United3dArtists Archive

Greetings to all. I was wondering if several models can be independently animated in a single modelside scene? Each model will be separately animated, so how is this done? Would each model need to have a new clip created for each model, or would this be done on separate layers or should each model be done separately in a new scene. I mostly work on the modelside btw. Thanks, Leroy.

PS: I'm helping another BZII modder create a new race of aliens for the game and this particular model has about 4 different animation files that when completed make it move certain parts of the body to simulate wing type movements. I have the unanimated base model finished, but now I need to copy it several times and animate each model separately.

Yes, you can animate multiple models in a scene.
A good workflow is to animate simple objects (like cubes) and use the Object Replacement tool to place your final object when you are ready to render.
Note that you can also save each animated object in the Object Library or even as COB file so you can re-use its animation later for a different object, or place the animated object at a different location in the scene.

Emmanuel wrote:Yes, you can animate multiple models in a scene.
A good workflow is to animate simple objects (like cubes) and use the Object Replacement tool to place your final object when you are ready to render.
Note that you can also save each animated object in the Object Library or even as COB file so you can re-use its animation later for a different object, or place the animated object at a different location in the scene.

Thanks, Emmanuel. Adding the object sounds cool for each animated model. I've tried placing multiple copies in the same scene but tend to get lost after animating the first model. When I do number 2 and up the scene seems to get cluttered as the first model plays it's animation when I start to animate #2 and above. I've also tried adding a new clip for #2 and above but TS won't let me add a new clip for each other model. All of the animations are move and rotate based after I move the object axes to where I want them to be. I typically use 4 or 5 frames with a KF set for each new frame. Then I adjust the frame slider to stretch the short animation to like 15 frames; it looks much smoother from start to finish. Leroy.

TrueSpace's weakness is its animation control, but I never had issues animating several objects.
There is a plugin named KillAni that helps removing animation from an object. If an animation is going wrong, you could use it to delete the anim rather than using the Editor.

Did you checked your Bridge settings ? You should make sure it is set to OFF.