Extract GR2 to Blender with mesh AND skeleton and re-export to GR2

[Shirotora Kenshin]

another question :

what is about the polygon-count ? what is the recommended maximum of polygons for a unit ?

 

[Civitar]

I think that's a civ4 thing, isn't it? I've never encountered anything like that with civ5 units.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

i dont think so.

every game will crash at some point,when there are simply too much of polygons and so too much power is needed........

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

ok it seems that you cannot assign all vertices to thze neck bone.at least one vertice have to be assigned to a another bone.

otherwise it will be " rigid " ( whats bad ) and not " skinned " ( what would be good ) in Granny Viewer.and otherwise it will not appear ingame.

 

[Nutty]

what is about the polygon-count ? what is the recommended maximum of polygons for a unit ?

Based on Firaxis' CiV units, it looks like you should keep it under 4000 triangles [but shoot for ~2000].

 

[Wodhann]

I'm attempting to create a custom animation for testing purposes but I've been frustatingly unsuccessful.

First of all the animation files I save (as in, loading the fbx and exporting as raw animation) won't work. I load up the model I'm animating in the granny viewer, then load the animation but the animation preview shows nothing and clicking on it won't do anything, like the animation is null.

Secondly, if I make a granny file using the animated fbx I exported and overwriting it with the mesh I'm animating, it seems to ALWAYS end up rotating the model head-to-front, even if I go back, make the model head-to-back (which by the way is no easy task, since blender is a piece of **** when it comes to resizing/rotating armatures, as doing that seems to mess the animation entirely (why did people have to force me to use this dismal excuse for a 3d program?)), doesn't matter, it will rotate 180º fowards and stay in that position.

I'm at a loss here, I've been trying for hours but I simply don't seem to be able to get animation to work in the game.

 

[hugojackson18]

Just use 3dsmax if you're more at ease with it. There's no reason to use blender if you're making custom animations and not doing a conversion or reusing civ5 animations

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[Wodhann]

Just use 3dsmax if you're more at ease with it. There's no reason to use blender if you're making custom animations and not doing a conversion or reusing civ5 animations

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

FBX exported by 3dsmax doesn't seem to work. I tried. When importing 3dsmax-saved fbx, nexus buddy shows a (mostly) empty file that is useless.

 

[hugojackson18]

Have you baked your animation when exporting the fbx ? What version or the fbx pluggin are you using? Fbx 2009 seems to be the one that works for me

 

[Wodhann]

Have you baked your animation when exporting the fbx ? What version or the fbx pluggin are you using? Fbx 2009 seems to be the one that works for me

I have a newer version. And yes I tried baking the animations, same result. It results in a file without animation or mesh, and applying a gr2 mesh to it result in a model rotated 180º downwards for some reason. It just doesn't work for me unfortunately.

 

[hugojackson18]

You have to use the 2009 version of the fbx pluggin. You've got the choice when exporting it. Otherwise it won't work. Have you tried importing your fbx back in a blank 3ds max scene, to see how it looks? Does that work?

 

[Deliverator]

First of all the animation files I save (as in, loading the fbx and exporting as raw animation) won't work. I load up the model I'm animating in the granny viewer, then load the animation but the animation preview shows nothing and clicking on it won't do anything, like the animation is null.

Try using the function Export Model and Animation to split your generated FBX into a model .gr2 and animation .gr2. That way you'll be sure that everything matches up.

Secondly, if I make a granny file using the animated fbx I exported and overwriting it with the mesh I'm animating, it seems to ALWAYS end up rotating the model head-to-front, even if I go back, make the model head-to-back (which by the way is no easy task, since blender is a piece of **** when it comes to resizing/rotating armatures, as doing that seems to mess the animation entirely (why did people have to force me to use this dismal excuse for a 3d program?)), doesn't matter, it will rotate 180º fowards and stay in that position.

Rotation in Blender, like everything else is easy when you know how. To rotate 90 degrees around the X axis for example you first select the objects you want to rotate using Ctrl to lasso select or right click - the rotation can then be done by pressing R (for rotate), then X for (rotate around the X axis) then 90 (for 90 degrees) then execute the rotation. You will then probably need to do Ctrl-A and select Apply Rotation to ObData to make sure you have made the rotation permanent prior to exporting. You can change the camera view using 1,3 or 7 on the Numpad if that helps you see the rotation.

Blender has been the main program for Civ 3d modding for a while. Unlike 3dsmax it is free which is an advantage. It is really just a question of what you're used to. I've used it for a few years and myself I find it easier to use than 3dsmax, but I'll grant you the learning curve is steep. Once you learn the hotkeys and how to achieve everything you want to.

There's no reason why someone couldn't create a BR2 export script for 3dsmax or update Nexus Buddy to accept another format. It just needs a coder who is motivated to do it.

 

[Wodhann]

You have to use the 2009 version of the fbx pluggin. You've got the choice when exporting it. Otherwise it won't work. Have you tried importing your fbx back in a blank 3ds max scene, to see how it looks? Does that work?

Oh... I didn't know you can select different versions. The 2009 is more promising, it has animation and for the first time I can actually save it as animation and get some kind of result.

The result is still... messy. I have to figure out why. Probably a question of differing scales.

Rotation in Blender, like everything else is easy when you know how. To rotate 90 degrees around the X axis for example you first select the objects you want to rotate using Ctrl to lasso select or right click - the rotation can then be done by pressing R (for rotate), then X for (rotate around the X axis) then 90 (for 90 degrees) then execute the rotation. You will then probably need to do Ctrl-A and select Apply Rotation to ObData to make sure you have made the rotation permanent prior to exporting. You can change the camera view using 1,3 or 7 on the Numpad if that helps you see the rotation.

Thanks for the explanation, but I already know that. I was talking about how scaling/rotating bones and then applying to obdata screws up the animation - something that doesn't happen in 3dsmax for example (you can rotate and scale a bone all you want and the animation will be untouched).

 

[hugojackson18]

Yeah the scale was a problem for me for a long time but I found that if you just keep it the same scale as the template, it should be fine. There's something weird happening with the way the rig is made though. I don't get the same result if I make the rig under a World locator scaled at 100 or 1. I don't remember which one it is right now, but the wrong one completely explodes and your bounding box in granny viewer is huge and your model tiny.

One important thing as well, (that's in maya but I think it's something to make sure of in 3ds max too) granny viewer doesn't like joints orients unfortunately. I had troubles with some bones rotating in a weird way just because of joint Orient. So make sure they are all at 0 and you're using normal rotation on the actual bones.

 

[Wodhann]

YES! It worked! I changed the measure to "yards" and somehow that did the trick.

Look, they are celebrating (dementedly, and their shields and spears are afloat, but still celebrating)!

It's lazy as hell, but I just wanted to test an animation. By the way the arms were supposed to be downwards, but somewhere while I was animating I screwed up and didn't feel like fixing it.

 

[TPangolin]

Not gonna lie, that looks hilarious.

http://gifsound.com/?gif=i.imgur.com/Nq2mBdV.gif&v=mIBTg7q9oNc&s=5

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

i wonder whether its possible to add new wonder buildings with custom 3d models...guys ??

 

[Wodhann]

i wonder whether its possible to add new wonder buildings with custom 3d models...guys ??

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=519418
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=525486

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=519418
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=525486

i read this tutorials before,but thanks.

the problem is where can i tell the game that it have to use a specific gr2 file containing my model and an fxsxml file ? for units its clear,thats are the ART_DEF_UNIT.........
and the ART_DEF_UNIT_MEMBER...... and here i can choose an fsxml file,but i didnt found
something like that for world wonders or even other buildings.......

i found this for pyramid :

<Row>
<Type>BUILDING_PYRAMID</Type>
<BuildingClass>BUILDINGCLASS_PYRAMID</BuildingClass>
<Cost>185</Cost>
<PrereqTech>TECH_MASONRY</PrereqTech>
<Help>TXT_KEY_WONDER_CHICHEN_ITZA_HELP</Help>
<Description>TXT_KEY_BUILDING_PYRAMID</Description>
<Civilopedia>TXT_KEY_WONDER_PYRAMIDS_DESC</Civilopedia>
<Quote>TXT_KEY_WONDER_PYRAMIDS_QUOTE</Quote>
<ArtDefineTag>THE PYRAMIDS</ArtDefineTag>
<MaxStartEra>ERA_CLASSICAL</MaxStartEra>
<SpecialistType>SPECIALIST_ENGINEER</SpecialistType>
<GreatPeopleRateChange>1</GreatPeopleRateChange>
<NukeImmune>true</NukeImmune>
<HurryCostModifier>-1</HurryCostModifier>
<MinAreaSize>-1</MinAreaSize>
<ConquestProb>100</ConquestProb>
<WorkerSpeedModifier>25</WorkerSpeedModifier>
<Culture>1</Culture>
<DisplayPosition>4</DisplayPosition>
<IconAtlas>BW_ATLAS_2</IconAtlas>
<PortraitIndex>0</PortraitIndex>
<WonderSplashImage>WonderConceptPyramids.dds</WonderSplashImage>
<WonderSplashAudio>AS2D_WONDER_SPEECH_THE_PYRAMIDS_01</WonderSplashAudio>
</Row>

and here is only a " ArtDefineTag " ...........

does anybody know where i can set an fsxml file for buildings , especially wonders ?

 

[Wodhann]

does anybody know where i can set an fsxml file for buildings , especially wonders ?

Have you checked civ5artdefines_wonders.xml?