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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Holding items...

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Epimetheus
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Posted: 13th Nov 2003 02:53
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I was wondering if it is possible to use dummy objects to "glue" itemss like swords or guns to characters. What would be the process to do this?
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Van B
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Posted: 13th Nov 2003 03:19
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It's relatively straightforward.

You'd first need to know the limb you were gluing to, with hierarchy animation the pivot points of the limbs are the glue positions. With mesh deform animation, the bone locations are the glue positions - it's easy to get working though. I usually glue a gun to the writst, where there's usually always a limb, and the gun has to be offset so it sits in the hand nicely.

Once you have the object loaded you simply:

GLUE OBJECT TO LIMB Playerobj,Limb,Gunobj

Scaling can be weird, the glued object takes it's scaling from the parent object, but you can scale the glued object afterwards, can be tricky to get the sizes right.

Use a dummy limb on the gun object for it's firing position - you can get the position of a limb by using the LIMB POSITION X(Obj,Limb) commands (Y and Z axis too).


Van-B


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deX
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 16:58
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someone might be able to answer this:

i have my character made of a mesh and skin in 3dsmax, when i attach something to a limb, the attached object moves before the mesh does. i have tried linking and attaching the object in max, and also linking it in db, and no matter what i get the same problem. whats the story here?


-deX
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Van B
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 17:16
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I noticed that too, I think it's a little glitch in DBPro. You could try positioning the object at the limb position instead, might be less glitchy but it will need you to rotate the attaching object to suit the parent object.


Van-B


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deX
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 17:49
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would u believe that i tried what u said, and the problem is still there. but it is a bit less pronounced. but it is still an obvious difference between the mesh pos and the object.

its pretty important that this object stays stuck to the dude becoz the object is a ski, and skis dont move around on your feet. i have the same problem with his stocks

btw, if its a glitch in dbpro you would expect it to be fixed by now? is there anyone else who has this same problem? its really annoying me.


-deX
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Van B
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 18:00
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I'd be tempted to make the skis and poles and character as 1 object, then to change the skis or poles, I'd just use different textures.

It'd save a lot of headaches IMO - plus you could even bend the skis in response to the terrain by offsetting limbs using code.


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deX
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 18:17 Edited at: 14th Nov 2003 18:19
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cool thats a great idea. i was just thinking about the bending skis issue... never thought of putting bones inside the skis before... but on thinking it is definitely the way to go!

as for the limb issue, i just discovered that using limb position x() (etc) gets rid of the problem. using the limb offset funcs have that "delay" in them. rather odd.

looks like im going to have to rebuild my model with the skis joined on to the animated mesh, and add the new bones. no big deal tho i guess...


-deX
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Van B
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Posted: 14th Nov 2003 21:00
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Yeah, sounds like the best idea - especially considering that long flat ski's would most likely clash with the terrain, you'd have them disaperaing into bumps etc. If you put maybe 5 bones per ski - like one in the middle, then one at each end and the other 2 inbetween, you can simply offset the bones limb position to the terrain to get the effect, your probably better only offsetting the ends of the skis when you have to - try and get some rigidity when you can if you know what I mean. If you could have them wobble a little when going off jumps it'd look phenomenal.


Van-B


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Epimetheus
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Posted: 15th Nov 2003 00:12 Edited at: 15th Nov 2003 00:38
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What I really need is a way to have a dummy object on the gun(around the handle) and a dummy object on the hand and have the two dummy objects attatch to each other, because going through all the limb offsets for all the items and stuff I plan to have is going to be really complicated and time consuming when you have to attach the object and offset it and if it doesn't get in the right position you have to do it again.
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Epimetheus
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Posted: 15th Nov 2003 00:14
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Also using dummys for the muzzle to know where bullets shot out would be good.(kinda like the Torque engine uses)
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deX
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Posted: 15th Nov 2003 13:29
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i wonder if i put some bones inside the skis then join them on to the foot bone... ill give it a try, becoz i kinda need to be able to separate the skis from his feet for when he takes a big stack...

as for poles, think ill just fix them to his hands and run a big long bone down the shaft. yay i could put an ik solver on the end to move his poles easier.

i tried uploading a picture for everyone to see (to the xdtech.sytes.net ftp in a sticky in this forum) but kept getting "server doesnt exist". strange.


-deX
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deX
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Posted: 15th Nov 2003 15:20
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ok this is a little strange.
i put bones in the skis, then linked theparent bone in the ski to the dude's foot bone... now everything works nice (no "delay") BUT:

1)about 10 or so vertices in the ski aren't being moved by the skin. the rest are. and yes they are definitely within the envelope of the bones.

2)the ski isnt actually on his foot. its a bit to the left. (i've used reset xform once a long while ago... would that fix it?) or maybe i just have to move the ski's pivot point...

btw, if anyone else has this "delay" problem, it seems to work mostly fine if you make the object a skinned mesh aswell as the character. (then link the bones together.)


-deX
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Epimetheus
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Posted: 15th Nov 2003 23:07
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Hello people! this is my post, and deX, why don't you make an actual post for your question instead of doing it here!

Anyway here is my question again:
What I really need is a way to have a dummy object on the gun(around the handle) and a dummy object on the hand and have the two dummy objects attatch to each other, because going through all the limb offsets for all the items and stuff I plan to have is going to be really complicated and time consuming when you have to attach the object and offset it and if it doesn't get in the right position you have to do it again. Also using dummys for the muzzle to know where bullets shot out would be good.(kinda like how the Torque engine does it)
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Bren
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Posted: 16th Nov 2003 04:30
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Take it easy Empemitheos, you don't "own" posts and there is no need for dex to open a new one when everything is answered here while staying on topic. As soon as people can, they will answer your question, why can't they help someone else in the meanwhile? If you want a private discussion then mail someone on it.

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Epimetheus
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Posted: 16th Nov 2003 20:06 Edited at: 16th Nov 2003 20:07
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Sorry. It's just that there have been 14 post in here already and my question remains unanswered. Mabye I'll try the 3 dimensional chat instead.
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Van B
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Posted: 16th Nov 2003 22:52
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Empem,

Firstly, a little idea that might help with your glued objects going wobbly. I assume your using loop object, try making your own animation system and set the object frame yourself, that way you'll be specifying the exact frame before the sync and hopefully that will prevent the wobble. I reckon the automatic frame updating with the loop object command is a little off by the time the sync comes along. It's much better to be in direct control of the animation anyway, means you can blend animations with code to get really smooth movement.

Secondly, You can glue 2 objects to the same limb, I don't think you can glue an object to an already glued object. What I would do is make the gun and the muzzle flash at the same time, or position it at the right place on your gun, then export the gun and muzzle as 2 seperate objects, then glue both of them to your hand limb on your main model.

Dex,
Joining your object like that will be smoother because DB will treat it as 1 entire mesh. I can't really help with 3DSMax mesh animation, I use CharacterFX, which lets you specify which verts go with which bone, so I've never had that trouble.


Van-B


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