[CHAOS] PineTree model animation. ModelEditor viewer = crash!

[jssjr90]

My main goal is this if possible. To have an entity object, create an animation for the entity, and call different animations to that entity upon command.

Important notes:

- I am using Maya 2011 64bit.
- export type: OpenCOLLADA.

- Strangely enough, when I do have a skeleton on the base model, I can see the skeleton in the Model Viewer, but it does not show or play the animation. I do understand you half to link the animation to the model in the Model Editor.

My main problem so far is to view the animation file in the ModelEditor View port (The gear icon on the bottom of the screen).
Once I click that, the whole thing crashes, causing a blackbox error.
More specifically when looking at the .log file for the ModelEditor, this is what it says for the true error.

"
Cache out of date! Reloading collada file 'C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/amnesia the dark descent/entities/AJohns AnimatedModels/PineTree2/PineTree2_Idle.dae_anim'
WARNING: No 'extra scene' element found!"

So I want to make sure I get this whole procedure right when it comes to exporting your animations. I do know that a animation object must be in the entities folder. And with in that folder you must have the following.

Model itself:
.dae/.msh.
Textures to the model:
.dds
Animation files:
.ma (Maya ASCII File)
.yourmodel_youranimationname.dae_anim

I believe that's all the files you need. Now I do have a few questions about my problem.

1. When saving the .ma file, does the file need the animation rig with in the file? Or can it be fine without the animation rigs, just the model itself?

2. I have seen other examples of models with animation. Most of them have 2 of the same files. for example:
- .yourmodel_youranimationname.dae_anim
- .yourmodel_youranimationname.dae

I can only select the .dae_anim file when linking animations to my model in the ModelEditor. What is the other one for?

3. Do I need to bake the animation in Maya? And if so, is this baking needed for the .ma (Maya ASCII File) if that file is required to have the rigged animation?

3a. Does there need to be an animation on the base model? As in its the default animation when you place it in the Level Editor.

4. (AnimatedModels/PineTree2/PineTree2_Idle.dae_anim'
WARNING: No 'extra scene' element found!")
What does this mean? No 'extra scene' element found!

5. Do I need to add "wait" to the bones for the animation file to work right?

6. I heard you half to set the bones to the y axis for the rig to work right in amnesia, is this true? And if so, how can I achieve that?

7. Is Maya 2011 compadable with Amnesia for animating models with the OpenCOLLADA?

Ive trying to figure this animation for amnesia thing for the past 9 hours straight. And there is hardly any documentation on how to rig models for amnesia, if not any. So I have allot of questions to this animation stuff, any help would be vary much greatly appreciated.

[jssjr90]

I guess no one has experience in this criteria...

[The chaser]

I'd help, but I'm not a maya user, I'm a blender user... you might want to ask Acies, he knows how to Maya.

The only things I know are:

2:

You need the .dae (your monster) and .dae_anim (a .dae extension with it's name changed. The difference is that in .dae_anim's there is the model with animation).
When the animations are opened in ModelEditor/Viewer, it creates an .anm file (like a .msh file for normal meshes)

4:

I also get the no 'extra scene' found thing, it's very annoying.

7:

Maya 2011 with the COLLADA plug-in is alright

[WALP]

I'd help, but I'm not a maya user, I'm a blender user... you might want to ask Acies, he knows how to Maya.

The only things I know are:

2:

You need the .dae (your monster) and .dae_anim (a .dae extension with it's name changed. The difference is that in .dae_anim's there is the model with animation).
When the animations are opened in ModelEditor/Viewer, it creates an .anm file (like a .msh file for normal meshes)

4:

I also get the no 'extra scene' found thing, it's very annoying.

7:

Maya 2011 with the COLLADA plug-in is alright

The original .dae can include an animation too, preferably an idle. The cool thing about doing this is that it will make the monster animated in the level editor

[jssjr90]

Thanks for the help The chaser and The mug for the help you contributed. It did flesh out small concerns I had but nothing rely to solving this crash error on testing the model in ModelEditor to create the .anm file. I have personal messaged jens, and Mr Bigzy about this problem. I know for sure Mr Bigzy has experience in this field judging by the comments he usually makes. Hopefully he can replay soon. This is the biggest challenge I have faced in Amnesia modding. I thought UV texturing was bad but jeez, figuring out a jigsaw of how each piece goes to successfully make a model animate is another story.

Once I saw amnesia could have animations play upon trigger of any model you create, a flood gate of great ideas came to me. My first sight in this possibility was the mod Tenebris Lake. At the intro with Edward standing up from the box. 2 animations where triggered upon command though the scripting. That is exactly what I am trying to unlock. Maybe I should contact the guy who animated the models for that mod. I think that is the best lead I got to solving this.

[WALP]

oh also theres that maximum of 3 influences per vertex thing! remember to check you did that with your weights!

[jssjr90]

- How does the 3 influences per vertex affect Amnesia? Also what does it do exactly?
- The only step I do not do is weight my model. And if I try to do for practice, lets say my tree model, when I am painting on the tree base bark area, the geometry would disappear.

Now I think I understand how to fully create an animated model in exact steps to take, just from the top of my head here are my steps that I know how to take with my own concerns for some steps. By this stage the model is already done with UV textured slapped onto it.

(Maya procedure for animation for Amnesia.)
1. Place Joints on your model. (Does each parent joint half to be 3 or less? Hence '3 influences per vertex'
2. Bind the joints to the model itself. (Smooth Bind)
3. Animate the model. (Do you half to bake the model after this step, and also needed for Amnesia to read it?)
4. Paint weights to the model. (Do I half to paint anything for it to work in-game if I skipped this step?)
5. Normalize the weights.

By this time the model is ready for importing into Amnesia. I think this is how it goes.

(Constructing the files needed for Amnesia to read)
1. Export All 'your_model' as a Maya ASCII file in your (entities/your-model folder)
2. Export All 'your_model' as a OpenCOLLADA file in your ^same area^
3. Export All 'your_animation_name' as another animation to be used in your (entities/your-model/animations folder)
4. Go to (entities/your-model/animations folder)
5. Rename 'your_animation_name.dae' to 'your_animation_name.dae_anim. (This is our animation file that we will add later)
6. Open 'ModelViewer' Load the model so HPL2 suit will create a collider around the mesh.
7. Open 'ModelEditor' Then import your model's mesh file it created when loading the model in ModelViewer.
Save it as a .ent file.
8. In the 'ModelEditor', Select Settings > User Defined Variables.
9. Change the Type to NPC. (This will allow us to call animations on the model though scripting in .hps files).
10. Navigate to: Select Settings > Animation.
11. Add the 1st animation. Then rename the animation name the same name as the .dae_anim file that you choose that contains a specific animation in your 'animations folder'. Repeat the process for other animations you wish to add.
12. With the ModelEditor still opened, save the file to your (entities/your-model)
13. Click on the gray gears to test the animation on that model.

CRASH!

Impotent notes:
- Now out of all these steps that I know what steps they must be taken in, the only step I did not take in was weighting the model.
- Also when I opened Edward model from Tenebris lake in Maya 2011. The character had circles around the model representing as joints. Come to think of it, all models have this in Maya 2011 from what ive seen so far.

So these are my main concerns at this moment in time. Any tips and hints how to find the main problem is most welcomed answering.


A. So are there any errors or steps that I missed from the list?
B. Does each parent joint half to be 3 or less? Hence '3 influences per vertex'
C. Animate the model. Do you half to bake the model after this step, and also needed for Amnesia to read it?
D. The style of joints I have on my model is different from the 'Edward' model from Tenebris Lake. Edward's seem to be more "rounded" around the geometry, not completely but just on a certain bone going around the ligaments body. I wonder if I would need his type of animation setup for mine to actually work.

[WALP]

1. Skin > Edit smooth skin > set max influences, amnesia only supports so many influences for performance reasons I assume, but basically without that it should either crash or look like it exploded.

2. You forgot to bake the animation. edit > keys > bake simulation.
You will have to select either your mesh, your rig or both first, I dont remember exactly how it was.

3.I have no idea what that ASCII file is or wtf you want to do with it. I never used anything but the texture and the Collada, all else was done by HPL2 or changing the file names manually.

When adding more animations then what was contained in the original file, the exporting process is exactly the same and they are added by changing the file extension and using the model editor to add them.

Also grand question!
Do you have FBX importer/exporter enabled? if you do then turn it off instantly as it conflicts with opencollada and will export your collada as fbx instead completely messing shit up.

[jssjr90]

I do have FBX importer/exporter enabled. Ill try that soon. Ill repete all the exporting steps with out that plugin loaded. But first I must get a few more hours of shuteye.

[WALP]

oh and a good way to check is to look into your file in notepad++ and see if it says opencollada in there