Need help with animation creation!

[Eksclusiv]

Hey guys, so as the title implies I've been having two issues with my own Animation pack I've just created.

 

Used following tutorial: http://www.loverslab.com/files/file/2506-sexlab-animation-loader-guide-and-packs/

 

Tools: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/34671/?

 

---

 

My Problems:

 

1) In the game the Loop is totally broken, it's not clean at all. Comparison --> Inside Blender it Looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

2) Both actors stand inside of each other.

 

I have no idea how to fix both Problems. Anybody a Suggestion? I've uploaded my Animation pack here:

Eksclsuiv.rar

[MadMansGun]

i don't use Blender so i'm not 100% sure what i am looking at...

1. looking at the dark gray at the bottom, i think your last keyframe is outside of your animation's time frame.

2. when you first setup the actors did you move the com nodes or the root nodes? because moving the root nodes wont work.

but if needed you can offset the actors in your SLAL's source file.

[Eksclusiv]

i don't use Blender so i'm not 100% sure what i am looking at...

1. looking at the dark gray at the bottom, i think your last keyframe is outside of your animation's time frame.

2. when you first setup the actors did you move the com nodes or the root nodes? because moving the root nodes wont work.

but if needed you can offset the actors in your SLAL's source file.

 

Thank you for your reply!

 

1. Yea, good Point but that was just a test. First I thought that the shitty loop is caused by this (by not having cut Frames). I googled for "loop problems + blender" and people suggested to cut the animation length either at the beginning or the last frames.

In my first try there was no cut but it didn't help anyway.

 

2. No, I did not move any nodes as far as I know, hm. I moved the rig itself, though (since it was needed for the animation). I've just looked it up: "Controller base", "npc root" etc. - nodes were not touched for both actors. They are still on their Default positions.

 

What exactly do you mean with "you can offset the actors in your SLAS's source file"? I know of that source file but I didn't know you can position the actors afterwards.

[anubis]

Hey guys, so as the title implies I've been having two issues with my own Animation pack I've just created.

 

Used following tutorial: http://www.loverslab.com/files/file/2506-sexlab-animation-loader-guide-and-packs/

 

Tools: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/34671/?

 

---

 

My Problems:

 

1) In the game the Loop is totally broken, it's not clean at all. Comparison --> Inside Blender it Looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

2) Both actors stand inside of each other.

 

I have no idea how to fix both Problems. Anybody a Suggestion? I've uploaded my Animation pack here:

 

1. Thought it only happen with Blender 2.49b and i never really find a way to fix it, yes i got that too. For 2.49 it was IPO curves (Cyclic F-modifier\F Curve for later version CMIIW) which supposedly just to set it to cyclic extrapolation then the animation should loop smoothly, but after export it always broken. All i can do is playing the frames\sec setting just to minize the stutter (which make the animation a bit slow). 

 

2. Two way to fix that.

A. Either you set the offset for both actor using parameter Up=,Forward=,Rotate= in your txt template (check Rydin SLAL tutorial in section "Positioning". you'll get all the information there) but i prefer to set it within the animation.

 

B. After i load both skeleton into blender (M&F) they'll go in same offset, then all i need is to move NPC COM [COM] for each skeleton and set the distance as i wanted.  

Offset for both skeleton in Red

Male NPC COM bone in Green

Female NPC COM bone in Yellow

[Eksclusiv]

 

Hey guys, so as the title implies I've been having two issues with my own Animation pack I've just created.

 

Used following tutorial: http://www.loverslab.com/files/file/2506-sexlab-animation-loader-guide-and-packs/

 

Tools: http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/34671/?

 

---

 

My Problems:

 

1) In the game the Loop is totally broken, it's not clean at all. Comparison --> Inside Blender it Looks like this:

 

 

 

 

 

2) Both actors stand inside of each other.

 

I have no idea how to fix both Problems. Anybody a Suggestion? I've uploaded my Animation pack here:

 

1. Thought it only happen with Blender 2.49b and i never really find a way to fix it, yes i got that too. For 2.49 it was IPO curves (Cyclic F-modifier\F Curve for later version CMIIW) which supposedly just to set it to cyclic extrapolation then the animation should loop smoothly, but after export it always broken. All i can do is playing the frames\sec setting just to minize the stutter (which make the animation a bit slow). 

 

2. Two way to fix that.

A. Either you set the offset for both actor using parameter Up=,Forward=,Rotate= in your txt template (check Rydin SLAL tutorial in section "Positioning". you'll get all the information there) but i prefer to set it within the animation.

 

B. After i load both skeleton into blender (M&F) they'll go in same offset, then all i need is to move NPC COM [COM] for each skeleton and set the distance as i wanted.  

1.jpg

Offset for both skeleton in Red

Male NPC COM bone in Green

Female NPC COM bone in Yellow

 

 

Thank you too for your help!

 

1. Yeah, I had a similar issue with my Sims 4 animations (with the curves) but in the end I was able to fix it outside of blender (with the Sims 4 Studio tool, it was needed to 'read' the animations and in addition it has some minor Options to modify each Animation). So it's on Blenders end. As far as I understand you correctly there is no way to fix this Problem? Honestly, then it's Kind of pointless to Keep working on animations because the Transition/Loop is literally terrible.

 

2. Agreed. I would prefer to do it in blender (Sounds less tedious), however, I've no clue what I have exactly to do. Can't find anything that is called "NPC Com".

 

Thanks again!

 

Edit: I know that Mike uses Blender as well for his animations (and they work flawlessly). But I don't want to bother him since he already helped me a lot.

[anubis]

Look for Pelvis bone, NPC COM bone should close to it.

[Eksclusiv]

Look for Pelvis bone, NPC COM bone should close to it.

 

Ahh~, so you mean this:

 

 

 

Brown circle: Pelvis-bone

Red: NPC Root/Com I guess.

 

 

Yeah, they are are not on top of each other but where they are supposed to be (in blender).

 

​​Nevermind, I must have somehow moved the npc root ( female rig) too far below the ground Level. I Think this is causing the issue!

 

Edit: I am going to create a new Animation later and give it another try.

[MadMansGun]

 

Ahh~, so you mean this:

 

 

no, that is the root node (and that node should be at x0,y0, z0)

your looking for "NPC COM [COM ]" it should be the first node connected to the root node.

 

edit: and it's the same node that controls the thrusting, so you have already found it once. 

 

[Eksclusiv]

Well, I spent the last 3 hours building different animations (with different bones 'activated' each etc.) and the result was always the same: Both actors were standing inside each other and the animation itself played terribly (while being fluid in blender). So nothing had an Impact on the result.

 

 

I've given up on creating animations for skyrim since there is probably no way to fix this (although animators such as Mike found a way).

 

Anyway: Thank you everybody who tried to help me. This thread can be deleted.

[MadMansGun]

Well, I spent the last 3 hours building different animations (with different bones 'activated' each etc.) and the result was always the same: Both actors were standing inside each other and the animation itself played terribly (while being fluid in blender). So nothing had an Impact on the result.

 

 

I've given up on creating animations for skyrim since there is probably no way to fix this (although animators such as Mike found a way).

 

Anyway: Thank you everybody who tried to help me. This thread can be deleted.

 

don't give up, it took me days to get my first animation running right (it was a wrong export setting).

 

[Eksclusiv]

 

Well, I spent the last 3 hours building different animations (with different bones 'activated' each etc.) and the result was always the same: Both actors were standing inside each other and the animation itself played terribly (while being fluid in blender). So nothing had an Impact on the result.

 

 

I've given up on creating animations for skyrim since there is probably no way to fix this (although animators such as Mike found a way).

 

Anyway: Thank you everybody who tried to help me. This thread can be deleted.

 

don't give up, it took me days to get my first animation running right (it was a wrong export setting).

 

 

 

Thanks, but I've no idea what I could be possibly doing wrong. I have no influence on the scripting part (since I am using N3 tools and the script is "set in stone"), so it can only be how I use the bones in blender. I gave it another go for 2 hours today. Found all bones now (also the NPC COM [COM[ one but since you can't "manipulate" it anyway I have no idea what to do with it) and tried some different scenarios here and there but None of them had an impact on both of my issues.

 

Even if I solved the positioning problem (which I doubt) then there still would the garbage loop mechanic.

 

But I appreciate your words.

[D_ManXX2]

maybe a stupid question but how did you bake the animation if your using the n3 rig from nexus did you also hit space and type bake and used bake constrain from blender before exporting ?? 

 

I dont see any mention from this part yet it is an essential part of any animation creation.

 

Also try posting your blender template maybe some user can figure out what is missed during export procedure.

[Eksclusiv]

maybe a stupid question but how did you bake the animation if your using the n3 rig from nexus did you also hit space and type bake and used bake constrain from blender before exporting ?? 

 

I dont see any mention from this part yet it is an essential part of any animation creation.

 

Also try posting your blender template maybe some user can figure out what is missed during export procedure.

 

Hi there!

 

What do you mean by baking the Animation (I think you have "Scripting" on your mind, don't you)? Well I used the following instruction:

 

1. Open file "Example_XXXXXX.blend" (for vanilla male or for UNP female)

2. Make your animation

3. Press button "RunScript" to create TXT file with animation keys

4. Run BAT file "Convert.bat" to convert keys from TXT file to KF and HKX.

At the end, tools create for you new file "empty_new.hkx" with new animation ready to use in game.

Just rename this file to the name you like and copy to the game Folder.

 

And then I just created my package file for Animation loader.

 

Is this wrong?

 

Here is my .blend file if somebody wants to look at it (it's the old one where I supposedly moved the NPC Root and Controller base bone(s) ).  

animation.rar

[D_ManXX2]

you need to use bake action first before exporting: and the baked animation should be exporting normally:

 

try to check my test template you only need to export this it is allready baked for you

D_ManXX2_DoggyStyle_New_Test.7z

[D_ManXX2]

 

maybe a stupid question but how did you bake the animation if your using the n3 rig from nexus did you also hit space and type bake and used bake constrain from blender before exporting ?? 

 

I dont see any mention from this part yet it is an essential part of any animation creation.

 

Also try posting your blender template maybe some user can figure out what is missed during export procedure.

 

Hi there!

 

What do you mean by baking the Animation (I think you have "Scripting" on your mind, don't you)? Well I used the following instruction:

 

1. Open file "Example_XXXXXX.blend" (for vanilla male or for UNP female)

2. Make your animation

3. Press button "RunScript" to create TXT file with animation keys

4. Run BAT file "Convert.bat" to convert keys from TXT file to KF and HKX.

At the end, tools create for you new file "empty_new.hkx" with new animation ready to use in game.

Just rename this file to the name you like and copy to the game Folder.

 

And then I just created my package file for Animation loader.

 

Is this wrong?

 

Here is my .blend file if somebody wants to look at it (it's the old one where I supposedly moved the NPC Root and Controller base bone(s) ).  

 

no when your done animating you first need to bake the animation before it is ready to be exported in order to do that you need to hit space bar and type bake it will give you several option use bake action but make sure all the bones are selected first and bake your action now use the script you got from N3 and then all other procedures you mentioned in your post then it should work normally in game.

 

ok i baked your animation try to export it now how you normally do it ??

test2.7z

 

btw you are correct anton not mention baking but it is cruscial you do bake the animation first you are using constrain on your animation due to this you need to make use of baking fiirst or else your animation will not look like the blender counterpart.

 

 

Also what i always do is make sure all bones are selected hit tab to go into object mode and then run N3 scripts. It doesn't mention this in nexus but i never had any trouble exporting any animations created by the N3 rig.

[Eksclusiv]

 

 

maybe a stupid question but how did you bake the animation if your using the n3 rig from nexus did you also hit space and type bake and used bake constrain from blender before exporting ?? 

 

I dont see any mention from this part yet it is an essential part of any animation creation.

 

Also try posting your blender template maybe some user can figure out what is missed during export procedure.

 

Hi there!

 

What do you mean by baking the Animation (I think you have "Scripting" on your mind, don't you)? Well I used the following instruction:

 

1. Open file "Example_XXXXXX.blend" (for vanilla male or for UNP female)

2. Make your animation

3. Press button "RunScript" to create TXT file with animation keys

4. Run BAT file "Convert.bat" to convert keys from TXT file to KF and HKX.

At the end, tools create for you new file "empty_new.hkx" with new animation ready to use in game.

Just rename this file to the name you like and copy to the game Folder.

 

And then I just created my package file for Animation loader.

 

Is this wrong?

 

Here is my .blend file if somebody wants to look at it (it's the old one where I supposedly moved the NPC Root and Controller base bone(s) ).  

 

no when your done animating you first need to bake the animation before it is ready to be exported in order to do that you need to hit space bar and type bake it will give you several option use bake action but make sure all the bones are selected first and bake your action now use the script you got from N3 and then all other procedures you mentioned in your post then it should work normally in game.

 

ok i baked your animation try to export it now how you normally do it ??

test2.7z

 

btw you are correct anton not mention baking but it is cruscial you do bake the animation first you are using constrain on your animation due to this you need to make use of baking fiirst or else your animation will not look like the blender counterpart.

 

 

Also what i always do is make sure all bones are selected hit tab to go into object mode and then run N3 scripts. It doesn't mention this in nexus but i never had any trouble exporting any animations created by the N3 rig.

 

 

Wow! Thank you very much mate, as soon as I am back home I am going to try this out. One question, though. Where exactly do I hit space and type the bake command? In the "convert" - file from N3 Tools (so right before the process of creating the .hkx file)? Or in the script within blender?

[D_ManXX2]

You need to do it in blender only, you can hit space bar any where just make sure all the bones are selected first of the character armature. and new tab will open in the popup screen just type bake and you will see several baking options just use bake action in the list and will bake all the constrains from the rig into your current action now you are ready to go to script screen and run the script normally after that just continue from the instruction from N3 rig and you will have no trouble getting your animation in game.

 

 

[anubis]

You don't bake your animation ? so you practically keyframed all the way manually, that sounds ...tedious.

 

D_ManXX2 was right, you have to bake your animation before you export, thought you already knew that, seeing you've done some animations for Sims 4. Sorry, for not mentioning the bake animation process.

 

About the bake command, it should be in script window - scripts - bake animation but before that you should select the skeleton that you want to bake first. After baking is done there should be a new skeleton overlapping the skeleton that you use for animating. Delete everything except the baked skeleton, select the skeleton and export. This is from 2.49b though, for blender later version due huge interface alteration i dont really know where the bake option is, but for procces it should be similar.

[Eksclusiv]

You need to do it in blender only, you can hit space bar any where just make sure all the bones are selected first of the character armature. and new tab will open in the popup screen just type bake and you will see several baking options just use bake action in the list and will bake all the constrains from the rig into your current action now you are ready to go to script screen and run the script normally after that just continue from the instruction from N3 rig and you will have no trouble getting your animation in game.

 

Thanks! I tried that, first I selected my amature, then I pressed "a" twice to select every bone in the rig. Afterwards I hit the "space"-key and searched for "bake"

 

 

Those are the results I got. The only one that did something was "Object: Bake". After I clicked on it this message came:

 

 

Am I doing something wrong here?

You don't bake your animation ? so you practically keyframed all the way manually, that sounds ...tedious.

 

D_ManXX2 was right, you have to bake your animation before you export, thought you already knew that, seeing you've done some animations for Sims 4. Sorry, for not mentioning the bake animation process.

 

About the bake command, it should be in script window - scripts - bake animation but before that you should select the skeleton that you want to bake first. After baking is done there should be a new skeleton overlapping the skeleton that you use for animating. Delete everything except the baked skeleton, select the skeleton and export. This is from 2.49b though, for blender later version due huge interface alteration i dont really know where the bake option is, but for procces it should be similar.

 

No, I never baked anything in Blender. It was not needed for TS4. But I am glad you guys are trying to help me out here. Appreciate it a lot.

 

But I can't find anything related to baking in the "scripting" window, in my blender it looks like this: http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170404/jec4fiak.png

[D_ManXX2]

bake action not bake

try checking the test template i supplied in previous post

 

bake will only work if your in object mode currently your still in pose mode

[Eksclusiv]

bake action not bake

try checking the test template i supplied in previous post

 

Got it!

[D_ManXX2]

your almost there so hang in there and you will be able build any animation for skyrim.

[Tweens]

For baking:

 

Select all bones (A on keyboard).  Anton's script ignores all control bones and they are needed for baking.

 

In Pose mode:

Pose button (next to the Mode dropdown)->Animation->Bake Action.

Choose:  Only Selected, Visual Keying, Clear Constraints.

 

Press ok.

[D_ManXX2]

 

No, I never baked anything in Blender. It was not needed for TS4. But I am glad you guys are trying to help me out here. Appreciate it a lot.

 

But I can't find anything related to baking in the "scripting" window, in my blender it looks like this: http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170404/jec4fiak.png

 

 

under the screen text editor you should be able to run anton scripts normally not script editor sorry.

 

Make sure anton script is seleted in your screen and use the command Run Script normally to export your animation you baked from blender. and you should be able to continue follow the tutorial from Anton N3 Rig.

[Eksclusiv]

your almost there so hang in there and you will be able build any animation for skyrim.

 

Thank you, but it didn't work unfortunately .

 

What I did: I downloaded your baked Version of my Animation + I did it on my own and the result was the same: Glitchy Loop + actors were still inside of each other. So baking had no effect.

 

Before I hit "run script" it Looks like this (After baking) : http://fs5.directupload.net/images/170404/6p92w8t2.png

 

For baking:

 

Select all bones (A on keyboard).  Anton's script ignores all control bones and they are needed for baking.

 

In Pose mode:

Pose button (next to the Mode dropdown)->Animation->Bake Action.

Choose:  Only Selected, Visual Keying, Clear Constraints.

 

Press ok.

 

Ah, I was not sure what I had to select. Thanks!