UDK - Animating cut scene
polycounter lvl 14
So, I know how to animate and import animations.
What if I wanted an animated cut scene that has two characters interacting with each other. How would I approach this?
My thoughts are that I animate the full cut scene minus the camera (because that is being animated in UDK) in Maya before importing it into UDK. In the end it will be a real-time cut scene.
I am more used to packaging the individual animations for a character. (ie. run cycles and attack animations)
When I have the export of the two characters, would the two characters be one exported mesh with bones? (two meshes, two rigs=exported as one?)
I figure for the storyboard, we need to know the camera's positioning in order to break up the animation to compensate for the camera being animated out of Maya.
If anyone has any insight, please tell your ideas or even better, experiences.
What if I wanted an animated cut scene that has two characters interacting with each other. How would I approach this?
My thoughts are that I animate the full cut scene minus the camera (because that is being animated in UDK) in Maya before importing it into UDK. In the end it will be a real-time cut scene.
I am more used to packaging the individual animations for a character. (ie. run cycles and attack animations)
When I have the export of the two characters, would the two characters be one exported mesh with bones? (two meshes, two rigs=exported as one?)
I figure for the storyboard, we need to know the camera's positioning in order to break up the animation to compensate for the camera being animated out of Maya.
If anyone has any insight, please tell your ideas or even better, experiences.
Replies
here is some crap I did a year ago, probably the way you want to do your cutscenes.
what I did was, put all the root joint of all the characters in the scene, in the same spot, in Motionbuilder. for example, in the middle or so (top of the floor still, not middle of the mesh!) of the box I used as ground.
then I animated the scene I wanted, saved it, took it back into Maya and exported all the characters separately.
for example,
imp1_scene.anim
imp2_scene.anim
imp3_scene.anim
soldier1_scene.anim
soldier2_scene.anim
soldier3_scene.anim
that is, 6 meshes, 6 rigs, exported separately, not as one!
then I got them all into Uengine3 I belive, maybe it was UDK..same same
and placed all of them together in the middle.
meh.. horrible explanation..
but I should really be exporting animations here at work now.. so Im a bit stressed
lol xD
hope you got it though..
You sir, are awesome. Thanks for the great response and it was perfect explanation. I get what you're saying (I think, lol). So animate in the reference to the space of the environment. So environment items I assume it needs a bone weighted to the object and therefore animated with the character, and where the object is picked up or interacted needs to be placed with a reference mesh of where it will be in the eventual level. Does the item being interacted with need to be an seperate anim and skeleton export? I assume yes, considering the soldiers or much like an object being grabbed.
Thanks a bunch again!