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Old 03-12-2008, 12:05 AM   #1
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How2Animate?

I think you guys need animators for stuff, right? The major need has actually drawn my interest. There's a good chance I might not make it, but at least I have some aptitude right now. Where to start?
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Old 03-12-2008, 12:05 AM   #2
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I've been trying to get that same question answered for weeks.
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Old 03-12-2008, 01:33 AM   #3
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Heh.. I posted about this in the modding subforum a couple of times..

- Choose a 3D application (3DS Max, XSI, Maya, ...)
- Get acquainted with controls, keyframing, animation mixers, etc
- decompile existing models and if need be reassign weights or create new skeletons
- animate the nulls/bones
- compile and check with HLMV
- do it all again because something doesn't look right
- ad nauseum


Seriously, it takes time.. and you need a grasp of 3D software. It's fun, but can be a tough bitch.

I recommend the Digital Tutors intro DVD's, and for integrating stuff into the Source engine the Noesis tutorial DVD's, for starters!
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Old 03-12-2008, 03:21 AM   #4
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Bones ! I tried modeling and animating once. My models were ugly.
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Old 03-12-2008, 04:03 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by -pF-
- decompile existing models and if need be reassign weights or create new skeletons
This part.
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Old 03-12-2008, 04:49 AM   #6
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Well..

- use mdldecompiler to decompile the .mdl file. You'll (ideally) be left with a load of .smd files, and a .qc file.

- import the smd file(s) in your 3D app of choice. Usually you'll want to edit the reference file. Trying to edit decompiled animations, on the other hand, is a royal pain in the ass, since the decompiler adds keyframes in every single frame - making it very hard to understand clearly what's happening.

- most of the time, the decompiler will mess up your weightmaps (which tells the model's mesh how to behave when a model's bones move). This means you'll probably need to either do some weightmap editing, or you'll have to paint new weights entirely. This is also a major pain in the butt
Also, the original's bones will have been converted to nulls - this is a nuisance, but not as bad as the two aforementioned.

- Once you've edited the reference, save it as a model smd. Save any animations you created as skeletal animation smds. Then create a qc file with all the stuff you need (animations, hitboxes, materials etc) and compile with Studiomdl.


Nutshell and all that!
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Old 03-12-2008, 02:59 PM   #7
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I'm going to sticky this cause it's just awesome...but would you all rather it be here or in the modding forum? (modding forum is cleaner!)
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Old 03-12-2008, 04:13 PM   #8
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Cool - Modding forum makes more sense, imo!
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Old 03-12-2008, 04:54 PM   #9
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agreed and done!
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Old 03-13-2008, 09:18 PM   #10
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Is there some sort of rational tutorial for using mdldecompiler with third-party mods that I'm not seeing? I'm getting errors all over the fucking place and nothing seems to explain why.
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:33 PM   #11
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What errors are you getting?

I managed to find some good tutorials a while back, I'll see if I can find them again.
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:35 PM   #12
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Unable to find gameinfo.txt, and then a list of dated suggestions that don't work anymore (except maybe this vconfig thing, I don't know what that is).
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:46 PM   #13
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Found one of the tuts I used:
http://april15th.wordpress.com/2007/...-into-3ds-max/


Are you using CannonFodder's decompiler? If so make sure you copied the program into .../sourcesdk/bin/ep1/bin
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:49 PM   #14
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Yeah that's where it is.

Oh Christ I had the Steam thing checked and that's why there was an error god dammit.

Okay thank you! Got it working now.

Edit: Now it says it loaded the model, then it errors out with the "Send error report" deal. It decompiled the first model I tried before erroring out, but it won't do so anymore.
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:53 PM   #15
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Good! Be sure to share when you get the bones and weightmaps redone
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Old 03-14-2008, 12:06 AM   #16
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There are 900 files in ff_player_shared.mdl

That seems like a lot. I don't see a reference in it anywhere.
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Old 03-14-2008, 02:11 AM   #17
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well, at least you're trying. good luck guys.
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Old 03-14-2008, 05:28 AM   #18
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ff_player_shared.mdl contains animations only - most player models reference this.
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Old 03-14-2008, 05:39 AM   #19
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Yeah, I'm seein' that. Unfortunately I can't seem to open the animations in anything that actually realizes they're animations. I'm left with stills.

Fffff... what would I animate, then? Do it from scratch using something else as a reference?

I need to find out what the workflow for making these was.
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Old 03-14-2008, 06:02 AM   #20
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Yeah, it's a bit tedious. In XSI, you need to import the reference model (ie the mesh) and then import the animation smd's.. these get added to the clip mixer.. But since every single frame will be keyframed by the decompiler, they're not easy to edit anyway. I did the medkit anims from scratch, but then again it didn't contain any animations originally, so i didn't have the option of editing pre-existing ones. To change existing animations i would probably say that the best workflow would be to check the original's fps rate and total frame number in HLMV, then create a new animation using the reference model, with the same name and parameters as the original, basically "overwriting" it when you recompile. Then your model file won't have to be installed server-side either, contrary to the medkit mdl.
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