Creating animations

In this tutorial you will learn how to add an animation to a character.

Steps

1. Make sure you have downloaded and installed the Character Packs. We are using them in this tutorial.
   Also make sure you have the dungeon scene unpacked. We will use that scene as a test scene.
2. Open the character6/body.ma file in Maya. You see the poses are stored in keyframes.
   Also check out character6/body.ini file. It contains a lot of movies. We will be adding a movie pose that lets the character bend over.
3. Now we will create a new pose. Use the following Mel script to select all joints (Best is to create a button for it by dragging the script to the toolbar):

   select -r character ;
   select -add hip_left ;
   select -add hip_lrot ;
   select -add knee_left ;
   select -add foot_left ;
   select -add hip_right ;
   select -add hip_rrot ;
   select -add knee_right ;
   select -add foot_right ;
   select -add spine_bottom ;
   select -add spine_mid ;
   select -add spine_top ;
   select -add neck_joint ;
   select -add head_joint ;
   select -add shoulder_left ;
   select -add arm_left ;
   select -add arm_lrot ;
   select -add elbow_left ;
   select -add hand_left ;
   select -add shoulder_right ;
   select -add arm_right ;
   select -add arm_rrot ;
   select -add elbow_right ;
   select -add hand_right ;

   Select frame 300 and to Right Mouse Click - Copy.
   Select free frame 11500 and do Right Mouse Click - Paste (Paste).
   

   Now we created a new pose frame and we can adjust the new pose.
4. Create a bending pose by rotating the joints. To something like this:
   
   When you are finished run this Mel script (Best is to create a button for it by dragging the script to the toolbar):

   select -r hip_left ;
   setKeyframe "hip_left.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "hip_left.rotateZ";
    
   select -r knee_left ;
   setKeyframe "knee_left.rotateY";
    
   select -r foot_left ;
   setKeyframe "foot_left.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "foot_left.rotateZ";
    
   select -r hip_right ;
   setKeyframe "hip_right.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "hip_right.rotateZ";
    
   select -r knee_right ;
   setKeyframe "knee_right.rotateY";
    
   select -r foot_right ;
   setKeyframe "foot_right.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "foot_right.rotateZ";
    
   select -r spine_bottom ;
   setKeyframe "spine_bottom.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "spine_bottom.rotateZ";
    
   select -r spine_mid ;
   setKeyframe "spine_mid.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "spine_mid.rotateZ";
    
   select -r spine_top ;
   setKeyframe "spine_top.rotateY";
    
   select -r neck_joint ;
   setKeyframe "neck_joint.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "neck_joint.rotateZ";
    
   select -r head_joint ;
   setKeyframe "head_joint.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "head_joint.rotateY";
    
   select -r shoulder_left ;
   setKeyframe "shoulder_left.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "shoulder_left.rotateZ";
    
   select -r arm_left ;
   setKeyframe "arm_left.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "arm_left.rotateZ";
    
   select -r elbow_left ;
   setKeyframe "elbow_left.rotateY";
    
   select -r hand_left ;
   setKeyframe "hand_left.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "hand_left.rotateZ";
    
   select -r shoulder_right ;
   setKeyframe "shoulder_right.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "shoulder_right.rotateZ";
    
   select -r arm_right ;
   setKeyframe "arm_right.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "arm_right.rotateZ";
    
   select -r elbow_right ;
   setKeyframe "elbow_right.rotateY";
    
   select -r hand_right ;
   setKeyframe "hand_right.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "hand_right.rotateZ";
    
   select -r arm_rrot;
   setKeyframe "arm_rrot.rotateX";
    
   select -r arm_lrot;
   setKeyframe "arm_lrot.rotateX";
    
   select -r hip_rrot;
   setKeyframe "hip_rrot.rotateX";
    
   select -r hip_lrot;
   setKeyframe "hip_lrot.rotateX";
    
   select -r character ;
   setKeyframe "character.translateX";
   setKeyframe "character.rotateX";
   setKeyframe "character.rotateY";
   setKeyframe "character.translateY";
   setKeyframe "character.rotateZ";
   setKeyframe "character.translateZ";

   This will set the new keyframe and fix the pose.
   Save the character6/body.ma file.

5. Open the character6/body.ini file. Add this code after the jiggle_0 movie to create the movie pose:

   movie "bendover_0"
   {  
     frame[11500] = 0;
   }

   This will add the frame to the character. Save the character6/body.ini file.

6. Run the filemaker character6 creation script (see Character Packs).
   This will create the character object with the pose added.
   Copy the character6/characterShape.obj to the dungeon pack.
7. Now we need to describe how the animation is used. Open the dungeon init/std/base/char/char_base.dat file and add the following at the end:

   pose_type[126]
   {
     type = BENDOVER;      // The pose name
     id   = 0;             // The pose id
     name = "*bendover_0"; // The pose animation
    
     need_type = STAND; // Need this pose before starting
     need_id   = 0;
    
     go_type   = STAND; // Goto this pose when ready
     go_id     = 0;
    
     fade_in = 1.5; // Fade in
    
     damp = 3; // Damping
    
     loop = false; // No loop
   }

   Save the init/std/base/char/char_base.dat file.