Art Tools problems

[GhostWolf]

Well I finaly got 3ds max 5 and Art Tools and I must say one thing, Art Tools read me is one of the crappiest info-less read me's I ever saw.

Is there a read me that maybe does the cool "explaining" part ? because a lot of menus and such stuff that they show in their read me doesn't show in my max.

 

[skrab]

wot...

did you read the file named: Warcraft III Art Tools Documentation.pdf
the document has 30 pages :S and you call that crappiest info...
btw they used 3d max 4.2 it looks a little bit strange

in max go to help and chose Tutorials
you will find some awesome tutorials and stuff...

 

[GhostWolf]

Yes it has many pages... and yet it explains stuff really bad.

Anyway, I know how to use max and the only thing that I do have that has anything to do with warcraft is the export thing.

No material stuff, no animations stuff, nothing is in my max.

 

[blazing-inferno]

Yes it has many pages... and yet it explains stuff really bad.

Anyway, I know how to use max and the only thing that I do have that has anything to do with warcraft is the export thing.

No material stuff, no animations stuff, nothing is in my max.

i agree with you, i thought it lacked alot of info. it took me a few days of reading that document and other tutorials on wc3camp and here to finally piece stuff together, now i know what im doing... just takes time. im currently working on some video tutorials to better explain things in more detail for this specific reason.

 

[TDR]

can't you people read or something? 'Cause for me reading the documentation and doing that tutorial was all that I needed and I never needed any more info.
And it looks to me that you probably did not install the tools properly.

 

[GhostWolf]

Couldn't see any "right" way to install it other then clicking on the Install button

I actually managed to finaly see the key part (I did a wrong thing before) and I set my "Stand" (the only animation I want) to be from 1 to 100 like this:

1-100
"Stand - 1"

Im not sure if thats right, but wether it is or not, it still says it has problems with my bone and says it won't animate.
I just need like someone who'll teach me how to do it one time and then ill know forever >.<

 

[TDR]

oh man, that bone thing is because you're using the wrong animation controllers for them. Set them to bezier, TCB or linear. It does say so in the documentation...

Animation controller types
Position/Rotation/Scale controllers must be Bezier, Linear or TCB. Opacity and visibility can be Bezier, Linear TCB or On/Off. The Parameter Curve Out-of-Range types can be set to Constant (default) or Cycle (for global looping animation). IK chains or character studio bipeds are not supported.
The Bezier controller can make a no-interpolation stepped sequence by using the Bezier Key Info, In and Out Tangents, Step type. For more information, use 3ds max help and search for “Bezier step tangent type”. This approach requires all the keys in that controller track to be of the Tangents to Step type, but it can give instant transforms quite unlike other animation controller blended transforms.
On/Off visibility controllers are treated as status toggle switch and can be inverted by a parent’s On/Off controller. If a parent bone’s visibility track is animated off and the child’s is animated off as well, the model can become corrupted in Warcraft III, because its origin node has been removed from the animation, yet the child becomes visible. This can cause strange effects, like children bones that become attached to random objects.

 

[GhostWolf]

Position/Rotation/Scale controllers must be Bezier, Linear or TCB

Position/Rotation/Scale controllers translates into bones I guess, and yet we are not allowed to use bones ?
I mean, I finaly found a tutorial on animation in max 5 and making it good for wc3 but it uses a script which the link for it is broken (duh, every method I try ends up like this. This crappy world hates me), and that script was supposed to make the bones (or rather the 'boxes' becasue we can't use max's bones for a reason I do not know) good to go.

I do not know what Bezier, Linear, or TCB mean though.
Aint Bezier and Linear refer to angles ?

 

[TDR]

what do you mean man, YOU CAN use max bones.
I thought you said you knew max, you should know what animation controllers are. You can change them from the Motion panel or from the track views or via script if you want to change them for many objects at once.

 

[GhostWolf]

Well both the Art Tools and the tutorial's examples use only boxes linked to each other forming a skeleton instead of using max's normal bones, which led me to think that you can't use the normal ones, is that true or not ?

And I know how to model just fine but im pretty much a noob with animating/texturing.
What do "Float Key Controllers" mean ?

 

[TDR]

I'm telling you man, you can use max bones. I used bones on all my models and all worked fine so far.

And always remember that when you don't know something, the User Reference guide is your best pall

Float Controllers
The following controllers are available only for parameters that use the Float data type.

On/Off Controller
An On/Off controller controls parameters using binary on and off values. The On/Off track displays a solid blue color in frames that are on, and the background in frames that are off. The on/off state of the parameter switches every time you add a key.

Use for binary parameters such as the Smooth object parameter, or for Visibility tracks.

Boolean Controller
The Boolean Controller is a variation on the On/Off controller. It provides a similar functionality, but with one significant difference. The on/off state of the parameter does not switch automatically every time you add a key. This allows you to effectively add keys in the middle of a sequence without creating unintended drastic changes.

Waveform Controller
A Waveform controller generates values by combining periodic waveforms. You can specify different types of waveforms and add waveforms together to create complex animation.

Waveform was originally created to control blinking lights. Use it for any value that you want to vary in a regular, oscillating pattern.

 

[GhostWolf]

Mmmkay... *thinking* ... didn't get what those things mean