[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
[Date Index] [Thread Index]
[Monthly Archives] [List Home]

Re: [Virtools] character jumping, footref, and 'keep character on floor' woes

After just experiencing this same issue with my students, perhaps I can shed
some light...

Your floor reference should be called "FloorRef" (with *exactly* that
capitalization) for Dev to automatically use it. If you use a FloorRef
object/frame then you should not have any objects with "foot" in their name
or Dev has the potential to become confused over which one you want to use.
What you are probably seeing is Dev use another object for the floor
reference.

To Use "Keep On Floor" BBs, all of your animations must be relative to the
FloorRef. So, if your character has to jump, then the character hierarchy
moves relative to the FloorRef for Dev will keep the FloorRef in constant
contact with the floor element. If your character moves in the XZ plane
while jumping, make certain that your FloorRef and root node for your
character end up at the final XZ coordinates, at the end of the animation,
or you will see your character jump then snap to some other position.

You can explicitly set the floor reference object in Dev with "Set Floor
Reference Object" in Characters/Basic.

Ideally, you would perform all of your animation work in your modelling tool
and just use Dev to play / "merge and play" your animation sequences.

Hope this helps,

David Callele

----- Original Message -----
From: "h.d. case" <casemon@hotmail.com>
To: "Virtools-User-Group (E-mail)"
<virtools-user-group@lists.theswapmeet.com>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2002 5:35 AM
Subject: [Virtools] character jumping, footref, and 'keep character on
floor' woes


> hi gang,
>
> i'm experiencing some difficulty with a jumping character animation
created
> in Character Studio 3.0.1 & Max 4.0. the specifics involve the 'footref'
> reference object that is imported. the original animation in max has a
> character jumping to proper height with the 'footref' object (called
'Bip01
> Footsteps' in max) changing it's height along with the feet. when i export
> the animation into Dev, the 'keep character of floor' BBs utilize the
> imported Bip01 Footsteps (now called 'footref') for the base extents which
> results in the character not really jumping at all, more of a sliding
across
> the floor, sometimes dipping below the floor as the original 'Bip01
> Footsteps' object changes height with the feet as if on a spline,
sometimes
> moving above the feet body parts and sometimes below.
>
> having looked at the sample exported Eva character's jump animation, her
> 'footref' remains on a single XY plane throughout her jump sequences, so i
> imagine there is at least a way to lock this footsteps reference object.
my
> question then is, do i do this in max or Virtools, and if either, how?
i've
> looked all over for a solution, even seeking outside counsel, to no avail.
>
> please advise if you can shed any light on this dilemma.
>
> long live Virtools!!
>
> hdc
> ...............................................................
> Distributed via the virtools-user-group list:
http://www.theswapmeet.com/numl.html
> To reply to the list instead of its author, use "Reply to All"
> To unsubscribe: send "unsubscribe virtools-user-group" to
Majordomo@lists.theswapmeet.com
> To subscribe: send "subscribe virtools-user-group" to
Majordomo@lists.theswapmeet.com
> To post a message: send it to virtools-user-group@lists.theswapmeet.com
> ...............................................................
>

...............................................................
Distributed via the virtools-user-group list: http://www.theswapmeet.com/numl.html
To reply to the list instead of its author, use "Reply to All"
To unsubscribe: send "unsubscribe virtools-user-group" to Majordomo@lists.theswapmeet.com
To subscribe: send "subscribe virtools-user-group" to Majordomo@lists.theswapmeet.com
To post a message: send it to virtools-user-group@lists.theswapmeet.com
...............................................................
Follow-Ups: References: