3DS Max Friendly version of the Open Motion Capture Library!

[Arcturus]

There's another great addon: http://wiki.blender....Library_Browser

It let's you download and browse animations from Carnegie Mellon University inside the Blender.

 

I managed to copy movement to our skeleton using "Damped Track" and Copy location / rotation constraints. The result is and approximation and needs a lot of fixing. The problem is I don't know if I will be able to export it to MD5.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDBU-mbVx-w&feature=youtu.be

[New Horizon]

Wow. That's actually looking really good. Seems like the work flow is getting more streamlined all the time. Looks like the repo has some pretty decent animations too.

[Springheel]

Huh, if they would work with our existing skeleton that would be amazing.

[ungoliant]

md5 export for blender 2.5, supports md5anim, would this help at all?

http://www.katsbits.com/smforum/index.php?topic=178.0

[New Horizon]

Says the importer / exporter will work with blender 2.5 +. *fingers crossed*

[Arcturus]

It wasn't that bad. Since our skeleton copies position from the other I had to manually put "visual LocRot" on every frame. Then I opened the file in Blender 2.59 and exported as MD5. At first I didn't realize that mesh needs a material assigned, otherwise exporter will not work.

I tweaked the setup a bit, but currently it doesn't allow complex animations in which the character turns around 360. I don't know If I can fix that. There are also other issues. Skeleton does not keep feet on the ground, fingers and toes need to be animated separately, as well as bones for clothing and armor, animations don't make loops etc.

 

[New Horizon]

That's awesome!!! Talk to Bloodrayne, perhaps he has some tips on getting everything running properly?

[ungoliant]

Even with the kinks, this has serious potential to be an outstanding addition to the mod. I'm super excited about this.

 

edit: also, that guards shadow mesh is completely outrageous.

Edited March 29, 2012 by ungoliant

[Springheel]

Very cool. Is it possible to save those animations in a format maya can read? I'd be more than happy to animate the hands and other bones by hand if that's what it takes.

[SiyahParsomen]

lol, epic end!

 

it's awesome work indeed.

[betpet]

There's another great addon: http://wiki.blender....Library_Browser

It let's you download and browse animations from Carnegie Mellon University inside the Blender.

 

I managed to copy movement to our skeleton using "Damped Track" and Copy location / rotation constraints. The result is and approximation and needs a lot of fixing. The problem is I don't know if I will be able to export it to MD5.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDBU-mbVx-w&feature=youtu.be

 

Does that start off doing the birdie song? LMAO!

[Arcturus]

Animations with full turn are displayed properly now. They spoil when skeleton is flipped upside down, but that's not a big problem, since such animations are minority:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG4SQXP2Nt8&feature=youtu.be

 

The shaking leg at the end is a mocaps fault. There is option in Blender to smooth out animation curves which can fix that.

Very cool. Is it possible to save those animations in a format maya can read? I'd be more than happy to animate the hands and other bones by hand if that's what it takes.

There should be couple of formats. Bigger problem than hands will be to make loops from those animations and to keep feet on the ground. Feet often start and end on different levels. There is also a question of blending of animations. All our idle animations start and end with the same pose so they blend seamlessly.

[Arcturus]

Here's a current run animation:

 

 

Here's a new I took from mocap library, animation 1 from group 9:

 

[Arcturus]

Comparison in editor:

 

[Springheel]

In this case I prefer ours, actually. The mocap one seems more like a trot, and something is odd about the way the upper body moves--it looks like it's sticking forward oddly or something.

 

Though animations are awfully cheap to store, so there's no problem with having alternate versions.

[nbohr1more]

Great work Arcturus!

 

Have you found any gems in the library yet?

 

I'd like to see that ballet animation applied to a noble woman

[Springheel]

Yeah, some decent female animations would be awesome. Though I suspect the skirt joints would have to be animated separately?

[Sotha]

The difference is rather subtle for a non-animator.

 

Our run looks like the way ordinary people run when they are in a hurry.

 

The mocap run looks like the way you run when you are in a running contest, you have a straight running track with no obstacles in there.

 

For an armoured guard, wielding a sword, the ordinary run would fit better. For some unarmed lightly armored person the mocap one would probably fit better. However, in the middle of the game, the player is unlikely to spot differences between the running animations.

 

Realization: our animation was made by hand and the mocap has been obtained with some kind of real actor with motion capture equipment? The similarity is so striking that the person who animated our running animation by hand has done a miraculously accurate job.

[Arcturus]

Upper part of the body in the current animation slides from side to side rather than swinging. I haven't seen anybody running like this.

 

[Arcturus]

That was a simple run. There is currently also "charge" animation which is played when guard chases player. It sticks forward more than mocap.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbkEVJgnQbc&feature=youtu.be

 

I can change rotation of the neck in the mocap anim so the character looks more forward.

[Springheel]

It's not about how far forward the body leans, it's that the body is leaning forward but the belt is still perfectly level. And if you look, even though the back of the mocap is straighter, the stomach leans forward more than our run--that's what makes it look odd.

 

It does look more natural from the front though. With a little tweaking it could be a fine alternate for an AI that is just "jogging".

[Arcturus]

I reassigned hips bone to a different bone in mocap. I rotated neck bone a bit:

 

[Arcturus]

For comparison current animation:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlEWJ6xZskU

 

Cloth isn't animated at all btw.

[Springheel]

It's definitely looking better.

 

I notice there's a bit of a repetitive "nod" sideways of the head during the cycle. It's noticeable when you watch the four of them running in unison.

[New Horizon]

I'm definitely liking the alterations you made, the run is looking really great. I actually like it better than ours now.