animation files

[blackjack[VS]]

since the rtm utility is out, i've been playing around with character studio (3dsmax plugin) and the ofp soldier p3d file.
so after some experiences i haven't figure out yet an important "detail" about the ofp dummy animation process...
in all the 3 ways of animating (3dmax,maya and ofp animator) u can move,rotate and scale the diferent selections (legs,arms,etc).
what i really didnt figure yet is if there's any mesh distortion (moving vertices) implicated in the process.
when i import rtm files and try to figure out any distortions, i really cant tell if there's any...

so basicly i would like to know if the diferent selected parts of the dummy behave like rigid bodys that just rotate and move, or they are distorced to...
and what does the scaling retrieves to the animation? (there's always a scale curve up and down in the curve editor of all animation files)

hope someone with anim experience can help me out here.

thanks in advance

[philcommando]

Sorry, blackjack....animation aint my skills, if i had any to begin with!

You can try Wildo or Sanctury, they are some of the gods of animation in ofp.

What i had experimented with is dullshule's ofp animator programme and most of the parts are linked, so when the forearm moves, the biceps and the shoulders moved too - children links as in 3dmax charactor biped.

As for distortion, there certainly will be, for the ofp soldier does not use 3dmax type charactor animations but motion capture - sensors attached to a real body, therefore using software programmes will not be able to replicate ofp's actual animation.

As long as you keep your model to the actual dimensions of ofp's soldier model, with the parts correctly named in czech, with enough vertices to allow joint bendings, you would do fine. You will have to align EXACTLY your model's joint to the ofp soldier's model.

Try ofpec's addon modelling for some answers. Some of them there are experimenting with the new animation utility. Hope u will find some answers there.

[Sanctuary]

I can't say for the rtm utility for Maya or 3DS max , but for the OFPAnim program from Dschulle , when you rotate part of the body you create distorsion.

That's actually why i lost the few hairs i had on the top of my head (in addition to the impossiblity of copy pasting a frame from an animation file to another).

But that distorsion is closely related to how the model is built.
Usually, the more polygon the model have in the junctions between the different part of the arm, the less noticable the distorsion will be, but as you already know, the most poly a unit has the less good it is for the game (and it usually doom such unit to be used only for photography and not for mission).

You then have to use some tricks to "hide" the distorsion as much as you can.

An example : in my handgun animation pack , when the soldier is prone you can notice that instead of having the 2 hands on the handgun grip like he is when standing or crouching, one of the hand is "catching" the aiming arm instead of the handgun.

I did that because if i bent a bit more this arm to catch the handgun grip , the distorsion in the shoulder level was really horrible.

That's why it is not that easy to have a good visual result ingame, as you have to try a lot of thing before finding the position that will not distort everything.

Again, that is for OFPAnim , i don't know if Maya/3DS max can handle this distorsion problem differently.

Now about the dimension , there is a problem when you use Resistance models.

When you use the older BIS units models / the International soldier kit from Lowland / BAS kit (that represent 90% of the existing units addons) , there is no problem with custom animations.

But when you use the resistance models (woman or man) , that are now used by mostly every new unit addon releases, you will run into a big problem with custom animations : the junction between the forearm and the biceps is not the same as with their older models.

And without adjusting it, you will notice all the custom animations to be badly placed when your unit use a weapon.
It is not that horrible with the default BIS animations, due to the "strange" way the units handle weapons, but it exist even with them.

For learning O2, i tried to built a new Guba model using he resistance model that BIS released in MLOD, and i ran into this problem for when i gave this model a weapon ingame.
I then had to move the junction a bit differently to have the hand correctly placed, but with my very beginner skill the result was not really good (but better than it was by default).

williec , when making the euro res pack fixed this too, in a more elegant way of course, as his O2 talent is very impressive, Blackblood did it too obviously as his BLEED handle weapons with custom anim perfectly too.

To notice what i am talking about if you don't see, just give a m16 to a man (one of those included by the Resistance expansion, not a man existing from the CWC game) or one of the woman model ingame and see what happen when they handle the m16, horrible isn't it ?

[blackjack[VS]]

thanks a lot for the coments guys.
from sanctuary words i just confirmed what i was almost sure, after playing over and over in the editor some bis animations.there's distorcion in the diferent parts of the body...
the model i'm using is the mc tankistae (no idea of what "age" he belongs...if cwc or res) with the most important selections imported to max. someone in the rtm utility thread gently posted a p3d rdy to use, so i hadnt time yet to check the diferences between diferent "ages" soldier model.

I started with that model in max, then added a biped dummy from character studio and made it fit the best i could "inside" the imported ofp model. then i added a physic modifier to all the selections and linked to the equivalent bone of the dummy.
using the physics modifier simulates "skin" effect, making the ofpmodel selections deformable. so this is the (only)way i gota work from now on, as i was presuming...
the other way is not using physics modifier...i tryed and what happened is that i have a robotic kind of animation, just because theres NO deformation in model selection. if i rotate an upperarm, the chest/colarbone connection dont react=distorce, causing an ugly result of open holes in armpit.
This is not as bad as it looks i guess...what i need now is to learn all the (100's) of options that the physic modifier brings with it... this will take me some time and lots of tests, until i found the best compromise between a biped dummy, a good ofp model and connecting everything in the RIGHT places...

After modeling/texturing/cfg files i want to give a try in animations. surprised that no one that uses maya or max didnt had a try on this yet...maybe they did and keep quiet all this time! if i ever make a decent anim i'll post for u guys...with ofp or arma!
thanks a lot again for the explanations

PS: which exact model should i unpbo to import? i would like something that fits on res and bas models if possible...

[Sanctuary]

The mc_tankistae is from the CWC "age"
Are available in MLOD format :

-the man model from the BIS sample model pack (this one is from Resistance not from CWC)
-BAS Infantry kit (i don't know which exact model it is based on , the CWC or Resistance "age" one ?)
-Lowland Warrior International soldier (based on the CWC models , i remember having seen screenshot of a new one based on the resistance model on this forum, but i am not sure if it is available)

A hint to animators if you plan to make animation with weapon handling that are supposed to be used by the human player : modify the 1st LOD of the mlod model you are using by replacing it by this mlod model "pilot view LOD".

As if you use the usual 1st LOD for this, you will notice when trying ingame that you will not have in 1st person view (pilot view LOD) the same result about the weapon/arms/hands placements than in 3rd person view (1st LOD)

I had a lot of hours wasted in there when i finally understood that i made animations for the 1st LOD that were not giving the result i hoped for the 1st person view.
And so i had to redo everything again after that to obtain the 1st person view displaying the weapon exactly in the hands of the units.

[wildo]

Quote[/b] ]You can try Wildo or Sanctury, they are some of the gods of animation in ofp.

Philcommando now is that a typo (by meaning Wilco <- with a C not a D :P ) or am i honoured?

Oh sanctuary, ive got a special present concerning hands, if youd like a copy PM me

But onto the point, yes, MANY self created soldier models can/and/or/will suffer from distortion in OFPAnim, its common factor now (my custom ones dont, but then again, I over work the joints and make them have the most polies to combat distortion)

download the BIS sample models and use the RES civi from that, he comes supplied with all the necessary equipment

Wildo