Animation Guide and getting it to work in Skyrim (3ds Max)

[SirNibbles]

2 hours ago, coldloc said:

would like to discuss and ask the knowledge on the animation file format conversion workflow. 

 

below highly encountered file format: (skyrim)

 

.kf    ( hkx->kf   via hkxcmd.exe ) ,  with right skeleton the animation can be played in 3ds max very helpful to adjust weight painting and skinning result.  however,  if searching for methods to use imported kf to regenerate hkx,  hardly find any tutorials that will work in game on this reversed approach.  

You can import these animations but they won't be linked to anything. It's a lot easier to create new animations from scratch then manually linking everything, creating bones/meshes etc.

 

.xaf ( 3ds max can save animation in xaf  format   ---  mentioned in pornphile's video tutorial 6'01'' ,  is this a mandatary step ? )

I never converted to xaf, nor see I the reason to. Havok's exporting exports to .xml files and you can use the hktcnv.exe to convert these to the neccesary .hkx files. I don't know right now how you would convert .xaf files after exporting but why bother using this method above the known working method? (if you do get it working it will be at least as much steps and work compared to the regular method)

 

.xml (  Max 2012 - Havok Content Tools + input XPMS RIG 1.6c Full Bone.txt  => to export as xml format )

This is the known working method, and always works for me.

 

.hkx  ( xml -> hkx  via   hktcnv.exe  ) 

 Correct, I've written down the instructions on how to do it.

 

.hkx modified (  hkx -> hkx  via  hkxPoser.exe tool   , pose anim only  )  

Once again, no experience with this method. Poses are incredibly easy to make though, all animations are basically just a collection of poses following each other.

 

 

The character rigs in Skyrim:

3ds Max Skyrim Skeleton Controller Rigs_v0.13 (2015-01-24)     most animator recommend I'm using a modified version of this rig edited to my own preferences.

MalikCG_rig_XPMSE_Biped      reviews not found  Again no experience with this program, but since I'm already using a modified version for my own I don't really see the reason to.

 

 

 

 

[coldloc]

Here i got one puzzle in the kf file after using this workflow , 

 

I compared with below  ( xml -> hkx -> kf )  conversion approach in below

 

10-min Video recorded to illustrate the problem : link  

 

also with all the source file attached in the folder:  mega link

 

My puzzle here is : 

how come the final converted kf ( generated from the  exported hkx  - using the pornphile's rig  ),   

isn't working properly after being loaded into 3ds max ? 

 

 

 

[SirNibbles]

16 minutes ago, coldloc said:

Here i got one puzzle in the kf file after using this workflow , 

 

I compared with below  ( xml -> hkx -> kf )  conversion approach in below

 

10-min Video recorded to illustrate the problem : link  

 

also with all the source file attached in the folder:  mega link

 

My puzzle here is : 

how come the final converted kf ( generated from the  exported hkx  - using the pornphile's rig  ),   

isn't working properly after being loaded into 3ds max ? 

 

 

 

I already said it before : You can import these animations but they won't be linked to anything. It's a lot easier to create new animations from scratch then manually linking everything, creating bones/meshes etc.

 

After you finished your animation, your exported animation will be converted to an animation file. A lot of stuff will get lost in the exporting part meaning you can't properly load the animation into 3ds Max without having to edit the imported stuff so much that it will just be easier to re-create your animation.

 

I don't really know why you're so focussed on importing .hkx files other then editing existing animations, but like I've said before; it's a lot easier to create your own stuff rather then editing existing animations without the source files.

 

All that being said, I'm not an expert in 3ds Max either; far from that actually.

But I do know the exporting/importing is very limited.

[GoldenFrieza]

I know it clearly says Skyrim but given that the animation systems appear to be relatively similar between Skyrim and Fallout 4 I felt it may be worth asking:

Generally speaking, is the information here helpful/applicable towards Fallout custom animations? Mainly in terms of actually animating itself, there's information elsewhere that covers import/export since it's likely to be different.

 

Aside from the obvious points of needing different versions(which I have) of the software: 3DS Max 2013 or 2015 & Havok 2014.

 

I might want to try for Skyrim as well someday but I generally prefer Fallout 4.

[SirNibbles]

7 hours ago, GoldenFrieza said:

I know it clearly says Skyrim but given that the animation systems appear to be relatively similar between Skyrim and Fallout 4 I felt it may be worth asking:

Generally speaking, is the information here helpful/applicable towards Fallout custom animations? Mainly in terms of actually animating itself, there's information elsewhere that covers import/export since it's likely to be different.

 

Aside from the obvious points of needing different versions(which I have) of the software: 3DS Max 2013 or 2015 & Havok 2014.

 

I might want to try for Skyrim as well someday but I generally prefer Fallout 4.

The stuff I described in terms of animating should generally be the same.

As you already expect though the exporting part will be requiring different steps; unfortunately I don't know those steps for Fallout so I can't help you with that.

 

Although Anubis has some more in depth animation instructions on a post somewhere so you might wanna look that one up too (it's a bit more advanced though, mine just covers the basics since I mainly wanted to explain the process of exporting etc.)

[TDA]

How to make {sorted descending age} (bones and etc. sorting) by default, since the default {sorted ascending} is just awful - the hierarchy is all mixed up.

(3ds max 2016)

[CookieKookie]

(Sorry if I'm asking a dumb question) Is using 3ds Max 2012 compulsory? I have 2016 version. Will it do the trick? 

[MadMansGun]

1 hour ago, WHYAMIEVENHER3 said:

(Sorry if I'm asking a dumb question) Is using 3ds Max 2012 compulsory? I have 2016 version. Will it do the trick? 

for animation work you need 2010 or 2012 and the matching Havok content tools to go with it.

[CookieKookie]

5 minutes ago, MadMansGun said:

for animation work you need 2010 or 2012 and the matching Havok content tools to go with it.

Thanks for the quick reply! 

[Cobalt_Reptile]

Thanks, kind man! Great thanks!

What about attaching objects tutorial?

I tried to make one, but it faild. What I've done wrong?

1) Create anim (rather simple - caning on the bench, woman is on the bench, and man whips her), used meshes cane from ZazPack, and bench - vanila noble bench. I've attached cane to man as a weapon, but i didn't attach bench to woman, should i do it?

2) When i export models, i export male with cane, female with that bench.

3) I created folder in animobjects the name is the same as in animations, copy there objects (rename it in scene, and in folder)

4) Wrote in note "Animation(
    id="canewhip",
    name="Caning on the bench",
    tags="Spanking, Aggressive",
    sound=NoSound,
 actor1=Female (object="bench") ,
    actor2=Male(object="cane"),
a2_stage_params =  [
        Stage(1, silent=True),

5) Well, there were no problems with downloading animation to skyrim, it plays, but without objects.
       

[SirNibbles]

4 hours ago, Kobalt_Reptile said:

Thanks, kind man! Great thanks!

What about attaching objects tutorial?

I tried to make one, but it faild. What I've done wrong?

1) Create anim (rather simple - caning on the bench, woman is on the bench, and man whips her), used meshes cane from ZazPack, and bench - vanila noble bench. I've attached cane to man as a weapon, but i didn't attach bench to woman, should i do it?

2) When i export models, i export male with cane, female with that bench.

3) I created folder in animobjects the name is the same as in animations, copy there objects (rename it in scene, and in folder)

4) Wrote in note "Animation(
    id="canewhip",
    name="Caning on the bench",
    tags="Spanking, Aggressive",
    sound=NoSound,
 actor1=Female (object="bench") ,
    actor2=Male(object="cane"),
a2_stage_params =  [
        Stage(1, silent=True),

5) Well, there were no problems with downloading animation to skyrim, it plays, but without objects.
       

I really should add that part sometimes, but the more I work with objects the more bugs I encounter. I'm kinda afraid the stuff I will write down about it will be incorrect.

 

In any case, the thing you are doing wrong here is exporting the object with the animation.

Both the animation and object should be exported separately.

 

Since your animation export is going good I'm gonna skip that part.

 

Go into your scene and select the cane (double check if it also has smaller parts, if it does click those too so you have all the parts selected from the object), then export selected and save it as a nif file. Call it "canewhip" as you've already named it within your text file, and place it in the corresponding folder (Skyrim\Meshes\AnimObjects\YourFolderName) and since you're using a mesh that's already done I'm skipping the texturing part.

 

Now there are 2 methods to have your cane animated the "easy" way is to link your object to a controller and animate it like that.

The other one is to create a bone system for your object which is the "hard" way, I'm no expert on this either so I'll just give you the "easy" method description.

 

Whilst creating your animation, link your object to a controller (preferrably the hand in this occassion I guess), and double check what controller it is attached to (probably something like "NPC R Hand [RHnd]". You can check this while clicking the controller in 3ds Max.

Now go into your .nif file and right click on the NiNode/BsFadeNode then>Add extra Data>NistringExtraData.

Edit the values of that extra data so it states: Name-String: "Prn"

And Edit the values of the same extra data: String Data-String: "NPC R Hand [RHnd]"

This links your object to the movement of that bone.

 

Now go into the Creation Kit, and search for any "AnimObject" (should be under Miscellanous\AnimObject). It really doesn't matter which one you choose for this, just pick one and duplicate it. Now edit the values of your duplicate (rename it to "canewhip") and point it to the location where the object is (should be here Skyrim\Meshes\AnimObjects\YourFolderName).

While editing the values you can click on model, if you've pointed it to the right direction this should give you a preview. If it doesn't the game won't recognize your nif and you've either forgot something somewhere or done something wrong.

 

Now save your edits in Creation Kit and save it as "yourname", this will create an .esp which contains the info for your objects. Don't forget to turn this on with your mod manager of choice.

[MadMansGun]

9 minutes ago, SirNibbles said:

Now go into the Creation Kit, and search for any "AnimObject" (should be under Miscellanous\AnimObject). It really doesn't matter which one you choose for this, just pick one and duplicate it. Now edit the values of your duplicate (rename it to "canewhip") and point it to the location where the object is (should be here Skyrim\Meshes\AnimObjects\YourFolderName).

While editing the values you can click on model, if you've pointed it to the right direction this should give you a preview. If it doesn't the game won't recognize your nif and you've either forgot something somewhere or done something wrong. 

 

Now save your edits in Creation Kit and save it as "yourname", this will create an .esp which contains the info for your objects. Don't forget to turn this on with your mod manager of choice. 

i prefer using TES5Edit for this step, i find it much easier (and faster) to work with.

[Cobalt_Reptile]

Thanks for the answer. You're great person!))

But I belive that i'm an idiot =)).

I've tried to make it, and now I can see my objects. Well...

Bench works good, but there is a problem with cane. It moves like in 3d max, but far from the hand. In Max i used position constrain, and attached it to the weapon bone, in nif scope i tried different variants (attached it to hand, weapon) - the situation doesn't change.

I made one more anim. Also spanking, but on table, now i attached cane as link constrain to the right hand, but it still moves itself.

Also the table works good in 1st scene, but in the second one it moves from the charachter (she should sit on it). Table I attached to the root during work in max. But made no stringdata in nifscope (watched on the other models, also from your work, for exmp chair).

 

 

[MadMansGun]

1 hour ago, Kobalt_Reptile said:

Thanks for the answer. You're great person!))

But I belive that i'm an idiot =)).

I've tried to make it, and now I can see my objects. Well...

Bench works good, but there is a problem with cane. It moves like in 3d max, but far from the hand. In Max i used position constrain, and attached it to the weapon bone, in nif scope i tried different variants (attached it to hand, weapon) - the situation doesn't change.

I made one more anim. Also spanking, but on table, now i attached cane as link constrain to the right hand, but it still moves itself.

Also the table works good in 1st scene, but in the second one it moves from the charachter (she should sit on it). Table I attached to the root during work in max. But made no stringdata in nifscope (watched on the other models, also from your work, for exmp chair).

upload your cane's AnimObject nif so i can take a look at it, i think i know what the problem is and it should be easy to fix but it's a bitch to explain.

 

and fyi that "cane" looks like a African Sjambok.

[Cobalt_Reptile]

That cane is from zazpack), yeah, there is a little problem with textures (not only with it, bench and table are also black))

 

 

cane.nif

[MadMansGun]

6 minutes ago, Kobalt_Reptile said:

.

shit, there are a few problems going on with that mesh (eg: inverted faces, and possibly BSLightingShaderProperty errors) but in this case the main problem is that the mesh is not near the nif's Scene Root, when using "NiStringExtraData Prn" the nif's Root node becomes the targeted node (in this case "NPC R Hand [RHnd]") and since the mesh is far away from the nif Root it will end up being far away from the targeted node in the animation.

[MadMansGun]

whoever made that mesh should be ashamed of themselves, it's full of inverted faces, overlapping faces and holes.

 

at this point it would be better to find a different "cane" to use, this one has too many problems going on with it.

[Cobalt_Reptile]

It works! Great thanks to you!

 

When i export objects with motions, I should pose them on 0;0;0 coords in max.

I know about problems with textures exporting, my 10-max doesn't like when i try to attach the matterial or change it (it just closes), so I use 2018 Max for that).

I called it "I don't want to work with blender!").

[MadMansGun]

2 minutes ago, Kobalt_Reptile said:

It works! Great thanks to you!

 

When i export objects with motions, I should pose them on 0;0;0 coords in max.

I know about problems with textures exporting, my 10-max doesn't like when i try to attach the matterial or change it (it just closes), so I use 2018 Max for that).

I called it "I don't want to work with blender!").

that depends on what the AnimObject is and how it works.

 

to deal with textures you use NifSkope to delete the BSLightingShaderProperty and copy&paste the original from the original mesh.

[SirNibbles]

 

On 1/28/2018 at 12:23 AM, Guest sirrinriss said:

Ahrrrrg I've tried for an hour now to get this to work and I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, so I've gone back and taken a screenshots of every single thing I do:

 

So I download the required files and extract them, I originally had the hxcmd version 1.4  but that didn't work either, so this time I downloaded 1.0 to match the hktcnv

 

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Then I use a random Leito source animation and make a few small changes so I can tell the difference if they work:

 

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Following the tutorial I delete all the female parts of the animation so only the male parts are left, the only difference being the meshes with the Leito animation are kept in the top folder and not the meshes folder:

 

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Now that the female parts are deleted I select export from the Havok Content Tools menu:

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I follow the tutorial and make sure to select the skeleton that the animation uses:

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I then unclick 'frame range':

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When I get to 'write to platform' this is the bit that deviates from the tutorial, which might be where the problem is:

 

I try to save the file by clicking on the box but the file won't appear after I click save, no matter if I name 'simplename' or 'simplename.xml' it won't appear:

 

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So I carry on anyway and click 'run configuration' and instead of saving the file Havok Tools Framework opens and show me the animation working fine: 

 

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Since it's open I assume I have to save it but it gives me a few options to choose from, I know that I want this file to be an xml file but I save it a couple of ways just in case:

 

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Since they both just show up as "File" instead of what I selected, I rename the file I saved as an xml file, 'simplenamemalexml' file to 'simplenamemalexml.xml' and it's listed in the xml format:

 

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Then, finally, I open up the command prompt and run the cmd using the command provided:

 

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And then it crashes lol:

 

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It will crash the same way every time, and I've pretty much tried every file extension combination from the Havok Tools Framework and the Write to Platform stages I can think of!

 

Sorry for the long message but I wanted to show every single thing I'm doing with pictures to make it easier to read

 

If you know how to help I appreciate it but don't worry if it's too much work to figure it out, I'm only asking in case it's something really obvious that I've missed..

 

 

 

 

So I know I'm probably replying to an abandoned post. But I will reply here anyways because I've run against this problem as well since I've migrated to windows 10 (god what an annoying OS so far).

 

Took me a lot of troubleshooting and testing to find a "hotfix" for this so I'll write that one down here for future purposes.

 

The problem here is contained to the Havok content tools not properly saving.

For some reason (don't ask my why) it doesn't accept library/pinned folder shortcuts, in order to fix this (once again, don't ask me why because it really doesn't make sense to me either) start from your C:/ root folder and manually click the path you want to go to. After doing this it will save for some reason.

 

Either 3ds Max or Havok content tools doesn't really like Windows 10.

[MadMansGun]

4 hours ago, SirNibbles said:

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

So I know I'm probably replying to an abandoned post. But I will reply here anyways because I've run against this problem as well since I've migrated to windows 10 (god what an annoying OS so far).

 

Took me a lot of troubleshooting and testing to find a "hotfix" for this so I'll write that one down here for future purposes.

 

The problem here is contained to the Havok content tools not properly saving.

For some reason (don't ask my why) it doesn't accept library/pinned folder shortcuts, in order to fix this (once again, don't ask me why because it really doesn't make sense to me either) start from your C:/ root folder and manually click the path you want to go to. After doing this it will save for some reason.

 

Either 3ds Max or Havok content tools doesn't really like Windows 10.

 

any other tips for spycrap10? i can't get max to install in linux/wine (something to do with "MsiDatabaseGenerateTransformW") so i may end up stuck with that useless piece of shit soon.

 

edit: i already know about the window problem and fix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydUI-s18Zx8

1. Copy the 3dsmax.exe in your executable folder.

2. paste it back int he same folder.. you will have a 3dsmax - copy.exe

3. Change your desktop shortcut to run the -copy.exe version

a odd "fix" but people say that it works.

[SirNibbles]

58 minutes ago, MadMansGun said:

any other tips for spycrap10? i can't get max to install in linux/wine (something to do with "MsiDatabaseGenerateTransformW") so i may end up stuck with that useless piece of shit soon.

 

edit: i already know about the window problem and fix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydUI-s18Zx8

1. Copy the 3dsmax.exe in your executable folder.

2. paste it back int he same folder.. you will have a 3dsmax - copy.exe

3. Change your desktop shortcut to run the -copy.exe version

a odd "fix" but people say that it works.

If I find anything I'll report.

Besides the low fps and perfomance issues.....At least managed to sort of fix that....

So far I'm really not happy with Windows 10 (didn't expect me to either), it's only been giving me headaches so far and lots of troubleshooting and bug fixing for different programs.

 

But yeah.....support will end soonish for Win7, so I would've had to migrate sooner or later anyways.

[MadMansGun]

5 minutes ago, SirNibbles said:

But yeah.....support will end soonish for Win7, so I would've had to migrate sooner or later anyways.

that would not stop me (sill on XP at this time)...if it was not for the fact that i need a new computer and microcrap made it so win7 can't be used with any Motherboards/CPUs made in the past few years.

https://www.howtogeek.com/311743/how-and-why-microsoft-blocks-windows-7-updates-on-new-pcs/

 

...i wish ReactOS would get there ass into gear....that or a better version of wine.

 

 

[MadMansGun]

On 8/14/2019 at 1:28 PM, SirNibbles said:

.

shit, not working:

Quote

 

the havok filter manager dll was not found in the expected location:

.

 

Spoiler

 

-- Havok Common Scripts
 
macroScript mcrCommon_Export
    buttonText:"Export"
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Export..."
    icon:#("HavokCT",1)
 (
     hkSceneExportUtility.doExport()
 )

macroScript mcrCommon_BatchExport
    buttonText:"Quick (Batch) Export"
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Quick (Batch) Export"
    icon:#("HavokCT",3)
 (
     hkSceneExportUtility.ExportScene(true)
 )

 

macroScript mcrCommon_OpenUtility
    buttonText:"Open Utility"
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Open Utility"
    icon:#("HavokCT",2)
 (
    UtilityPanel.OpenUtility hkSceneExportUtility
 )

macroScript mcrCommon_ShowToolbar
    buttonText:"Show Toolbars"
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Show Havok Content Tools Toolbars"
(
    hkToolbarGUP.show()
    if (hkdToolbarGUP != undefined) then
    (
        hkdToolbarGUP.show()
    )
)

macroScript mcrCommon_OpenVideoBrowser
    buttonText:"Video Browser..."
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Open Havok Video Browser"
(
    hkSceneExportUtility.openVideoBrowser();
)

macroScript mcrCommon_OpenContentToolsChm
    buttonText:"Content Tools Help"
    category:"Havok Common"
    tooltip:"Open Havok Content Tools Help"
(
    hkSceneExportUtility.openContentToolsChm();
)

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: never mind, reinstalling havok seems to have fixed it.

[345702326]

Hello, I have successfully exported the animation, but I have some problems and need your help

 

The tools I currently use are:
3dmax2014
HavokContentTools_2013-1-0_20130717_64Bit_PcXs

 

What I'm doing and my purpose:
I modified the MMD dance and imported it into the skyrim（Done）
MV needs the motion of the camera to better perform artistic performance

 

My question was:
I tried to edit the camera, and when I exported it, I chose Hkx format, and when I previewed it, it worked.
But, perhaps because of Havok Content Tools, if I use hkx which 3dmax exported directly, the player will T pose in the game. I need do HKX→kf, and then kf → HKX, and then HKX can work properly.
When I do HKX → kf → HKX, the camera motion is gone

If you can, please try to move the camera, and export to XML → HKX, observe whether the camera movement is still working. It doesn't work when I use 3dmax2014 and do XML → HKX.

I observed Kom's working, the movement of the 3rd camera was possible. But he did not respond to me yet.Kom_Pole_Anal_A1_S2.hkx

 

I am very sorry for my English. Please reply me if I have not made myself clear

Looking forward to your reply