Hey, I think I am getting the hang of it.
This is what I know so far...
To get started:
Load .p3d --> load the p3d file in the "Daten" directory where OFPAnim is installed. It is just the demo soldier. I do not think it matters what p3d you load, as long as it is a man and so it has the pivot points.
Load .rtm --> load an rtm file to get started, your best bet is to fool around with an extracted anim.pbo from the demo (may even work with the full version, have not checked).
You should see the guy standing or sitting, or whatever animation you have selected. Basically the model has predefined pivot points, I would not suggest editing those, I have no idea what kind of effect that would have.
What I did was load the cargo.rtm (the animation of the guy sitting in a vehicle, holding his gun) and delete most of the frames, so I only had two or three to work with.
This may be pretty obvious, but....
Each frame just represents a definite position, the number next to the frame indicates how much time should elapse between the frames. In this time between frames, the program animates the object in the best manner it sees fit, so if I want the guy to jump up and come back down, if I define two frames, one when he is about to jump, one when he just landed, the program will not know that he jumped. If instead I have three frames, one where he is about to jump, one where he is at the top of the jump, and one when he just hit the ground, it would work (but probably would not look too good).
Anyway, the components list lists the "joints" of the person. It aranged in a heirarchy because it just makes sense anatomically. It would go something like shoulder > elbow > wrist, simply because your wrist relies on your elbow, which relies on your shoulder.... Can you move your shoulder without changing the location of your wrist?
You can easily familiarize yourself with where the joints are by clicking each word and seeing the little yellow spot on the guy's body, which corresponds to a skeletal joint in real life, in most cases.
Now, select the second frame (out of three, if you deleted all but three) and edit it. Select a joint like the shoulder. The X, Y, and Z sliders control the rate at which the joint will rotate in that dimension (note: this rate has nothing to do with the rate of motion of the animation itself, just the rate at which you, the editor, is repositioning the joint) Basically, move the slider a little to one side and hold it, the joint will rotate very slowly, move it to the opposite direction to the max, the rotation will change directions and go quickly.
After you reposition the arm by rotating at the shoulder, save the frame and play the animation.
Play around with it, it rocks!
Topic: New animation editor out! (Read 9103 times)