Buncha Animation Questions

[Milata]

First Question is: How do i animated a character with another character say like that scene where Dog Rapes a Strider in either Softimage or 3DS

Second Question: How do i intergrate a character animation with a map say like that scene where alyx climbs a building like a NINJA

Third Question: Would it be possible to intergrate animation with a weapon in game and make it work, say a character Jumps over a fence shooting around 3 combine in the face?

Fourth Question: Is it possible to intergrate the animation in the map with particles and sound?

Thankyou for reading my questions and calling me a noob, the more times the more closer i get to realizing it

[peegee]

A) Simply read all tutorials avaiable,
B) Build the characters in Softimage with a rig,
C) Animate the character,
D) export the rig, animation, model, collision model,
E) write a .qc file
F) compile it.
G) Use the model in Hammer and trigger the animations
H) If it doesn't work well: go back to A)

The way you ask is like my answer: very general at all,
I could write 1000 pages about that.

Have a link to my tutorial on moddb.com, which will answer a lot about character rigging in XSI
In the appendix of that tutorial you will find more links and hints:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/steam-tracks-trouble-riddles/tutorials/advanced-rigging-tutorial-for-custom-rigs
Hope this helps

[Milata]

Did that answer question 1 or 2 or 3 or 4?

[poisonic]

1,2,3&4

[Milata]

Okay so with question one i just animated both models together then same them individually put em both im hammer and play a guessing game on where to place them?

[poisonic]

its trial and error mate i'am asuming that you are new in modding for source!!
So the best thing to do is looking for good tutorials!
you can find lots of info in the tutorials on interlopers or try to search the forum i guess your not the only one who had a question like you asked...
Since animation is such complex thing it cant be explained in a few lines of text.
i'am sure enough there is some one here who can help you out just be patient....
So i wish you good luck on your project

[ScarT]

There's several ways to work with this. You could export part of the map where the characters will be (Hammer can export to DXF which 3ds Max can read. XSI can read VMFs). That would be the best way because you can see if the animations clips through the world.

Alternatively there's a tab in Hammer called "Model" (when viewing an entity with animations) that'll let you play the animation in Hammer thus making it easier to place the characters.

[Milata]

Thanks, that's gonna make life so much easier =D

[crazycarl]

1. You have to decompile the models to get the skeletons. Import them to Softimage or 3DS and animate. Export those animations, and recompile the models.

2.If you want, you can export part of the map as .DXF, and open that in Softimage or 3DS to use as a guide for your animation.

Use the scripted_sequence entity to play an animation in-game. If you animate two characters together, you can put both scripted_sequences on the same spot, and give them the same name so they will play in sync.

3 and 4. Animation_Events

[Milata]

Thanks man, are there any tutorials for those animation events?

[crazycarl]

Not that I know of. The most common type is a sound event, which is pretty simple.

Code: Select all

{ event AE_CL_PLAYSOUND 28 "Weapon_357.OpenLoader" }

Would play the specified sound on the 28th frame of the animation.

A lot of the other events are specific to certain NPCs or weapons.

[Milata]

Thanks man! =D

[Gambini]

Also Propper is usefull when you need part of your map exported to work the animations within the environment limits. At least it works better than XSI´s vmf importer.

I use Propper without compiling and then I use Khed 1.1 to get a .obj file which later i can import either in XSI or 3ds.

[cra0kalo]

go here

maxofs2d.net

find the source resources link

It has all the 3DS Max rigs for TF2/Source engine characters

what would we do without max