3dsmax to udk animations

[zen-tex]

hi i've downloaded the ut male 3ds max file and ive used the skeleton on my custom mesh yes i edited the mesh so it will fit on the skeleton and i've skinned the mesh and imported it and when i try to play a animation from the default characters it doesnt move i've tried custom anims but still didnt work but the anim works on 3ds max... please help it took me 3 long days to do the maybe i did something wrong or missed something out in 3ds max or is there a way to fix it on udk i dont know so please help



thank you

[jasonseabaugh]

Did you:

Set your Bone Affect Limit to 4 and Remove Zero Weights? (3D Max, Skin Modifier, Advanced Properties)
Export the b_root hierarchy with the mesh and NOT the Bip001 hierarchy?
Import the mesh as a Skeletal Mesh NOT a static mesh?
In the AnimSet editor, does a bone hierarchy appear in the middle left panel?

[zen-tex]

first i dont even know wtf u talkin about second do u mind giving me a tutorial on how to do it even if i have to start the skinn again i'll do it just help me with this yeah cause all i did was just watch 1 minute of different videos and i really dont know anything in 3dsmax so do u mind giving me a step by step tutorial i'll really appreciate it


thanks though

[jasonseabaugh]

I was just throwing out some things to investigate, because your description was a little vague considering the complexity of the process. It seems to me that exporting could be your issue... since you're using an existing UT rig you may be exporting the wrong components. Here's a quick checklist you should follow in your export process:

On your character mesh, is it's pivot point at 0,0,0?
Did you reset transforms? (in 3Ds Max, on the utilities panel, there is a button called "Reset Xform". It adds a modifier to your stack that resets the scale to 100 and the rotation to world axis. Ideally this should be done before skinning, but you can probably do it afterwards as long as you drag the Xform modifier under the skin modifier in your Modifier Stack.)
What bones did you add to your Skin modifier? You should have added the b_ bones and NOT the Bip001 bones. If you skinned it to the Bip001 bones it is not going to work and you'll need to re-skin your mesh to b_ bones.
On export did you export the entire contents of the scene or just a selection? I would recommend selecting the b_root hierarchy and the mesh and choose "Export Selected" out of Max (no need to delete the Biped). Use these settings: Check "Smoothing Groups", Check "Tangents and Binormals", Check "Triangulate", Check "Animation", Check "Bake Animation" and set the range from 0 to 1 (this way you know you're getting the base pose baked in). Down under FBX File Format make sure it's set to "Binary" and "FBX 2012". If you do not have FBX 2012 in your drop-down you need to get the latest FBX plugin form Autodesk.

[zen-tex]

thanks but ive been trying to check what u told me about the b_upper_arm and bones....i've skinned it to the bips but when i go to check if theres bones ( EXAMPLE :::::: b_forearm )theres none and the mesh has a animation set to it in max so when i play it..... my mesh performs it....but doesnt let me import it........so im not sure if i should make my own skeletons and animations or to use udk's.....they are both the same cause building it myself will cause a lot of work on everything on making it making animations....scripting....import.....custom weapon....but udk's is a lot of work cause u have to skin it to the right bones then make 1 or 2 custom animations......rigg it .....weigh it.........IMPORT IT.........and scripting......not cause im lazy....cause im not im willing to do it but what do u reccommend custom made or udk made

[geodav]

without reading the whole post, with the UT3 rig loaded right click in a window and select "unhide all" now you should see the "b_bones" that people talk about, skin your mesh to the b_bones then they will work with the anims in udk.

i suggest you start watch some tutorials that the authors support

[zen-tex]

Thanks Geodav are u david saxon and if ur not do u have some youtube videos on how to do this stuff

[zen-tex]

i managed to get it to import but when i play a animation it turns the mesh ****ed up and its legs act like its arms
how do i fix that


sorry for the language though

[jasonseabaugh]

thanks but ive been trying to check what u told me about the b_upper_arm and bones....i've skinned it to the bips but when i go to check if theres bones ( EXAMPLE :::::: b_forearm )theres none and the mesh has a animation set to it in max so when i play it..... my mesh performs it....but doesnt let me import it........so im not sure if i should make my own skeletons and animations or to use udk's.....they are both the same cause building it myself will cause a lot of work on everything on making it making animations....scripting....import.....custom weapon....but udk's is a lot of work cause u have to skin it to the right bones then make 1 or 2 custom animations......rigg it .....weigh it.........IMPORT IT.........and scripting......not cause im lazy....cause im not im willing to do it but what do u reccommend custom made or udk made

First off, DO NOT skin it to the Bip! Skin the the yellow b_ bones which (as geodav pointed out) may be hidden when you open the file. I recommend unhiding everything and then putting the b_ objects and the Bip objects in separate layers, for easier toggling... also put the mesh in a different layer for good measure. Organizing your files is important.

Secondly, let me give you a little advice in iterative workflow. Don't try and do everything perfect all at once, you can do it one step at a time. Since you're working on getting things to import, don't spend more than 10 minutes skinning your mesh. Slap on a skin modifier, add the b_ bones, get some bad absolute effect skinning in there (that is, grab all verts around the arm and fully weight them to an arm bones, etc...), it will look inorganic, but it's throw-away work. You just need to make sure your overall import workflow works. You can always reapply a better skin and reimport later.

The scrambled animation behavior you're getting is likely a result of the hierarchy of the animation not matching the hierarchy of the mesh. The names of the Bip bones are different than the b_ bones, so when UDK alphabetically sorts the hierarchy of your mesh it thinks the legs are the spine (or something like that). Let me try and clarify that with a hypothetical; if in the hierarchy of the animation the Pelvis bone branches to Spine -> Spine1 -> Spine2 and also branches to ThighUpper -> Leg Lower -> Foot... but on the hierarchy of the game model the Pelvis bone branches LegUpper -> Leg Lower -> Ankle and Spine0 -> Spine1 -> Spine2... what will happen is the rotational animation data for the Spine bones will be mapped to the Legs, since L comes before S. The solution for this is to make sure the names of the bones in the animation are the same as the bones in the skeletal mesh. So, skin to the b_ bones, because those are the names of the bones in the UT animation.

[geodav]

sorry i've never heard of David Saxon, if you goto my youtube channel the UT3 playlist you'll find some of my old character videos, the work flow is the same

[zen-tex]

i decided to drop 3dsmax 7 and 9 and i bought 3dsmax 2012 every thing imports but some take way too long but it imports so i've made a new mesh and skinned to the krall skeleton cause my character which i call the hyneil has bird like legs just like the krall so when i skinn it to the b_bones stuff i import it play a human animation it spases out like i said before but the krall which is skinned as well automatically i import it to udk it works like a charm.anyone who can help

[geodav]

please post pictures of the mesh in the editor with show bones

[zen-tex]

Alright then i'll post images as soon i have time probably later today

[zen-tex]

hey geodav did i tell that i skinned another character to ut male skeleton and it works fine but when you move the skinned characetr anywhere in 3dsmax and import that model to udk in spases out...........so the hyneil character must have be in a certain position right