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avdoot
11-22-2007, 05:38 AM
Game animation problem: no. of nodes
:)hi all..this problem is related to game animation..mainly wth the no of nodes we can export to the game engine..

the prob is;
i was animating a guy which has 10 copter like blades(wth a fin on top of each one..i.e,20) n a bit slanted(see image for ref)..

so i need to animate in their local axis...however i did this..but i had to use one bone per blade n one each for fins..so total of 20 bones(:scream:very heavy for any game engine) apart from this the object itself has 26 bones(but these ones cant b reduced).

so the overall my object has 46 bones:D..n its a huge no. of nodes for a single object..

however my engine supports scaling of bones..:wise:

so If there is a way to combine all the 'fins' on top of the rig into one scaling bone, this could save some bones(i m using skin).

actually the model is ready to export into the game..this is only a minor prob..but technically challanged..so if u guys can help..it wd b highly appreciated..

thanks
switchblade327
11-24-2007, 07:52 PM
I'm a little confused. If they operate like a helicopter blade, you would only need to animate the hub; not each blade

If the individual blades need to open and close like a hand (which I suspect is what you mean) then a scaling bone could do it (not entirely accurate but workable), but scaling bones isn't something many game engines support (ask your programmers). If the fins on the end also need to bend/curl, then you basically have a hand with 10, 2 knuckled-fingers and you will need to use a ton of bones to do it right.

You could get the same result as scaling a single bone (including the same inaccurate deformation) using vertex animation instead (morphs/blendshapes) which most engines DO support.
avdoot
11-25-2007, 08:26 AM
:)Thanks Ryan..actually i solved the prob n u got it right :thumbsup:i am using a single bone for blades, what i am doing now is vertex animation(morphing) n itz working fine i exported it into the game n itz looking gud..


Thanks for all the suggessions..
switchblade327
11-25-2007, 10:50 AM
No worries. Glad you got it working.
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