Rtm setup

This set up assumes you have some experience , it is not a definitive guide

well i dont like to release soo much when i am not skilled , however i do like to show what i do and how to do it , so hopefully others can fill in the gaps and then Teach others how to improve :).

So with this in mind i give you this :

Firstly a download with my setup for how i make my animations , this setup is what i have and before i start , i will say now, i am in no way an authority or skilled at Animations whatsoever, i merely try to show one possibility to do this ,there are other methods.

Download contains :

OFPAnim by Dschulle

Skeleton made from the second Lod of the example models released by BIS (including license)

Example Config

Example rtm ( simple marching )

Download at bottom of Spoiler

1 i have taken the p3d i called Bis_Skeleton loaded to ofpanim

2 selecting change pivots and linking i have mirrored the heirarchy best i can tell from the model.cfg

3 pressing left shift i have placed the Pivots for all the joints where they should be at my best guess

4 i have saved this in the linkdata folder where it and any must be for the programme to wrok.

5 i have selected all the components and clicked new animation

6 i have selected the components in frame 1 to the position i want to start the anim

7 i have then added frames until the animation is complete

8 i have saved the rtm to my chosen folder on the pdrive

9 i have configged and binarised the folder to create the PBO

10 I have entered the editor and created a trigger with myunit playaction "march"

P>S unfortuanetly whilst i write this i have realised , i have mis set the pivot point for Pelvis ,please when you open the files , select the pelvis and notice the yellow dot is offset , bring this to the midddle of the pelvis by

:

1 select the eye icon on the pelvis so it hides it ,this will show you were it is ,leave it showing

2 click change pivots and links

3 click on pelvis

4 press and hold left shift and click on the screen where you want it , check all angles to ensure its central

5 click on change pivots and linking to turn this option off

6 save pivots and linking.

In settings you have the capability to freeze components in every frame selected and copy them to other frame s, its a real good programme for its age IMO, however compared to $3000 + professionals , hmm maybe it shows its age :)

Have fun all, i really have limited time these days and hope others can improve and mostly have fun.

remember in arma2 there are hand hanimations now so its not like old days , if your guy has a rifle then his arms and hands are forced to that position , you need to make a gesture config like shown in the files to over ride this and a seperate walk animation ( unless IIRC you use mask = "wholebody"

Have FUn

Always wondered how to make custom animations, I was just happy with user animations for the longest time :P

Nice job, will definitely be checking it out.

There quite a lot of fun

Best tip I can give is to search 2d artist sites where you can find lots of tips on keyframe animations for people animals and dare I say zombies , it's a not so popular aspect to addon making but I use this set up for destruction and all kinds of magic , with the new attachto command it's great for making funny little scenes .

I will pop in to answer questions were I can.

@Thromp- Thanks for the help with this guide. Can we assume that a person can make custom animations for the "treating" of wounded inside of the helo, aircraft, or whatever vehicle is being used?

Lol, i can't believe we are still using this old tool for ArmA2. The least we can say is that it is far from being practical, i've struggled a lot to make decent anims with it.

BTW, you may need Fab's rtm toolbox too : http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=2912

@ raptor,

You can make any animation, you will need to config that as a crew anim and script it tho I think.

@ proftournesol

Dear lord I didn't know that existed , could have saved me hours , but during my many months research this subject , I found nearly nothing more than sanctuary ofp advise and an O2 method on ofpec website .

I hope some info comes from this thread at least if nothing else .

Hmm...it's not a completed addon, me thinks this fits better into the O2 modelling section...moving...

Hey thromp,

can you please reupload your example files/package? The dl link is gone and I'd like to give ofpanim a try.

Hye mate,

Really sorry I lost my Hard drive not long after I upload it, I will try make again if I get chance this week , in mean time maybe by some miracle someone else download it , but I don't think so its buried right down here in the dungeon lol .

Hey thromp,

any chance of a file with just the pivot points and hierarchy set (points 2-4) ? I understand your other points now since I was desperate enough to create my anims with just O2 lol.

static anim worked out OK but the sword anim not so much

I also have a funny bug with these anims, the camera positions are all down to the ground in external view. Maybe because O2 isn't thought for creating dynamic anims?

Anyway you've helped me allready - I'm saving my stuff to googledrive somewhat regulary now :p .

Hey ice

Well I think if I remember , I just made same as the model.cfg and then to set the points left shift and click whilst in change pivot mode in ofpanim . Take about an hour and need to be sure you have all 4 window view so up it is correct in 3d space

I may have chance tomorrow but pls try its easy really compare what you did already in 02 :)

The camera problem maybe you didn't leave the point in the rtm that camera is and so it default ?

Hey ice

Well I think if I remember , I just made same as the model.cfg and then to set the points left shift and click whilst in change pivot mode in ofpanim . Take about an hour and need to be sure you have all 4 window view so up it is correct in 3d space

I may have chance tomorrow but pls try its easy really compare what you did already in 02 :)

The camera problem maybe you didn't leave the point in the rtm that camera is and so it default ?

Ok thanks I'll give it a try.

edit:

maybe somebody else allready had this problem?

----------------

I'm using the Biskeleton p3d file from the ArmA1 sample models but each time I open it in ofpanim I get a "incorrect lods" error message. I can import the ofp example p3ds with no problem and if I resave them with the ArmA2 OA tools and open them in ofpanim again the same error appears. I also set the lods as in the ofp example p3d but that didnt work either.

So I guess I have to convert them to OFP p3d format? I tried using convertp3d ( https://dev-heaven.net/projects/mikero-pbodll/files ) to convert the biskeleton.p3d but I couldn't get it to work (the process stops with error messages).

im using ofpanim 0.981

http://ofp.gamepark.cz/index.php?showthis=5176&newlang=eng

I'll also ask in the forums maybe sb else allready had this problem

Well O2 now has export old p3d , I used arma 2 example , there is a male character with a skeleton lod

Export one lod as old p3d in O2 and that work in ofp anim. Then save rtm and it should work when applied to bis model in O2 or game

Ok here's the ofpanim file pre-configured with the model hierarchy, skeleton and an example rtm I created.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?i4pydavhp1kzodl

I didn't have to set the pivot points thromp, they were allready set - maybe because I used the ArmA1 skeleton.

Creating the anims is pretty crude though. It would be awesome if you could just align the skeleton by hand/mouse cursor and not just by using the axis.