[SmokeyDaBear]

Ok, ok, so i may have made a post about how i dont know anything about infantry animations and models before, but now im real lost... How do you animate infantry? I already made a model, and it has the bones with it, and i saved it. Also, what is with those different letter animation things and how do they work? E.G.

Animation = AIRngr_SKL.AIRngr_ATA
Animation = AIRngr_SKL.AIRngr_ATA2

Ok tell ya something i did and see whats wrong? I made this one infantry model and animated it, but when i put it on game, it just slides across the ground; without moving...

im so confused... :scared:

can anyone show me exactly how to model and animate infantry of give me a splendid tutorial? :|

[killakanz]

There isn't any tutorials out there...
Yet...

[GuyInTheWindow]

Well there was one on GenDev, but the download manager there got messed up.

Infantry are composed of multiple files w/ post-fixes:

_SKN postfixes is the model (SKN is short for skin) of the infantry usually in a 'T' Shape (import one to see what I mean)

_SKL postfixes are the bones (SKL is short for skeleton) that the model uses. Bones are basically controls that can deform a mesh. Bones can have child and parent bones where a child bone is affected by its parent's rotation, movement, etc.

Other ones are purely bone animations and basically provide the _SKL file w/ the animation needed to run for the conditionstate. EA names these files in the same way for all the infantry, the best way is to export the model, its skeleton, and animation files and import it all the w3d viewer.

In the INIs, you reference the model and specific animation you want:
Model = AIRngr_SKN
Animation = AIRngr_SKL.AIRngr_ATA

Basically (man I sure love that word), what the '.' is doing is telling the engine what file is getting the animation data (ie - plane's animation of rotating propellers [AVCargoPlane.AVCargoPlane] since the plane's animation is already in the file to animate).

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And if you didn't understand that, I'm sorry, but its 1:20am... and I guess you can say I'm a bit tired :P, I'll post again if you didn't understand anything.
You could also probaly google it as most modern games (specifically FirstPersonShooters) have boning systems. Also 3d modeling tools help may have some info about it.
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As for actually doing the work, I'm quite clueless since all I do is fiddle w/ the INIs.

[SmokeyDaBear]

ohhhhhhhhh...i think i understand it a bit more now...but i still have a small problem...how come when i made this one model with the bones and skin included, and i animated it so that the legs would stretch like it was running, then i went to the factionunit.ini and put:

Model = AIMarine_SKN
Animation = AIMarine_SKL.AIMarine_RUN

but for some reason he just slides across the ground with his arms at his side just like the "T" you were talking about...

[GuyInTheWindow]

You could try testing to see if it works in w3d view, if not its probably a export/modeling related thing which I don't have sufficient knowledge on.

[SmokeyDaBear]

oh...ok

[NukeWinter]

well, i have some knowledge in that area, so if it still won't work, let me know

[mad ivan]

but for some reason he just slides across the ground with his arms at his side just like the "T" you were talking about...

Thats because you didnt export it right and you didnt apply bones to it.

First you need to create your bones.Bones are made of BOXES and are aligned like the normal human bones.Your animation is basically the bones moving, thus making your model move.But that brings up the question 'How to make my model move?'.Thats simple - you need to attach your model to the bones, 'How to do that?. Using WWSkin! 'WWSkin?!' Yes, WWSkin!!!

The WWSkin is used create a binding between the bones (used for animation in your scene) and the vertices of your geometry. Without this part you are unable to export any animations, transforms, or bones into W3D.

You Can find the "WWSkin" Plugin in the create panel of RenX under:
> Space Warps > Westwood Space Warps >WWSkin

To Create a WWSkin:
Select the button labeled "WWSkin" in the Object type rollout, now click and drag in the viewport to create it. It may look very small at first, you can use the scale tool to enlarge it. The WWSkin is represented as a set of crossbones.

To Bind A WWSkin to your geometry:
This Plugin works on a bones system. So you must have bones in your scene. Although it can work with Biped, Dummy objects are used for most purposes. Select the WWSkin Icon and go to the Modify panel in max. Click the "Add Bones" button and select the bones that will be used to control the geometry you wish to export then Click "OK". With the Icon Still Selected, Click the "Bind to spacewarp" button, located on the main toolbar in max. Starting from the Bone, Click and Drag until your over the geometry you wish to bind to, then release. You've now bound the spacewarp to the geometry.

To Attach the vertices to a bone:
Your geometry will now be showing its vertices. Select the regular Selection tool from the main toolbar in max and draw a selection set around the vertices you wish to link to a particular bone. With the vertices selected, click the "link to bone" button, then click on the dummy object or (bone) you wish to link them to. To link more vertices to more bones, just do the same process from the selecting the vertices part. The WWSkin works on a single mesh and you can use multiple bones with it.

When you export your character, you need to use the following export options in File->Export:
-Checked Hierarchical Model.
-Smooth Vertex accross meshes is OFF.
-Optimize Collision Detection is OFF.
-'Export Using Skelleton' is ON
-Under 'Export Using Skelleton' in the box choose your 'AIMarine_SKL.w3d'

Your Animations Must be exported as:
-Pure Animation
-Skelleton is 'AIMarine_SKL.w3d'

Hope this helped!!!

[SmokeyDaBear]

ok...i keep getting this notice saying "Cannot Bind: Wwould Create Dependency Loop"...and I dunno what going on...I get past to create a ww skin, but I never get past half of the To Bind A WWSkin to your Geometry part

[SmokeyDaBear]

im gonna place a pic soon so you might be able to see if im doing something wronog...