[SD/Modeling] Help with Animation Tweaks/Optimization

[The_Warchief]

I've been working on a custom model for Jubei'thos to use in a campaign project of mine, using bits and pieces of Ilya Alaric's Blademasters as well as Ujimasa_Hojo's optimized Blademaster as a base. I've got it just about finished, but I've hit a wall where my expertise ends and could use some help adding the final touches.

Problem I: Animations
As I mentioned, I used Ujimasa_Hojo's optimized Blademaster as a base, and that means the model came with a whole set of Alternate Animations. That's great, in fact that's a big reason why I wanted to use it. The problem is how the model scales in the Alternate animations, because when I have Jubei'thos morph in-game, he doesn't lift up any higher off the ground to accommodate the alternate animations' new size, and his feet end up in the ground. Also, I don't know how to add this scaling trick to animations, so all the new alternate animations I added don't do it.

• Solution A: Remove Scaling - If you just want to go in and remove the scaling effects from all the animations, that'll work just fine.
• Solution B: Adjust/Add Scaling - Alternatively, if you could add scaling to the new alternate animations and then make the model lift up in all of the alternate animations (old and new) so his feet are properly on the ground, that'd be even better, but presumably it'd be more work so don't stress yourself over it too much if Solution A is easier.

Problem II: Optimization
I'll be honest, I don't fully understand the recent insistence on cleaning models so they pass the Sanity Test, as I never see much difference in performance before or after optimization. I also don't really understand how to actually fix the issues that come up in the test. I've had it explained to me before, but alas, my brain just can't seem to grasp the process. If someone could go through the model and clean up whatever needs cleaning so the mods don't yell at me, I'd really appreciate it!

 

[A]mun]

At first glance:
This should be an easy z-axis adjustment.
Seems so, but had to adjust every alternate animation (first keyframes reset the alt bone root to -z values).

Also cleaned up some keyframes outside of their animation times (dirty edits, leftover?).

That's a nice model btw

 

[The_Warchief]

At first glance:
This should be an easy z-axis adjustment.
Seems so, but had to adjust every alternate animation (first keyframes reset the alt bone root to -z values).

Also cleaned up some keyframes outside of their animation times (dirty edits, leftover?).

That's a nice model btw

Tysm! That's already super helpful. There does appear to be a small issue, though, where he kind of bobs up and down during the Stand Alternate - 1 animation? I'm guessing the Z-axis adjustment wasn't applied to the full span of the animation. ^^;

Also, do you know how to add the scaling effect to the Spell Throw Alternate anim and the beginning of the new Morph Alternate anim, to make them consistent with the rest of the alt anim set? Totally fine if not, the fact that they don't have it isn't terribly noticeable in game unless you look really close.

Thank you again! ♥

 

[A]mun]

Totally missed that issue with the bobbing, fixed.

Scaling the alternate morph is a bit tricky to get right, don't know how much they author increased the size here. Just added 20% for now.

 

[The_Warchief]

Totally missed that issue with the bobbing, fixed.

Scaling the alternate morph is a bit tricky to get right, don't know how much they author increased the size here. Just added 20% for now.

Hm. Didn't really see the scaling change in-game, but like I said before that's a very low priority. Just fixing the existing alternate anims with the Z-axis shift was more than enough for me. Thank you so much!!