Blender animation: Vertex/shape keys rather than bones

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centipede
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Blender animation: Vertex/shape keys rather than bones

Post by centipede »

Has anybody succeeded in using anything but armature/skeleton/bones-based animation from Blender in Irrlicht?

What about:
Shape keys? (formerly known as Absolute/relative vertex keys)
Softbody?
Fluid?
Deformations?

Any help or ideas appreciated, thanks.
sudi
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Post by sudi »

i didn't even know that the .blend files are supported by irrlicht......
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centipede
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Post by centipede »

.... Using the DirectX exporter, ahem 8)
hybrid
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Post by hybrid »

Now you know where the limit is: .x has AFAIK no support for such animations.
sudi
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Post by sudi »

thats what i just wanted to say x only supports bone animations....but maybe blender is so smart that it can convert these other animation types to a bone animation....i don't know
We're programmers. Programmers are, in their hearts, architects, and the first thing they want to do when they get to a site is to bulldoze the place flat and build something grand. We're not excited by renovation:tinkering,improving,planting flower beds.
centipede
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Post by centipede »

I suspected so, but needed confirmation from .x experts. Thanks for the quick reply!
vermeer
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Post by vermeer »

ok, bones and weights are not morphing and those types of anims. Yet tho I have faked -not in irrlicht but with an strict bones and weights format- cloth, fluids, morph anim. You can do with any vertex format around.

That is: Just u need to "bake" whatever of your Blender scene as vertex animation.

Then, u need a vertex format (till we have a proper direct blender loader, of blend format or some sort of direct bridge, which sound to me surely intensive coding, tho I'm not a programmer.For Blender users, wether is levels or if haracter animation (for which I prefer) that'd be the best. ) The ones around that seem to be working of that type are...md2 and md3. I strongly recommend full piece md3 rather than the other.

If ur able to deal with it (I am, so is possible) you then can bake any advanced non bone based stuff. Yet tho I have often done with microbones tiny stuff like bulbing or cloths, hair, is a mater of do very good weighting and put well little bones....

Other engines do have a direct export of whole blender scene, but in the meantime, with enough knowledge, is possible to export all the anim types you said -baked- seen just as they are produced, provided the blender md3 exporter u use eats it well... in the meantime md3 for this, x for bones and weights, maybe obj for statics, can do for blender, imo.

Would have allways be cool to have a b3d exporter, now that is so well supported for irrlicht, many b3d users wished that blender exporter, some made a try, but didn't evolve.

I know I'm like an scratched disk, but now I vote for md5 format... :)
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centipede
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Post by centipede »

Thank you vermeer for the thorough advice. Looking forward to experimenting with md2/3. Never new anything about those formats.
vermeer
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Post by vermeer »

Hybrid I think has made an effort to add the patch of md3, originally created by someone esle. I hope latest CVS version -or whatever it is called- is having it.

certainly, a fully working md3 loader should be in oficial...
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centipede
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Post by centipede »

If you have any good hint on Blender exporters that we should know about, I am all ears :arrow: :shock:
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