Animating stuff

[Tzan]

So I'm learning how to bone things and make animations and import them into Unity.
Great success! ... eventually

Before


After
On the left those bones are influencing each other so the verts are bent a bit. If I put in a few more segments it wont look so bad.
Middle, thats what happens when you limit the bends to just the weight map. So it looks more mechanical.
Right, I attached a box to each bone, like you would do with weapons, armor, hats, eye patches.

[mgb519]

Any chance you can give me this file so I can try to teach myself how to do this stuff? I'll probably fail miserably, but I still want to try it.

[Tzan]

What kind of file are you looking for?

The model is made in Lightwave Modeler, .lwo
The bones and animation is done in LW Layout, .lws
Exported to .fbx
Imported into Unity and the animations get named by hand in the editor.

None of this is C# code except for the script that runs the animation on a key press.

Code: Select all

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

/*
*  AnimationTest1
*  Runs "Bend" animation on the Arrow
*  When a key is pressed
* 
*   
*   Started:        2/8/12
*   Last edit:      2/8/12
*   
*/

public class AnimationTest1 : MonoBehaviour
{

   public void Update()
  {
    if (Input.GetKeyUp(KeyCode.P))
    {
      Debug.Log("trying to play anim");
      animation.Play("Bend");
    }
  }
}

If you want Lightwave its not free.
Unity is free and you can download entire projects with all this done in it with tutorial documents.
If you want to learn animation, Blender is free.

[Zupponn]

So I'm learning how to bone things

Umm...

[mgb519]

Actually, 3ds Max is free for students.

Where would you recommend going to learn animation? I assumed that the animation was done in Unity itself, for some reason.

[Tzan]

There is an animation section in Unity, but its not used for character bone animation.

Get a modeling app.
Read the documentation, don't skip this part
Google for video tutorials on the subjects you need, I'm using some for the LW stuff.
Learn how to make 3d models
Learn how to texture map, UV maps for game work.
Learn how to bone things
Learn how to make animations
It would also be a good idea to learn how to setup lights, camera and render stuff.

Optional Unity stuff:
DL Unity
Learn how to use the editor
Learn how to script in C#
3ds is linked to Unity so importing is easier.

So... thats like 100-300 hours of serious dedication just to get the basics, more to become good at it.
"If you save your breath I feel a man like you can manage it."

[Keldoclock]

Requesting title change to "Tzan learns to bone things: Education for the masses! (now with pics)"

[BFenix]

Actually, Adobe's Flash Player is a good way to get down with the basics of animation. I suppose it's more difficult in 3D programs, right?