New realistic musket animations (WIP v1.1) RELEASED

[RanGer_SLO]

Hell my fellow modding community. After countless hours of animating and python editing I've finally managed to finish v1 of my new musket animations.
These animations aim to be a more realistic counterpart to the existing m&b animations, the biggest difference being that the musket is now held in the left hand (which makes more sense, seeing the left hand supports most of the weight). The musket is not held near the trigger but instead under the barrel.

Well enough talk, let me just show you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAjcfEBmoQ4

Troops using them in battle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2VBzgHREU

This video shows the 4 new animations (read description under the video for more). Obviously they're not finished. The movement should be sharper (I may have to redo the reload animation) and the legs shouldn't be completely static. But considering this was my first try at animation they turned out quite well.

DOWNLOAD HERE:
http://www.gamefront.com/files/20833666/Musket+Animations+Pack+v1.1.rar

Any constructive criticism is more than welcome.

[Sayd Ûthman]

That looks good, you need more working on the legs though

[RanGer_SLO]

That looks good, you need more working on the legs though

Thanks. Yeah, I'm thinking how to animate the legs. It's not as easy, animating something that's not supposed to move (soldiers were drilled to stay in line and not to move unless ordered to). So any animation I do make must be subtle to make it look realistic.

Anyway, moving on. Improved the animations a bit, still trying to figure out how to start on the running animations (not quite sure which running animations do crossbows use, I'm thinking the ones for staffs?).

Also, made a video showcasing the new animations in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2VBzgHREU

[Docm30]

Looking good.

I'd like to use these in my mod when you release them---they're a lot better than the botch jobs I made.

And I'm fairly certain crossbows do use the staff run animations.

[Belendor]

This is awesome.

[Sayd Ûthman]

Animating legs is really hard, i tried once but you can try the way Mb animations are done (moving the foot's bone a bit forward), by the way may i ask you what software you use and also do you use mount and blade skeletons ?? i am really interested on that please

[Swyter]

If you're using 3ds Max. Do a basic IK from the upper leg to the feet.
So you can place the markers in the final position and the legs will bend in a natural way instead of doing it manually by keying.

Cool Youtube Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSjp_fXaqXY

And yes, I also do animation.

[RanGer_SLO]

Looking good.

I'd like to use these in my mod when you release them---they're a lot better than the botch jobs I made.

And I'm fairly certain crossbows do use the staff run animations.

Thanks. And sure, use them as you wish

This is awesome.

Thank you

Animating legs is really hard, i tried once but you can try the way Mb animations are done (moving the foot's bone a bit forward), by the way may i ask you what software you use and also do you use mount and blade skeletons ?? i am really interested on that please

I use Softimage Mod Tool 7.5 from Autodesk. It's a free program. And yes, I also use the M&B skeletons. As far as the animating process is concerned, I play out all my animations out first using my own body. I repeat them over a dozen of times, so I know which bones are moving. For an example, I used a broom to play out the reload animations religiously, with my girlfriend looking at me with a twisted smile on her face and my dog thinking I've gone insane .

If you're using 3ds Max. Do a basic IK from the upper leg to the feet.
So you can place the markers in the final position and the legs will bend in a natural way instead of doing it manually by keying.

Cool Youtube Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSjp_fXaqXY

And yes, I also do animation.

Thanks, but I do not have 3ds max. I guess I'm stuck to keying (it's not that bad though, just needs a little effort to make it look realistic).


I'm planning to release the animations soon (should be a few days). I was hoping to finish them today, but then my social life got in the way (I really should get rid of it). Also, note: with the way these animations are made, anyone wanting to use them in their mod will have to change their musket meshes. You will have to move the musket down the z axis (I think, might be x) and import it again into your brf. It's an easy process, but might take an hour or 2 if you have a lot of muskets (and LODs for them).

Well then, back to researching 18th century warfare.

[Danik Golovanov]

Amazing. This will be a must for every mod with musketts for sure. Too bad this animation can't be used in a WW2 mod.

[Rhudda Ar Clogyn Barfau]

hmmm, Thats really rather good, I may have to 'borrow' it for my mod, have you considered making an animation for like a breechloading gun? or a muzzle loading rifle?
if yes, you are amazing,
Thanks
Rhudda,

[RanGer_SLO]

Amazing. This will be a must for every mod with musketts for sure. Too bad this animation can't be used in a WW2 mod.

Thanks. It's true they can't be used for ww2 weapons, but it would be easy to make new animations for ww2 weapons using this system. I've been thinking about this actually, how I could make animations for a bolt rifle. It would be simple, I would add the animations of bolting to the end of the fire animation (so every time you'd fire you would also automatically bolt the rifle afterwards) and make a separate animation for reloading. Semi automatic and automatic weapons would be even easier, and each weapon could have it's own specific reloading animation.

hmmm, Thats really rather good, I may have to 'borrow' it for my mod, have you considered making an animation for like a breechloading gun? or a muzzle loading rifle?
if yes, you are amazing,
Thanks
Rhudda,

Thank you. Yes I have been thinking of making animations for a muzzle loading rifle. Haven't given much thought to breechloading guns until now (since they don't really overlap with flintlock muskets time-wise) but I might animate them in the future.

__________________

Now then, moving on. Finally managed to make the new running animations and pack everything together for my first release.
So here it is:
http://www.gamefront.com/files/20833666/Musket+Animations+Pack+v1.1.rar

Instruction on how to implement the muskets are in the readme file. Please, as always, I'd appreciate constructive criticism, so that I may improve upon it.

Enjoy

[Docm30]

Thanks for these, they look great.

I was wondering if you plan to make horseback versions, as those would be enormously useful to my mod.

[Refleax]

Nicely done!

[RanGer_SLO]

Thanks for these, they look great.

I was wondering if you plan to make horseback versions, as those would be enormously useful to my mod.

Thanks.
Yeah, eventually I'm gonna have to make those too. That and animations for carbines, rifles and a new reload animation for longer muskets.

Nicely done!

Thank you.


More coming soon. Taking a little break from animating now (focusing on 3d modeling and texturing atm). I'll be back on track in a few days to make a new animation pack for the above mentioned animations.

[Caba`drin]

Cheers for the good work!