NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

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TheOneWhoWatches
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NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by TheOneWhoWatches »

Hi all!
Anyone using/used 3ds max 2010+ and niftools plugin to export character animations (however slim this chance is) to Morrowind?
What version of 3ds max and plugin version did you use? I'm mostly interested in 3ds max 2010 and later...
I have a problem, where it doesn't create xbase_anim.nif and xbase_anim.kf (in addition to base_anim.nif) and because of that all characters are falling through the ground (I think it's because of that because if I use original xbase_anim.nif, everything is fine)...
Tried all checkboxes and can't understand what's wrong...
Just importing base_anim.nif in 3ds max and trying to export it back.

3ds max 2010 and 2011 at the moment
niftools I tried:
niftools-max-plugins-3.8.0.0fc6f5f
niftools-max-plugins-3.8.0-a3.9b87306.7z-5622-3-8-0-a3
max-plugins-373-zip-5622-3-7-3
max-plugins-372-zip-5622
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DestinedToDie
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by DestinedToDie »

Hello. I don't know which version is best for 3Ds Max but most likely the reason characters are falling through the floor is that they are missing a collision box. The collision box is added manually in Nifskope.

xbase_anim.nif contains the collision box which is used.
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TheOneWhoWatches
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by TheOneWhoWatches »

DestinedToDie wrote:Hello. I don't know which version is best for 3Ds Max but most likely the reason characters are falling through the floor is that they are missing a collision box. The collision box is added manually in Nifskope.

xbase_anim.nif contains the collision box which is used.
Thank you!
Strange... I swear, it created xbase_anim in the past (although not usable ones, but still...)
Do you know any tutorials about that?
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DestinedToDie
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by DestinedToDie »

Maybe my tutorial will help a little. viewtopic.php?f=33&t=3330

See under Blender nif collision. Use the first method mentioned.
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MiroslavXO
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by MiroslavXO »

If you wanna do third person animation import "xbase_anim.nif" and only check "add key notes", "add time tags" and "import skeleton".
Then import "xbase_anim.kf" and uncheck clear animation.
When you are finish with your animation updates go to export, choose Single KF with NIF, and check skeleton only.
You should get two .nif files and one .kf file.
Rename .kf file to "xbase_anim.kf" and put it in the Morrowind/Data Files/Meshes
You should see your new animation in the game, and AFAIK this will work only with vanilla skeleton.
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TheOneWhoWatches
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by TheOneWhoWatches »

Thanks for tutorial!
In the end I was able to export xpmse to morrowind (with garbled animations and etc, but it's my fault and i'll think about it later). 3ds max 2010x64 and 2011x64 are working fine with niftools-max-plugins-3.8.0.0fc6f5f
And after manually adding bounding box, characters are staying on the ground.

What puzzles me now is that it can't find bones in xbase_anim.nif. Although I can see them in NifScope.
Example for 'npc com [com ]' (it repeats it for other bones too)
addAnimSource: can't find bone 'npc com [com ]' in meshes\xbase_anim.nif (referenced by meshes\xbase_anim.kf)

MiroslavXO, thank you, I'll try this method later...

https://cbkoin.ru:450/uploads/Files/base_anim.nif
https://cbkoin.ru:450/uploads/Files/xbase_anim.kf
https://cbkoin.ru:450/uploads/Files/xbase_anim.nif
https://cbkoin.ru:450/uploads/Files/uunpb-tes3.nif
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psi29a
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by psi29a »

TheOneWhoWatches wrote:In the end I was able to export xpmse to morrowind (with garbled animations and etc, but it's my fault and i'll think about it later). 3ds max 2010x64 and 2011x64 are working fine with niftools-max-plugins-3.8.0.0fc6f5f
And after manually adding bounding box, characters are staying on the ground.
Could you document (make a tutorial even?) one what works for you and how use are creating these? It could really help people out who want to finally animate/rig skeletons. This would be a great boon to the project, especially with the Template and Example-Suite. :)
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MiroslavXO
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by MiroslavXO »

TheOneWhoWatches wrote: What puzzles me now is that it can't find bones in xbase_anim.nif. Although I can see them in NifScope.
Example for 'npc com [com ]' (it repeats it for other bones too)
addAnimSource: can't find bone 'npc com [com ]' in meshes\xbase_anim.nif (referenced by meshes\xbase_anim.kf)
Did not quite understand you there, you want to transfer custom animation to vanilla skeleton?
You will be better with retargeting, like I did it here in these to videos.

http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/160513 ... ry25250148
http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/160513 ... ry25250648

But if you wanna replace vanilla skeleton I still don't know how to do it, you probably need to mach naming, joint orientation, etc. I did try to create new rig but then animations are not playing correctly.
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TheOneWhoWatches
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by TheOneWhoWatches »

psi29a wrote:
TheOneWhoWatches wrote:In the end I was able to export xpmse to morrowind (with garbled animations and etc, but it's my fault and i'll think about it later). 3ds max 2010x64 and 2011x64 are working fine with niftools-max-plugins-3.8.0.0fc6f5f
And after manually adding bounding box, characters are staying on the ground.
Could you document (make a tutorial even?) one what works for you and how use are creating these? It could really help people out who want to finally animate/rig skeletons. This would be a great boon to the project, especially with the Template and Example-Suite. :)
I didn't do anything worth mentioning. And it's not working yet, anyway. Just tried to replace vanilla skeleton with something better.
For that I imported base_anim.nif, merged xpmse skeleton, copy-pasted animation tracks from vanilla skeleton's bones to xpmse. And added bounding box using DestinedToDie's tutorial.
The only thing worth mentioning is that I didn't find "proper" way to copy NoteTrack (this is where animations start/stop tags are stored) from "Bip01" to "npc com [com ]" so I've written a script which did the trick:

Code: Select all

SRCOBJ=$'Bip01'
DESTOBJ=$'NPC COM [COM ]'
t = NoteTrack ""
SRCTRACK=getNoteTrack SRCOBJ 1
DESTTRACK=getNoteTrack DESTOBJ 1

if (hasNoteTracks SRCOBJ != false) then (
	if (hasNoteTracks DESTOBJ == false) then (
		addNoteTrack DESTOBJ t
	)

	if (hasNoteTracks DESTOBJ != false) then (

		if (DESTTRACK.keys.count != SRCTRACK.keys.count) then (
			deleteNoteTrack DESTOBJ 1
			addNoteTrack DESTOBJ t
			for i = 1 to (getNoteTrack SRCOBJ 1).keys.count do (
				--print (getNoteTrack SRCOBJ 1).keys[i]
				--adding new note key at the same time as source track's key time
				addNewNoteKey DESTTRACK SRCTRACK.keys[i].time		
			)
		) else (
			for i = 1 to (getNoteTrack SRCOBJ 1).keys.count do (
				DESTTRACK.keys[i].value = trimright SRCTRACK.keys[i].value
			)

		)
	
		

	
	)
	
)
But most likely there's a better way to do it...
MiroslavXO wrote:...
But if you wanna replace vanilla skeleton I still don't know how to do it, you probably need to mach naming, joint orientation, etc. I did try to create new rig but then animations are not playing correctly.
Yes, I'd like to replace skeleton with something more customizable.
For the moment I just want to "see" it ingame, but I'm getting these messages:
Spoiler: Show
But these bones are in xbase_anim.nif, as you can see here:
Spoiler: Show
As for animations... Well, personally I think morrowind skeleton should be replaced first.

BTW, will it be ok to use Skyrim nif files for meshes? Anyone tried that with OpenMW?
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DestinedToDie
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Re: NifTools 3ds max plugins and character animations

Post by DestinedToDie »

TheOneWhoWatches wrote:BTW, will it be ok to use Skyrim nif files for meshes? Anyone tried that with OpenMW?
Bethesda is known for shutting down projects that involve mixing assets from another game (Oblivion, for example) with Morrowind. It's yours to decide, but should you ever get their attention, you know what happens. Cease and desist.
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