rofl: modelling stuff

[soldat]

rofl: i may not be the best person to ask. but here are my thoughts on animating and stuff.

looks like you're using 3dsmax 6. that'll do fine. while vertex animation is supported in 2003, ideally you'll want to use bones.

so what you do is this: create bones for every moving part in your model. attach appropriately to your mesh. this makes movement more smooth, realistic, all that good stuff. plus, you can attach things in ut2003 to bones. like muzzle flashes.

if you want to use vertex animation, that's fine too (i think). just use 3dsmax's autokey feature to create keyframes. (move the time slider to various times, move the gun around). i mean, it should be pretty self explanatory. basically, how it moves in 3dsmax is how it will move in ut2003.

then, use actorX to export your model and skins and animations. I will help you on this if you need it, i'm pretty good at doing that, at least lol.

 

[ROFL 451]

rofl: i may not be the best person to ask. but here are my thoughts on animating and stuff.

looks like you're using 3dsmax 6. that'll do fine. while vertex animation is supported in 2003, ideally you'll want to use bones.

so what you do is this: create bones for every moving part in your model. attach appropriately to your mesh. this makes movement more smooth, realistic, all that good stuff. plus, you can attach things in ut2003 to bones. like muzzle flashes.

if you want to use vertex animation, that's fine too (i think). just use 3dsmax's autokey feature to create keyframes. (move the time slider to various times, move the gun around). i mean, it should be pretty self explanatory. basically, how it moves in 3dsmax is how it will move in ut2003.

then, use actorX to export your model and skins and animations. I will help you on this if you need it, i'm pretty good at doing that, at least lol.

Ok, but how do I attach bones to an already complete model? My friend told me about keyframing, is there a problem with muzzle flashes without bones? Oh yeah, and how will I set how big the model is in UT2003/UT2004? Is that something you do when you export the model?

Oh yeah, I also need help skinning it. I can't figure that out at all, can you help?

P.S.
Thanks for the help!

Edit: I have the 1st person mesh down to 800 poly's. With no changes THAT THE 1st PERSON CAN SEE! I just deleted most of the faces you won't ever see!

2nd Edit: Got the 3rd person mesh down to 1,000 poly's. I just mainly made the fine detail less detailed and took sides off cylinders (started out with 16, so that it would look nice and smooth for 1st person, made it 10 sides.)

I now have: 1st Person Model + 3rd Person Model + Ammo Container Model

 

[ROFL 451]

Ok, some help.

Weapon bob: Do I make an animation fo this? When you are running, for example. Don't all weapons in UT2003 bob when you run?

Animating:
Created the "rest" position for my gun. Am working on creating select and deselect animations.

Secondary Fire: New idea = Secondary shoots a smaller stream twice as far.

Update:
I now have select and deselect animations

 

[ROFL 451]

Ok, update (2-18-04) [New Update: 2-24-04]

Models=
3rd: Complete!
1st: Complete!
Ammo: Complete!

Code=
Weapon: Partial (EvilDrWong and Soldat can hopefully help me thru this)
Fire: Partial (same as the above)

Animations=
Rest: Complete! 50 frames, it slowly bobs up and down again.
Run: Complete! 25 frames, it quickly bobs.
Select: Complete! 30 frames, scoots forward into view.
Deselect: Complete! 30 frames, scoots backward out of view.
Fire: Partial
Alt Fire: None

Skin=
Weapon: None (Not sure how to do this)
Ammo: Started UVWUnwrapping it (Not sure how long it will take me)
Lava Texture: Complete! (UnrealEd has a nice moving lava one)

Sounds=
Select: Complete! (Gonna use Bio Rifle select sound)
Fire: None
Alt Fire: None

So, that's my update for now. . .

 

[soldat]

weapon bob: i always animate my wepaons with an idle animation of a slow weapon bob. it looks so wierd for it to stand still. also, you can use a second anim, a running anim, with harder bob. Look at the ut2003 weapons in unrealed, and you'll see.

about skinning your weapon... if you want a good looking skin, it's going to take some time and work with UV coords... basically you have to detach your entire model, reassemble it in a flat square, and reattach it all.

if your model isn't *too* poly intensive, chiliskinner is an awesome option: http://www.chilliweb.co.uk/chilliskinner/

 

[EvilDrWong]

Why's everyone so ga-ga over the detatch, flatten, and reattach method? IMO its a waste of time could just UVWUnwrap it and save yourself the trouble of breaking down your whole model for no good reason

 

[soldat]

yeah... good call. if you can uvwunwrap your model and make it work with your skin, then more power to you. and don't listen to me ^^

i just use the detach method because... that's the way i learned. what a crappy reason. heh.

 

[ROFL 451]

Why's everyone so ga-ga over the detatch, flatten, and reattach method? IMO its a waste of time could just UVWUnwrap it and save yourself the trouble of breaking down your whole model for no good reason

UVWUnwrapping tutorial? I'm still a newb at this, remember. . . .!

I think I made my weapon bob too fast, lemme see about slowing it down . .

Edit: CRAP! Totally forgot about custom weapon sounds! Gotta add those too!

Edit #2: Edited my Update List. . See my post a few replies above. . .