just select the body part and the keyframes shown in the timeline will only be the keyframes for that body part (provided you are in "body part mode", as shown in the vid).<br />
<br />
Layers can be used to easily layer movements over one another and keep them seperate and editable. This has two major uses;<br />
<br />
= Layering movements =<br />
Just say you wanted to animate someone shaking their fist. You have a bunch of keyframes in quick sucession that move the fist back and forth rapidly. You created this quickly by setting one key frame with the fist backwards, and another with it forwards, and then copying and pasting that pair of keyframes over and over for however long you want him to shake his fist. Now you have a lot of keyframes.<br />
<br />
What if you wanted the fist to move upward slowly over time WHILE shaking? Without layers, you'd have to edit each key frame and move the hand upwards by a small amount, like old fashioned stop-motion animation, and you'd be stuffed trying to get fluid movement, and it would take forever.<br />
<br />
Well with layers, you just make a new layer, and create the upward movement of the fist using just 2 new keyframes. Now the upward movement and the shaking are blended together. Easy!<br />
<br />
= Pose tweaking =<br />
Say you have a walking animation. You decide that he's not leaning forward enough for the entire animation. In Maya, with only a single timeline, you'd have to go through every keyframe for his back and rotate it forward.<br />
<br />
But in motion builder, you just make an empty layer, and set one keyframe a the start for the back, rotate it in the positoin you want it, et voila, the entire walk animation has him walking the way you want him to. I have a layer specifically for this, that I call "pose tweaks".<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5844Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-01-29T09:43:57Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). Remember to rotate the character to face along the Z axis, not the X axis which is the default.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot".<br />
<br />
Then click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5843Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-01-29T09:42:15Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). <br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot".<br />
<br />
Then click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5842Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-01-29T09:41:42Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Using ascottk's rigs.<br />
<br />
First, update your models_src repository from SVN. Load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). <br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot".<br />
<br />
Then click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Motion_Builder_-_exporting_an_animation_to_an_.mb&diff=5841Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb2008-01-29T09:41:09Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Using ascottk's rigs.<br />
<br />
First, load the AnimRef_idle.fbx of the character you want, into Motion Builder, and animate with that. Currently we are using the "citywatch" for all base animations (that can be applied to other characters). This is found in the models_src repository on SVN.<br />
<br />
Before exporting, you have to do this ritual; up on the top right where the picture of the man is, there are some drop down menus... Click on "Edit", then "Plot Character", then click "Skeleton", then "Plot".<br />
<br />
Then click File, export, and from the file-type selector, choose "Kaydara FBX (Animation only)". Like it says, this will just be the animation only, and no cameras or models you may have in the scene.<br />
<br />
In Maya, open the fbx_import.mb. Then go File, Import, and choose your FBX file. You may need to install the latest [http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=6839916 FBX importer plugin]. Choose the Merge(Exclusive Merge) option on the importer dialogue.<br />
<br />
The animation should play correctly and you should be able to save this as walk.mb or whatever animation name you want, and then use the [[Getting_Characters_and_their_Anims_into_Doom]] instructions to get it into Doom 3.<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animating_a_walk_cycle_in_Motion_Builder&diff=4384Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder2007-10-08T11:35:10Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>WIP tutorial by Domarius. Need to move over mentions for "movement cycles" from my tips page into here, cause they will be redundant then.<br />
<br />
Just some personal notes for now.<br />
<br />
*Make contact step at frame 0, hips go down<br />
*Make a passing step at frame 10, hips go up<br />
*Reverse contact step at frame 20 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Reverse passing step at frame 30 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Finalise loop by copying keyframes from 0 to 40<br />
*Make a new animation layer called Hips & Shoulders rotation, add the vertical torsion in the hips and shoulders on this layer (seperate from the hips up & down keyframes)<br />
<br />
Knee popping happens due to the foot moving along a linear path. In real life, the knee stays where it is and the bottom half of the leg swings off it like a pendulum, so the foot follows an arc. In Motion builder, if you set two key frames for the foot, it moves in a straight line past the knee, and becomes closer to the knee halfway, causing it to bend, and then becomes further away towards the end of the path, causing the knee to straighten out again. This is not natural, you need to add more key frames to force the foot to follow a curve.<br />
<br />
TODO: <br />
*need to get the actual forward movement happening.<br />
*Smooth out the loop by editing the animation curves for all the keyframes on 0 and 40<br />
<br />
{{tutorial-animation}}</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=4172Animation2007-10-07T01:06:40Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Articles related to animating models<br />
*[[Animation_Information]] - How Doom 3 animation is handled in the Dark Mod<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] - What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=4171Animation2007-10-07T01:05:48Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Articles related to animating models<br />
*How Doom 3 animation is handled in the Dark Mod: [[Animation_Information]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] ''-- (What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models)''<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animating_a_walk_cycle_in_Motion_Builder&diff=4152Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder2007-10-01T16:47:42Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>WIP tutorial by Domarius. Need to move over mentions for "movement cycles" from my tips page into here, cause they will be redundant then.<br />
<br />
Just some personal notes for now.<br />
<br />
*Make contact step at frame 0, hips go down<br />
*Make a passing step at frame 10, hips go up<br />
*Reverse contact step at frame 20 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Reverse passing step at frame 30 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Finalise loop by copying keyframes from 0 to 40<br />
*Make a new animation layer called Hips & Shoulders rotation, add the vertical torsion in the hips and shoulders on this layer (seperate from the hips up & down keyframes)<br />
<br />
TODO: <br />
*need to get the actual forward movement happening.<br />
*Smooth out the loop by editing the animation curves for all the keyframes on 0 and 40</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animating_a_walk_cycle_in_Motion_Builder&diff=4151Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder2007-10-01T16:47:05Z<p>Domarius: New page: WIP tutorial by Domarius. Need to move over mentions for "movement cycles" from my tips page into here, cause they will be redundant then. Just some personal notes for now. *Make contac...</p>
<hr />
<div>WIP tutorial by Domarius. Need to move over mentions for "movement cycles" from my tips page into here, cause they will be redundant then.<br />
<br />
Just some personal notes for now.<br />
<br />
*Make contact step at frame 0, hips go down<br />
*Make a passing step at frame 10, hips go up<br />
*Reverse contact step at frame 20 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Reverse passing step at frame 30 by copying keyframes to other limbs<br />
*Finalise loop by copying keyframes from 0 to 40<br />
*Make a new animation layer called Hips & Shoulders rotation, add the vertical torsion in the hips and shoulders on this layer (seperate from the hips up & down keyframes)<br />
<br />
TODO: need to get the actual forward movement happening.</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation&diff=4150Animation2007-10-01T16:42:05Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Articles related to animating models<br />
*General information about Doom 3 animation in the Dark Mod: [[Animation_Information]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder tutorial]]<br />
*[[Domarius's animation tips]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - exporting an animation to an .mb]]<br />
*[[Motion Builder - Mirroring an existing animation]]<br />
*[[Getting Characters and their Anims into Doom]]<br />
*[[Overriding animations via attached objects]]<br />
*[[Animated static objects]] ''-- (What to add to .def files to give animated objects collision models)''<br />
*[[Particle Attachment for AI]]<br />
*[[Animation playback speed]] - how to tweak playback speed without re-exporting assets<br />
*[[Animation Links]] - tutorials and examples<br />
*[[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
*[[Animating a walk cycle in Motion Builder]] - WIP tutorial by Domarius<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation_Links&diff=4141Animation Links2007-09-30T09:54:07Z<p>Domarius: /* Movement cycles */</p>
<hr />
<div>= Movement cycles =<br />
<br />
Check out [[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
<br />
[http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml idleworm tutorial] 2D walk cycle, contains useful info about focusing on contact points and recoil.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/04_walkcycle_project.html centre for animation & interactive media tutorial] A variety of very different walk cycles, which can be viewed by rolling over with the mouse.<br />
<br />
[http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm anticz tutorial] Nice simple breakdown, re-affirming what's learnt in the previous links.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html Preston Blair Walk Cycles] "these animation cycles are almost canon in the industry, and can be found in a large percentage of any animation book that you might pick up."<br />
I noticed they're very cartoony and exaggerated, but this is good to see the kinds of movements that can go on.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4140Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T09:50:38Z<p>Domarius: /* Sliding feet */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
If this is a movement cycle, then you should always start with two poses - the contact point (where the heel hits the ground) and the passing point (the mid point between each step where one leg is passing the other). Those two will form the base of the walk. Also you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames to other limbs and shifting them forward in time. <br />
<br />
For other animations;<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
== Sliding feet ==<br />
Whenever a foot or any body part makes contact with the ground or anything solid, you'll have a key frame where it makes contact, and then you'll have a keyframe where it leaves the surface. You'll notice by default, that even though both keyframes were made with the foot in the same place, the foot still moves weirdly between the two frames... as if sort of bouncing from the previous movement. To avoid this, you will want to kill any animation curves (in the Fcurves window in MotionBuilder) on the foot, after the point the foot hits the ground, and before it leaves the ground. This ensures it stops solid and stays perfectly still between the two frames.<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Contrary to what you might think, the part where the foot makes contact with the ground is the part of the animation with the least weight. It's the movement directly after this, (eg. downward movement of body) that sells the weight.<br />
<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4139Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T09:49:10Z<p>Domarius: /* Rough out key poses */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
If this is a movement cycle, then you should always start with two poses - the contact point (where the heel hits the ground) and the passing point (the mid point between each step where one leg is passing the other). Those two will form the base of the walk. Also you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames to other limbs and shifting them forward in time. <br />
<br />
For other animations;<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
== Sliding feet ==<br />
Whenever a foot or any body part makes contact with the ground or anything solid, you'll have a key frame where it makes contact, and then you'll have a keyframe where it leaves the surface. You'll notice by default, that even though both keyframes are in the same place the foot still slides about... as if sort of bouncing from the previous movement. To avoid this, you will want to kill any animation curves (in the Fcurves window in MotionBuilder) on the foot, after the point the foot hits the ground, and before it leaves the ground. This ensures it stops solid and stays perfectly still between the two frames.<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Contrary to what you might think, the part where the foot makes contact with the ground is the part of the animation with the least weight. It's the movement directly after this, (eg. downward movement of body) that sells the weight.<br />
<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Animation_Links&diff=4138Animation Links2007-09-30T09:43:28Z<p>Domarius: /* Movement cycles */</p>
<hr />
<div>= Movement cycles =<br />
<br />
Check out [[Domarius' animation reference footage]]<br />
<br />
[http://www.idleworm.com/how/anm/02w/walk1.shtml idleworm tutorial] 2D walk cycle, contains useful info about focusing on contact points and recoil.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/04_walkcycle_project.html centre for animation & interactive media tutorial] A variety of very different walk cycles, which can be viewed by rolling over with the mouse.<br />
<br />
[http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~rpyjp/a_notes/walk_reference_01.html Preston Blair Walk Cycles] "these animation cycles are almost canon in the industry, and can be found in a large percentage of any animation book that you might pick up."<br />
I noticed they're very cartoony and exaggerated, but this is good to see the kinds of movements that can go on.<br />
<br />
[http://www.anticz.com/Walks.htm anticz tutorial] Nice simple breakdown, re-affirming what's learnt in the previous links.<br />
<br />
[[Category:Animation]]<br />
[[Category:AI]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4135Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:37:50Z<p>Domarius: /* Rough out key poses */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
If this is a movement cycle, then you should always start with two poses - the contact point (where the heel hits the ground) and the passing point (the mid point between each step where one leg is passing the other). Those two will form the base of the walk. Also you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames to other limbs and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
For other animations;<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Contrary to what you might think, the part where the foot makes contact with the ground is the part of the animation with the least weight. It's the movement directly after this, (eg. downward movement of body) that sells the weight.<br />
<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4134Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:37:21Z<p>Domarius: /* Rough out key poses */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
If this is a movement cycle, then you should always start with two poses - the contact point (where the heel hits the ground) and the passing point (the mid point between each step where one leg is passing the other). Those two will form the base of the walk. Also you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
For other animations;<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Contrary to what you might think, the part where the foot makes contact with the ground is the part of the animation with the least weight. It's the movement directly after this, (eg. downward movement of body) that sells the weight.<br />
<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4133Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:32:25Z<p>Domarius: /* Changing position */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
Rough out the key poses in your animation program.<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
If this is a movement cycle, you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Contrary to what you might think, the part where the foot makes contact with the ground is the part of the animation with the least weight. It's the movement directly after this, (eg. downward movement of body) that sells the weight.<br />
<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4132Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:27:31Z<p>Domarius: /* Less consistant transitions */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
Rough out the key poses in your animation program.<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
If this is a movement cycle, you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4131Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:27:07Z<p>Domarius: /* Rough out key poses */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
Rough out the key poses in your animation program.<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
If this is a movement cycle, you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow suble movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4130Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:26:52Z<p>Domarius: /* Rough out key poses */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
Rough out the key poses in your animation program.<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
If this is a movement cycle, you can repeat movements (such as arms swinging) over to the other limbs by copying and pasting key frames and shifting them forward in time.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
Next you'll start adding all the details, to humanize it and make it less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow suble movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27s_animation_tips&diff=4129Domarius's animation tips2007-09-30T08:25:27Z<p>Domarius: /* Set the distance the character moves */</p>
<hr />
<div>First you should check out the [[Motion Builder tutorial]] if you haven't already.<br />
<br />
= The overall process = <br />
Here's a summary of the steps;<br />
*Record your reference footage. Or search for it, or act it out in the mirror.<br />
*Set the distance the character moves<br />
*Rough out the animation with key frames for the entire body at the main pose changes of the animation, like a slide show.<br />
*Make the transitions less constant by inserting the extra key frame after the start key frame and before the stop key frame, for each pose. Still with the whole body selected, so your adding these key frames for each body part.<br />
*Randomly shuffle those key frames around differently for each body part, then tweak it to look nice<br />
*Shift the feet "landing" keyframes to some point earlier than when the mass of the body stops moving as a result of the foot landing down. This can sort of be part of the previous step.<br />
*Apply the extra secondary movements caused by velocity, keeping balance, etc. pick them out carefully from the reference footage. You could do this on a separate layer.<br />
*Can always add a "pose tweaks" layer if you come back and decide character is too hunched over in one part, or for the whole anim, etc.<br />
<br />
= Reference material =<br />
If possible, film yourself or someone else going through a few variations of the animation you want (exaggerated, minimalistic, theatric...) and if it's a complex motion, you may want to capture each example from a few angles. If you can't film your own footage, act it out in front of a mirror, paying particular attention to the small sub movements.<br />
<br />
Actually I really can't stress how good it is to have reference footage. Even if you just do a rough job of the overall movement, adding in the little sub movements that you can pick up from playing the footage over and over (arms swaying due to torso movement, shifts of the legs or arms to maintain balance, etc) the "believability" of the animation will increase ten fold. The viewer's brain will pick up on these "physics" cues and tell them the animation is "real".<br />
<br />
= Set the distance the character moves =<br />
If this is a "movement cycle" animation - All the animation tutorials I have read, have said to start animating with the stride pose - the point where the heel first makes contact with the ground. This is the base for the entire walk cycle. Depending on your needs, you might want to set the distance, or the stride length first. If the distance traveled is important, then begin by having the character float straight from their start position to their end position (by just setting a start and end keyframe for the origin), and then pose up a stride length on the first frame, to cover half that distance. If the distance is not important, then just start with the stride length with whatever looks right.<br />
<br />
Don't forget to give the "origin" bone to the same key frames and positions as the character origin point. Motion builder's origin handle and Doom 3's origin bone are not the same thing. The origin bone is basically telling Doom 3 how far the character is actually moving.<br />
<br />
= Rough out key poses =<br />
Rough out the key poses in your animation program.<br />
*To get the timing right, play the empty anim, and stop it where you think the peak of the first pose should happen<br />
*Select all body parts and pose the character roughly the way they should be at that moment, and hit KEY to set a key frame for all body parts.<br />
*Continue on for each major pose.<br />
This way you can "sketch out" the general movement without dealing with a lot of key frames, since all the body part key frames will line up with each other and appear as one key frame, as long as all body parts are selected.<br />
<br />
And later if you need to tweak the overall position for the entire duration of the animation, even after you've added a lot of detail key frames, you can always make a new layer and do it there. See the [[Motion Builder tutorial]].<br />
<br />
Next you'll start adding all the details, to humanize it and make it less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Less consistant transitions =<br />
"Humanize" the overall movement with this technique - consider the transition from one pose to another, it takes 2 key frames; start, and then stop. <br />
<br />
With these 2 keyframes<br />
*Add a keyframe just after the start keyframe, and drag that forward to some point less than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
*Add a key frame just before the stop keyframe, and drag that backward to some point more than halfway between the start and stop.<br />
<br />
This makes for a slow suble movement at the start, and then a sharper transition into the final position, and then a small wobble as they hold the position. First big step to making it look less robotic.<br />
<br />
= Break up the perfect timings =<br />
Randomly adjust the timing of starts and ends of movements of each body part so that different movements are not starting and stopping at the same times at each other. Start random, and then use your artistic eye or reference footage to tweak it.<br />
<br />
= Changing position =<br />
Whenever the center of mass changes and the character moves its feet to another position to maintain balance, the feet must reach their destination before their center of mass reaches the end of its movement. Because the feet is what causes the center of mass to slow and then stop moving.<br />
<br />
So drag the feet "landing" key frames to occour before the rest of the body's frames they were previously aligned with.<br />
<br />
= Subtle movements =<br />
Apply the more subtle movements, such as "secondary" movements - other indirect movements caused by the main action (eg. arms swinging gently after the torso has reached the peak of it's movement when leaning). Refer to the original footage for this. If you have used the mirror, go back and do the action again and this time look for the subtle movements.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[Category:Models]]<br />
[[Category:Animation]]</div>Domariushttps://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Domarius%27_animation_reference_footage&diff=4128Domarius' animation reference footage2007-09-30T08:17:56Z<p>Domarius: </p>
<hr />
<div>Thanks to my two brothers, one for filming, and one for acting. But I had to do the "pansy run" set, turns out I was better at it than him...<br />
<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_casual_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_casual_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_casual_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_casual_side_pan.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_patrol_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_patrol_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_patrol_exaggerate_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_patrol_exaggerate_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_patrol_exaggerate_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_sword_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_sword_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/walk_sword_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_sword_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_sword_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/search_sword_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_sword_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_sword_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_sword_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_sword_side_pan.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_pansy_front.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_pansy_pers.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_pansy_side.avi<br />
http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/movies/animation_reference_videos/run_pansy_side_pan.avi</div>Domarius