Footprint not rendered

#1 Hi Warit,

you need to set the "triggers" at the right times (when the foot is on the ground) in the sequence helper dummy on the trackview/dopesheet.

Also I read that groundtransform must be on in order for it to work.

CHeers

#2 Warit, did you ever get your footprints to render?

I am having the same problem; I have the triggers in my "run" sequence setup correctly (Left foot = 1, Right Foot touch down =2) and on the Sequence object I have Ignore Ground Transform unchecked, and I am using the default of Use N Frames = 2. I have made sure that Footprint.png is in my Player directory (I have my own biped and mesh that I named player). My biped and his bounds box are keyframed to move forward in a run cycle.

Anyone else have an idea on why footprints won't render? Footstep sounds are not working either.

#3 Here's how I would setup the Triggers based upon old TGE SDK codeBase:

In Ms3d's DTSPlus! exporter Sequence Dialog, Trigger Section:

Trigger     Frame      State

0            2          1
1            4          -1
2            6          2
3            8          -2

That would give you two footPrint decal triggers[each with on/off].
Left footPrint decal appears on Frame2 and disappears on Frame4
Right footPrint decal appears on Frame6 and diasppears on Frame8

#4 Thanks Rex,

I'll give it a try.

#5 Sorry I took so long - connectivity issues.

@Rex - The footprint technique you mention is a good one, but it did not fix my problem. But - it got me thinking...

After hours of experimenting, I found that none of my footprints were rendering when my run cycle keyframes were in the area of frames 50-80, whereas one footprint rendered when it was keyframed between frames 30-60, and then I slid the keyframes down to between frames 0-30 and both footprints rendered! I did this with two different characters, and it turned out to be the fix for both of them.

In all my searches on this, I have not come across this rule of thumb - and I know that in the Girl Pack, for instance, the run cycle is in the higher keyframes, so why I am not sure why I am experiencing this anomaly. I wanted to post it here in case it helps someone else. It is a workaround and those are always welcome.

I'm curious if anyone has had similar experiences with footprint visibility based on what range the keyframes were placed?

#6 Ah, it is the method described in the exporter documents and works; if things aren't working as you 'expected'; perhaps you've changed the codeBase...that data I provided was an example of how the triggers are setup, not what you have keyframed....you did not provide the keyframe #'s for your decals appearing/disappearing. Provide as much data as possible when posting for help...it 'helps'. State the frames in the TimeLine that comprise your triggered sequence for export, state the on/off frames and it will all become clear. I strongly suggest reading up on the format in TDN and how it 'expects' to see data....:).


Input your keyframe #'s for when you need the decals to appear. The trigger Frames definitely need to be in the correct portion of the Timeline you intend to export as the sequence, if you declare a keyframe that isn't in the sequence exported, no wonder no trigger data works!

I will try to provide a graphical image of what this represents...

#7 I've never tried doing animation triggers for footstep decals but I have a question about that table Rex posted above. shouldnt the first two and the last two trigger state changes should have the same trigger number since they refer to the same trigger? and shouldnt they be triggers 1 and 2 instead of 0,1,2,3?

#8 NO. You are confusing the State&Name of the Trigger with it's Listing in the Table; and thus where operator error is creeping in....;).

It is an indexed array or table and that is how the exporter numbers the list...you will find the integer ZERO is the first position of an array.

[IMG]http://images6.pictiger.com/thumbs/dd/b4f61a7a1b1247186ce3cb4ec25416dd.th.p...

Here, hopefully, is an image that graphically describes the CORRECT setup per the documentation....enjoy. I even used the BT Jill pack as a control...;). The Root sequence actually ends at frame 40; mea culpa for doing this so quickly and finding hosting/posting space. Also, the Run sequence begins a few frames before the first widget, but this image demonstrates the concept of the Timeline broken down into sequences the exporter can recognize and Trigger setup.

#9 @Rex
Thanks for the reply. Sometimes these posts are a balancing act of detail.

I am using the exact same method as is described in the TDN article on exporting animations, where the trigger keys are within the range of keys I am exporting with the Sequence object. I have not modified the code base at all, I am using a pristine version of TGE 1.5.

My run cycle starts at frame 30 and ends at frame 60. The Begin/End of the Sequence object is keyframed at frames 30 and 60. The trigger for this sequence object is keyframed to 1.0 on frame 33 and 2.0 on frame 45 (1.0 for left foot down, 2.0 for right foot down). The left footprint only shows up at the proper time, the right footprint does not show up at all. The footstep sounds are likewise there for the left foot, missing for the right foot.

When I slide all of the frames (the keyframes for the actual run cycle, and the keyframes for the sequence object begin/end, and the two trigger keyframes) down from the range of 30-60, to the range of 0-30, I get both footprints, and footstep sounds.

When I use your suggestion for putting in negative values for making the footprints disappear, I get the exact same results, so I am inclined to go with the simpler model of just a single trigger for each footprint rather than telling the footprint when to disappear when it will happen automatically anyway.

You suggest reading up on the format in the TDN and how it "expects" to see the data. I have reviewed all of the basic docs on how exporting animations, creating sequence objects, the DTS and DSQ general and Max FAQs, and I've done TDN searches on "footprints". Is there another resource I have missed? Can you paste a URL.

Thanks for any other thoughts.

#10 Well, the 'expectation' is the values of the States[+=ON,-+OFF]...your results are very unexpected to me; especially with this moving of keyframes to a lower range[not a bad idea in itself; file specific export], how odd. I, myself, have not experienced this issue. Conceptually, it is the setup...I apologize for assuming you're using Milkshape3D for this work...

I am glad to see it corrected with this lower range setting; and I do not see what modelling package and exporter you are utilizing. This may be some oddity with the exporter you are using[or modeller], I would begin to look in that direction, posting in the specific exporter, program or animation section. I like to keep animations that I export to only that data in the Scene. It makes for a larger Project folder; but helps keep things tidy.

Sound with footprint can be tricky also. With stock TGE, I have only gotten one type of sound to function based upon texture; it is a part of Torque I always struggle with, descriptions vs profiles....I 'believe' I remember something about it being 'fixed'...not sure. Searching out footprint, footpuff, and sound will show this a very asked topic.

good luck!