How to animate in OFP?

[USMCSonic 10]

Hello, I'm a long time ofp player and I have really wanted to get into the animation buisness for it is very cool. Are there any programs to help me?

OR any tutorials?

Thank you.

[sanctuary 19]

That's the website that started me :

http://ofp.gamepark.cz/_hosted/animcenter/

There are some tutorial for OFPAnim there.

Additionally, if you are not thrown away by the limitations of OFPAnim, you may want to get RTM Toolbox, a very good companion for it, allowing you to use some usefull features that are not in OFPAnim. :

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=66396

If you are a 3DS Max or Maya user, there are ways to use some RTM plugins created by some community members to build RTM animations for OFP in them instead of OFPAnim, but having neither 3DS Max or Maya, i can't answer any questions about them.

But from what i was told, it is way easier to build animations with those professional softwares than with OFPAnim.

[USMCSonic 10]

how come when I select the weapon movements it says nothing to edit?

[sanctuary 19]

I have no idea on what you are doing wrong as you give no explanation on the steps you are following. But if you are trying to create an anim from the default BIS position (and so no anim loaded) you need to select all the component you need and click on "New Animation" before being able to move/rotate anything.

I don't remember how it is explained on the tutorial, but here is a RTM anim file in which it is already done :

Follow this link

extract the noanims.rtm file from the rar archive.

it is the standard position , that i just rotated 90 degree (because the standard position has a wrong orientation to start with).

Just load this file in OFPAnim and you can start working on rotation/moves.

[Macser_old 0]

Never mind.

Edited August 13, 2009 by Macser
poster is obviously not interested

[USMCSonic 10]

ah okay, thanks sanctuary, i was getting a little confused, i also used the idea of you backbone from the DMA anims pack to get some ideas in conjunction with the tutorial, really helps.

[USMCSonic 10]

Man I don't know what happened!!!

When i want to rotate around instead of going around its self it goes in a circle???

LOOK!!

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/Advand/?action=view&current=untitled-1.jpg

http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/Advand/?action=view&current=unt2.jpg

[sanctuary 19]

That was what Macser explained to you before.

You need to change the pivot for the weapon and rocket launcher and then save it after.

To do so, load the "noanims.rtm" then click on Weapon (movement).

Now click on "Change Pivot and Linking". "Change Pivot and Linking" will become red

It will move and rotate the model, don't worry it is normal.

Press and leave the SHIFT pressed on your keyboard

Click on the (roughly) center of the rifle you see, it will move the yellow point, use the 3 view to have the yellow in the center of the rifle in each view.

Now click on Secondary Weapon (movement).

Press and leave the SHIFT pressed on your keyboard

Click on the (roughly) center of the rocket launcher you see, it will move the yellow point, use the 3 view to have the yellow in the center of the rocket launcher in each view.

Click on "Save Pivot and Linking" a window will confirm it is now saved.

Now click on the red "Change Pivot and Linking", your model will go back to its original position, and now every rotation you will do will use the new location of your pivot as its center.

Note : you can do the same for every body part too if you need.

[USMCSonic 10]

It worked! :D Only problem is when I configurated the Anim to be shown in game, the person in in the ground with head and half of his body showing WTF?!!

[sanctuary 19]

When you say "the person in in the ground with head and half of his body showing WTF?!! " is the unit having the default stance, or is is really your own anim, but with the body half in the ground ?

If it is the first case, that happens when the game do not find the animation, so either there is a configuration problem, a wrongly named class or something like this.

If it is the 2nd case , it may be because you didn't made your animation on the top of the ground.

See the picture that show you what is the line that is equal to the ground ingame :

(edit : modified the picture so it is more clear)

To bring your soldier back above this line, just click on "Body" to select the whole body, then leave CTRL pressed and click on Weapon (movement) and Secondary Weapon (movement) to select them both without unselecting "Body".

Click now on Edit , click on Rotate so it becomes "Move" and move the Y slider to have the body going to where you want it above the ground.

Edited August 17, 2009 by Sanctuary

[USMCSonic 10]

SANC YOU ARE THE MAN!!!! something else to ask, sorry about this man I love animating now :D How do you make it so that its stays when u move like an aiming anim?

[sanctuary 19]

How do you make it so that its stays when u move like an aiming anim?

I don't understand what you are asking there ?

[USMCSonic 10]

what i mean is there a way to make a non static anim, like one that moves?

what i mean is AN ANIMATED animation of aiming and shooting.

[sanctuary 19]

If it is how to create a RTM for non static anims, just making different frames in the same RTM instead of all the frames looking the same.

Unpbo an Anim.pbo from a mod\Dta\ folder or the main BIS one located in res\Dta\ and open some rtm like schuze0l.rtm (stand walking aiming) to see what i mean and study how it is done.

If you mean configuration, well it works the same as making a static one actually , just follow the static anim configuration and it should work with either playmove or switchmove, i never remember which one is to be used for static or non static anyways.

[USMCSonic 10]

Does this config look good?

// some basic defines

#define TEast 0

#define TWest 1

#define TGuerrila 2

#define TCivilian 3

#define TSideUnknown 4

#define TEnemy 5

#define TFriendly 6

#define TLogic 7

#define true 1

#define false 0

// type scope

#define private 0

#define protected 1

#define public 2

class CfgPatches

{

class My_First_Anim

{

units[] = {};

weapons[] = {};

requiredVersion = 1.96;

};

};

class CfgMovesMC

{

class Default {};

class StandBase: Default {};

class States

{

class My_First_Anim: StandBase

{

actions = StandTalkActions;

file="\ My_First_Anim \ My_First_Anim.rtm";

speed = -10.0;

looped=true;

soundEnabled=false;

interpolationSpeed=1;

connectFrom[]={Stand, 1, StandVar2, 1, StandVar3, 1};

connectTo[]={Stand, 1, StandVar2, 1, StandVar3, 1};

interpolateTo[]={StandDying,0.1,StandDyingVer2,0.1};

};

};

};

[cayden1988 10]

Yo Sanc. Your animations are good, I've gone through a lot of yours. But I'm looking for something more realistic, do you have any animations you've made where the body isn't stiff. As in, when you move, the head or the chest remains completely stiff.

I've gone through a lot, I don't think I've tried the rest I know there's more. You got any animations there that move the entire body in a realistic posture?

[stgn 39]

If you want life like animations you can use BIS standard they are motion capture even if the posture dosen't always look like a soldier.

STGN

[sanctuary 19]

Indeed, i have no motion capture studio and no professional animation program and no professional level of animation skill.

In fact i hate animating as it took already way way way too much of my nightly hours, i only do this because none else does it for me.

Additionally, some parts of the body may be too straight, but they are like this on purpose to fit my vision of the gameplay i want to have in my project.

Edited August 19, 2009 by Sanctuary

[USMCSonic 10]

:D Awesome

Edited December 14, 2009 by USMCSonic

[USMCSonic 10]

Sanc sorry for another reply but i need that noanims.rtm again :PPP

[sanctuary 19]

http://www.filefront.com/15129971/noanims.rar/

[USMCSonic 10]

Thanks! You're a good man :D