Blending arm movements while running
by Jondo · in Artist Corner · 07/26/2008 (9:22 am) · 0 replies
Hi,
I am looking for some help with an animation issue thats been bothering me for awhile.
We use a character system we created, called M.A.C.K. (available through GG). The way our system works has the character's arms in a relaxed position at his side. This is great for when the player is standing idle, and essential for when we blend animations over the arms (like gun-holding poses, and melee attacks).
The problem comes when the character is running but not attacking or holding a gun... he runs with his arms down at his side, which doesn't look very realistic. We've included multiple run animations (the base run, a fullrun and a blend of just the arms-swinging) so developers can address it specifically for their project.
If we use the fullRun (with arms swinging) the attack blends and gun-holding poses don't look right, since the arms aren't in the 'reference frame' position.
I have seen many games/projects get around this simply by not allowing your character to run while doing certain animations. This is not a solution we like, as we want to be able to run around and punch and kick as we please.
We have a few solutions in mind, but haven't implemented any yet. I am looking for feedback from the community that may lead to a solution for this.
We can either:
1. Use the fullRun and set the character back to root upon EACH attack input
or
2. Cause the armSwinging blend to play whenever running (while not attacking, or holding a gun). We'd have to be sure when attack input was made the armSwinging blend stopped, and once the attack was over the armSwinging started again.
Do either of these solutions sound better than the other? Are either viable? Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Jondo
I am looking for some help with an animation issue thats been bothering me for awhile.
We use a character system we created, called M.A.C.K. (available through GG). The way our system works has the character's arms in a relaxed position at his side. This is great for when the player is standing idle, and essential for when we blend animations over the arms (like gun-holding poses, and melee attacks).
The problem comes when the character is running but not attacking or holding a gun... he runs with his arms down at his side, which doesn't look very realistic. We've included multiple run animations (the base run, a fullrun and a blend of just the arms-swinging) so developers can address it specifically for their project.
If we use the fullRun (with arms swinging) the attack blends and gun-holding poses don't look right, since the arms aren't in the 'reference frame' position.
I have seen many games/projects get around this simply by not allowing your character to run while doing certain animations. This is not a solution we like, as we want to be able to run around and punch and kick as we please.
We have a few solutions in mind, but haven't implemented any yet. I am looking for feedback from the community that may lead to a solution for this.
We can either:
1. Use the fullRun and set the character back to root upon EACH attack input
or
2. Cause the armSwinging blend to play whenever running (while not attacking, or holding a gun). We'd have to be sure when attack input was made the armSwinging blend stopped, and once the attack was over the armSwinging started again.
Do either of these solutions sound better than the other? Are either viable? Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Jondo
