Global Sequence

[supertoinkz]

Can someone explain me what it does (everything it does, and how to use it blah blah).

Thanks in advance!
~supertoinkz aka Gwafu

 

[Deolrin]

A global sequence is simply a number. Think of it as a sequence - it has a starting frame and an ending frame, and lasts a specific amount of seconds. (E.g., you always have a Stand sequence in models, and it often lasts from 0 to 1000. Hope you know what I mean)

The start time for a global sequence will always be 0 - so it will always start from frame 0. When creating a global sequence you will be asked to provide a duration - this is the ending frame, or how long it will last, if you will. Global sequences make a portion of the model, e.g. a bone, to constantly loop its duration; for example, if you have a global sequence with a "500" duration, you can animate a part of the model(for example - a tank hull) from 0 to 500 and it will always(during all animations) loop.

For example, look at the murloc model. He ALWAYS blinks, even after he's dead! Why, that is the result of a global sequence, of course.

As to how to use it?
First of all, find something you want to loop through all animations - a tank going up-and-down constantly, some eyes blinking, some canister liquids flowing, whatever.
Create a new global sequence. Make sure the duration does NOT overlaps an existing animation, unless that is intentional. If your "Stand" animation lasts from 1000 to 2000, you can make a global sequence last any number from 1 to 999. For example, put the duration as '500'.
Now, go to an animation program, for example, MDLVis or WarForger, and create a new sequence(the name doesn't matters as it will be removed later) and set it last from 0 to 500(the duration of your global sequence). Now, animate what you want to loop through all animations(for example, make your model 'breath', take the root bone and make it go up and then down again(0 is stand still(down), 250 is go up, 500 is stand still again(go down). Remove the sequence, but don't remove the bone information. Save your model as a new file, and edit the bone you just animated in Magos, and set it's translation(translation, rotation or scaling) Global Sequence ID to your newly created global sequence. Your model will now go up-and-down during ALL animations.