Proper Way To Import Character Animation to ArmA?

[shammy2010 15]

Hi there

So recently, I've been successful at making an animation in 3ds max using Kiory's 3ds max rig which I found lying around the forums. Animation works just fine but then I run into this problem: I can't, in no way available in objectbuilder, import the bones and animation without some form of severe malfunction!

Just so you know I actually did try every method I thought was possible and not just kidding around:

FBX2RTM program: seems to tell me there's no bones/frames to export. Yes, I used a 2010 version of the FBX Format

.3ds: Seems to import partial names of the animation and it's just not possible for me to name everything by hand. I know there's something called rtmtoolbox which renames the broken names to proper names in the rtm file, however, it requires a script which was not in the folder it was supposed to be, nor anywhere on the internet

BVH: Not usable through 3ds max but motionbuilder seems to be able to export through this feature. Only problem is that I have no idea of how to use this program and apparently, it needs to be in a t-pose, which I have attempted for a whole day without being able to actually do it properly

ASF/AMC: same as BVH

TXT: Apparently, the VM script does not include animations

FBX import option in objectbuilder: This one is what gets me thinking if the rig maybe the problem. I can import the fbx just fine and the animation also plays fine in objectbuilder. If I was to export the rtm, delete the animations, then re import the animations, it would work just fine on that skeleton aswell. Unfortunately, when that RTM is packed in an a3 character example or on an ingame character in ArmA 3. the finger bones seem to be warping all over the place.

Strange problem. So I need to ask, what is the proper method of animating in ArmA 3? Any help for a newbie would be greatly appreciated

Unfortunately, it's getting pretty late and I need to do something tomorrow so I'll have to leave it here.

[shammy2010 15]

*bump: Please help, I still have no idea where to even animate the rig which I don't even think I know which one to use, in either 3ds max, maya, or motionbuilder, let alone implement in objectbuilder. A nice little push in the right direction goes a long way!

[Mladja-ArmASerbia 3]

Sorry buddy.

You are not alone in this problem. A lot issues about this problem are reported in last couple patches, but still no proper response about this problem from any of A3 developers. Even sometime if you make animation in OB it will not work in A3.

[shammy2010 15]

Hi! Thanks for the response! I've recently started working with motionbuilder seeing as it's probably the best way of animating, seems easier and the bankposes are from the folks at BIS so that ensures more stability. Only problem is I can't seem to export this file anywhere else without the bones messing up. I tried importing to 3ds max, maybe I can make an fbx from there since it seems to ensure working fbx files in my experience for objectbuilder. The problem is when I transfer the rig and the animation into 3ds max, it's a horror movie and arms and legs are all over the guys head and it's a very scary situation. So what would I have to do to properly export this to 3ds max so then I could import to objectbuilder?

[x3kj 1247]

I haven't tested animation files like hand gestures or real animated ones.

But i have static handanim positions working, as well as crew cargo positions, without problem. I use 3dsmax with kiory's character rig. And i use the old addonbuilder that Tom has for download on his HP to binarize the rtm's. I use fbx as file to load into OB and then export to rtm from there.

I havent tested it, but it maybe that OB doesnt even care if it's a bone you have imported via fbx, or just a box. As long as the pivot and it's orientation are correct.

if the fingertips are warping, make sure you have the latest rig from kiory. And make sure you export the numbered bones as well! FBX importer disregards all "end-bones". If you have bone1<-bone2<-bone3 , it ignores bone 3. That's why you find extra fake bones (numbers in the rig) that you have to export as well, so the real bones dont get removed.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Fennek

[shammy2010 15]

May I ask where I can get Kiory's latest rig? I used his a3_rig.max which I found in this thread: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?179091-How-to-export-animation-using-fbx

I tried to find his rig on armaholic with zero luck though

[x3kj 1247]

this should be the latest rig

[shammy2010 15]

yeah that's the one i linked. Thanks anyways, I'll give it a second shot

[shammy2010 15]

Hi! Sorry to bring this dead thread back, but I've made my animations using kiory's 2012 rig, only additions i did was i added a helper dummy and attached position/orientation constraints to it and the weapon bone, I also imported my weapon in and made it a child to a parent weapon bone which has the position/orientation constrant dummy. then I parented the dummy i created to the 2 circle helpers for the hands so I when the weapon is rotated or moved, the hands stay with. The bones themselves are never being directly modified.

The character is great, not one warped bone or anything as far as i could see. the only problem is that the weapon itself in the game is moving too forward and away from the character. I will show picture here:

http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/537374845719223809/6F781B871339BDCCFB3298BC04294CE29D0F9B77/ (116 kB)

as you can see, the weapon has moved a bit forward and away from the character, instead of the right hand on the magwell, the hand is on the pistol grip and clipping through.

I dont know if i messed up a pivot point, i tried resetting xforms and pivot points, then I think it may be the fbx export itself. I bake the animation, don't know if i'm supposed to do that. I get an error otherwise I believe

Please help!!!

[Mladja-ArmASerbia 3]

Can you wrote a way how did you make animation in max?

I tried several time and everytime hands on soldier are messed up.

[shammy2010 15]

Toadie's rig usually does that, I used kiory's 2012 one.

A tip though, don't mess with the elbow, even the helper object, it may look fine at the moment, but in game, it will mess the character up for some reason, just leave it as untouched as possible. If you have to mess with it, try to manipulate it through the hand helpers, usually it will find it's proper position at some point.

also assign helper objects to the weapon bone, never mess with the bones directly, they always end up with a horrific result at the end. Although it seems aligning the weapon itself to the bone may be harder than I may have thought.

[shammy2010 15]

Hey! So I finally got my animation! I figured out most of it, the bones can be twisted way further than they can be in game, so if you don't want them to twist, try to keep the joints looking relatively the same when you rotate. Also, for the weapon bone, DO NOT parent the reference model to the weapon itself, rather use position and orientation constraints. Just like the helper objects, make the weapon reference the same rotation value as the weapon bones themselves, THEN apply the orientation and position constraints.

Also make sure the that the (0,0,0) coordinates of the weapon reference model in objectbuilder is aligned exactly with the weapon bone (Not the weapon_nub) before applying constraints, NOT the center of the model itself. This could be anywhere, depends where your weapon model in objectbuilder is being pointed by the 2 brown lines of the graph that determines the graph positions, my weapon's (0,0,0) coordinates are at the end of the magwell where the magazine is fed, as you will see in a sample file I'm going to provide here. This is how you align the reference exactly to the bone so you can work with the bone directly

Now I'm going to provide you guys with my modified and extended version of kiory's rig. (I hope Kiory doesn't mind, if he does, I would like him to just tell me and I will remove the file from here). Basically it's an extended version of the rig for weapon animations and an example of how the weapons references should be and kind of similar to toadies rig where you have the weapon itself attached to the hands and will move the hands when it is being translated/rotated, however, the hands themselves can be animated without the weapon following the hands so you can do different crazy sh*t with your hands and the weapon will be there unaffected. Also use the selection set "exportskel", not "skel" and use export selected and you will get your bones loaded up in objectbuilder.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a24xh1etd5wh3pu/A3%20Rig2012%28Sham%20Edit%29.max?dl=0

don't forget to ask questions should you have any

[x3kj 1247]

If you are doing handanim's it should be noted that only the positions of the hand and finger bones are considered, in relation to the weapon bone. So you dont need to worry about the stance for the rest of the character when you are just doing a handanimation for your weapon (reloading animations are not handanimations!). The position of the arms are done automatically based in Inverese Kinematic. So if your elbow is weird ingame, you need to move/rotate the hands to fix it.

[shammy2010 15]

This was more for animations like reload gestures and other possible animations with weapons. Hand animations I've always just toughed through in objectbuilder lol

[Ranwer135 308]

I'm getting a similar problem too!

I made a simple character with the a3 character template (in 3DS MAX 2010), saved it as a .obj and imported it through Object builder...

Suddenly, when I test it in game, I see a default arma 3 character lying in the ground under my new character?!? (also, it looks like the LOD in 3ds max dissapeared when in Object Builder, and also the pivots :crazy: so frustrating adding them again, and they just dissappear :banghead:)

[Mladja-ArmASerbia 3]

Hey! So I finally got my animation! I figured out most of it, the bones can be twisted way further than they can be in game, so if you don't want them to twist, try to keep the joints looking relatively the same when you rotate. Also, for the weapon bone, DO NOT parent the reference model to the weapon itself, rather use position and orientation constraints. Just like the helper objects, make the weapon reference the same rotation value as the weapon bones themselves, THEN apply the orientation and position constraints.

Also make sure the that the (0,0,0) coordinates of the weapon reference model in objectbuilder is aligned exactly with the weapon bone (Not the weapon_nub) before applying constraints, NOT the center of the model itself. This could be anywhere, depends where your weapon model in objectbuilder is being pointed by the 2 brown lines of the graph that determines the graph positions, my weapon's (0,0,0) coordinates are at the end of the magwell where the magazine is fed, as you will see in a sample file I'm going to provide here. This is how you align the reference exactly to the bone so you can work with the bone directly

Now I'm going to provide you guys with my modified and extended version of kiory's rig. (I hope Kiory doesn't mind, if he does, I would like him to just tell me and I will remove the file from here). Basically it's an extended version of the rig for weapon animations and an example of how the weapons references should be and kind of similar to toadies rig where you have the weapon itself attached to the hands and will move the hands when it is being translated/rotated, however, the hands themselves can be animated without the weapon following the hands so you can do different crazy sh*t with your hands and the weapon will be there unaffected. Also use the selection set "exportskel", not "skel" and use export selected and you will get your bones loaded up in objectbuilder.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a24xh1etd5wh3pu/A3%20Rig2012%28Sham%20Edit%29.max?dl=0

don't forget to ask questions should you have any

Cant load file in max 2013.

its probably saved with with newer version of max.

[shammy2010 15]

@ranwar: I don't know exactly what the problem is but it may be a problem with the xy poser thing in obj exporter options, you could try toggling it or you could try to import your character as .fbx, obj doesn't contain animations anyways.

@mladjaSRB: Yeah, i forgot to save it to older versions, My fault entirely. I re uploaded the file, try it now, it should work now, I saved as max 2012 version.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a24xh1etd5wh3pu/A3%20Rig2012%28Sham%20Edit%29.max?dl=0

[Agarthan_Two 0]

Hello,

 

Just wondering if there's been any developments on this matter.

 

We've opened up a Bohemia issued .max file of the A3 Character with rigging.  It opened in Max just fine.  

 

We're trying to export it out of Max as an FBX so that we can import it into Object Builder, so that we can convert that into a P3D, so we can get it into the game.  But when we import it into Object Builder, the rig twists the arms all around.  I haven't even tried actual animation yet, I'd imagine the animation would come out as distorted as the rigging itself did.  

 

What am I doing wrong?

 

Would it be possible to export a .P3D directly from Max?