InsideQC Forums

Well, i thought this might be a large subject, so i created a new thread. Anyway, How do i do animations for my weapons? Is it possible to use the animating feature in blender? I have no idea how it works!

i always used milkshape 3d it seemed to work the best for me.

Ok, is it possible to import mdl files to milkshape? Also is the animation a separet file or what?

ceriux wrote:milkshape 3d it seemed to work the best

screw milkshape, that needs to die already and do the burn in helling and such, suggesting milkshape as a (costly) alternative to blender is a god damn JOKE since you're going down to limited features (lack of IK is a total skill bottleneck), fixed UI (limited to triangle and vertex operations in fixed perspective viewports) and broken MDL export (the only good export is SMD). next, lithunwrap3d will be suggested to unwrap the model's UVs too right?

its bad enough QME is still used, but suggesting Milkshape is heresy in any case... except Half-Life (which is still considered evile)

Karall wrote:Is it possible to use the animating feature in blender? I have no idea how it works!

Yes

- Add an armature. Make a bone for each part of the model like arm, hand, gun (for the entire gun usually), muzzleflash, etc.

- i'm old fashioned so select your model, then hold shift and select the armature you made and do CTRL+P to parent to the armature

- you'll be prompted to use autoweighting. Since this is a gun and not an organic person, do just 'name vertex groups'

- Edit mode your mesh, and assign pieces of your model to the appropriate bone names by using the vertex groups panel.

- Animate your model as such. Remember that Blender's frame offset is +1 to Quake frame numbering so frame 1 is 0 to Quake, etc

- You already have the exporter installed since you posted in the blender to MDL thread with screenshots, so select your mesh at the last frame you want to export then do that so your animations up to the current frame are exported

MS would be rough to use as a from-scratch modeler compared to other options now available. I use it for animation, importing UV-mapped obj from wings3D, but we're talking claymation, not IK.

Milkshape has one-click mdl compile and it works well, except for an extra frame at the beginning that has to be deleted in another tool.

you get too offensive over something as simple as a suggestion. i feel its more of a preference thing... plus milkshape is the only tool i use for animation i do not model in it. nor use lith unwrap. about 90% of my work i do on 3ds max. lastly i didnt mention paying for anything.

heh, I use qME

Blender is free, and open source, and actively coded. Supporting old software like QMe and Milkshape is like using your thumb for a screwdriver.

Leileilol, ile try your method, and probably come back for more help xD As usual, thanks alot dude! Also, blender is the shit!!!

I'm not familiar with how good/bad Milkshape's MDL exporter is, but in general for low poly modeling MS is much preferred (by me) over Blender. I used Milkshape 3D all the time back in the Half-Life modding days and it was a relative dream. Meanwhile, Blender is a hot mess of broken features/tools, and a terribad obtuse interface. It pretends to be Softimage, but that only makes me weep and long to be using XSI (or even Milkshape) that much more.

Then again Blender is free, so I don't complain too loudly. And Leileilol's mdl exporter for Blender works like a charm, so as long as you don't mind fighting Blender every step of the way you should be able to pump out models.

Aight, so i know how to animate (bit late), and its all pretty good. But i have one big problem, sometime my animation doesnt play. Most of the time it doesnt. Really anoying. Anyone knows how to fix?

Do you mean it doesn't play in Blender or it doesn't play in game?

In Blender it playss perfectly. I Quake it only plays sometimes, when it does its perfect. But most of the time it doesnt play!

sounds like a quakec problem

Maybe theres to many or not enough frames? I have no idea!!!