Animations

[DRedshot]

Hello All!

I've been trying to create some animations in Maya 2011 for a custom enemy I have planned, but i've run into a few problems, and was hoping somebody could write up a short tutorial for me!

Problem 1: I have rigged and skinned the monster, but when I try to rotate a joint when animating, the joint rotates the wrong way. What I mean by this, is that for example, if I want the ankle to rotate upwards by 10-Degrees, it will rotate downwards 350-Degrees... Can you see the problem? and if so could you guide me to the solution, thanks! [Solved ]

Problem 2: After finishing a few animations (the idle and notice animations) I thought I'd see if it's working in model editor. It turns out that I can load the model, but I cannot load any animations. I have given them all the .dae_anim extension, but I don't know how to ake the .anm file extension... Also, my animation sizes are about 200kb, compared to the 1000kb sizes of the official monsters... Have I done something wrong? [also solved]

New Problem: I get a Black Box error whenever I load the map which contains my Monster... I have tried a lot of things already, at first I thought it was the names of the animations in model editor, but i've triple checked now, and they are all identical to the brute animations...

Here are the details of the crash:

Amnesia.exe caused an EXEPTION_INT_DIVIDE_BY_ZERO in module Amnesia.exe at (lots of digits)

Now I've made sure my .hps contains no strange mathematical errors which could cause a divide by zero, and I have commented out every function except OnStart(){} OnEnter(){} OnLeave(){}

Here are a couple of errors I found in the HPL.log

-------- Loading map 'map_well.map' ---------
Cache Loading: 2953 ms
Entities: 3138 ms
Compilation: 1 ms
Total: 6124 ms
Meshes created: 14
Bodies created: 11
-------- Loading complete ---------
WARNING: AI node type 'Default' does not exist!
ERROR: No node container found for enemy 'Scary_Monster_1'
-------- Debug window closed!

I am assuming I have gone wrong somewhere when applying the animations in ModelEditor, but I don't know where...

Theres more information on pages 2 and 3 about this problem.


If someone could guide me through this it would be great!

[ZRPT]

Hello All!

I've been trying to create some animations in Maya 2011 for a custom enemy I have planned, but i've rn into a few problems, and was hoping somebody could write up a short tutorial for me!

Problem 1: I have rigged and skinned the monster, but when I try to rotate a joint when animating, the joint rotates the wrong way. What I mean by this, is that for example, if I want the ankle to rotate upwards by 10-Degrees, it will rotate downwards 350-Degrees... Can you see the problem? and if so could you guide me to the solution, thanks!

Problem 2: After finishing a few animations (the idle and notice animations) I thought I'd see if it's working in model viewer. It turns out that I can load the model, but I cannot load any animations. I have given them all the .dae_anim extension, but I don't know how to ake the .anm file extension... Also, my animation sizes are about 200kb, compared to the 1000kb sizes of the official monsters... Have I done something wrong?

If someone could guide me through this it would be great!

Okay, well I can't help you out with the first part but what I can say is that you cannot normally view animations in model viewer. You would have to place the monster in a map and see if it works right. I have tried to load animations before and I was also unsuccessful.

[DRedshot]

Thanks for the response!
I actually mean't to say 'Model Editor' but I will see if it works in Level Editor, I think the problem is that i don't have any ".anm" files... How do I get/make these?

I would also like some help with my first problem aswell, this is the major thing preventing me from making a nice walk animation. Thanks!

[Acies]

For problem 1: Contact MrBigzy or use google (I'm sorry can't answer that).

Concerning viewing animations: Modelview is the correct answer. Steps:
1.Load your model in ModelView
2. You have an option to add animations there - do it and the animation should play.
Be sure to have the animations named .dae when loading them in ModelView and .dae_anim when loading in ModelEditor.

.anm files are made in this process.

[DRedshot]

Thank you Acies, I will contact MrBigzy next time I see him online (unless he could answer here )

Of course, if anyone else knows the answer, let me know aswell!

[MrBigzy]

Does the rotation not work outside of maya, or while rotating it in Maya?

Also for 2nd problem, I usually open with modelview first, then open with model editor after and use test mode in the model editor to test animations. When you open the model in modelview, it will create the anm files for you, which is why you need to open it there, though they might be created anytime the animations are accessed, not sure. If you do want to see the animations in modelview, you have to open the dae_anim file (renamed back to dae file in order to view it).

[DRedshot]

The rotation doesn't work in maya, whilst creating the animations.

I can happily create my animation using just the move and scale manipulators, but as soon as I rotate the joint, even if it's only by 0.1 degree, It will make the monsters limb spin in circles and act strange...

Also, for question 2, is there anything special I should do before exporting? Usually the last steps I do before exporting are "Normalise weights", then "Edit>Delete All By Type>History" Is there anything else I should do if i'm exporting an animation? Thanks.

[MrBigzy]

The joints are weighed properly right?
How do you rotate, do you use the channel box; attribute editor; the alteration box thingy on the top right; the handles on the object itself?

And for exporting, yes, those options you said, and also triangulating when exporting.

[DRedshot]

I rotate using the handles on the object, occasionally using the options in the attributte editor if I want more precise values.
Also, how do I know if I've weighted the joints properly? When I move the joints without going into animation mode, the armatures move exactly as wanted! It is only when I use Auto Key and Set Key, where Maya 'Fills the gaps' between the keys, where it messes up...

Another note: After looking around I noticed that the local coordinates for the joints are a bit strange... X and Z are the wrong way around... I tried fixing them manually, but it didn't work. I just thought I should let you know, it might give you an idea for a solution... Thanks for the help so far!

[MrBigzy]

Well, there's more to rigging than just binding the object. You have to weight each joint to parts of the mesh so the influence is right (so the arm joint doesn't move the foot, for example). It sounds like you did do that though.

If you're autokeying, you should be using the graph editor to fix animations. It's a graph that shows unit/time of the animations of every attribute that you altered, and you can manipulate the graph there to fine-tune and fix animations.

If you want to change the coordinate type for the handles, hold w and click and hold left click (or right click, can't remember). A context menu comes up, and it gives you some options for coordinate systems.