New Blender addon to import wad objects and animation - Page 7

Joey79100 · 12-02-21, 07:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by VictorXD

I know someone was working on AOD animations in TRLE and damn, I hope the auhor sees this because it will make finishing the remaining animations much easier!

I am "someone", and TLDR: no, it won't.

I'm using 3DS Max (just out of habit, Blender was still not usable for TRLE when I started) and importing animations directly was already possible. A_De had even made a video demonstrating it. But I chose not to do this, for several reasons, but in this case what matters is to rework that would have been needed to be done, considering the skeletons are so different between AOD and TRLE Lara.

Here's an example: let's say I import the grabbing animation. In the AOD animation, the arm movement is shared bewteen the shoulder and the actual arm bone. So you can have one or the other, so you need to adjust the animation so Lara has her arms pointing correctly upwards (instead of the result like you can see in the curtain grab animation above). You'd think "yeah no big deal I do once". Then I want to make the shimmying animations. I have to redo the same thing, and make sure her hands still land correctly on the ledge without moving around too much. And make sure the starting and ending pose are the same as the hanging pose. Ok. Then the vault up animation. Again, need to rework it, but make sure I only do it for one part so it doesn't get applied once she's standing. And again, make sure her hands and knees land where they should and don't move around. Then the corner animations: the ending position is kinda hardcoded by the engine, so I'd have to adjust this as well. Then repeat for crouching, crawling, monkey swinging, wall climbing, object interaction, etc etc...
In the end it would be only some dirty readjustments absolutely everywhere, it would probably take me even more time than remaking them from scratch, and frankly I enjoy animating but this would just be frustrating and uninteresting to do.

Plus, most of the AOD animations that could be remade (the ones that are both in TR4 and AOD) have already been remade, the rest is mostly TR4 exclusive animations (or AOD exclusive ones that I havent planned to do yet because the setup would be too hard/impossible to replicate in TRNG). If I were to import the remaining AOD animations, I'd have to reajust the animations so they fit the ones I've already made, so the starting and ending poses match exactly, etc... No, it definitely won't help.
Don't get me wrong I'm not saying this is useless, it is helpful when importing single animations, but it's not suited for a whole animations set.

To make a better comparison, it would be like trying to import TRL assets into TRLE, when you know you have to downgrade everything so it fits the limits, resize so it fits the grid, bake the texture effects so they look similar... it's just easier to restart from scratch with everything designed with TRLE in mind from the start, it's more rewarding, and you learn things about modelling, texturing, etc.

Sorry for the wall of text, I think this is a great tool and definitely will come in useful for many people. But in the case of finishing my AOD animations, it just won't be useful.

Bergus · 12-02-21, 09:50

I totally agree with Joey, WADBlender animation import can help doing a good job for cutscenes or single animations with few interconnections points. Lara locomotion system is very complex as you can see in this video:

each box represents an animation or state (most are few frames) and the arrows the entry and exit points you would need to fix

not again! · 12-02-21, 17:09

Amazing work again, Bergus!

Can't wait to try out the latest update.

Matie · 12-02-21, 23:58

First of all, thank you so much for making this, it's exactly what I need at the moment!

I'm having trouble for some reason though. I installed the addon as instructed. I have a simple wad with only 2 statics in it which I'm trying to import, however I get these error messages:

Code:

Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\__init__.py", line 286, in draw
    movables, statics = preview(f)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\preview.py", line 41, in preview
    statics = [static_names[stat.obj_ID] for stat in statics_data]
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\preview.py", line 41, in <listcomp>
    statics = [static_names[stat.obj_ID] for stat in statics_data]
IndexError: list index out of range

location: <unknown location>:-1

Python: Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\__init__.py", line 362, in execute
    return import_wad(context, self.type, options)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\__init__.py", line 134, in import_wad
    statics.main(materials, wad, options)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 2.91\2.91\scripts\addons\wadblender\statics.py", line 33, in main
    name = static_names[static.idx]
IndexError: list index out of range

location: <unknown location>:-1

I've also tried opening the main wad with everyting in it, only 3 objects appear, the rest doesn't and an error message pops up. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong

Bergus · 13-02-21, 03:52

The error message says that you are using some extra slots in the wad and WADBlender cannot find the name of the object. I just considered the list of object names from classic TRLE and forgot to take this into account. I'll fix it and let you know

thanks for the report!

EDIT: I added some slots names, hope it will fix it. Please install the updated version.

Matie · 13-02-21, 14:48

Ah right, that makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for the update, it works fine now!

Bergus · 18-02-21, 16:48

Small update

Now object and animations names are taken from the Tomb Editor trcatalog.xml file;
It is possible to choose the object slot names of TR1/2/3/4/5 (e.g. to open these files);
Bug fix: movables with a single mesh now have a skeleton and are correctly rotated;
Now mixamo Lara model stays on the ground in both the mixamo website and Blender.

Download as usual from https://github.com/veeti512/wadblender
Be sure to upload to mixamo the new fbx file!

Bergus · 27-02-21, 20:01

Just a quick update on what I'm doing, strpix like texturing in Blender using sprytile. I think it's fun to use (sorry I was using a touchpad and coudn't do anything better

):

I also added the option to export animations in wadmerger trw file format, thanks to Sapper blog for the file format specification!

P.S. in the current version on github there is a stupid bag and only Lara animations can be exported

update is coming soon

piano_raider · 01-03-21, 15:10

It would be really awesome, if we could export animations from other moveables, too. Also this texturing-method looks really interesting

Please, keep up this great work

Bergus · Yesterday, 07:52

Yes, in next update it will be possible!

I still need to fix some details and simplify the interface because it is getting complex.

It will also be possible to extract only the object textures discarding the others:

13-02-21, 03:52	#65
Bergus Hobbyist Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 32	The error message says that you are using some extra slots in the wad and WADBlender cannot find the name of the object. I just considered the list of object names from classic TRLE and forgot to take this into account. I'll fix it and let you know thanks for the report! EDIT: I added some slots names, hope it will fix it. Please install the updated version. Last edited by Bergus; 13-02-21 at 07:15.

13-02-21, 14:48	#66
Matie Professor Join Date: May 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 4,129	Ah right, that makes perfect sense. Thank you so much for the update, it works fine now! __________________ "I'll give you this strawberry if you keep it a secret, okay?"

18-02-21, 16:48	#67
Bergus Hobbyist Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 32	Small update Now object and animations names are taken from the Tomb Editor trcatalog.xml file; It is possible to choose the object slot names of TR1/2/3/4/5 (e.g. to open these files); Bug fix: movables with a single mesh now have a skeleton and are correctly rotated; Now mixamo Lara model stays on the ground in both the mixamo website and Blender. Download as usual from https://github.com/veeti512/wadblender Be sure to upload to mixamo the new fbx file! Last edited by Bergus; 18-02-21 at 16:50.

27-02-21, 20:01	#68
Bergus Hobbyist Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 32	Just a quick update on what I'm doing, strpix like texturing in Blender using sprytile. I think it's fun to use (sorry I was using a touchpad and coudn't do anything better ): I also added the option to export animations in wadmerger trw file format, thanks to Sapper blog for the file format specification! P.S. in the current version on github there is a stupid bag and only Lara animations can be exported update is coming soon Last edited by Bergus; 27-02-21 at 20:03.

12-02-21, 09:50	#62
Bergus Hobbyist Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 32	I totally agree with Joey, WADBlender animation import can help doing a good job for cutscenes or single animations with few interconnections points. Lara locomotion system is very complex as you can see in this video: each box represents an animation or state (most are few frames) and the arrows the entry and exit points you would need to fix

12-02-21, 17:09	#63
not again! Explorer Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 947	Amazing work again, Bergus! Can't wait to try out the latest update.

01-03-21, 15:10	#69
piano_raider Hobbyist Join Date: Oct 2018 Posts: 23	It would be really awesome, if we could export animations from other moveables, too. Also this texturing-method looks really interesting Please, keep up this great work

Yesterday, 07:52	#70
Bergus Hobbyist Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 32	Yes, in next update it will be possible! I still need to fix some details and simplify the interface because it is getting complex. It will also be possible to extract only the object textures discarding the others: