Original Character models 3ds and obj

[Baardman]

Boss.zip
This is belnder file format exported from unreal editor and animated, I can export any models from UT and import to blender without loosing animations.

I downloaded your file but i think its not animated.

The UT99 models are vertex animated and look like different, they have framed models so you get this sort of exploded view with
duplicates of the model in different positions.

This in 3dsMax

and Wotgreal

I could theoretical pick all those frames apart since they are colored and numbered when importing in 3dsmax and use it as reference for skeletal animation, as you can see i picked a few apart already, 1 is a forward flip and the other is where Soldier male is throwing his hand in the air before dying like he is being electrocuted.

Wotgreal can export .3ds and wich you can import with 3dsMax.

yesterday i tried binding the ps2 rig to a default UT99 character and it worked pretty good i think for a first time,

[SilverSound]

Vertex Animated models don't have actions. It's all morphs. In Blender this is viewed in the "Shape Key Editor". Raw vertex position stuff. No bones or rig available. The baked nature of the animation is what makes them really hard to work with because you need to somehow manually deform the model.


also you are loading the Vertex animation file wrong that's why it's being loaded as an exploded model. Make sure the format isn't set to ION storm or auto.

[Deepu]

Boss.zip
This is belnder file format exported from unreal editor and animated, I can export any models from UT and import to blender without loosing animations.

I downloaded your file but i think its not animated.

bossBlender.jpg


The UT99 models are vertex animated and look like different, they have framed models so you get this sort of exploded view with
duplicates of the model in different positions.

This in 3dsMax


3dsmax_vertexanimated.jpg


and Wotgreal


Wotgreal_vertex.jpg

I could theoretical pick all those frames apart since they are colored and numbered when importing in 3dsmax and use it as reference for skeletal animation, as you can see i picked a few apart already, 1 is a forward flip and the other is where Soldier male is throwing his hand in the air before dying like he is being electrocuted.

Wotgreal can export .3ds and wich you can import with 3dsMax.

yesterday i tried binding the ps2 rig to a default UT99 character and it worked pretty good i think for a first time,

Install this plugin to blender then try again

https://github.com/neverhood311/Stop-motion-OBJ

[SilverSound]

The .3d plugin is enough and better in this case.

[Baardman]

Install this plugin to blender then try again

https://github.com/neverhood311/Stop-motion-OBJ

Thanks gonna try.

The .3d plugin is enough and better in this case.

For Blender? You have a link for that?

[Deepu]

https://github.com/neverhood311/Stop-motion-OBJ

[SilverSound]

The .3d plugin is enough and better in this case.

For Blender? You have a link for that?

io_u_vertex_m.7z

(16.69 KiB) Downloaded 4 times

Works for latest build of blender too

[Deepu]

Enjoy

[Baardman]

just found out all characters already exist ported from Ps2, thought it was only Xanmark 2 that was ported but this package has them all.

https://www.moddb.com/games/unreal-tour ... acters-v25

and another modified ps2 character.
https://www.nexusmods.com/unrealtournament/mods/39

[OjitroC]

I wasn't aware of the modified PS2 female commando - certainly of interest as one of the two models has no shoulder pads or backpack so she looks fairly different.

I was aware that the characters had already been ported from PS2 and so, assuming that you were also aware, I didn't mention it - had I done so I might have saved you some time and effort so apologies for that.

Purely as a matter of interest the Damien model throws these errors

Code: Select all

Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy07  index 19408
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy03  index 19432
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy04  index 19410
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy08  index 19411
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy01  index 19414
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy02  index 19415
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy09  index 19421
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy06  index 19425
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy05  index 19430

these lines would appear every time the bot/player was killed and respawned so could create quite a bit of log spam over a long game or series of games (I got these errors using that model as a ScriptedPawn in MonsterSpawn and I assume they would happen with Players/Bots). Those 'missing bone/animation link' errors are fairly common with skeletal models unfortunately.

[Baardman]

I wasn't aware of the modified PS2 female commando - certainly of interest as one of the two models has no shoulder pads or backpack so she looks fairly different.

I was aware that the characters had already been ported from PS2 and so, assuming that you were also aware, I didn't mention it - had I done so I might have saved you some time and effort so apologies for that.

Purely as a matter of interest the Damien model throws these errors

Code: Select all

Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy07  index 19408
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy03  index 19432
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy04  index 19410
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy08  index 19411
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy01  index 19414
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy02  index 19415
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy09  index 19421
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy06  index 19425
Log: Warning: missing bone/animation link for Dummy05  index 19430

these lines would appear every time the bot/player was killed and respawned so could create quite a bit of log spam over a long game or series of games (I got these errors using that model as a ScriptedPawn in MonsterSpawn and I assume they would happen with Players/Bots). Those 'missing bone/animation link' errors are fairly common with skeletal models unfortunately.

Maybe the errors are because the dummy's are the last bones of the fingers and top of head. and not really used or necesary in the animation i suspect.
i opened the PS2 rig yesterday and found the names of some joint at the endpoint have this "dummy" name.
I also was not able to export it after importing it to Maya because some joints in the fingers
Have exactly the same name.

[Skerion]

Not sure if this would be useful, but I remember someone porting the Unreal NPCs into Garry's Mod, and they were able to port the vertex animations by using a tool called DemBones which converted vertex animation into skeletal animation.

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/fil ... 2823942655
https://github.com/electronicarts/dem-bones

However, the animation conversion isn't perfect, because the tool isn't exactly meant to be used for character models and will more often than not generate a very wonky and asymmetrical rig just so the converted animation looks best with it. The models for the ported NPCs also have gaps between some of the bones, though it seems like the creator had those edges manually split rather than something the tool itself does, probably so that each body part retain their volume or something.

[SilverSound]

Not sure if this would be useful, but I remember someone porting the Unreal NPCs into Garry's Mod, and they were able to port the vertex animations by using a tool called DemBones which converted vertex animation into skeletal animation.

https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/fil ... 2823942655
https://github.com/electronicarts/dem-bones

However, the animation conversion isn't perfect, because the tool isn't exactly meant to be used for character models and will more often than not generate a very wonky and asymmetrical rig just so the converted animation looks best with it. The models for the ported NPCs also have gaps between some of the bones, though it seems like the creator had those edges manually split rather than something the tool itself does, probably so that each body part retain their volume or something.

Yeah there is also a tutorial on the forums that uses the tool by the creator of one of the UT weapon mods for GMOD. The issue is that he made the Tutorial for GMOD and not UT

[AlCapowned]

DemBones would work fine for UT due to UT's limited skeletal animation support, but only if you don't plan on adding new animations (since there is no hierarchy to the bones). It wouldn't work for anything UE2 (or a good chunk of 227's features).

About the PS2 characters' dummy bones error - I probably removed the dummy bones from the models without re-exporting the animation files, so the game is looking for those bones when they no longer exist. I'll have to fix that if I ever update the pack.

[meowcatbuf]

So I've got a bit of a side project for my UT2k4 Yet Another Real-life Mod (YARM) - I really liked UT99's default vertmesh animations so I decided to try and remake them (most of them anyways for the male player models) for my custom skeleton that my YARM player models used. If I can get them finished in the next couple of months I would consider releasing the .psa file for rigging custom characters to, along with a simple player model in .ms3d/.smd/.psk for reference for rigging. I have not worked on the female anims (nor Nali/skaarj etc.) and don't have any plans too.

I've got most of the major movement animations done for the male models. I imported each frame (or every other frame) into CharacterFX (after exporting/orienting/scaling in Milkshape3D) and then posed my skeletal model to match... it has been very, very, very time consuming. Unfortunately UT99 does not allow linking multiple .psa animation files to a mesh at runtime via the LinkAnim functions (unlike UT2k4), and my anim sets are across ~10 different .psa files so I also have to write a .psa file combiner program too to generate a single final .psa file.

Let me know what model file type would be handy to have the skeletal reference in and if MS3D can export that i will include that too.

I intend the eventually release a scaled down version of my YARM mod for UT99... but that might take years.