Sereja's Unit Animation Tutorial.

[Sereja]

                        Sereja's Unit Animation Tutorial.

So, you wish to animate your soldier? Here a little bit help for this.

1.) "Prepearing"

Things need to have XSI, ZETools, SchMEe, some paint editor, SWBFViewer, BFBuilder, SWBF, and some free time.
Create your unit with XSI, or import the model, which you may download from somewhere. If the model, was downloaded, depend of it original format you may need to make some cosmetic preparation with it, like quadrangulate it, welding poligons, retexturing, and merging.

§ "Quadrangulation":
Select your model and under Modifi panel click Poly.Mesh>Quadrangulate
( it may needs, if your downloaded model, have to much polygons.)

§ "Welding Polygons":
Select your model and under Modifi panel click Poly.Mesh>Weld Boundary Points/Edges. Set the Distance about 0,002.
( it may needs, if your model, was imported with disconnected polygons.)

§ "Retexturing":
(it may needs if your downloaded model, have some unusual texture settings):
Create some primitive, like cube, and add the same named texture for it, like your model already have: select just created cube, and under Get panel, click on Material>Phong> in pop-up window click upper wench simbol>Image> in pop-up window under Image click New>From File, and choose your model texture (which you have to put before in Pictures folder in this direction: C:\Softimage\Softimage_Mod_Tool_7.5\Addons\ModTool_Database\Pictures 
and click Ok.
Then in same pop-up window, under Texture Projection click New>Unique UVs (polymesh) and close the pop-up window. Then, create a Null, and put just textured cube, and your model, under it. Select this Null, and click on violet theme Model panel. Choose blue theme Render panel. Under Modify panel click Materials ( whach out, this action may crash XSI, so it's good idea to seve your Scene before). In pop-up window, in left side, drag Material from your cube, to the unit model, and close pop-up window. Now, you may delete cube, and check if model textures is ok, by click on Wireframe>Textured Decal in some of four frames of the view windows.

§ "Merging":
Just copy your model, by click on it by right mouse button >Duplicate. Then translate (moove) it to some safe distance in any direction. Hold Ctrl button, and select both models. Under panel Create, click on Poly.Mesh>Merge set Tolerance 0.0 and under Materials,UVs, VertexColors, WeightMaps click Merge. Then, under Inputs click Delete. Close pop-up window, and in right panel under Select click Polygon. Crope no needed "clone" model and delete it.
(it may needs if your downladed model, have some incorrect polygons, or textures, give you some errors, or even overloaded manipulation, make your model editing too slow).

2.) "Animation Template Preparation".

So, you sure youre unit model is ok? Let's prepair the animated template model. It's actualy, could be any of the unit models from Assets folder, so let's copy say, imp_inf_stormtrooper.msh in C:\Softimage\Softimage_Mod_Tool_7.5\Addons\ModTool_Database\Models folder.
Click on ZETools>Import.MSH>...>choose imp_inf_stormtrooper>OK.
Explore all of the bone nulls tree, and remove from there all no needed non animated models, like l&r hands, pauldrons, backpack. Copy the stormtrooper animated model, and put it in the same Null, where your custom model is. Do not forget to make your model, exactly the same size, and put it in same pose, as original stormtrooper is.
Now, you need to make § "Retexturing" process, exactly like it was in chapter 1.) "Prepearing", but this time, you need to drag texture from your custom model, to the original stormtrooper model. Now, stormtrooper may look's weird, with his overwrighted texiures, but it's should be this way.

3.) "Animation Template Merging".

Moove animated stormtrooper model, to the safe distance, in Z direction. Seems, you can't move it by usual way, so you need to click Polygon, crop it, and moove by click under Transform panel > Z. If you look at your model thru "Right" view window, you need to translate it in the right direction. Now, you need to merge it with your custom model, just like it was in chapter 1.) "Prepearing", § "Merge", but this time, you need also click under Shape Animation, Envelope Weight... on Merge. Also, after you click delete inputs, I may suggest to not delete no needed stormtrooper part, of your merged twin model... for now.

4.) "Animation Assign".

So, look at your twin model, and see the difference between custom and original parts: stormtrooper, have lot of fancy colored points, but your model - is not. Thast's not right. Custom model part, also should have colored points, but the color of that points, should belong exactly the same body parts as it is in the stormtrooper body sample. For each body parts, responsible certain bone (colored Null), which have exactly the same color, as his belonged colored points, from body part. Now when we are aware about their connection, we may understand, in what color, we have to paint each body part of the custom model.
Under panel Select click Point and crop some points, which suppose to be the similar colored. Let's start with head points. So, crope the head, of the custom model. Click on panel violet theme Model, and change it to green theme Animate. Under Deform click Envelope>Reassign Locally. Your mouse cursor, will be changrd to "PICK", so now you have to carefuly click (pick) only on bone_head by left mouse button, and click right mouse button when it's done. The bones, like bone_head and others, can be easy founded and picked thru the Explorer window in bones tree, or in other view windows as colored crosses. So, the rest of the work is clear: repaint all of the points by this way. When it's done - crop polygons of the stormtrooper part sample and delete it. Now, you have your animated custom model.

P.S.
Actualy another (usual) way to add animation, it's select model, click Envelope>SetEnvelope>OK and pick all bones at ones. But in this case, all bones, and points gonna change their colors in random way, and it's very hard to figure out, wich points, belong to which bones.
Also, separated model parts, could be just drug inside to the bones, without adding animation at all, but in this way, they can't be work for lowrez.

5.) "Animated Model Export".

Drag your model under the DummyRoot Null, where stormtrooper model is. Click on the bone_root and drag it under your model. Now stormtrooper model is free from bones, and can be removed/deleted. Hide by click "H", all model parts, which have to be hidden, like sv_stormtrooper, bone_pelvis, bone_root, hp_camera, hp_weapons. Click by middle mouse button on DummyRoot, export it in usual way with ZETools, and test it with SWBFViewer and the SWBF game.

6.) "Animated Lowrez".

Remove from the bone tree, the shadow (sv_stormtrooper). Under panel Modify click Poly.Mesh>Polygon Reduction and set Ratio about 60 or 70. Export it, and put the .msh in to the folder, where you have SchMEe. Open it, find your file in Load Filename window, click on Biped Hi to Low [hack], and OK. Your lowrez is done.

I guess that's it. Good luck with your new troops.