Exporting Animation Keyframes Only
I''m trying to export X files from 3D Studio Bip animations to be used for animation only. I''m using the Quest Exporter, and I haven''t tried any others as of yet.
The easiest way I''ve found to export animations is to hide the entire model, export, then edit the ascii data and delete the non-animation information. I plan to load this into my game myself with my own loader, so the simpler the data, the better.
As far as I can tell, it seems to be exporting the joint values for every single frame. Why in the hell would this be useful? Wouldn''t most applications be capable of interpolating the keyframes anyway?
Is it just my exporter, or is it not possible to limit the export to keyframes-only? Or am I just doing something wrong / completely missing a simple step?
Any help is appreciated
Let me simplify my question further. I want to know if I can export keyframes from my animation, ignoring non-keyframes and the model data. I don''t really care what format it''s in, as long as I can learn about it''s layout. It doesn''t need to be an X file. Ascii is preffered since I won''t need to look up header declerations and etc.
This is kind of a non-DirectX specific question, but most DirectX programmers use biped models, right? It''s beginning to look as though not too many people animate at all. Google always shows less than 10 results when searching for skinned animation details. This stuff is not that difficult. Does no one else here animate with keyframes?
This is kind of a non-DirectX specific question, but most DirectX programmers use biped models, right? It''s beginning to look as though not too many people animate at all. Google always shows less than 10 results when searching for skinned animation details. This stuff is not that difficult. Does no one else here animate with keyframes?
You can export keyframe data from MAX, but you''ll have to write the exporter code yourself. Most of the freely available MAX exporters only sample data every n frames. Exporting keyframes requires you to be able to handle multiple types of interpolation (linear, bezier, TCB) or restrict your artists to using whichever types you do support. Last I knew, it was only possible to get at some of this information using MaxScript (you can execute MaxScript from your C++ exporter code).
In any case, getting the your interpolation code to match the results from MAX''s interpolation code can be a real pain in the ass.
You may want to take a look at IGame, available from sparks.discreet.com, if you are considering writing your own exporter. It supports both Biped and Skin.
Hope that helps.
In any case, getting the your interpolation code to match the results from MAX''s interpolation code can be a real pain in the ass.
You may want to take a look at IGame, available from sparks.discreet.com, if you are considering writing your own exporter. It supports both Biped and Skin.
Hope that helps.
Very helpful reply, thank you.
I''ve decided to switch to Poser for my animations. The only real difficult thing I have there is to make sure the poser figure has a simular bone structure, scale, and default pose. I''ve been working with it for a lot longer than max, though, so I''m sure I''ll figure out what I need.
Thanks again.
I''ve decided to switch to Poser for my animations. The only real difficult thing I have there is to make sure the poser figure has a simular bone structure, scale, and default pose. I''ve been working with it for a lot longer than max, though, so I''m sure I''ll figure out what I need.
Thanks again.
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