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.anim file compatibilty


Grazdude Ragu
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Hello,

Could anyone confirm if the .anim format that SL uses internally is specific to SL only?

Or can I use any .anim file, as long as correct number of bones (up to 26?) and correct bone names are used?

Reason I ask is because Hord3D SDK has a ColladaConv tool which supposedly extracts .anims from DAE files.

 

Thanks

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Thanks for the conformation Cerise. I suspected this might be the case.

Are there any established methods for creating .anim files for SL yet?

Note:

* I Tried AnimMaker (no good for creating animation from scratch)

* I also tried the .anim moded Qavimator (called Qavimod) but it can’t seem save or load .anim files properly.

* I know about Avastar for Blender, but I would like to check other possibilities first as I am tied to 3D max for the avatar I’m creating and have had significant problems sending animation from max to Blender (via BVH).

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Grazdude Ragu wrote:

Hello,

Could anyone confirm if the .anim format that SL uses internally is specific to SL only?

Or can I use any .anim file, as long as correct number of bones (up to 26?) and correct bone names are used?

Reason I ask is because Hord3D SDK has a ColladaConv tool which supposedly extracts .anims from DAE files.

 Thanks

I would forget about .ANIM I would use BVH (which is more suported by SL)

http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/anim

ANIM File Extension

File Type    Maya Animation File

Developer    Autodesk

Popularity    3 stars

Category    3D Image Files

File Description     

3D animation file created by Maya, a professional 3D modeling application; saves references to objects and their animation properties; includes keyframes that specify anchor points of the animation; also includes rotations and the timeline.

 

ANIM files allow modelers to create smooth motions by defining a number of intermediate frames between keyframes that are rendered automatically by a graphics engine. For example, a human arm can move by specifying a starting keyframe at frame 0 and an ending keyframe at frame 20.

Program(s) that open .ANIM files     

 

Windows: Autodesk Maya 2013

Updated 6/21/2011     

---------------------------

http://www.fileinfo.com/extension/bvh

*** BVH File Extension ****

File Type    Biovision Hierarchy Animation File

Developer    Biovision

Popularity    3 stars

Category    3D Image Files

File Description     

 

ASCII file that contains motion capture data for three-dimensional characters; used by 3ds Max's Character Studio and other 3D animation programs to import rotational joint data; developed by Biovision as a standard format to save biped character motion data.

 

BVH files are also used to store animation data for characters in Second Life and various 3D video games.

Program(s) that open .BVH files

* Mac OS X *

Mac OS     

Smith Micro Poser

Autodesk Maya 2013

DAZ 3D DAZ Studio 4

pmG messiahStudio

Blender

 

* Windows *

Autodesk 3ds Max 2013

Autodesk Maya 2013

Smith Micro Poser 9

DAZ 3D DAZ Studio 4

pmG messiahStudio

Blender

QAvimator

 

* Linux *

Autodesk Maya 2013

Blender

 

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There's a bunch of advantages to using SL's  'anim' format - you have precise control of where you put the keyframes, per bone priorities, priorities from 0-6, animation of the location of any bone as well as the rotation, animation of the attachment points and volume deform bones, parameters such as ease in/out, priority, looping are stored in the file. There's even an IK (inverse kinematics) system built in.

The official viewer now supports uploading these anim files out of the box, and third party viewers have allowed this for a while. The Avastar plugin for blender supports exporting animations to it (this is why Avastar was created originally), but it's a comercial plugin. I'd imagine more and more SL plugins for the popular animation programs will support the format in time.

I'm not sure if this anim format is the same as the maya animation file though.

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