Sotha's Animations

[Obsttorte]

It's funny to see which videos are suggested after yours has played

 

But seriously. The brush movement is definetely an improvement. Now the problem is, that the upper part of the body does not seem to move at all. This looks a bit stiff. I know I've said that the upper part shouldn't move that much, but normally I guess there should be at least a bit movement.

 

Now it looks a bit unnatural.

[Springheel]

Looks like a big improvement to me.

 

The "brush" sound is for AI who are brushing dirt off their arms or something similar. It's supposed to be a very quiet sound, not really suitable for sweeping.

 

I know it is somehow possible to spawn particles in an animation. Could it be possible to spawn some dust particles from the broom origin during the swipes?

 

They have to spawned in relation to a joint, but yes, you can spawn particles. See the mage melee animation for an example.

[Sotha]

@Obst:

I'll give it a shot, but I think this is starting to be the best I am capable of doing. It is still improving, but I feel I am approaching some sort of critical limit. Either I get a breakthrough in my skills or I package the anim and call it finished.

 

Someone ought to put up a mocap studio for more lifelike animations.

 

@Springs

I'll have a look at the melee anim.

 

I have already an idea for another simple animation that could use particles. Here is a clue with a new object I made with Blender just now:

(Anyone else getting a huge Sherlock Holmes-vibe from that shadow?)

[nbohr1more]

That's looking pretty good Sotha.

 

As long as I'm here...

 

I've yet to see a mission where another thief or pauper is lock-picking a door... What do ya say to making an animation for that?

[Sotha]

I've yet to see a mission where another thief or pauper is lock-picking a door... What do ya say to making an animation for that?

 

I actually was thinking about a generic repair anim a while ago. A kneeling AI would pick up a few prop tools from his pocket and use them:

Put hand in pocket, spawn prop item into the hand. A few twists with the tool (A knife perhaps), like a screw driver. Put it back to pocket and destroy the model. Get a hammer. Few bangs with the hammer. Examine work. Repeat.

 

A lockpick isn't probably the best option, because it is very small so it would be barely visible in the AIs hand. The tool used should be big enough the player can see it even from a reasonable distance.

[Sotha]

They have to spawned in relation to a joint, but yes, you can spawn particles. See the mage melee animation for an example.

 

I can now spawn particles, but now there is a problem.

 

The broom is a separate entity and the animation is for the AI, not the broom.

Thus, I cannot get the particles to spawn from the broom origin. Or can I?

 

I tried to spawn the particles from the AI's left (broom) hand and use offset <x>, <y>, <z> to move the spawn location downwards and away from the AI. This has the problem that it does not respect the direction AI is facing. If I set the offset correctly when the AI is facing east, the particles appear behind the AI when they are facing west. Is it possible to have the offset respect AI angle?

[Springheel]

The broom is a separate entity and the animation is for the AI, not the broom.

Thus, I cannot get the particles to spawn from the broom origin. Or can I?

 

Not automatically, but you can attach them to the same joint the broom is attached to, so they'll move in sync with the broom.

[Sotha]

New shipment of Mandrasola has landed to Bridgeport!

Tired on guard duty? Getting lame in your inventing workshop? Can't stay awake on your nightly rogue business?

 

No worries! Get your Mandrasola pipe today and stay hopped up to beat any obstacle! Faster, smarter, more alert... Mandrasola gives you all! Ask your local dealer for more information!

 

(Any story about getting hooked and transforming into a human wreck are just lies spread by those who cannot afford this miracle herb!)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU2nSKsaHks&feature=youtu.be

My weekend project turned out better than I could foresee...

[Obsttorte]

Roflinchen

 

You really should put this into the Mandrasola update update for 2.0. As the guys start whistling I've rofled across my whole flat.

[Bikerdude]

HEHEH thats very cool!

[i30817]

A pity it jumps from obscured by the mouth to completely outside of it on one frame. I understand it's difficult to do otherwise.

Edited August 19, 2013 by i30817

[Lux]

very cool.

[HMart]

Sotha fantastic job, the secret for a good animation i learned is to act the animation ourselves on a mirror or even record ourselves on camera acting.

 

Another thing i learned when trying animation was that you should start with the principal broad movements or key movements, and then make refinements on the between keys, i hope this makes sense.

[Sotha]

Perfect sense! That's what I found out, too, during my learning curve.

[grayman]

These are Terrific, Sotha.

[Sotha]

Spring said he'd like to see some combat animations for the zombie.

 

Here are three:

 

Zombie claws with right hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKDprMdLSd4&feature=youtu.be

 

Zombie claws with left hand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saydbS8_b8E&feature=youtu.be

 

These two could be coupled into that nasty left punch + right punch combo the old zombie used to have. These could also suit ordinary AIs, for example a noblewoman bitchslapping a not-so-gentlemanly person.

[Sotha]

Hungry zombie tries to hug, grab and eat the victim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOAdNdx6e0s&feature=youtu.be

 

All the videos are intentionally slow so that one can easily see what is happening. They can be sped up before exporting, or left as is and sped up with some spawnargs?

[Springheel]

Cool beans. I'd have to see how they work in game...I'm concerned about them starting and ending in the zombie's run pose. That _might_ work, but I suspect it will create some odd jerking if the zombie runs to you, stops, and then plays the attack. And if he's standing there swinging at you multiple times, it might look strange that his arms come out in between attacks.

 

Love the eating one, but again it's hard to know how effective that would be in game.

[Sotha]

@Spring:

Here is the proposal for new "Armed AI blinded by a flash" animation. This is supposed to override the whole body, so that the AI stays put when he is blinded. How should we do this? Can we have the "grab eyes", "rub eyes" and "recover" parts separated so that the "rub eyes" part could be cycled as long as the AI is blind. Or should the whole animation be a single anim, which duration must be tailored to fit the blind time, thus making possible blind time adjustments break the animation. What is technically possible?

 

This animation speed is now set to the rate I supposed it should be in game. Fast "grab eyes" part, slow "eye rubbing."

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbL94LI6A8&feature=youtu.be

 

I can easily modify it to produce a "unarmed AI blinded by a flash" animation, where both of the hands go to the face/eyes. Just say if you need one.

 

As a bonus, I think this anim could be used as "AI combat health critical pain" animation: simply cut some keyframes so it looks like he was punched into the face: he grabs his face, falls to the crouch and then gets up.

 

@Those that are intersted:

Here are the zombie attack anims that got into TDM 2.0:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-O6IDzr_uQ

(The two clawing ones.)

[Springheel]

Yeah, that animation is a good start, although if it's for armed characters you'd need to do something with the right hand (and this wouldn't work for archers).

 

What is technically possible?

 

Grayman could answer that better than I could.

[Sotha]

Yeah, that animation is a good start, although if it's for armed characters you'd need to do something with the right hand (and this wouldn't work for archers).

 

 

 

What does that mean? If the character is armed, his sword is on his right hand. That has been taken into account in the anim you see: he lowers the sword and keeps it in right hand, while covers eyes with left hand.

 

Archers have the bow in left hand, right? So they could use the same anim, but where the AI covers eyes with right hand instead. It would be easy to do from the "unarmed" animation where both the hands are in the eyes.

[grayman]

The length of the blinded time varies randomly. So if the "rub eyes" anim can be separated from the other anims, that would be best.

[Springheel]

What does that mean?

 

Well, the hand needs to be put in a grab pose for starters. But it also doesn't act like it's holding something heavy--at one point it would swing the weapon way out to the side.

[Sotha]

Well, the hand needs to be put in a grab pose for starters. But it also doesn't act like it's holding something heavy--at one point it would swing the weapon way out to the side.

 

Ah, good. I see what you mean.

 

 

The length of the blinded time varies randomly. So if the "rub eyes" anim can be separated from the other anims, that would be best.

 

If TDM supports playing the flashed anims in three parts, good. It should be simple to cut the anim into three parts, yes.

 

Here is the fixed version, ingame, with weapons.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOpVeXKL8e8&feature=youtu.be

[grayman]

When the "rub eyes" anim is separated, it will need to begin and end in the same body position, so that we can go straight from its end to its beginning as the next cycle is played.

 

Which means you might need to separate out the bit that comes after eye-rubbing is finished, so it can be played last, once, to get the body parts back to the normal standing position.