Help With Human Models

If you are a new Irrlicht Engine user, and have a newbie-question, this is the forum for you. You may also post general programming questions here.
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Scar

Help With Human Models

Post by Scar »

Hi,
I've got big troubles during the last days.
I want to make a RPG but therfore i need good human models.
But i don't know how to build them and their animations.
I want to have changeable armors faces etc.
But how can this work with the animations?
I don't know how to animate 3ds models with amatures during runtime.
And i think md2 Models wont work with changeable armors.
I hope you can help me.
Scar
Firemorph
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2004 2:57 pm
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Post by Firemorph »

As for the models, take a look at the Tools-sticky in the How-to forum!

The changeable armour and faces should be easy to to by using different textures. E.g. you have a generic human model and different textures which all fits to the model. Then you can just switch texture ingame, pretty easy. Take a look at the Hello World tutorial on how to do it.

The animations will be done in the 3D-package. Irrlicht will just run the animation you specify!

Hope this helps you out a bit..
Good luck with your project!!
Scar

Post by Scar »

Well I think you didn't understand what i tried to describe.
I don't want to change the textures but i want to have different polygon meshes.
For creating models i'll use Blender.
I can do everything with it.
What i want is when i change the armor, perhaps a gaunlet for the right hand,
there will be a different mesh for the right hand with new polygons.
The other parts of the model have to be the same.
If i do the animations in the 3d package, the new assigned armor parts won't be animated.
they will only move by ingame rotation and translating.
I hope you understand me now :D
But thanx for the fast answer. Didn't expect that so fast.
Scar
arras
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Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2004 8:35 am
Location: Slovakia
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Post by arras »

It is possible but its lot of work to doi especialy if you are just starting with 3D modeling.

You build all your models and theyr parts and animate them in your modeling or animating package. Animations of diferent parts should be the same ...mean they have to work independent from each other.

Then you load your model and add whatever you need like child node (face, armour) then you play the same frames of animation on all parts at the same time.
Scar

Post by Scar »

Uh thats really much work.
I hope anyone has got an easier idea realyzing this.
Scar
Guest

Post by Guest »

Only way you'd be able to do it easily is via skeletal animation then you could just attact the various new bits of armour etc to the relevant bone and hey presto it would move where it should.

Not sure if Irrlicht has skeletal animation support though, maybe for Milkshape?
Scar

Post by Scar »

Well i think it has got skeletal animation.
But i don't know if it's supported well.
I any post here, i can't remember what there someone wrote that
Irrlicht isn't able to manipulate the bones.
Scar
thesmileman
Posts: 360
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2004 2:20 am
Location: Lubbock, TX

Post by thesmileman »

The easist way to do this is to do all of your animations with all of the armor on the body in the place it would be on the person. Then export each object as it's own animation and load only the files the current character has such as an axe with a special glove. I know that things will overlapp in your animation package but this is the only easy way to get things to work very very simply.

No matter how you do it it will not be easy becaue your every animation of the character that you do such as running, rolling, and jumping, you will have to create a new animation for any item that he or she can have.

The only other way to do it which would not look as good is to control the position of the item exactly where you want it in irrlicht and then test how to move the item relitive to the character for each part of the body such as the hand and the feet. This way where the charater has a sword or a gun you can add it and it can follow the same path on the hand as anything else.
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