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[3ds Max] [Skyrim] Video: Animation Tutorial


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I have a (hopefully) simple question. But first I want to thank you, for your valuable tutorials. They are so helpful for noobs like me, who have barely enough background to just start a challenging tool like 3ds max. 

 

So it is almost 6 years ago that I made some BBP animations, and 3 years ago that I changed camera position to the swimming flying animation. That's all. Now I wanted to add directional animations (360 like) to sexy move. And for that my old .max file with only 99 bones isn't enough any more. Probably I could get it to work, but as soon as I use a (.txt) rig with XPMSE bones, the orientation of the created animation is off. Whatever I use as z angle <z> in NPC Root is played with an angle of (270° - <z>). 

 

Since I have 3ds max 2010, I could not use groovtama's max file. But now I saw yours, and it has all bones needed. The problem is that I cannot rotate NPC Root with it. I tried everything to unfreeze. I also tried to delete the frozen rotation in the rotation list, as someone suggested in a forum. That of course didn't help, since normal banes have that as welll, and can be rotated. But they also have Euler keys define. Is this the difference?

 

Could you please give me a hint what keeps me from rotating NPC Root? 

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On 11/27/2017 at 5:31 PM, fore said:

I have a (hopefully) simple question. But first I want to thank you, for your valuable tutorials. They are so helpful for noobs like me, who have barely enough background to just start a challenging tool like 3ds max. 

 

So it is almost 6 years ago that I made some BBP animations, and 3 years ago that I changed camera position to the swimming flying animation. That's all. Now I wanted to add directional animations (360 like) to sexy move. And for that my old .max file with only 99 bones isn't enough any more. Probably I could get it to work, but as soon as I use a (.txt) rig with XPMSE bones, the orientation of the created animation is off. Whatever I use as z angle <z> in NPC Root is played with an angle of (270° - <z>). 

 

Since I have 3ds max 2010, I could not use groovtama's max file. But now I saw yours, and it has all bones needed. The problem is that I cannot rotate NPC Root with it. I tried everything to unfreeze. I also tried to delete the frozen rotation in the rotation list, as someone suggested in a forum. That of course didn't help, since normal banes have that as welll, and can be rotated. But they also have Euler keys define. Is this the difference?

 

Could you please give me a hint what keeps me from rotating NPC Root? 

It sounds like rotation keys on root bone. Delete all those keys and add a new one at frame zero.

 

If you still have problems, troubleshoot with no animations on vanilla skeleton:

1. Turn on auto key

2. Go to frame 50

3. Rotate root bone

4. Scrub through timeline. You should see it rotate.

rotate.thumb.JPG.3ce119be21f96a9ffe518add5a729b88.JPG

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14 minutes ago, AthenaESIV said:

I once read about an animating guide with instructions on using a rig and it was praised by everyone as making animatiing more accessible to modders than previously available resources... Seems like it was posted earlier this year and possibly based on the excellent work Pornphile did in this post? Is this correct maybe? Do you have a link? Or is this the post I was thinking of all along? Honestly I cannot remember, lol...

 

Thanks!!

First post has links to my rigs resource as well as rigs by other members. CEO has a pretty comprehensive tutorial also linked in first post.

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16 hours ago, pornphile said:

It sounds like rotation keys on root bone. Delete all those keys and add a new one at frame zero.

 

If you still have problems, troubleshoot with no animations on vanilla skeleton:

1. Turn on auto key

2. Go to frame 50

3. Rotate root bone

4. Scrub through timeline. You should see it rotate.

rotate.thumb.JPG.3ce119be21f96a9ffe518add5a729b88.JPG

 

I can see the difference in the picture.

 

I want to turn "NPC Root". You are turning "NPC". What is "NPC"? How can I select?

 

"NPC" is not one of the usual bones that I know from animations and max files. And it doesn't appear in your max file (3DS2009 XPMS 1-6 T-POSE_Controller Rig_2010_F.max) in the list that I get with the H key.

 

 

EDIT: In the curve sheet it says "Frozen Rotation" for NPC Root, and an additional Euler Rotation. In my old max file I only have "Rotation". 

But I'm unable to unfreeze NPC Root.

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13 hours ago, AthenaESIV said:

 

 

I see, cool thanks, gonna try to delve into this...

 

Do you have any guides or links for exporting a character from Skyrim for use in 3ds Max? I mean an export package that includes textures for use inside 3ds?

 

And 3ds Max is prohibitively expensive, can all this be done in Blender maybe? Didn't know if people were using an inexpensive version of 3ds Max I'm unaware of, doubt I'll ever get enough use out of it to justify buying it for $1500, lol

To import Skyrim models into 3ds Max, use NifTools. I think Nightasy on youtube might have a tutorial. Plenty of tutorials out here.

Yea, you can do animation in Blender. Might be more feasible too since Max 2010-2012 and HCT seem kinda hard to get nowadays(unless try torrents).

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4 hours ago, fore said:

 

I can see the difference in the picture.

 

I want to turn "NPC Root". You are turning "NPC". What is "NPC"? How can I select?

 

"NPC" is not one of the usual bones that I know from animations and max files. And it doesn't appear in your max file (3DS2009 XPMS 1-6 T-POSE_Controller Rig_2010_F.max) in the list that I get with the H key.

Ok. I think I see the problem. You are wanting to edit one of your old animations. Controller rig is meant for completely new animations. Importing a previous animation(forward kinematics) into the rig(which uses inverse kinematics) will cause weirdness. I had a similar report where the legs were locked due to importing an animation into the rig. To get a proper animation that you can edit after import, use an unrigged skeleton. So in your case(BBP), using the original XPMS 1-6 skeleton. You can delete the rigging to get just at the skeleton from my rig file or download from Nexus.

 

But since sexy move is just walking animation, using 99 bone skeleton should also be fine for animation import(try the 99 bone vanilla skeleton file from my rig page). Because if you're using XPMSE in your main game, it doesn't use BBP bones from XPMS 1-6. Hope this wasn't confusing.

 

As for "NPC Root" vs "NPC", "NPC" is present in vanilla skeleton(I think it should also be present in XPMSE) at top hierarchy. "NPC" is missing in XPMS 1-6.

Vanilla:

NPC

-NPC Root

--(rest of hierarchy)

 

XPMS 1-6:

NPC Root

-(rest of hierarchy)

 

I don't think there's a functional difference with regards to animation but NPC Root should probably be used for compatibility. So for my previous post above, use NPC Root instead.

If you still have problems, post your file and I can take a look.

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#309

I can't find "NPC" in XPMSE, not in your own max file (not shown with list after H key, BEFORE I import an animation), and not in your XPMS RIG 1.6c Full Bone.txt. 

 

But for me it really looks like kinematics, because not only NPC Root is frozen, but also at least Foot and Calf. Here is my max file with one of Dragonfly's BBP walkforward: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z5Ujs9ylt8g_1VlkjdD4322Ll4qp1cyB/view?usp=sharing

 

Unfortunately I cannot use a 99 bit skeleton max. That's what I have used 6 years ago, when reading vanilla animations. There was no problem exporting modified animations. But as soon as I read a custom animation with more than 99 bones, the character is turned in-game at an angle of (270° - n). Meaning, a forward animation turns left, and a bacward animation right. And so on. Not that I cannot handle that, but it's not a very pleasant situation.

 

Now I assume your forward kinemetics max cannot easily be turned into an inverse kinematics max file? Probably doesn't make sense with all the extra joints that are defined in your setup?

 

Do you know another source where I could get an XPMSE compatible, inverse kinematics max file?

 

And thinking ahead: would it be possible, and would it make sense to turn IK walk/run animations into FK ones? Actually, I was very surprised reading your post. As much (or little) I understand about animations, they all use footIK (unfortunately no handIK). In order to have the feet close to the ground when walking up or down. So what is the benefit of FK? Is this something for idles only, to remove IK effects for example in sex scenes?

 

But thanks so much. I have learned a lot already. :cool:

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Something is wrong with your import process. Are you using NifTools 3.7.1? I use 3.7.2 but it's for Max 2012.


XPMSE3-84 "NPC". Although this shouldn't be a meaningful detail for what we're trying to solve. Doesn't seem to be needed because it's not in rig.txt. You can also see it when you open it up with Nifskope.

5a1f58aced2e9_XPMSE3Base_FKwalkTEST.thumb.JPG.22c74e5c4d14daaf2a58c50ad83b6fd2.JPG

 

Here are some properly imported animations saved in Max 2010 format:

max2010walkTEST.7z

hkxcmd isn't perfect when using non vanilla skeleton. Doesn't seem to have orientation problems. There are 2 versions in the file:

1. Dragonfly original I think. Seems kind of twitchy. Should be able to fix by zeroing scale keys.

2. Dragonfly high heels. Forearms don't seem to have proper twist.

 

I think someone has since made another IK rig which uses biped if you're comfortable with that. Should be on Nexus.

 

If all you want to do is add direction walks, IK rig isn't need at all. All animations ultimately end up as FK because it's cheap and easy for the engine (just addition math). Whereas IK rigs use things like solvers, vectors etc(ie more math, more expensive for the engine). Skyrim has some of this implemented on top of FK animations. For example, FootIK and look at vector. Having in game FootIK causes animations to be played in ways not intended by animators. Good for standing on slopes, not good for custom animations.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I use NifTools 3.8.0. It's supposed to work for every 3ds max, although (scarcely) tested for newer releases.

 

My probelm is that I couldn't find a 2010 max file with the XPMSE BBP bones. 2 of your examples are for vanille. That I had running 6 years ago. But at that time there was no need to read BBP animations . And your 3rd example, which has breast bones, has like 400 more bones as well. Amazing that this is possible. But I don't dare to touch this.

 

I've tried a lot. 2014-64 seemed great. I even saw the NPC bone there, with the same kf animation I used in 2010, 2010 with your max files, 2011. And where there was NO NPC bone at all. With the same NIF Tools version. How can this be? The big showstopper there was the export. Since HCT 64bit requires a license key, I had to use the Anarchy Project exporter. But that failed miserably. Only created a half size file, which caused CTD when starting Skyrim.

 

With 2011 there was still another different showstopper with groovtama's max file. After importing a kf file, the feet were stuck to the NPC Root_ctrl bones. Another form of IK related problems?

 

So in order to delay my Sexy Move update with the 360 animations I released al files without any breast or butt movement. How needs BBP for LE anyway? And in SSE we already have CBP. But I will still be looking out for a 2010/XPMSE max file.

 

But thanks for your help. With all your input I have at least learned quite a bit. :smile:

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12 hours ago, MadMansGun said:

and your not crashing on load? for me and most others 3.7.1 is the last version that worked for 2010.

Not at all. Except when trying with 2014-64. But I think that had to do more with the Anarchy export.

 

In fact, with 3.7.1 the 2010 crashed when opening the max file I got from CPU/AnubiSs. Something I never had with 3.8.0. The only problem I had was the permanent scaling of the bones when importing. Which in some cases caused upside down animation parts (due to negative scales), or even total distortion. But that has always been n issue as far as I remember.

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On 12/13/2017 at 4:01 PM, fore said:

I use NifTools 3.8.0. It's supposed to work for every 3ds max, although (scarcely) tested for newer releases.

 

I thought later NifTools are good for meshes but not good for animations? Seems to be different branches of various versions. Kind of confusing. Here's my version for Max 2012 if it helps:

niftools.JPG.d45f5de5bf3565529a48f9bec2b00e41.JPG

 

On 12/13/2017 at 4:01 PM, fore said:

My probelm is that I couldn't find a 2010 max file with the XPMSE BBP bones. 2 of your examples are for vanille. That I had running 6 years ago. But at that time there was no need to read BBP animations . And your 3rd example, which has breast bones, has like 400 more bones as well. Amazing that this is possible. But I don't dare to touch this.

 

So in order to delay my Sexy Move update with the 360 animations I released al files without any breast or butt movement. How needs BBP for LE anyway? And in SSE we already have CBP. But I will still be looking out for a 2010/XPMSE max file.

 

Here's XPMSE resource files for Max 2010 found from https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/68000:

XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z

 

On 12/13/2017 at 4:01 PM, fore said:

I've tried a lot. 2014-64 seemed great. I even saw the NPC bone there, with the same kf animation I used in 2010, 2010 with your max files, 2011. And where there was NO NPC bone at all. With the same NIF Tools version. How can this be? The big showstopper there was the export. Since HCT 64bit requires a license key, I had to use the Anarchy Project exporter. But that failed miserably. Only created a half size file, which caused CTD when starting Skyrim.

 

Only Max 2010-2012 has a proper HCT exporter as far as I know.

 

On 12/13/2017 at 4:01 PM, fore said:

With 2011 there was still another different showstopper with groovtama's max file. After importing a kf file, the feet were stuck to the NPC Root_ctrl bones. Another form of IK related problems?

 

What groovtama max file is this? There's some confusion here. "NPC Root_ctrl" or anything with "_ctrl" suffix are custom added objects found in my IK rigs. Do not import animations with this rig(the file from your google drive). Instead, use a raw skeleton without any rigging. Linked above named XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z

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6 hours ago, pornphile said:

Here's XPMSE resource files for Max 2010 found from https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/68000:

XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z

 

 

Where did you get this max files from? They are not from this link (XPMSE). The max files in the xpmse modders resource are for max 2011 and 2014. And the 2011 max can't be read with 2010. I asked groovtama about that, and he said he didn't have a 2010 max file.

 

The max files in here are similar to the one I got from AnubiSs. That's an XXXL file with 481 bones, including 13 breast and 13 butt bones. Not really what I want to use. :smile: 

 

What I want to try now is either to add the 30 BBP bones to the vanilla max file, or remove the superfluous ones from xp32's original XPMS max files. The 2nd path (remove from xpse) is probably easier, although that skeleton has 2 prebreast and prebutt bones on each side. While XPMSE only has one.

 

What do you think?

I would prefer to go the 1st path (add bones to vanilla). Write maxscripts that read the bone parameters, and maybe one that add the bones with these parameters. I have experience with maxscript. But what I'm missing is a (preferably written) tutorial on how to deal with skeleton bones. I was looking around, and there many tutorials alltogether. But few talking about skeletons/bones, and nothing to skyrim skeletons. Do you know anything where I get get this information? I'm not afraid to dig in, but I'm afraid that I spend a lot of time again, and then I run into another block.

 

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1 hour ago, fore said:

 

Where did you get this max files from? They are not from this link (XPMSE). The max files in the xpmse modders resource are for max 2011 and 2014. And the 2011 max can't be read with 2010. I asked groovtama about that, and he said he didn't have a 2010 max file.

 

The max files in here are similar to the one I got from AnubiSs. That's an XXXL file with 481 bones, including 13 breast and 13 butt bones. Not really what I want to use. :smile: 

 

What I want to try now is either to add the 30 BBP bones to the vanilla max file, or remove the superfluous ones from xp32's original XPMS max files. The 2nd path (remove from xpse) is probably easier, although that skeleton has 2 prebreast and prebutt bones on each side. While XPMSE only has one.

 

What do you think?

I would prefer to go the 1st path (add bones to vanilla). Write maxscripts that read the bone parameters, and maybe one that add the bones with these parameters. I have experience with maxscript. But what I'm missing is a (preferably written) tutorial on how to deal with skeleton bones. I was looking around, and there many tutorials alltogether. But few talking about skeletons/bones, and nothing to skyrim skeletons. Do you know anything where I get get this information? I'm not afraid to dig in, but I'm afraid that I spend a lot of time again, and then I run into another block.

 

I got the max file from the Nexus link as posted. I simply saved it to Max 2010 format(If you weren't able to do so yourself). What showstopper is preventing you from using this file?

 

I think you are getting hung up on expecting a certain number of bones in the skeleton. The "XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z" file I posted has ~370 bones/nodes. However, a lot of these bones are for CME/Bodyslide/HDT and are not used by animators. Take a look at "XPMS RIG 3.0 BBP.txt" and you will see 129 entries. This is what is exported, not all 370 bones.

 

All of the useless bones are already hidden in their own layer if you want to delete them. For what purpose do you need such a specific skeleton?

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1 hour ago, pornphile said:

I got the max file from the Nexus link as posted. I simply saved it to Max 2010 format(If you weren't able to do so yourself). What showstopper is preventing you from using this file?

 

I think you are getting hung up on expecting a certain number of bones in the skeleton. The "XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z" file I posted has ~370 bones/nodes. However, a lot of these bones are for CME/Bodyslide/HDT and are not used by animators. Take a look at "XPMS RIG 3.0 BBP.txt" and you will see 129 entries. This is what is exported, not all 370 bones.

 

All of the useless bones are already hidden in their own layer if you want to delete them. For what purpose do you need such a specific skeleton?

 

That means a 2011 file can be saved in 2010? Because that's what groovtama told me you can't. And the only 2 max files at this Nexus link (XPMSE) are 2011/2014.

 

Now if this is the same file then Thank You. :grin:

 

One reason I wanted to get rid of these unnecessary bones is the mess they are creating (for me). Probably you are capable of dealing with layers, I'm not. And always when I look for specific bones (H key) I get all these unneccities, unless I display children.

 

And I also get strange displays. In your max file with animations, the head and some other parts of the body are intermittently displayed as empty blocks. I can't believe that this is defined that way. Maybe because of the high load?

 

But my main concern were superfluous biped bones, in particular the breast and butt bones. The old XPMS has defined 6 breast bones, in particular TWO prebreast bones on each side. The max file you have posted has 7 bones, including an additional "Breast". The good thing is, that there are no 2 prebreast on each side now. I can imagine that a Breast01 that comes AFTER each "NPC Breast" can be ignored. What concerns me now is this additional "Breast". That on is animated, but it doesn't exist in the hkx skeleton. Will this part of the movement be ignored in the final animation?

 

But the more I look at your maxh file, the more confident I get that this is exactly what I needed. Ok, I will start converting those BBP animations to 360. And then we'll see what happens.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

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Hai pornphile

 

First of all thank you for the video tutorial, definitely helpful. I do have a question regarding smooth animation transition, as i know to do it is not including the last frame of the animation which is basically same as the first frame so it don't get played twice (i think). i.e 51 frame animation with 0 & 51 are the same but export it as 50 without the last frame. So which part that i need to do that based on your video in the 1st post, is it on the dope sheet or at 6.12 / 6.52 / 7.06 (time in your video).

 

TIA.
 

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18 hours ago, fore said:

 

That means a 2011 file can be saved in 2010? Because that's what groovtama told me you can't. And the only 2 max files at this Nexus link (XPMSE) are 2011/2014.

 

Now if this is the same file then Thank You. :grin:

 

One reason I wanted to get rid of these unnecessary bones is the mess they are creating (for me). Probably you are capable of dealing with layers, I'm not. And always when I look for specific bones (H key) I get all these unneccities, unless I display children.

 

And I also get strange displays. In your max file with animations, the head and some other parts of the body are intermittently displayed as empty blocks. I can't believe that this is defined that way. Maybe because of the high load?

 

But my main concern were superfluous biped bones, in particular the breast and butt bones. The old XPMS has defined 6 breast bones, in particular TWO prebreast bones on each side. The max file you have posted has 7 bones, including an additional "Breast". The good thing is, that there are no 2 prebreast on each side now. I can imagine that a Breast01 that comes AFTER each "NPC Breast" can be ignored. What concerns me now is this additional "Breast". That on is animated, but it doesn't exist in the hkx skeleton. Will this part of the movement be ignored in the final animation?

 

But the more I look at your maxh file, the more confident I get that this is exactly what I needed. Ok, I will start converting those BBP animations to 360. And then we'll see what happens.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

I use Max 2012. Max can save files 3 versions back.

 

Layers are very easy to use(like photoshop layers) but you don't even have to mess with them because most of the useless stuff is already hidden. Another way to navigate the skeleton that you can try is to use schematic view: Graph Editors > Save Schematic Views > Schematic VIew 1. This will give you branching hierarchy

 

I sometimes experience flickering display. Maybe it's from saving files backwards? Maybe 3ds max glitch/bug? I don't know the cause.

 

I don't know about the differences between breast bones. Maybe it's the difference between BBP and TBBP. You can see in "XPMS RIG 3.0 BBP.txt" that "Breast" is not even used. The XPMSE page says its compatible with both BBP and TBBP so I'll assume so.

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18 hours ago, Kingpln said:

Hai pornphile

 

First of all thank you for the video tutorial, definitely helpful. I do have a question regarding smooth animation transition, as i know to do it is not including the last frame of the animation which is basically same as the first frame so it don't get played twice (i think). i.e 51 frame animation with 0 & 51 are the same but export it as 50 without the last frame. So which part that i need to do that based on your video in the 1st post, is it on the dope sheet or at 6.12 / 6.52 / 7.06 (time in your video).

 

TIA.
 

First and last frame should be the same. No need to delete. If your animation is 0-51 frames, specify 52 in "Loop Animations" part of HCT configuration. 7:06 in video. For range 0-51, frame 0 counts as 1 frame.

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On 17.12.2017 at 1:49 AM, pornphile said:

I got the max file from the Nexus link as posted. I simply saved it to Max 2010 format(If you weren't able to do so yourself). What showstopper is preventing you from using this file?

 

I think you are getting hung up on expecting a certain number of bones in the skeleton. The "XPMSE 3.0 2010.7z" file I posted has ~370 bones/nodes. However, a lot of these bones are for CME/Bodyslide/HDT and are not used by animators. Take a look at "XPMS RIG 3.0 BBP.txt" and you will see 129 entries. This is what is exported, not all 370 bones.

 

All of the useless bones are already hidden in their own layer if you want to delete them. For what purpose do you need such a specific skeleton?

 

The misery continues. :grimace: 

 

Did you try to export with these max files? I got "invalid skew/scale" warnings, both on the initial pose, as well as on the animations. And the animation in-game goes Berserk. With warnings like

 

        [0xabba99f4] Warning : Invalid scale/skew in initial pose of bone QUIVER
        [0xabba99f4] Warning : Invalid scale/skew in initial pose of bone WeaponAxe

        [0xabba3a95] Warning : Animation for bone NPC L Foot [Lft ] has invalid skew/scale
        [0xabba3a95] Warning : Animation for bone NPC R Foot [Rft ] has invalid skew/scale

I went back from nif tools 3.8.0 to 3.7.1, but there max even aborted with a general error.

 

I know these warnings from the early days of Skyrim. They were very common, because every one was eager to import animation. And the common cure was to reset scale and stretch with the bone tools. Which usually helped, and I also used it once. But now these warnings don't go away. Which doesn't surprise me. Because with your original max file I even wrote a script to reset scales for each frames. But scales were always set differently again almost immediately. IK consequence?

 

Niftools have been very error prone regarding animations six years ago, and apparently nothing has changed. That's the reason I rather wanted to add a few bones to a max file (created by the holy Saidenstorm) which I'm familiar with since the beginning. And I think I'll try to go that way now as my final resort.

 

Don't you know of any tutorials about adding bones? I found one, but for general 3ds only. I'm afraid I could be missing something Skyrim/Havok specific.

Or, would you be so kind and give me a SHORT abstract about what to do? Before I bug you some more with my whining. :grin: 

 

 

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15 hours ago, fore said:

 

The misery continues. :grimace: 

 

Did you try to export with these max files? I got "invalid skew/scale" warnings, both on the initial pose, as well as on the animations. And the animation in-game goes Berserk. With warnings like

 


        [0xabba99f4] Warning : Invalid scale/skew in initial pose of bone QUIVER
        [0xabba99f4] Warning : Invalid scale/skew in initial pose of bone WeaponAxe

        [0xabba3a95] Warning : Animation for bone NPC L Foot [Lft ] has invalid skew/scale
        [0xabba3a95] Warning : Animation for bone NPC R Foot [Rft ] has invalid skew/scale

I went back from nif tools 3.8.0 to 3.7.1, but there max even aborted with a general error.

 

I know these warnings from the early days of Skyrim. They were very common, because every one was eager to import animation. And the common cure was to reset scale and stretch with the bone tools. Which usually helped, and I also used it once. But now these warnings don't go away. Which doesn't surprise me. Because with your original max file I even wrote a script to reset scales for each frames. But scales were always set differently again almost immediately. IK consequence?

 

Niftools have been very error prone regarding animations six years ago, and apparently nothing has changed. That's the reason I rather wanted to add a few bones to a max file (created by the holy Saidenstorm) which I'm familiar with since the beginning. And I think I'll try to go that way now as my final resort.

 

Don't you know of any tutorials about adding bones? I found one, but for general 3ds only. I'm afraid I could be missing something Skyrim/Havok specific.

Or, would you be so kind and give me a SHORT abstract about what to do? Before I bug you some more with my whining. :grin: 

 

 

I cleaned up the skeleton by disabling scaling from Bone Tools. Should be free of invalid scale/skew issues now. I've also included a test export as xml but can't test in game at the moment. Use hktcnv to convert to hkx.  XPMSE 3.0 2010_Cleaned.7z

 

One concern might be that Havok is complaining about missing weapon, shield bones. I've never worked with weapons so I don't know how this will affect things. Should be able to just simply rename the bones to match the rig.txt(case sensitive). I think XPMSE changed the bones to have prefix "Default" in their names. But first try without renaming anything and ignoring errors.

 

All skeletons are fundamentally the same. Just nodes in a hierarchy. Skyrim skeleton is no different so any 3ds skeleton tutorial is fine. However, when we're talking about adding new bones to the skeleton in game, that's when it gets a lot more complicated where you need to edit Havok assets. You'll have to talk to groov if you want to do this. Also wishnot(creator of centaurs). But just editing the skeleton within 3ds max is straight forward.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 19.12.2017 at 7:50 AM, pornphile said:

I cleaned up the skeleton by disabling scaling from Bone Tools. Should be free of invalid scale/skew issues now. I've also included a test export as xml but can't test in game at the moment. Use hktcnv to convert to hkx.  XPMSE 3.0 2010_Cleaned.7z

 

One concern might be that Havok is complaining about missing weapon, shield bones. I've never worked with weapons so I don't know how this will affect things. Should be able to just simply rename the bones to match the rig.txt(case sensitive). I think XPMSE changed the bones to have prefix "Default" in their names. But first try without renaming anything and ignoring errors.

 

All skeletons are fundamentally the same. Just nodes in a hierarchy. Skyrim skeleton is no different so any 3ds skeleton tutorial is fine. However, when we're talking about adding new bones to the skeleton in game, that's when it gets a lot more complicated where you need to edit Havok assets. You'll have to talk to groov if you want to do this. Also wishnot(creator of centaurs). But just editing the skeleton within 3ds max is straight forward.

 

I just don't want to forget to thank you VERY much for your help. How did you manage to reset all those scale & scew issues after I failed so miserably after many hours?

 

No, don't tell me. I will never get friend with this tool. I guess without sound fundamentals it's impossible to have success with it. 

 

With your max file I was able to modify and port the BBB animations without any more problems. But I think I will never touch Max again. Never, never, never, ...

 

Unless .... :smiley:

 

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On 12/28/2017 at 4:27 PM, fore said:

 

I just don't want to forget to thank you VERY much for your help. How did you manage to reset all those scale & scew issues after I failed so miserably after many hours?

 

No, don't tell me. I will never get friend with this tool. I guess without sound fundamentals it's impossible to have success with it. 

 

With your max file I was able to modify and port the BBB animations without any more problems. But I think I will never touch Max again. Never, never, never, ...

 

Unless .... :smiley:

 

Glad you got it working. Like I said above, I used Bone Tools to disable scaling which fixes the scale/skew problems. Using Reset stretch/scale is an old method.

 

3ds max isn't so bad. Just like anything else, the longer you use it, the more familiar.

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14 hours ago, pornphile said:

Glad you got it working. Like I said above, I used Bone Tools to disable scaling which fixes the scale/skew problems. Using Reset stretch/scale is an old method.

 

3ds max isn't so bad. Just like anything else, the longer you use it, the more familiar.

 

I used the bone tools. But the reset stretch/scale is the only place (in the bone tools) is the only thing I can seem to do there which has any relationship to scale.

 

Can you tell me exactly what has to be done? Because I have released the 360 pack for Sexy Move now. But there are still slight, but noticeable defects in the exported animations which have not been in the original. Or does "what has to be done" only make sense when the export has this scale/skew warnings?

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I have a question related to people using different bodies.

I'm trying to start animating some things, but I use a different body in Max than in Skyrim.

 

This causes the Max animation to look good, but the ingame animation is off

Spoiler

5a4ebbe7b90f0_Skyrim2018010500_38_44.jpg.d398594feaf84e93feacd66f3045500b.thumb.jpg.30a5e6b6e4a743f05945b5747578e8fc.jpg

(fingers are above the vagina, instead of in front as I see in my Max animation)

 

How should I approach this? I have no idea and I don't want to continue animating when I have this problem in my head aha.

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