Plan for Jeff Gran

What you're looking at is the soldier (which uses a TorqueSkeleton) from the upcoming Soldier Pack by Ben "Djaggernaut" Chavigner (model and texture) and me (rig and animation), as exported from Maya, playing a dsq which was animated in and exported from 3DStudio Max. Exciting, isn't it? Well, it is to me at least.

I just updated the TorqueSkeleton Generator page with the latest version of the script for Maya 6.5. It now works correctly with the units set as Meters (which is what Danny Ngan suggests and is the best way to keep your scaling accurate), and works with the Z-up coordinate system that both 3DS Max and TGE use (it's an option in Maya but not the default).

There is also a newer version of the MAX script with a few bug fixes.

I now have a solid pipeline for taking Torque characters which use my skeleton system back and forth between MAX and Maya. This is cool because now the scripts are fully compatible with each other.

The process is: I get the character all set up with the skeleton in one app. I export the mesh to FBX (because FBX meshes come with the vertices ordered correctly), then import the mesh to the other. I use my skeleton script and the previously saved Marker Locations file to generate an identical skeleton in the 2nd app. I bind the skin, and use another script to import the skin weights from the first app. There is a very cool 3DS Max script out there called SkinOrDie which lets you import and export skin weighting information in a very simply structured text file. So I wrote a compatible importer/exporter for Maya. It needs a GUI and error-checking and stuff, but it works.

So now I can get the mesh and the weighting information across very easily once it is set up in one program. And the bones and rig is already there waiting for me, with the correct proportions based on the locations file. Are you excited yet?

The next step is to write an importer/exporter for animation keys based on my skeleton rig. I've already looked into it and it doesn't look like it will be too hard. The hardest part will be writing the GUI so it's all nice and user friendly.


What you're looking at now is a character in the (as yet) secret game project I'm working on, which (...duh) uses my skeleton system. She's playing the same exact .dsq file that the soldier is playing above. Pretty cool, huh? So, say her left hand doesn't exactly line up with the gun when it's mounted in her right (it doesn't). Import the animation (into whatever app you're using) with my upcoming animation file format, and move all the keys for that IK handle down a little bit, re-export, and BAM! She's gunning folks down. Then again, say you don't care all that much that her hand isn't aligned perfectly, and you don't have a 3D application handy or don't know how to use one that well. It works pretty well anyway!

Add to all this the fact that I can write versions of all these scripts for any app with scripting abilities, and the possibilities are endless. I've already started working on a version of the skeleton script for Blender 3D, and the instant that the upcoming XSI exporter hits the market I'll be there working on a version for that.

Are you excited yet?! We can have a bank of animations that all work for all the characters that use this system, and will all be editable and tweakable in any application that the system supports. Once I get the system set up for Blender, my next plan is to do a set of animations, including but not limited to: crouching (with forward, back, and side), prone (with forward, back and side), swimming (with forward, back side, up and down), and whatever else I get requests for, and release it as an animation content pack. I may need a collaborator to help get the character's movements set up in game, but the principle is there, and the animations will be usable by anyone. If there is likewise a bank of character packs that use the system (starting with this Soldier Pack), it will be like a mix and match character buffet. "I'll take the old woman character..... and the... karate -no wait... the jujitsu animations, please." Mo-cap, anyone?

I know I'm excited. I'm all giddy inside from the thought of it.