Issue with animated model

[[SG-X] Avernikas]

Hi, I'm having a problem where animated models don't come out right. I'm using bones to translate vertex groups.

http://i.imgur.com/yNL3HMg.jpg

The above shows the end of an animation in the half life model viewer on the left, and what it should be on the right. I also tried animating a single vertex (again with a bone) of a cube, and it also turned out a little morphed.

Wondering if anyone else has encountered this issue before. I'm not very experienced with source engine or blender so I was hoping it's a simple mistake.

I'm using Source SDK Base 2013 Multiplayer to compile the models, and 2.7.1 for the export tools.

Thanks!

[xdshot]

So the problem is that vertex on the end is being still? Maybe you forgot to assign it to desired bone.

[[SG-X] Avernikas]

Originally posted by xDShot™:

So the problem is that vertex on the end is being still? Maybe you forgot to assign it to desired bone.

No I just stuck it out there as a test, it animates. It looks like the entire thing is getting twisted. Also you can see that the ring isnt nearly as thick as it should be. Its very odd....

All the vertices are animating, but it gets twisted and the vertices dont animate as far as they should.

[Zappy]

It would help to know -
- Where the bone(s) are
- What the bone(s) affect
- The "base position" ("T-Pose") of the model
- The expected outcome along with a description of what you did to what bone (such as "I rotated this bone 30 degrees clockwise" with an arrow pointing at a bone)
- The outcome of the compiled model, as a GIF with a transition/blend between the "base position" and the outcome (not as in fading the outcome over the "base position", but seeing the bone rotate bit by bit every frame).

[Artfunkel]

Or just upload your blend file. :)

[[SG-X] Avernikas]

Originally posted by Artfunkel:

Or just upload your blend file. :)

Sure.

The ring:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsePER3tDBgyuFiCOPVmxYMpeoFp

Test cube:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AsePER3tDBgyuFk-N8rsRRsFGaiM

The ring just has a simple animation where it widens a bit. For the cube I just moved a single vertex.

[Artfunkel]

You're defining the widge of the ring with an animation, but the exporter by design removes all animation transforms when exporting the reference mesh.

You need to get the mesh into the state that you want and then hit the Apply button on the armature modifier.

I suspect that this will fix the other problem you're seeing, which is probably due to vertex welding.

[Artfunkel]

If you want to keep the width of the curve editable, use a curve and array modifier like this[pasteall.org].

[[SG-X] Avernikas]

Thanks for the help I really appreciate it!

So when I apply the armature modifier I lose the animation. Do I have to export each each state of the animation then blend them together in the qc file or something like that?

What I'm trying to do is recreate this animation I did http://i.imgur.com/PAp0ItC.gifv . I only found out after that you cant use scaling to animate in the source engine apparently.

[Artfunkel]

I suppose you could if you with a bone for every vertex, like you had, but it would be much easier to export it as a vertex animation.

[[SG-X] Avernikas]

I was told to avoid vertex animations because they are too resource intensive. Is there no way to get the animation working right keeping the armature modifier? It was animating in hammer/model viewer, just not correctly...

[Artfunkel]

It will work fine, just make sure that the undeformed mesh has decent thickness.