UE2 - UT2kX Adding new animations to Character Models

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W

Wail of Suicide

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Apr 11, 2006
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Got a question or possible request here:

I'm working on a monster for invasion using a custom model, but I'd like to give it some custom animations. The standard UT2004 rigs are pretty generic and don't have any good "claw" animations (for example). It's also pretty silly to see creatures running around looking like they're holding something when they're clearly not.

Using Umodel I've exported the ukx to psk and psa, and brought the files into 3DSMax using ActorX. I can play the existing animations of the model just fine, but I was curious if anyone knew of any resources to help me in actually editing the animations. When I've tried so far (with limited 3DSMax knowledge) I've really only succeeded at deforming the mesh horribly, not at successfully animating it. (FWIW, it seems like the bones of the skeleton as exported from UModel might be unlinked? Or perhaps I don't understand how the bone structure is set up.)
 
EvilT-ModZ

EvilT-ModZ

Un-Gravitify
Aug 3, 2011
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Wail of Suicide said:
Got a question or possible request here:

I'm working on a monster for invasion using a custom model, but I'd like to give it some custom animations. The standard UT2004 rigs are pretty generic and don't have any good "claw" animations (for example). It's also pretty silly to see creatures running around looking like they're holding something when they're clearly not.

Using Umodel I've exported the ukx to psk and psa, and brought the files into 3DSMax using ActorX. I can play the existing animations of the model just fine, but I was curious if anyone knew of any resources to help me in actually editing the animations. When I've tried so far (with limited 3DSMax knowledge) I've really only succeeded at deforming the mesh horribly, not at successfully animating it. (FWIW, it seems like the bones of the skeleton as exported from UModel might be unlinked? Or perhaps I don't understand how the bone structure is set up.)
Click to expand...
When u move bones, model change shape?
 
W

Wail of Suicide

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Apr 11, 2006
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Yes, depending on what section of the model the bone corresponds to.

I have a feeling this particular problem is related to keyframing and my own lack of understanding of 3DSMax's animation.

For example, I can keyframe Frame 0 and Frame 30 (first and last frames) but when I apply rotations on the bones at frame 15, for example, these rotations screw up the orientation of the bone at Frame 30 (even though ostensibly these have been keyed...).
 
W

Wail of Suicide

Member
Apr 11, 2006
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EQ² said:
Are you turning on auto-key before you start, it sounds like you're not.
Click to expand...

I'm not using auto-key, I just manually keyed certain frames. I suppose I'll give auto-key a shot next time I try tackling this and see if that improves my results.
 
EQ²

EQ²

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Oct 30, 2004
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I mention it because auto-key does a lot more than it sounds like; it doesn't just automatically create key frames but can correct exactly the kind of problem you've identified. Add keyframes manually when you need to, but it's often easier when animating a model to enable auto-key and then move the keys it generates and use the curve editor for finer-grained control.

Also, it's worth turning on motion paths so you can see as you edit exactly how a bone's path is changing.
 
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