[DPsygnet]

I know the basic of animation , and i'm pretty good at modeling. Some of you helped me in my last post now , i'm at a point where i need to make and animate infantry. Anyone can help me ? i made some testing with a cube and a sphere and didn't worked pretty well...
i know some of you guys are working on fallout and some other cool mod and you know how to create and animate infantry.

For thoses that don't know.
-I know INI very well
-i have 3Dmax5 and Renx(gmax)
-i have photoshop
-I know how to open every file of generals
so i'm not a noob ops:

[key0p]

Im animating my australian soldeir infantry model at the moment with gmax.I can help you, however, I need you to be more specific with where you need help.

I dont have the time to write out a complete tutorial, but if you tell me at which point/s you are stuck I can tell you where to go.

[DPsygnet]

great ! thanx ! here if you can answer these question i should be able to do it
-When creating a Skeleton, do i need to create only bone and save it as skeleton in W3D ?
- To i need to separate my infantry into part (head , torso, hands, legs,arms)
-When creating the infantry, do i build it over the skeleton or do i create it apart and the game mix both ?
-If i build both over each other , how do i attach the bone to a part of the model ? (I attach my model parts with IKlink but when i attach bone together the link of the model are erased..??..)
-When done animating , do i have any specific setting to do in W3Dtool in Gmax ? and do i need to save it as animated hyerarchical(sp) model, and should i check the box about external skeleton.

thanx a lot , i understand it's a lot of question if you don'T have time only answer some of them ,someone else is gonna help me one day or another .. (Dee ..??)

[key0p]

-When creating a Skeleton, do i need to create only bone and save it as skeleton in W3D ?

No, you do not need to create only bones.When you export as a skeleton, it only exports the objects that have "Export Transform (bone)" ticked in W3D Tools-->W3D Export Settings.


- To i need to separate my infantry into part (head , torso, hands, legs,arms)

If you mean the skin, then no.The skin can be a single object.Its the vertices that get bound to the bones.


-When creating the infantry, do i build it over the skeleton or do i create it apart and the game mix both ?

You could do it separately, but that would just hinder you

When you export for infantry, you choose either "Heirachal Model", "Skeleton", or "Pure Animation".This setting determines what pieces and settings will be exported from gmax into W3D format.

Remember that each object needs its export settings correct in W3D Tools-->W3D Export Settings.


-If i build both over each other , how do i attach the bone to a part of the model ? (I attach my model parts with IKlink but when i attach bone together the link of the model are erased..??..)

The skin needs to be bound to the skeleton.This is done with "spacewarps".To find out how to do this, use the tutorial that comes with the renegade tool pack C:\Program Files\RenegadePublicTools\HowTo\W3D Tutorials\content.htm and then click on "WWSkin".This tute explains how to bind the vertices to bones.

-When done animating , do i have any specific setting to do in W3Dtool in Gmax ? and do i need to save it as animated hyerarchical(sp) model, and should i check the box about external skeleton.

W3D Tools-->W3D Export Settings.
* all bones need "Export Transform (bone)" checked and "Export Geometry" unchecked.
* Objects need "Export Transform (bone)" unchecked and "Export Geometry" checked.
** Note that the muzzle flash requires both "Export Transform (bone)" and "Export Geometry" checked, as well as "2-sided" checked.I still have some issues with my muzzle flash, sometimes Ive got it to display correctly, others it flashes a black box as well as the flash.I havent been able to pin down the cause of the problem.Hopefully someone will post the answer here


Dont use animated heirachyal model.

First export as skeleton, as both the skin and the animations need a reference skeleton.

Next export as Heirachyal Model.CHoose the skelton you have just made for "use existing skeleton"

FInally export your animations as "pure animation".Once again, use your freshly made skeleton as the reference.

[DPsygnet]

Thanx a lot !!
Gonna try this tommorow and if something is wrong i will post here again

For your muzzle problem I will explain every step , i don'T know what you did in details)
-in photoshop you need to add a Alpha channel, paint white for solid and black for transparent
-in RenX material editor , you need to create a new material
add your texture and in the shader Tab , choose in the Blend selection rectangle , Alpha blend.
it should be working. If it's flashing maybe one of your animation don'T have the texture alpha blend applied.
hope it help !

[key0p]

Glad to be of help, there isnt much specific info available anywhere that ive been able to find.Helping each other helps everyone

With regard to my muzzleflash, Ive just made this over the exported US Ranger, I didnt edit the muzzleflash in any way.Its surely one of my skeleton/skin/animation W3D Export settings, but Ive trialed and errored as much as I can stand and I still dont get it right =(

[pieten]

is the problem that there are black parts on the flash ?

[key0p]

Yes, that is my problem.

But I havent really been all that concerned, as Im new to this, there is a lot of other stuff to learn with the modelling, animating and skinning.Im just starting to get a little better grasp of the ini files...

That said, if you can help me with this, then Ill help you with your infantry stuff :lol:

SOmething else too, I ahvent told it to use any special file, but not only does it display the muzzle flash, but is has the shell casings flying off too.When I play with defualt, the rangers gun does not eject shell casings....Im not really complaining, they are cool, but I waould like to be able to have them coming out from the breach of the gun, not the end of the barrel

[sage_inferno]

muzzleflash is a bone and a geometri
to make it transparant use the shader add in the material editor

in other words press m in gmax
find shader
choose add

make sure that the muzzlefx is 2-sided youll find that option in w3d tools where you deside if a thing is a bone or geometri
look further down in that option and mark 2-sided
other wise the flash will be invisible at some fields of vision

if this aint clear enough send the muzzle flash material

[Kained]

What w3d importer are you using to get a skeleton, or are you creating a new one.

When i import bones they just look like seperate diamonds; which is quite unnerving and i'd like to get some infantry i've got in game and shooting.