Animation Information

Animation Facts and Information

by ascottk

md5anim (Doom 3 animation files) general facts

• Meshes (md5mesh) can share animations

As long as the meshes are rigged in a similar fashion, and they have the same exact number of joints and the same exact joint names, developers can use different md5anims for their meshes. The Dark Mod currently does not do this because we like size variances.

• Animations influence the size of the visible mesh

Suppose we take a single animation from a small character and use it for a larger character (as long as the previous conditions apply), then anytime the larger character uses that animation, the larger character will shrink to the smaller character's size. That would be a little strange if the character attacks you and suddenly shrinks . . . If we want that animation for the larger character then we would need to reexport that animation with the correct scaling option. See Scaling_And_Rotating_AI_Meshes and Advanced_character_rigging for exporting with a Maya to Doom3 work load.

Maya to Doom3 workload information

• Same animations, different characters

The meshes can be different sizes but share the same animation as long as we export with certain options in the def file. See the tips on the bottom of this page: Advanced_Character_Rigging_-_Part_Three

• More to come . . .