Animation Tutorial for Flyers

[minilogoguy18]

Well you do have ALOT of unnecessary polygons in that model, I really think you are best of remaking it, there really isn't any reason to use that many, you'll just kill game performance with it.

[Redline]

Well you do have ALOT of unnecessary polygons in that model, I really think you are best of remaking it, there really isn't any reason to use that many, you'll just kill game performance with it.

Yes, I already noticed, but if I tried to remove the polygons I could damage my model.
However I will try it, but i don't know how to get them away.
Maybe you know a good advice to me.

[minilogoguy18]

Well lets not fill this topic with off topic discussion about a model since this thread is mainly here to show people how to get an animated flyer in game, make a WIP topic or something about your model so that others can help as well.

[Darth_Spiderpig]

Sorry to bump the topic, but I seem to have a problem with weighting the vertices to the bones.

Hidden/Spoiler:

As you can see in the picture after enveloping the weights are off, but I don't know how I make the left wing only be controlled by the left wing bone and the right one by the right bone and the main body by the bone_root.

In the tut it says:

With your model selected hit T to go into point construction mode and select the vertices you want and use the wieght editor by hitting ctrl+E to open it and change the verts your want so that only the bone you want influences them.

Not as easy as it is here, because I don't know how I get the vertices from the wing to be controlled by the bone and not parts of the main body too and the help file of the XSI isn't of any help.

Can anybody help me please?

[DarthD.U.C.K.]

click me!
by the way: you should weld all edges together, that makes weighting easier and removes lot of unneeded vertexes

[Darth_Spiderpig]

Yay, thanks D.U.C.K.

[minilogoguy18]

Sorry mods but I have to bump this with an update, the tutorial could use an update since I overlooked something that should have been the way to do it originally. Fred would always say that it was best for anything with rigid animations that didn't require any actual deforming to split the model up and set the parts as child to the bone you wanted it to follow. Supposedly this way uses way less memory and makes smaller .msh files. The main thing I overlooked and it's right in the art_guide is you just check export animations when exporting the main mesh file. The basepose or takeoff wouldn't need to be modified since they are just bone files so anything already made could easily be updated. This would also be the same for a lowrez mesh, just make the parts that were rigged to say the topwings bone in my tut a separate mesh that is child to that bone.

Just remember that after export the meshes will have the 'center' operator will be added to the stack which may cause the model to get skewed so just be sure to save before export or you'll have to go back and delete the operator from all the model and lowrez parts. There might be a way to avoid it all together by using the GroundDummy to offset everything but haven't bother to try it yet.

If I remade the text version would anyone be able to update the online version? I'd be able to make a video one but only if there is enough demand for it.

[Lephenix]

I'd be able to make a video one but only if there is enough demand for it.

I am interested .

[minilogoguy18]

^At least maybe if 10+ people come forward saying they want it.