Animation help

[MNC]

So I imported a GBX model, with nodes for joints, and made an animation. How can I get it to a model_animations? As soon as I link all nodes to a frame, the animation gets messed up.

Do I use bluestreak or Blitzkrieg?

[ICEE]

export it as a JMA or a JMO, tool will correct you if you have picked the wrong one for the wrong animation (but JMO are animations that happen during other animations, as teh lag described it). then put them in data/weapons/(customweaponname)/fp/animations and run the tool command tool animations weapons/(customweaponname)/fp

if you did all the animations that that weapon needs it should be fine.

[MNC]

Actually, it's a biped animation. Do I link the geometry and the nodes or just the nodes to the frame?

[ICEE]

ooooh most people start with fp anims. sorry for my assumption. as for biped animations, NO IDEA sorry

[Inferno]

well if im reading what you said correctly... you said you animated it THEN you linked all the nodes to the frame? that doesnt really make sense. if you imported it, it should all be linked.

btw what do you mean by messed up?

[teh lag]

Gbxmodels should be all ready to animate if you imported them - no node/frame setup work should be needed. Export using the BLitzkreig animation exporter (.jma, .jmo, etc***).

Note that Blitz is very picky about what it counts as a node - sometimes it refuses to export non-biped objects that start with "bip01". In this case, simply rename the nodes on export and manually change their name again in the .jm* file.

Node checksums can also get screwed up during animation of an imported model - if tool bitches about anim graphs not matching, you can open the .jm* file and change the checksum there to match that of other .jm* files. Ex:

The first part of the .jm* file would be something like this...


16392
66
30
1
unnamedActor
38
1429781150
frame bone24
2
-1
frame l upperarm
4
-1
......
...

The part to replace if you're getting checksum troubles is the number that comes right before the first node - in this case 1429781150.


*** the extensions are as follows...

.jma = standard animation. Used for most stuff.
.jmo = overlay
.jmm = root movement, used for say, vehicle entry/exit
.jmw = world-relative, used in cinematic animations for placement in BSP
.jmr = replacement, only replaces some node movement when palyed ingame, instead of all like a .jma
.jmt = turning? I'm not sure off the top of my head. I've only seen it used for biped turning anyhow.

You can tell which kind to use by looking at existing anim tags for reference.

[MNC]

Hmm... I can't quite follow what I'm doing wrong... Full shit:

I import using bluestreak, I get a model with nodes.

I animate it.

I rename all bip01 nodes to frame ####.

I export using blitzkrieg, I get a jma animation.

If I run tool, it gives me model and animation compression saves 0 bytes, and there's no model animations output file.

I still think I did something wrong by not linking to frame.

What I mean with messing up: I take all the nodes, I click link and drag it to a frame box. When I play the animation, all the nodes stay in one place, and only rotate instead of moving too.

[Inferno]

What I mean with messing up: I take all the nodes, I click link and drag it to a frame box. When I play the animation, all the nodes stay in one place, and only rotate instead of moving too.

:lol: dude if you do that theres no rigging its just a bunch of nodes connected to a frame. select all of the PARENT nodes and link those to the frame. don't link all of them.

[MNC]

Thanks... Makes sense >_< :v

I linked frame pelvis to frame elite... Still get the same problem. It still plays good though.

[p0lar_bear]

I rename all bip01 nodes to frame ####.

http://www.zippoc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/lex-luthor-wrong1.jpg

Don't rename the nodes, don't link them to anything. Just leave the model the way it was when you imported it.

[MNC]

Still nothing. Did I link it wrong?

[Donut]

well what i have done, and it has worked successfully 3 out of 3 times, if i add the word frame to the beginning of each bone. for some reason, blitzkrieg doesn't like to export things that have the Bip01 name. then i open a stock animation file that i exported using the ghosts script, and copy the node checksum into my custom animation. compile. it has worked for me. is there a better way to do it?

[MNC]

Still nothing...
All my nodes are called bip01 (except for the mandibles of the elite, I renamed them bip01, because I'd get an error about it being linked to geometry or marker node otherwise) I also tried the frame bip01...

I make a box called "frame elite", and I only link the bip01 pelvis to the frame.

I export it as elite_touchpad01.jma and run tool, and it doesn't recognize the jma.

Do I select something before I hit export? Do I delete all the geometry before I hit export?

[FRain]

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA! SLOW DOWN!


Unless you're exporting a model, you DO NOT need to have ANY frames besides the Bip01 L Arm, L forearm, L hand, etc.

e: or any markers #left hand for that matter.

[MNC]

Then what the hell is everyone talking about linking the parent nodes to?

Also, blitzkrieg errors me export module failure if I don't link it to any frame.

[Inferno]

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHOA! SLOW DOWN!


Unless you're exporting a model, you DO NOT need to have ANY frames besides the Bip01 L Arm, L forearm, L hand, etc.

e: or any markers #left hand for that matter.

yeah your completely right... If you your trying to get a "EXPORT MODULE PHAIL!" out of blitzkrieg.

you have to have it linked to a frame or it usually gets you a big fat error.
well at least it does for me.

[teh lag]

yeah your completely right... If you your trying to get a "EXPORT MODULE PHAIL!" out of blitzkrieg.

you have to have it linked to a frame or it usually gets you a big fat error.
well at least it does for me.

Wrong. Linking to a frame that's not supposed to be there will only cause problems later on.

[Inferno]

Wrong. Linking to a frame that's not supposed to be there will only cause problems later on.

im not saying add a new frame. im just saying make sure your bipeds GBX is using frames not Bip001 bones. otherwise you'll get anim errors.

[MNC]

Tool still doesn't recognize my jma.

[Inferno]

what do you mean by not recognizing. like is it just not showing up or are you getting a exception when you try and compile the anims?

[MNC]

It keeps giving the model animations compression saves 0 bytes error, without the "#elite_touchpad01.JMA", and it doesn't create the .model_animations self.

[Inferno]

are you sure your saving it to the right place AND typing the right command. also it always says "saved as 0 bytes" doesn't matter what you export.

[MNC]

Positive. I also use HEK+ to prevent any spelling errors.

Tomorrow I'll try to find someone who's done it before and I'll send him the max file so he can have a go and see what I'm doing wrong...

[FRain]

yeah your completely right... If you your trying to get a "EXPORT MODULE PHAIL!" out of blitzkrieg.

you have to have it linked to a frame or it usually gets you a big fat error.
well at least it does for me.
What the shit?

I've made about 15 3p animations, and I've NEVER EVER had a frame in the scene.

[Inferno]

im doing one right now and until i had the frame in the scene of my goblin biped it didn't export. animations OR GBX.

[FRain]

Okay, well, just to let you know, I use a biped bone rig, not a GBXmodel import, so it might be different.

[Inferno]

my biped was not imported. it was rigged then i had to go in and rename all of the bip001 stuff to frame bip001 to make it export.

[p0lar_bear]

Try re-importing the GBXModel with Bluestreak, and import a weighted model, with biped nodes as bones. Reanimate, and then export.

[FRain]

It keeps giving the model animations compression saves 0 bytes error, without the "#elite_touchpad01.JMA", and it doesn't create the .model_animations self.


Model animations compression saves 0 bytes is NOT an error. It ALWAYS says that. However, not shoing elite_touchpad01.jma is an error. So, in all seriousness, try removing the # from the filename (if its actually there) and see if that works.

[Ki11a_FTW]

make sure you save the JM* files in a folder called animations

example: Characters\cat\cat\animations

(within animations is your JM" files)

[MNC]

make sure you save the JM* files in a folder called animations

example: Characters\cat\cat\animations

(within animations is your JM" files)

Oh my fucking God... It can't be that I... I'll have to try that. Reps on me for everyone in this topic that helped if this works...

Right, it now gets recognized. But when I get in Sapien and try the unit_custom_animation_at_frame thing the Elite stands stiff, as in the animation doesn't fit for the elite. The only thing under the node dropdown list in guerilla is frame, which is the box >_>

[Ki11a_FTW]

make sure that they both have the same node checksum

http://img484.imageshack.us/img484/7159/answer2rx8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[MNC]

That did the trick. Fixed, working and happy. Thanks all :D