Are character custom animations actually possible? Very confused...sorry

[hightide]

Hi all,


My name is Marc and i have read through a lot of posts and tuts, but am still very confused on a few issues. I'm sure that they have been asked before and apologies if that is so. What i specifically need to know is:

1- If i want to reskin the characters (and maybe animate them), where do i get them from? Do i download them from the game and then work on them in 3dsmax (the package i use) or do i need to create my own new ones and then export them?

2- I looks like it is possible to create custom character animations in 3ds max and export them to the game. Is this so? And again, would i be using the meshes from the game itself (and their bone structure) or would i need to create my own?

Again, sorry for asking these basic questions, but i am a freelance animator and i need to give an answer to a client of mine asap.

Thanks for reading.


Marc

[Echo]

Texture reskinning can be done with a standard, free (with the game) maxis tool. If you want custom meshes for the skins then it's a good deal more complicated, but there are several tutorials out there to help you get them working.

As for animations, yes it is possible, but it is very complicated and by no means foolproof. Those in the community who have successfully imported new animations have had to spend a lot of time to construct even the most simple of animations, so you have to be pretty committed if you want anything with any complexity.

The animations use existing bone structures from within the game - you can already pull the object/sim meshes with their bone structure from within the game in various formats. Of course, there is nothing theoretically stopping you from creating your own object with its own bone structure and animating that, although I'm not sure if anyone has tried...

[hightide]

Hi echo,

Thanks for the reply. After further readin through this website, it does appear that it is a lot trickier than i thought. Im going to research it a bit further, thanks again.


marc