Squill's Animations Thread

[Domarius]

I'm glad my MB preaching got somewhere

[squill]

idle drunk:

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Animation...unk_anim_01.avi

 

(very theatrical) Death animation:

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Animation...ath_anim_01.avi

 

Don't mind the skin weight problem I animated the whole movement but the animation can be cut around frame 37. As i understand the ragdoll will take over the actual falling.

[New Horizon]

idle drunk:

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Animation...unk_anim_01.avi

 

(very theatrical) Death animation:

http://208.49.149.118/TheDarkMod/Animation...ath_anim_01.avi

 

Don't mind the skin weight problem I animated the whole movement but the animation can be cut around frame 37. As i understand the ragdoll will take over the actual falling.

 

Looking great! I'm not sure how early we want to cut the death animations though. It would be good to have the AI get fairly close to the floor before transitioning...or even transition 'after' they die.

[Springheel]

I think they both look great!

 

re: the falling--I think we definitely want to transition to ragdoll early to avoid clipping into geometry (the bounding box doesn't extend much in front of the AI when vertical, so they could conceivably collapse right through a wall).

[squill]

These animations are part of a new set i'm creating for a guard/ human character.

Currently this is what i've created:

 

Walkcycle (seen already, but made some small tweaks)

walkcycle perspective

walkcycle_side

 

Runcycle

runcycle perspective

runcycle side

 

Idle

idle

 

FailedKO

FailedKO perpective

FailedKO back

[greebo]

I like the walk, that's very smooth.

 

I'm not sure if the run cycle will result in a super-fast sprinting AI. It looks like that guy will eat you right away. Can this be set to slower playback speed?

 

The Idle anim looks almost a bit drunk. But that's of course not a problem, we need this too.

 

Are you able to export these or does this require rig knowledge or anything?

[squill]

the runcycle is pretty fast indeed, although it's a normal runcycle out of 14 frames. But I can make a slower variation.

 

I exaggarated the idle movement of the hips and breathing because i think that way from a distance you notice it better. I'm think there could be a few different idle animations (scratching, looking) played randomly to make the character look more dynamic, if it's possible.

[Springheel]

The walk is great. The run definitely needs to be slowed down. I like the idle, though I don't know how different it is from our existing idle2. The failed KO is nice, though maybe a touch too fast as well?

 

I've been working to catalogue all our existing, exported animations, and establish what needs to be fixed, what is good enough to use as is, etc. The currently uploaded page isn't finished yet, but I'll be able to upload

a completed version this evening. You can see the wip version at:

 

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/animations.htm

[squill]

The walk is great. The run definitely needs to be slowed down. I like the idle, though I don't know how different it is from our existing idle2. The failed KO is nice, though maybe a touch too fast as well?

 

I've been working to catalogue all our existing, exported animations, and establish what needs to be fixed, what is good enough to use as is, etc. The currently uploaded page isn't finished yet, but I'll be able to upload

a completed version this evening. You can see the wip version at:

 

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/animations.htm

yes great, i'll look into it.

 

the current in-game idle is pretty stiff and linear in terms of movement, that's why i suggested a kind of cycle between different idles.

 

i've also uploaded the source fbx files to the modelsrc repository

[Tels]

The walk is great. The run definitely needs to be slowed down. I like the idle, though I don't know how different it is from our existing idle2. The failed KO is nice, though maybe a touch too fast as well?

 

I've been working to catalogue all our existing, exported animations, and establish what needs to be fixed, what is good enough to use as is, etc. The currently uploaded page isn't finished yet, but I'll be able to upload

a completed version this evening. You can see the wip version at:

 

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/animations.htm

 

Maybe it would make sense to put that on the wiki, to have everything in one place?

 

if you need help wikifying it, drop me a PM - can always lend a hand if I get it back afterwards

[Tels]

http://www.mindplaces.com/darkmod/animations.htm

 

Sorry for highjacking this threat, but looking through this list gave me the sudden realisation that we ship a bootload of useless (aka never-used) animations with TD atm.

 

If you don't object, I'd like to to remove the following:

 

* dance

* sitdown

* getup

* laydown

* flip

* bowfire

 

from the package. No sense in shipping unused and likely redone later animations, or?

[Springheel]

I thought about the wiki but I don't really want it available to the public, and I didn't think we had private sections yet (though I could have missed it in all the excitement lately).

[Springheel]

That's a good point. Those animations, at the very least, could be removed for all three AI.

 

You could also remove the *_torch animations from the thief and citywatch, and the *_drunk animations for all three.

 

I'm not 100% sure whether the other animations are called in the code. There are probably more that are unused, but at this late date it's probably better to leave them in than risk messing something up.

 

the current in-game idle is pretty stiff and linear in terms of movement, that's why i suggested a kind of cycle between different idles.

 

I'm fairly certain we're currently using idle1, which is a bit stiff, but useable. We also have idle2, which is more animated; much closer to your version. I don't think it is used by the code. It would be nice to randomly alternate between the two/three. If not, the stiffer idle1 could be applied to the elite guards (who might stand more rigidly at attention).

[Tels]

That's a good point. Those animations, at the very least, could be removed for all three AI.

 

You could also remove the *_torch animations from the thief and citywatch, and the *_drunk animations for all three.

 

Thought about the torch, but forgot the drunk. Ok, I made a note to do this tomorrow before I start the packaging. Bedtime now

 

I'm not 100% sure whether the other animations are called in the code. There are probably more that are unused, but at this late date it's probably better to leave them in than risk messing something up.

 

Fully agree.

[Domarius]

Great anims!

 

Watch out for the smoothing in and out at the start and end of the animation. The hand in the foreground of the walk bounces back sharply when the animation loops.

 

The run would probably perfect at half that speed, heheh.

[greebo]

I'm not 100% sure whether the other animations are called in the code. There are probably more that are unused, but at this late date it's probably better to leave them in than risk messing something up.

I'm fairly certain we're currently using idle1, which is a bit stiff, but useable. We also have idle2, which is more animated; much closer to your version. I don't think it is used by the code. It would be nice to randomly alternate between the two/three. If not, the stiffer idle1 could be applied to the elite guards (who might stand more rigidly at attention).

The code is actually choosing randomly between idle1, idle2 and so on. That's why they are numbered in the first place. All numbered anims form a subset.

 

So please let's not remove any animations from used subsets. This will screw up things real bad.

 

That being said, we can remove these, as posted by Tels:

 

* dance

* sitdown

* getup

* laydown

* flip

* bowfire

 

But keep the hands off anything else - otherwise we need to test everything again!

[squill]

I'm fairly certain we're currently using idle1, which is a bit stiff, but useable. We also have idle2, which is more animated; much closer to your version. I don't think it is used by the code. It would be nice to randomly alternate between the two/three. If not, the stiffer idle1 could be applied to the elite guards (who might stand more rigidly at attention).

 

i think idle1 and 2 (which i believe is a placeholder) are too stiff and some simple anim could make them much more alive. I'll post an example what i mean with a few idles when i get home.

 

Great anims!

 

Watch out for the smoothing in and out at the start and end of the animation. The hand in the foreground of the walk bounces back sharply when the animation loops.

 

The run would probably perfect at half that speed, heheh.

 

yeah they give a nasty tick which i'm not able to remove.. while the curves are eased out. Probably have to remove all the keys on the FK arm and animate it again. I sometimes still get a motion while i deleted all the keys that created the motion.

[Springheel]

i think idle1 and 2 (which i believe is a placeholder) are too stiff

 

Idle2 is certainly not too stiff. It actually goes almost too far the other way...the swaying is quite strong and is on the verge of looking drunk.

 

The code is actually choosing randomly between idle1, idle2 and so on. That's why they are numbered in the first place. All numbered anims form a subset.

 

Ah, good to know. How frequently is a new animation 'chosen'? Is it every time an AI starts/restarts playing the idle animation?

[greebo]

Ah, good to know. How frequently is a new animation 'chosen'? Is it every time an AI starts/restarts playing the idle animation?

It's every time the anim starts. The idle anim is looping and is a bit differently handled, so I can't give a definite answer (the code is too confuscated to see it at first glance).

[squill]

Springheel, this illustrates what i mean with some more diverse idle animations which could be played random:

 

idle animations

[Springheel]

Oh, sorry, when you said "idle" I immediately thought of the static, "ambient" idle. Those other "idle action" animations are also definitely desired. We already have code to randomly play them, but right now we only have two or three to choose from, and none of them are terribly good. I like both of the ones you just showed in that movie.

[squill]

ok.. i've created a slower runcycle.. more like jogging or else it will be again like sprinting. This one is 18 frames (current in-game runcycle is 20 frames)

 

Slow runcycle

slow runcycle perspective

runcycle side

[Springheel]

Yes, I think this is much better. Though frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with our current run animation either.

[Tels]

Yes, I think this is much better. Though frankly, I don't think there's anything wrong with our current run animation either.

 

What looks wrong to me is the transition. If the AI spots you, they go from idle walk to spring almost immidiately, then they lose you in the shadow and drop down to idle walk again, which not much in between. What we seem to miss is some sort of "quick walk".

[Springheel]

I don't know that a 'ramping up' animation is required, but some kind of delay between hitting hit alert and sprinting into motion would certainly be more believable.