A question?

[Ryan]

Hello everybody.

I am new to this game engine, and am looking very forward to learning more about it. This is the first time I have done anything with a 3D game engine, although I have experiance in 2D game dev, and alot of experiance in animtion/modeling. That brings me to my question. I have been using a free modeling program called, anim8or. Its model format is 3ds. Can this format be used in RF. Also, thie program has its own animating suite. Should I do my animation in there, or is the animation done inside RF?

I know these are really nooby questions

[zany_001]

I believe the animation is not done in RF,you can use external programs for that.Anima8or should be usable,i think u use Actorstudio,one of RFs tools,to convert to .act,wich is wat rf uses.Milkshape exports directly ,but costs 25 dollars.Blender can b used too,if u use true gene to convert to .act.

Welcome To The Forums!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryan]

ok thanks. this seems like a really awesome program! Cant wait to start using it more. Im going on vacation in a few weeks. I tink the ebook will be just the thing for that long flight.

[zany_001]

Have fun o your holiday! Yeah the ebook is awesome.BTW, its pickles on this forum who wrote it,cos hes dan valeo.

[Ryan]

So bassically, I can make my models in my modeling program, then convert them to .act. then store them in the proper media subfolder for use in the game?

[zany_001]

yep

[scott]

let me correct you zany

I believe the animation is not done in RF

yes this is true but for modeling aniamations like doors, lifts etc. then the animation is done in reality factory, any animation you want for models that you import has to be done outside of Realtiy Factory.

for anim8or to work with Reality Factory you will need the programe called milkshape just to convert your models, converting them to .obj and then from there importing into milkshape and exporting to genisis .bdy.
then in the sub folder of reality factory is a folder called tools, in here the programe called actstudio is there and this will do the final conversion for you.

i dont have anim8or myself but im not sure if your able to convert animations within a .obj file, but if you do decide to get milkshape yo can create your animations in there and export
i hope that helps

[Ryan]

Ok, sounds like just a simple process of exporting and converting. So if I want my model to have a run/walk animation, I will need to make the animation in anim8or, export to milkshape, to convert to .obj then I can simply add it to RF? What about forward motion in the game, does my animation in anim8or have to include the animation of the legs moving in a runing motion, and moving forward, or is that done in RF?

thanks for answering my nooby questions. lol

[darksmaster923]

first off, the animation has to be bone based. that means you have to make and assign vertices to the bones. secondly, you can export animations?

[Juutis]

Ok, sounds like just a simple process of exporting and converting. So if I want my model to have a run/walk animation, I will need to make the animation in anim8or, export to milkshape, to convert to .obj then I can simply add it to RF?

Actually, the animations have to be in .mot or .key format. Milkshape can export .mot files. Then you must use the AStudio program (found in your 'tools' folder) to convert the .bdy file (the actual model) and the .mot files into one single actor file (.act). You can then use these .act files within Reality Factory. I'm not sure if there's a way to import the animations from Anim8or to MilkShape, though.

And no, you don't have to include the forward movement in the animation. RF will handle the movement of objects.

[Ryan]

ok great!

[scott]

I'm not sure if there's a way to import the animations from Anim8or to MilkShape, though

sorry thats what i ment, sorry for the confusin