Character help :)

[TattieBoJangle]

Hi guys i am new to Leadwerks and i have got the hang of most things but characters are proving to be a pain so i am looking for someone to help me out with one of my characters so i can see what you do to it i can get it in and it animates ok just cant get it to walk/move (i have done the navmesh) anyway if anyone can help i will send the character thanks.

[Leon]

I have the same issue.. I yhnik a good tutorial on workflow how to importa and set character animations would be good.

[AggrorJorn]

@TattieBoJangle

Can you describe the steps you have done so far to create an animated character?

Does your character have animations? Can you see the animations playing in the model viewer?

 

@leon: Can you describe in detail what you mean by 'importing'? Since Leadwerks imports assets automatically you shouldn't have to worry about that. Can you describe what you mean with 'setting character animations'? Fbx models that contain animations, already fully work and you can test that in the model viwer. When you want an animation to play in game you need to do that via scripting.

[Leon]

I thinnk would be nice to have a complete workflow pipeline o how to import animated character, give them the right animation and tell them when that animation must be played...

 

I ask for that due I have some animated models from mixamo (fbx) and imported them into leadwerks but :

 

1: textures are gone and models show black and yellow

2: I can see animation in model editor but when I place the model into the scene it dont move

3: I dont know how I must do to make that model with step animation when move, run animation when running , idel aniamtion when is "idle", death animation when die and so on...

 

 

plus I have several animations I bought in he past associate to a character and I dont know how I can "export " that animaton and import it into anothercharacter....

 

 

I think we need more documetation...

I know Josh is making a great work but I think he needs some help to produce basic documentation (apart general leadwerks guide ) for specific tasks like that...

 

Noobs (like m LOL) need help

 

if is there a guideline to follow anyone can experiment himself... but if we dont know how to start all becaome more only frustrating...

 

obviously IMHO...

[TattieBoJangle]

I have to agree with Leon alot of people will be coming to Leadwerks with some experience like modelling ect but i only have a little knowledge of LUA so would be good to have a standard script where you can just change to fit the character as that is all that is holding me back i can import them all ok with textures ect but getting them to act like an AI is another matter

[cassius]

I get my animated characters from dexsoft and ateria3d.I load them into the model editor and set all the sequences I need and check that they work. The in my code ( c++) I specify the sequence number then play the animation.Its much simpler than in le 2.

EDIT: I am really puzzled at the problems people get, but maybe you are trying something more complex than that.

[TattieBoJangle]

Yea cassius that's where i get mines as well as other stores i wonder if anyone would convert them for a price

[AggrorJorn]

I will make a tutorial on importing characters and adding some test animation.

 

2: I can see animation in model editor but when I place the model into the scene it dont move

Why would a character move ingame if you don't tell it to do so?

 

plus I have several animations I bought in he past associate to a character and I dont know how I can "export " that animaton and import it into anothercharacter....

Note that animations from one character do not automatically work on another character (unless it has the same rigged skeleton).

[AggrorJorn]

A tutorial on animation itself has been created a year ago. The video uses C++ but a Lua version is provided as well.

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/tutorials_legacy/_/introduction-to-animation-r14

[Leon]

I get my animated characters from dexsoft and ateria3d.I load them into the model editor and set all the sequences I need and check that they work. The in my code ( c++) I specify the sequence number then play the animation.Its much simpler than in le 2.

EDIT: I am really puzzled at the problems people get, but maybe you are trying something more complex than that.

 

right..but waht I dont know is HOW to specify the sequence number for the animation to play and how to attach that animatio to a specific event

[TattieBoJangle]

If anyone would be willing to script one character i have i will pay if the price is not to much i can learn from the script and it will help me do my other characters thanks

[cassius]

You enter the start and end frame ( for "walk") or something)in the modell editor and that gives you the sequence number. then in the command reference you will find an example of the animation commands.

[macklebee]

This is starting to come off as two people that refuse to do any actual studying/work on their own. There are example scripts, tuts, documentation, and posts that go over these things. Actually there is a post just like this from 3 days ago where another person was asking similar questions: http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/topic/10472-enemy-ai-and-melee-weapons/#entry76994 There was an attached document in that post as well that showed how yet another person's custom character was changed to be used as a enemy AI.

[Imchasinyou]

I dont think its coming off like you think it is. I think its some one new to all the scripting asking for help from the "community". Maybe I was wrong about the type of community involved here but other communities are far more than willing to be of assistance to newbies like us. The forums are poorly organized and the information and documentation is severely lacking IMO. Thats why we ask for assistance. Besides, not all of us are super smart people with all the coding, modeling and shader skills that a few of you might have!

 

Might have spent my money elsewhere with this attitude around here!

[TattieBoJangle]

I don't refuse to do anything and will try anything but some of us have little knowledge of LUA and still learning i have been over most of the tuts and i can get my characters into Leadwerks just not sure when it comes to scripting them.

 

For example what do you do if you cant model you buy them or pay someone to do it for you i dont see this as refusing to do work or studying.

[AggrorJorn]

As a starter it can be really difficult to have a grasp of things. Even with tutorials it can be difficult. Programming and learning how to program takes a lot of time, frustration and perseverance. keep on trying!

[cassius]

WEll my posts are designed to help but if you can't code then learn that first then worry about animation.

I have been around for a long time and I know this forum is famous for being helpful.

If you can show people some attempt at doing stuff they will help when you get stuck.

[macklebee]

Thats why some people have suggested, myself included, that maybe you are trying to run before you can walk with some things. No one here expects someone to not have questions, but you need to show us that you have tried something and then post what you have so we can at least see where the trouble can be.

 

I dont think its coming off like you think it is. I think its some one new to all the scripting asking for help from the "community". Maybe I was wrong about the type of community involved here but other communities are far more than willing to be of assistance to newbies like us. The forums are poorly organized and the information and documentation is severely lacking IMO. Thats why we ask for assistance. Besides, not all of us are super smart people with all the coding, modeling and shader skills that a few of you might have!

 

Might have spent my money elsewhere with this attitude around here!

 

Let me point out to you that I had taken personal time with you and taken one of your characters and gave you a step by step explanation in a PM with you, which is where this document had come from:

Custom Enemy Character with inherent MonsterAI script.pdf

 

And yet I still keep seeing you post comments that suggest people here are not willing to help newbies. That's getting a little old to say the least and honestly makes me not want to help someone.

[Imchasinyou]

Mr Macklebee, Sir, I have made one post of that nature. i asked for the help, you were willing to help me when no one else offered other than a paid learning session of which due to my working schedule, i have no time for. I have learned alot from your help. It wasnt wasted my friend! I have sucessfully used the techniques you pointed out to me to successfully bring in other characters. Now, the issue next is other animations. i see where Tattiebojangles is coming from.

 

Myself, personally, i cant learn by reading. I have to sit and actually do it. Sometimes a few times until it begins to sink in.

 

Where as you think its tiresome to see some asking for help, maybe some of us find it just as tiresome to see some one reply with "Look in the forums" with out knowing if they have looked and just didnt see what made any sense to them. If your hurt that i asked for help. . . let me now remind you I offered to pay for the service. You refused on the basis of helping a noobie out as you too once were a hobbiest and new to all this stuff. I could have easily offered you approx 50 for a simple script with commented out notes that explains what does what to get me started! Thats about a half an hours work using an existing script and adding the comments. pretty good money if you ask me but who am I around here but the new guy that gets confused and asks for help when I cant find the answers!

 

I apologize! Again, I though this community would be far more accepting of those newbies coming in or looking to come in, providing more DEV money!

[macklebee]

We are very accepting of new people here but new people have to realize its not about money but more importantly time. Majority of us are just hobbyists and we are working on our own stuff. There are tons of people here willing to help (Aggror's videos should be required viewing for new people), but some effort from the person asking for help is required. That's why I and others have repeatedly said that a person asking for help needs to show us where they are having problems.

 

Posting that you are having trouble getting a character model to play animations in LE is not very specific. There are so many different issues that you could be having - some of which might not even be LE-related. Unfortunately, the community is not made of mind readers. If scripts/models/pics/etc are provided, there is usually at least one person that will take a look at it. Even the best tutorial will not cover everything that could possibly be causing you issues. So if one truly wants help, they typically will need to be very specific about the problem and provide files.

[Marleys Ghost]

If you don't spend time learning the basics and fundamentals of programming,learning lua and learning the Leadwerks API how do you expect to accomplish anything using an engine that requires programming, tutorials normally assume the reader has this minimum level of ability especially with an engine that requires programming.

 

http://www.lua.org/manual/5.2/

 

http://lua.gts-stolberg.de/en/index.php

 

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/documentation/_/index/

 

 

Then you'll be ready to tackle the basics

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Aggror89/videos

 

http://www.leadwerks.com/werkspace/page/tutorials/

 

 

Any Software that you choose to use in your art pipeline other than Leadwerks will also have to be learnt, they inevitably have their own tutorials and forums. If you have no programming skills and or 3D art skills there is no avoiding this route if you want to develop games using a game engine that requires them.

[AggrorJorn]

For Lua starters you want to check out this video in particular:

1 side note: At the time of recording you still had to compile the C++ code. This is no longer neccesary and that is also why the video starts at 3:44

[TattieBoJangle]

Thanks for the info guys and for the links i already had alot of them. Its not that i have no knowledge of LUA as i stated before i am a 3d artist and have not long started using lua and coming from another engine things are different if i knew asking to hire/pay someone to do a script so that i could look at it and learn from it would cause so much flame i wouldn't have asked. I know it must get frustrating for you guys new people joining and asking the same questions anyway thanks again for the links.

[Rick]

This is the exact reason I offer my time (for very cheap) to help do 1 on 1 training. I'm pretty flexible (although Aug here is a bad month for me) in my days/times. I'm a person who learns faster when I have someone directly helping me than reading a bunch of stuff that may or may not be exactly related to the topic at hand, and so I'm offering others that same chance at a very indie friendly price.

[AggrorJorn]

The community wiki contains some useful reads as well. It is not as filled up as we want it to be but it slowly getting bigger:

http://leadwerks.wikidot.com