Wind animated mesh??

[LovedWarrior Quan]

I would like to make my mesh palm a wind animated one, I mean I would like the palm move a bit. Can I just do that in sl with some settings? I have looked while editing in sl but I can not seem to figure it out.

Now if this is not possible for meshes, I would like to animate the tree with bones in my 3ds Max and upload them to sl. Can anyone tell he the steps. For example, how to I export the bones? Do I use physique or skin medifier to attach the bones to the tree? Or Do I just move the mesh in 3ds max and I don't even need the bones? What file extension is for animation export and do I need to put any scripts or anything in the Contents folder?

 

I appreciate it. Thank you.

[Drongle McMahon]

Unfortunately, you can't do either. Flexibility, which allows response to the wind, is only applicable to legacy prims. The only bone animation possible is by rigging mesh attachments to the predefined avatar bones (ordinary and collision). There is no provision for uploading arbitrary bones. Morph tasrgets are also unavailable. The only practical ways to animate unattached mesh objects (as far as I know) are by scripted movement of whole mesh objects or by manipulating the visibility of alternative sets of faces (that is mesh faces, not SL faces) in a single mesh by animating or changing textures.

You could concievably use an avatar bot wearing the tree as a rigged attachment, with some appropriate animation via the avatar skeleton, but that would not be very practical, especially if you want lots of trees.

[Kylie Jaxxon]

Hi Drongle...I don't know anything about this stuff, but purchased these awhile ago.  It's advertised as mesh and animated...would this be something different?  

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LAQ-Decor-Birches-Animated-Season-Pack/4750277

[hibit Spad]

Kylie, what you bought has animated textures, and is NOT animated mesh.  HUGE difference.

[Drongle McMahon]

Yes, as hibit says. These trees are mesh, and the texture on them is animated, but the surface you are looking at does not move. The texture moves over it. That is also doable with animated textures on legacy prims. You can see another application animated normal maps for water that appears to ripple. (That might make a nice addition to those trees, making the leaves look as if they were individually rotating too). The second method I mentioned can use texture animation in a different way, using transparency to make different parts of the mesh visible. Strictly speaking, this is not really animated mesh either. The mesh is static, but the changing of the parts you can see produces the illusion of real movement of the mesh itself.

[LovedWarrior Quan]

Yes I like the idea of animating the textures. I wonder how it is done tho since it is not an option in the editor. We need scripts for that right? I saw a class coming up on animated textures I hope I can figure it out but it is 2 days ahead lol can't wait. 

[Drongle McMahon]

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlSetTextureAnim

[Kylie Jaxxon]

Thanks Hibit & Drongle for the info

[blakopal Galicia]

it might be possible to do your tree in several mesh segments and animate the segments giving the appearance of a solid mesh tree that is moving. (think trunk, big limbs, smaller limbs with leaves) attaching the mesh objects to each other the same way you would with legacy prims. you can even add flexi prims for leaves that way. mesh doesn't have to mean one solid block.

[Energy Metaluna]

unfortunately they are not giving us a (ruth2 npc cast) type to rig to and no LLNPCSetAnimation(), let that be an avatar, or "snake" class bone setup for tree or tube animations.

you would think they would when they launched it, but everyone was hoping for imbedded animated sculpt possibilities when they launched those.

so most of the "prim animations" are still vanilla bound script commands by moving parts within the structure or by texture, and no NPC Havok build tools to rig them to