Making new animations .... how is it done!

**Bwian** · 04-28-2005, 22:10

OK....in order to make some rather ...different...new units, I needed to make some custom animations.

so:

Using the last version of V's animation tool and the animaiton unpacker, I set to work.

Step 1: I fired up the animation editor, and made a copy of 'fs_dagger' which I called 'fs_test'. I selected 'no' to the prompt to use the same animations. This created a new skeleton called 'fs_test' which was a copy of fs_dagger, but which was going to use my own variation on the CAS files.

Step 2: I extracted all the animations from the pak file using the animation unpacker, so I had all the animations available to work with.

Step 3: To test all was well, I ran the game with the barbarian peasant set to use my new skeleton. So far, so good.

Step 4: I copied a full set of animations into the new 'data/animations/data/animations/fs_test folder and made a few simple changes. I replaced the 'taunt' animations ( 1-3) with the stand idle animation. I figured this should allow me to have a basic animation without the silly arse-slapping etc. which wouldn't really fit with what I wanted.

Step 5: Ran the game ot see if the animations OUT of the pack file would get picked up. They don't. The taunting still took place!

Step 6: Ran the fs_test_Updateanims batch file that was sitting in the animations folder. All the animations seemed to have been updated OK in the dos-box, and no nasty errors showed up.

Step 7 ...run game. CTD. I have show_errs operating, but it bombs out without a single error message.

So....I know SOME people have made this work, but I can't seem to find the trick of it. I can make new animations, I can add new skeletons, but I can't get custom animations to work.

HELP!

**Bwian** · 04-30-2005, 15:29

OK.. frustration setting in

I have tried every permutation of this I can think of, but I can't get anything that seems to work.

I tried making a new skeleton. I replied 'no' to the animations, and all I get are CTD's. I put in every animation listed in the descr_skeleton and added them with the batch file, but I still get CTD

If I try making a new skeleton with 'yes' to copy the animations, I can't change the animations. I made up a sub folder, put some anims in and tried to add/update the pak file with them. No effect.

Having read every thread on every forum I can find, it all seems to lead to blind alleys. I have had some explanations of how it should work in the past, but could never actually get anything to work.

I also found out that the guy who made the new hoplite anims has also had to leave off work due to graphical anomalies being created by V's animation editor. Oh well...

Without new animations, my 'robots' project os dead in the water. I have designed a load of models which can use the stock skeletons provided I re-work all the animations...but no new anims means no project until such time as this becomes suitably easy to mod.

Back to the drawing board....I need a project idea with ONLY humans, and only using the stock skeletons and animations

**Laridus Konivaich** · 04-30-2005, 16:18

So sorry that you can't get the animations to work.

What do mean a project with only stock skeletons and animations? Are you trying to make robots using those?

**SigniferOne** · 04-30-2005, 17:17

Step 5, you are right, the animations don't get picked up automatically like the skins or the sounds do.

Step 7, it is very important that you do NOT delete the pack.dat/idx and skeleton.dat/idx files. Did you?

**Bwian** · 04-30-2005, 19:46

No... I left the PAK files where they were. I know the removal of the PAK files is an instant CTD even with the animations all extracted.

I really need to get some kind of workable set of steps that WILL produce an animation of a workable nature. Once I have a working process, then I can make the animations in Max and do what I need to do.

And, yes, I was making robotic creatures and such like. If, for example, you wanted to make a heavy 'Mech' type machine, I was giving it the 'width' across the shoulders by locking the upper arms in place, and just animating it from the elbows. Then, do the same with the legs, and you have the bulky body....that sort of thing.

I also planned to make 'tank' like vehicles using the arms as guns, with the body as a turret. The base would be a 'mount'.

There were all sorts of things outlined! I needed walking animations that didn't 'bob' up and down with the root bone shifting in running animations ... the list was quite lengthy!

**GodsPetMonkey** · 05-01-2005, 04:15

Originally Posted by Bwian

OK.. frustration setting in

It does that...

I tried making a new skeleton. I replied 'no' to the animations, and all I get are CTD's. I put in every animation listed in the descr_skeleton and added them with the batch file, but I still get CTD

If I try making a new skeleton with 'yes' to copy the animations, I can't change the animations. I made up a sub folder, put some anims in and tried to add/update the pak file with them. No effect.

I always answer yes, it makes testing easier.

Your sub folders on the other hand are probably incorrect.

A good way to make sure everything is honky dory, make the new skeleton, then extract everything from the animation paks. Should give you the correct file structure. Only do this if nothing else is working, which I think is the case here.

Having read every thread on every forum I can find, it all seems to lead to blind alleys. I have had some explanations of how it should work in the past, but could never actually get anything to work.

Follow the readme in vercs animation editor to the word, and your fine, I had no problems with the editor.
There are limitations on the animations however... I have been unable to get an animation over 43kB in with out it CTDing.

I also found out that the guy who made the new hoplite anims has also had to leave off work due to graphical anomalies being created by V's animation editor. Oh well...

There are some wierd odities with animations, but they are not vercs editors fault.
Things like bone X lossing its rotation data (so it goes dead straight) seem to happen when there is some clipping going on. I don't know if this is a RTW or CAS exporter issue, but I know how to fix it, just minimise the limb's clipping into the other parts of the body.

Without new animations, my 'robots' project os dead in the water. I have designed a load of models which can use the stock skeletons provided I re-work all the animations...but no new anims means no project until such time as this becomes suitably easy to mod.

Back to the drawing board....I need a project idea with ONLY humans, and only using the stock skeletons and animations

Don't give up, new animations are probably the hardest thing with units that is still possible. Took me some time to get it all working, but now its great!

**Vercingetorix** · 05-01-2005, 07:23

Ah yes and do not use the Animation editor to repack animations. It is broken and does not work, use the XIDX program for that. In a way I regret releasing the Animation Editor, there are too many buggy things about it and it is essentially a tool to automate hacking the skeleton.idx/dat. Nothing you could not do by hand (which is what I was doing before I made it).

**SigniferOne** · 05-01-2005, 07:30

So will XIDX also open up skeleton.dat/idx soon?

**Vercingetorix** · 05-01-2005, 07:52

Well it's not quite the same. I could have it extract the different skeletons but I don't see how that would do you any good because you would still have to edit the skeletons with a hex editor. What we need is the game to parse descr_skeleton.txt OR compile descr_skeleton.txt into skeleton.idx/dat