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Animation Troubles; Milkshape 3D animations are being awkward, is it me?
Topic Started: Jan 3 2013, 04:37 AM (220 Views)
Chalk
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Okay, I've been lurking around here for a while and today have decided to create my first topic, unfortunately to request assistance on a strange issue I'm having. Firstly, my names Matthew, I'm 16, and I'm currently working on an online MMORPG, the online element (login/stats/chat/zones) has been scripted and works with simple mob AI, but I have now moved on from 2D graphics to 3D graphics, and need animated models for things such as character movement and mobs. So here we have it ^_^

Here's a little picture detailing the issue at hand:

Posted Image

If you look closely at the cat to the left (the animated model), you can see that most of the bones have been centered to the middle or something, not exactly sure what's going on, but it looks completely ridiculous. If you couldn't tell, the models were taken from World of Warcraft as placeholders (nicer than blue and white textured boxes) for a project I'm working on, and I know there are lots of bones which could be an issue, though I'm not sure if Ultimate 3D is prone to strange restraints/restrictions such as limited bone structures.

I can upload the model if needs be, though a certain inkling tells me I shouldn't <_< Is this a problem with the model? Am I doing something wrong? Anybody had a similar issue before? Help would really be appreciated.

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RonBurgundy
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How many bones are in that model? If its more than 28 you may experience these issues, however I don't inagine you have that many bones in a cat model.

You cant try using UpdateSkeleton().
!!! DEFEND POP PUNK !!!
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Despellanion
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A very well-known problem with skinned animations in U3D. There are serveral things that can cause this, one of them is the bone count, but the simplest one is generally just some incorrect export setting (if it's an *.x file).
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Chalk
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Thank you for the responses, it may very well be the bone count. I think the cat has some 40 bones, and the human models have some 170 bones. I will make models with less bones from now on, but for the time being, does anybody know of a good way to reduce the bone count in a model without making it look too funny? -_- Really appreciate the help guys!
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Despellanion
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I think 28 is the maximum bone count you can have, which should be more than enough, unless you are making super realistic hand and facial animations.
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Dr. Best
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Despellanion
Jan 4 2013, 01:38 AM
I think 28 is the maximum bone count you can have, which should be more than enough, unless you are making super realistic hand and facial animations.
This is not quite true. 28 is the maximum, if you use parallax and bump mapping or other effects based upon vertex shaders. If you do not do so the maximum is 256.

@ Chalk
I've seen models screwed up like this often. It usually happens, if the translation keys are exported or imported incorrectly. Does this animated model move at all or is it static when you see the corrupted version in Ultimate 3D?

The Milkshape model format is pleasantly simplistic, so there is not so much, that could be wrong with the loader. Have you tried opening the *.ms3d files in the Assimp viewer? If that works you have probably found a bug in the loader.

P.S.: Welcome to the community.
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Chalk
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Thanks a lot for the responses again, nice to know this community is still on it's feet, considering Game Maker updates were stopped 5 years ago! This disfiguration happens when the model is animated, whether it be because of the way I exported the model (from the WoW archives), this only happens when animated. I can load the same model which has trouble in Ultimate3D into milkshape 3D itself and see no graphical artifacts such as the one seen from the animated model.

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Dr. Best
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Well, then it appears, that you have indeed found a bug in the Milkshape loader of Ultimate 3D 2.1. I probably won't spend time on fixing it, because if I ever need a Milkshape loader again I'll just use the properly tested one in Assimp. Still we might manage to find a workaround. If you send me that *.ms3d file in a PM, I can have a closer look at what's going on.
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Chalk
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Alright, if it's milkshape that's the problem I'll attempt using another model format. Thanks for your help I really appreciate it, it's been holding me back considerably in making my game.

Take care :) I'll keep you updated if I discover more about the problem! ^_^
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Dr. Best
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Chalk
Jan 4 2013, 07:24 PM
Alright, if it's milkshape that's the problem I'll attempt using another model format. Thanks for your help I really appreciate it, it's been holding me back considerably in making my game.

Take care :) I'll keep you updated if I discover more about the problem! ^_^
You might want to try to get your models loaded into Blender. If you succeed to do so, there is a reliable way to get them into Ultimate 3D using the official export plugin.
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steve56716
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I have come across a solution that will work, though I'm using Misfit Model 3D to work with my models, so I can only give you an idea of how to do it.

1. Make the very first frame in the animation a blank frame with rotations in it.

2. Select a single bone

3. Shift any of the X, Y, or Z positions, even the slightest movement will work.

4. Shift the moved bone back to it's original position.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to every bone.

Misfit Model 3D allows me to type in a new position value to change it. I just add a 1 at the end of it, then remove it.
Hope that helps
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