Skinned .X mesh Support?

[high_tek_b]

In the TvMesh class there is a function loadskinmesh.  I seem to remember somthing about tv supporting the new .X files with skin and bones support, is this correct? How exactly do I use this, and how should i set up the bones etc. in 3dsMax4?  I have the new .x mesh exporter from the direct X 8.1 sdk, and it gives very little documentation regarding it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[SylvainTV]

Yes totally supported, even with custom animation, multiple animation files etc...

Well to be exact, 2 ways to load and render skinned boned x file meshs.
Use TVMesh.LoadSkinMesh, or use the TVActor2 class that is specialized for bones/animations.

hmm about the export, I can't really help you because I never modeled. Though the .X mesh exporter from directx8.1 should work good, if you select "Export hierarchy/bone" and "export animation".

Probably someone will answer better on this one

[high_tek_b]

So whats the dif betweent Actor and Actor2 classes? And how can I combine Different .x animations so that the Actor class can Switch em up quickly?

[DavidAWinter]

Those two football players you may see from time to time on the main pages. Those are skinned meshes in X format. So yes, X format works fine. The 3D Max exporter is somewhat buggy from what I've been told. I don't know for sure, I don't use it. You may have to hunt around on the net to find a working version.

[SylvainTV]

Actor class is outdated and is quite slow compared to Actor2. Moreover only Actor2 supports Skinned X files.
Actor2 uses the lastest technologies such as vertex shaders and skinned mesh to render very fast, and Actor2 contains methods to load additional animations from x files and ability to rotate dynamically the bones, You have also direct access to the bone data, to attach things on the actor. Very powerful

[Arli]

I might also add that in next version of TV (after official 6.0 release that is) the current TVActor class will be totally replaced by TVActor2(thus TVActor2 being renamed to TVActor)!

[Quarantine]

Why rename it? Then we just have to go through and change all our code... Yeah it's a quick search and replace but still

[MP51C]

because then in Truevision 10.12 you would have TVActor15  

[high_tek_b]

so can someone please outline the procedure for loading and displaying animations using the .x format.  Should all different animation be in different files? or just in different frames of one file?  There is almost no documentation on how to impliment this, and all my attempts have resulted in nothing, i cannot even get the character to display.  Also can the skinmesh be swapped with different meshes using the same set of bones?

[DavidAWinter]

You can use the same skeletal system in many meshes as long as they are built that way by the editor. The mesh needs to have it's bones applied in the modeler. TV can't do it.

Basically all animation sets are in a single file and you use PlayAnimationID(x) to play that animation. This must be outside the game loop or at least only called once when changing animations. Otherwise it will only play the first frame.

[high_tek_b]

So if your football players are .x meshs then what program did you use to make the animations and also how did u combine them into one file ready for loading in tv?

[DavidAWinter]

I use TrueSpace for Modeling and animation. TrueSpace 6 has native support for X format with many animations. TrueSpace 4 and 5 you'll need a plug in for that, although the plugin is free.