CGTalk - Is it possible to animate a treaded vehicle with just bones?

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Fanko

04-30-2010, 08:59 AM

I am currently working for a game project where I will be modeling, texturing, and animating a lot of vehicle units. (such as tanks, hovercraft, bike, etc)

I was present with a limitation, that I am only allow to use basic bones to animate all the models since this is only what the engine is capable of. (no IK, no NURBS, no use of constrains)

Previously solved some of the animation problem, being able to conversion motion path data into actual keyframes, which helps me achieve smoother animation.

I am hoping to use the same technique to animate tank treads, but without success so far.

Anyone has any ideas?

Many thanks :)

Darksuit

04-30-2010, 03:41 PM

Is this a custom engine or is this a commerical engine?

If so do you mind if I ask which one?

BTW yes it is possible, but you may have a bone limit that you may exceed. You will need to find out if you do have a limit on the number of bones. Some older engines have a limit of 32 bones due to the limitations of older video cards.

Darksuit

04-30-2010, 03:45 PM

Oh you shouold be able to use all your standard tools such as constaints and such. just remember that before you export to the engine you will need to bake the animation out.

Animation Menu set>Animation>Keys>bake animation

What baking does is create a key on at the bone level at a set interval. So you can have keys on every frame or every couple of frames. It is a good way to work around the limitations of an older system that states that it can not handle constraints and SDK (Set Driven Keys). SDK is the typical way I would wind up animating a tank tred.

Fanko

04-30-2010, 03:57 PM

thanks darksuit :)

JockeP

05-01-2010, 05:25 PM

Since it is a game and not high-end, maybe you could try to animate the texture or offset the UV?

Fanko

05-04-2010, 04:37 PM

i have been meaning to find out how to do that?

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