AnimationsMegaPack volume 1 - Now available at GG!
by Jondo · 08/13/2009 (3:55 pm) · 29 comments
I’m glad to announce we’ve finally released the AnimationMegaPack volume 1, available in the Garage Games store for $59.95 (indie).
Working on these sequences has been a lot of fun. Like many of you, we’ve been fans of Mr. Bones for years. We partnered up with him to bring some of his BVH motion capture libraries from www.truebones.com to the Torque Game Engines in the form of a DSQ library that’s compatible with our Advanced Character Kit figures, as well as Torque Orc and some of the other stock Torque figures (Space Orc, Elf Sorceress, Forge Soldier).
Just to repeat that:
This pack works with stock Torque figures too!
These sequences work in TGE, TGEA, and T3D. They also work in TorqueShowTools. This is a very affordable way for Torque developers to expand their motion libraries. Based on the Truebones packs, Milkbones, BoogiesBones, IcyBones, MojoBones, and GameBones these animations were custom fit to the ACK figures by hand using EcstasyMotion and exported as version 24 DSQs. We then used another built-in feature of Ecstasy, called ACK2kork, to convert them to orc-compatible (biped-based skeleton) DSQ animations.
So you get both versions of the library (BVH and Biped based), 500 plus animations each for $59.95...
Thanks and Enjoy!
A few additional notes* and a disclaimer***:
*These animations might be useful for recording sprites from 3D sources for TGB, but we haven’t tested that.
*These animations can be used on custom characters too, but you need a tool like EcstasyMotion to retarget the sequences to work with your custom skeleton.
***A few of the animations are repeats with slight variations, and some are looped versions, or chopped sections from longer animations. We added additional animations to make up for any oversight.
You be the judge, here's a very long video showing 100 +/- of the animations from this pack...
Working on these sequences has been a lot of fun. Like many of you, we’ve been fans of Mr. Bones for years. We partnered up with him to bring some of his BVH motion capture libraries from www.truebones.com to the Torque Game Engines in the form of a DSQ library that’s compatible with our Advanced Character Kit figures, as well as Torque Orc and some of the other stock Torque figures (Space Orc, Elf Sorceress, Forge Soldier).
Just to repeat that:
This pack works with stock Torque figures too!
These sequences work in TGE, TGEA, and T3D. They also work in TorqueShowTools. This is a very affordable way for Torque developers to expand their motion libraries. Based on the Truebones packs, Milkbones, BoogiesBones, IcyBones, MojoBones, and GameBones these animations were custom fit to the ACK figures by hand using EcstasyMotion and exported as version 24 DSQs. We then used another built-in feature of Ecstasy, called ACK2kork, to convert them to orc-compatible (biped-based skeleton) DSQ animations.
So you get both versions of the library (BVH and Biped based), 500 plus animations each for $59.95...
Thanks and Enjoy!
A few additional notes* and a disclaimer***:
*These animations might be useful for recording sprites from 3D sources for TGB, but we haven’t tested that.
*These animations can be used on custom characters too, but you need a tool like EcstasyMotion to retarget the sequences to work with your custom skeleton.
***A few of the animations are repeats with slight variations, and some are looped versions, or chopped sections from longer animations. We added additional animations to make up for any oversight.
You be the judge, here's a very long video showing 100 +/- of the animations from this pack...
#3
Does that screen shot in the GG store show all of the animations? If so it is large enough I can read it and will work, but I only counted 499 :)
08/13/2009 (5:02 pm)
:)Does that screen shot in the GG store show all of the animations? If so it is large enough I can read it and will work, but I only counted 499 :)
#4
Thanks
Claus
08/13/2009 (5:24 pm)
I would also like a list of animations. It seems like there is a ton of stuff and would love to have the list.Thanks
Claus
#6
You counted all of those? Huh.
Must got a lot of time on your hands...
08/13/2009 (5:36 pm)
@RandyYou counted all of those? Huh.
Must got a lot of time on your hands...
#7
I want to make sure I get what I pay for:)
@Jondo.. Thanks for the quick reply. Will be buying in the next few days... There are enough animations in there to clearly justify the purchase..
08/13/2009 (5:43 pm)
@Matt,I want to make sure I get what I pay for:)
@Jondo.. Thanks for the quick reply. Will be buying in the next few days... There are enough animations in there to clearly justify the purchase..
#8
I wouldn't have brought it up, except people should know that EcstasyMotion can get animations from any skeleton to any other skeleton, as easy as "Save BVH" and "Import BVH"!
As somebody who's been watching the progress of this pack for a long time, I can definitely say it is WELL worth the price. Jon has been meticulous in cleaning these things up and fixing everything down to the finger joints, which by the way has added quite a bit of content to the original truebones files. If you get these anims plus EcstasyMotion for further cropping and merging ability, you'll have an _amazing_ amount of animation content on your hands!
08/13/2009 (6:57 pm)
Nice work, Jondo!! Only have to make one technical correction: we don't have a special feature in EcstasyMotion called ACK2Kork. What we have is the ability for _any_ model to save out any of its animations as BVH files, which you can then turn around and import into _any_other_shape_ once you set up the proper default.cfg file. (Which is often as easy as saying which nodes on skeleton A equal which nodes on skeleton B, if both skeletons have nodes aligned with global axes.)I wouldn't have brought it up, except people should know that EcstasyMotion can get animations from any skeleton to any other skeleton, as easy as "Save BVH" and "Import BVH"!
As somebody who's been watching the progress of this pack for a long time, I can definitely say it is WELL worth the price. Jon has been meticulous in cleaning these things up and fixing everything down to the finger joints, which by the way has added quite a bit of content to the original truebones files. If you get these anims plus EcstasyMotion for further cropping and merging ability, you'll have an _amazing_ amount of animation content on your hands!
#9
@ Chris
Thanks for the great performance review.
So...that don't work?
08/13/2009 (7:20 pm)
Gah! I forgot to upsell the fingers! @ Chris
Thanks for the great performance review.
Quote:we don't have a special feature in EcstasyMotion called ACK2Kork.
function EcstasyDlg::convertAckToKork()
So...that don't work?
#10
I was waiting for spell casting animations but cant see any on the list. Anyway th bow and pole animations should be useful for me.
Luck!
Guimo
08/13/2009 (7:29 pm)
At last!!!!I was waiting for spell casting animations but cant see any on the list. Anyway th bow and pole animations should be useful for me.
Luck!
Guimo
#11
Hey mate,
I've been on the hunt for spell casting animations for awhile now. There's a good spellcasting bvh collection out there, but the makers have been slow to get back to me. The ANimationsMegaPack includes a few animations that you could use for casting, but you would have to use your imagination, or tweak them a bit. Blackmagic1 (2:35 in the video) is a great spellcasting sequence, but its the only one I can think of.
I'll keep hunting and see if Mr. Bones has any.
08/13/2009 (8:00 pm)
@ GuimoHey mate,
I've been on the hunt for spell casting animations for awhile now. There's a good spellcasting bvh collection out there, but the makers have been slow to get back to me. The ANimationsMegaPack includes a few animations that you could use for casting, but you would have to use your imagination, or tweak them a bit. Blackmagic1 (2:35 in the video) is a great spellcasting sequence, but its the only one I can think of.
I'll keep hunting and see if Mr. Bones has any.
#12
thx
08/14/2009 (5:47 am)
..any chance of a max marker file being included with those BVH ? or do you happen to have a copacetic bone naming standard in use so that bvh import to max goes smoothly ? thx
#13
08/14/2009 (7:45 am)
This is HUGE! ACK will rock (even more) with these new animations! 
#14
You could bring in the BVH files onto a Biped character[as a DTS shape] and export the sequence as 'new' BVH with 'copacetic' names on the Nodes in the hierarchy. But this won't help you inside 3DSmax with the Biped, which sounds like your intent. Unless you're able to Import the 'new' BVH onto your Max biped in the UI.
The MegaPack is DSQ file output, ready for either an ACK or Biped-based DTS character/hierarchy/rig, no BIP file output included or 'marker' file to retarget the skeletons, again; that's what Ecstasy Motion is intended for, it was used to create the MegaPack DSQ file output.
Our content Packs are 'mainly' intended for the 3D Developer out there who does not have access to the Big 3 of 3D production work[Max,Maya,XSI], as we've done the heavy lifting to get the necessary DSQ output and provide Source files in some of the 'lowEnd' applications, as well as one of our favorites, Poser.
It certainly sounds, EB, like you're at the 'Ecstasy Motion' level of Development.....and a new Pack for our store: BVH MegaPack for Biped! All BVH...all for Biped. Thanks!
HHHmm.....and a 'bigger' thought: Max can't retarget to the Scene Biped a 3rd Party BVH file?!!? What do you pay $3500 for?
Ecstasy Motion FTW!
08/14/2009 (7:46 am)
Sounds like you want some retargeting done, EB, which is what Ecstasy Motion is all about; and I suggest an evaluation of that software we produce....;)!!You could bring in the BVH files onto a Biped character[as a DTS shape] and export the sequence as 'new' BVH with 'copacetic' names on the Nodes in the hierarchy. But this won't help you inside 3DSmax with the Biped, which sounds like your intent. Unless you're able to Import the 'new' BVH onto your Max biped in the UI.
The MegaPack is DSQ file output, ready for either an ACK or Biped-based DTS character/hierarchy/rig, no BIP file output included or 'marker' file to retarget the skeletons, again; that's what Ecstasy Motion is intended for, it was used to create the MegaPack DSQ file output.
Our content Packs are 'mainly' intended for the 3D Developer out there who does not have access to the Big 3 of 3D production work[Max,Maya,XSI], as we've done the heavy lifting to get the necessary DSQ output and provide Source files in some of the 'lowEnd' applications, as well as one of our favorites, Poser.
It certainly sounds, EB, like you're at the 'Ecstasy Motion' level of Development.....and a new Pack for our store: BVH MegaPack for Biped! All BVH...all for Biped. Thanks!
HHHmm.....and a 'bigger' thought: Max can't retarget to the Scene Biped a 3rd Party BVH file?!!? What do you pay $3500 for?
Ecstasy Motion FTW!
#15
Edit: Just noticed a mention about the Ecstasy Motion. So are you saying I could use it to merge these animations into my current biped(aka TMMOKIT biped)? Oh, that would save alot of rerigging.
08/14/2009 (7:51 am)
Very nice. Do any of the fighting animations differ with one handed weapon or two handed weapons? Would love to find an animation package that does to swap out animations to use in the Torque MMOKit. I guess should ask if any walk or run have 1 or 2 handed weapon animations as well.Edit: Just noticed a mention about the Ecstasy Motion. So are you saying I could use it to merge these animations into my current biped(aka TMMOKIT biped)? Oh, that would save alot of rerigging.
#16
ALL you need is a DTS hierarchy, BVH files, and ECSTASY MOTION.
We held the EA[GG sweetHeart] pricing point until SIGGRAPH`09, now it's only slightly higher; still an ENORMOUS savings on Time[time=$$$].
08/14/2009 (8:22 am)
Oh, yes, LG.....oh yes...save a LOT of time...with a minimal purchase price of Ecstasy Motion.....ALL you need is a DTS hierarchy, BVH files, and ECSTASY MOTION.
We held the EA[GG sweetHeart] pricing point until SIGGRAPH`09, now it's only slightly higher; still an ENORMOUS savings on Time[time=$$$].
#17
If you purchase this pack, do you get the .bip files for all of these animations?
08/14/2009 (10:56 am)
Wait, so dumb question...If you purchase this pack, do you get the .bip files for all of these animations?
#18
08/14/2009 (12:03 pm)
I'm definitely picking up this plus the advanced character packs when I save up some money in the next couple months...
#19
What you need to do to make biped-friendly bvhs from the ACK characters is hit the "biped" output format radio button (ACK is the only skeleton set up for this right now, but it is the one all the dsq pack anims are made for anyway, so that should work out fine.) When you do this, and then save BVH, you will get a BVH file with nodes that are not the biped names ("Bip01 Hip" etc.) but rather are the node names that 3DS Max _expects_ a bvh file to have. When you go to Max and go import BVH on this file, it should work fine.
08/14/2009 (12:53 pm)
Sorry for lettin the conversation slide here (was busy making melee work better in Ecstasy, stay tuned for THAT update!) but I wanted to chime in on the biped bvh question. You don't need to use the biped character in Ecstasy, and in fact that won't work for what you want. What you need to do to make biped-friendly bvhs from the ACK characters is hit the "biped" output format radio button (ACK is the only skeleton set up for this right now, but it is the one all the dsq pack anims are made for anyway, so that should work out fine.) When you do this, and then save BVH, you will get a BVH file with nodes that are not the biped names ("Bip01 Hip" etc.) but rather are the node names that 3DS Max _expects_ a bvh file to have. When you go to Max and go import BVH on this file, it should work fine.
#20
A couple things to clarify, the AnimationMegaPack does not include any .BVH or .BIP files. The sequences are already DSQs. The source libraries are all avaialbe as .bvh from Mr. Bones.
As Rex pointed out, Ecstasy does include some powerful retargetting capabilities.
@Leathel
There's a mix of 1 handed and 2 handed weapon animations. Since you picked up Ecstasy (congratz, good move!) you can really dial-in these animations to personal taste.
Its also very easy to take a run/walk sequence and modify it to have the hands in a position for holding a 1H or 2H weapon.
Yes, you can merge, or convert, these sequences in the megapack to work on other character skeletons, like the one you mentioned. It requires setting up a custom config file for a new character, but once that's done, its a fairly seamless workflow. If your character shares the same skeleton as TorqueOrc, the config file has already been set up.
Jondo
08/14/2009 (12:53 pm)
Good morning! Yeah, it was a late night...A couple things to clarify, the AnimationMegaPack does not include any .BVH or .BIP files. The sequences are already DSQs. The source libraries are all avaialbe as .bvh from Mr. Bones.
As Rex pointed out, Ecstasy does include some powerful retargetting capabilities.
@Leathel
There's a mix of 1 handed and 2 handed weapon animations. Since you picked up Ecstasy (congratz, good move!) you can really dial-in these animations to personal taste.
Its also very easy to take a run/walk sequence and modify it to have the hands in a position for holding a 1H or 2H weapon.
Yes, you can merge, or convert, these sequences in the megapack to work on other character skeletons, like the one you mentioned. It requires setting up a custom config file for a new character, but once that's done, its a fairly seamless workflow. If your character shares the same skeleton as TorqueOrc, the config file has already been set up.
Jondo
Torque Owner Randy Hearn - Magnum
Default Studio Name
I may be in:) Do you have a list of all animations? I am looking for specific animations that I have not seen on his listings or website.