MoreRamenPlease:

Do you get any warnings or anything when building the content? If you have any way of posting the .x file you might have better luck getting an answer; it's hard to guess what might be going wrong.

Ok, here is a mesh that is off the charts.  It was made in Milkshape3D, unwrapped in LithUnrwap, and then animated in Milkshape3D, and then exported to DirectX 8 format in milkshape.

The animation works properly in Milkshape, CharacterFX, and the DirectX viewer.

What I did was add it into the Content folder of the SkinningSampleWindows project and set the MeshMan.X Content Processor to "SkinnedModelProcessor".

 Then, in the skinningsample.cs file I changed these lines of code in LoadGraphicsContent

Goin along with blender... I somehow didnt download the python interpretor..i even reinstalled it, so i cant export any of my files.. how can i get it?

You do not ned the python system installed as blender will run fine, what you will find is that some of the advanced scripts will not run.. But to get it working you should download the python 2.4 system and install it, then you need to make sure that you have the python directories included in your path.

Note that the python 2.5 will not work.

If you have the time to write your own convertor/exporter I recommend using Houdini. Yes the software is super expensive, but they have a free version that is fully functional in every way except it limits rendering output to Pal res with a tiny watermark. I wrote an X file convertor for it in Perl in about a weekend. I rewrote a much better X convertor in C# in about a day. The next version of Houdini, a beta of which should be available in the next couple months will include a built in Python Interpreter which I have seen in action. It's going to make generating content exporters super easy. It also has a native Collada exporter which you may be able to use with the Collada content pipeline tools.

It's a difficult piece of software to use if you are used to Maya or Max, but from a programmers perspective it makes perfect logical sense. It's completely node based, can be used in a highly procedural fashion, and doesn't hide anything from the user. You can literally do anything with it. It allows you to manipulate geometry attributes in a way no other software can match (which is very important for game development), it has fast auto rigging tools, and it has animation tools you won't find anywhere else in the industry. Specifically, they have this take system that allows you to build a tree of "takes" in the scene. The tree can branch, and takes can be copied and inherit each other. Anything can be animated in the software and anything can be stored in a take from straight up character animation, to shader parameter and texture changes, to complete asset swaps. It makes managing animation a breeze.

My favorite feature though, is digital assets. You can do things like bundle up a character and everything associated with it, shaders, textures, rig, animations, camera, lights, even an exporter, bundle up everything into an asset and quickly create an interface and lock it up. You can then pass it to other artists, and they can use the asset like any other tool in the application. Just drop it into their scene and go. If you update the asset you just pass it to your artist and they get your changes without breaing any of the work they've done. Nice thing is, you can do the most complex stuff without writing a single line of code.

Check it out

www.sidefx.com

PS, I am very biased. SideFX has been very good to me over the years. They treat everyone, even people using their free software like their most valued customers. Like XNA here, you can go to their forum, ask a question and chances are the guy who wrote the bit of software you are asking about is going to show up and help you solve your problem.

TheIndridCold:

I want to encourage you to check out the XSI Mod Tool.

Ok I checked out the XSI Mod Tool, very cool indeed, I will certainly use it if I can figure out one thing.  How to export a .x file or any file I can use with XNA.

Does anyone have any tips in this regard?  I've registered and installed the game mods but can't find any options for .x files.

Perhaps I need to convert the .xsi file to .x with a 3d file converter? If so does anyone know a good 3d file converter program.

Thanks! :) 

Hi all,

I still can't get a single one of my own animations to work with the skinning example.  I've exported to DirectX from Milkshape and Fragmotion.  I tried to export from CharacterFX but skinnedmodelprocessor doesn't like it.

Here are my source files.  The Ninja is from Psionic, but it is just there to show a model exported from Milkshape that works properly.

I'm about to lose my mind!!!  :)

http://www.mattandjuliedavis.com/PublicDownloads/MeshTrouble.zip

- Much thanks in advance, I got a feeling what is happening to me will happen to tons of other newcomers.

Matt D

Ok, I seem to be making progress, sort of.  I now have, what SHOULD be animating now animating it the proper alignment.  What is happening now though, is not all of the model is showing.  There is an error in my error list stating:

"Mesh has no skinning information, so it has been deleted."

If it is what I think it is, the parts of the mesh that are attached to the "Body" joint are being dropped by the processor.  I can say, that in the animation the joint is not translated or rotated.  Reason being, I don't want it to.

So, here are the new steps I have to get where I'm at.

1.  Created mesh in Milkshape.

2.  Added joints and assigned vertices to them in Milkshape.

3.  Opened the Milkshape file in Lithunwrap to Unwrap UV coords.  Then saved as .ms3d. ( photoshoped texture )

4.  Imported .ms3d into fragmotion and created animation.

5.  Exported from fragmotion into .x and then added into skinning sample project.

Result, animating part was animating, rest that is expected not to animate is not visible.

As usual, here is the .x file and source fragmotion file:

http://www.mattandjuliedavis.com/Publicdownloads/trouble.zip

I did notice a difference exporting from fragmotion compared to Milkshape.  In the DirectX browser the milkshape export faces me and the frag one faces away.  In the skinning sample the milkshape faces away and the frag faces me...upon initialization.

Much thanks in advance,

 -Matt D

Edit:  UPDATE

I tried something else, which was instead exporting from fragmotion at step 5 to directx, I exported to ms3d.  Then, I opened in Milkshape and exported to .x as is.  Same result as exporting from Milkshape earlier, which is all meshes showing but mesh orientation during the animation was just plain odd.

I'm at a loss...again.  :(

Ok folks, I seem to be getting closer.

I had been working so far with the windows skinning example, but now that I'm at home I have to use the 360 skinning sample.

Putting the same models I had been using into the xbox 360 yeilded different, but not so good results as well.

I decided to changed my development pipeline, and instead of creating joints and assigning vertices to them in milkshape, I created the "bones" and assigned vertices to them in fragmotion.

Results, I now see all of the model and it animates.  BUT, the legs on this guy do not rotate properly and the legs seem to be displaced from the main body further than they are supposed to.  Here is the source fragmotion file.  Give it a try.  If we can get this worked out then I'll be able to build a tutorial for Noobs in how to get a simple animated model into XNA with cheap software.

http://www.mattandjuliedavis.com/PublicDownloads/almostthere.zip

Almost there folks.

- Matt D

I've been looking into this issue because we haven't been able to import animation...this might or might not help.  If I understand correctly, XNA currently does not directly support import of animation data with fbx or .x.  You have to package your skinning and animation data into the model tag (not sure how it can be packaged into the fbx or .x file.) as that is loaded properly, apparently.  In the skinning example, they use the tag as a sort of repository for the animation data since the xna framework doesn't load it automatically.  They load the skinning and animation data on line 76 of SkinningSample.cs.  I'm surprised that you got any animation to work, or even the model to load at all.  It makes me think I maybe don't understand the problem, but it sounds right.  If your skinning is being lost, that would explain it.  But how did you get the model to load at all?  Did you add data to a tag called "Take 001"? (how is that even done in Milkshape?) And did you see this error ever: "This model does not contain a SkinningData tag."?  This is the error I was getting when I tried to load a model with animation data before understanding the data in tag issue.

 

Zero Industries:

ok, where can i get python 2.4.. is it the sme python that is on www.python.org???

Yes, just make sure to get the 2.4 release not the latest 2.5 release, as that might cause some compatibility problems.

http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.4.4/