can map mesh's be animated plus....

[f-c-m]

Ok, so halflife2 and its sdk arent out, this question probably has no definate answer yet.. but im asking anyways
maybe you can offer your opinion of the likliness of this working..

Importing a very low poly character (500 or less poly's) into a map
puttin him/her behind a glass window, would I be able to animate that mesh even though its not a character model .
The map will be an online map.

how would I go about acheiving it?.. ( was this even possible in hl1 maybe? )

2nd big question to this, if the source engine can have linsynching based on a sound file it analyzes to move the lips ( from what ive read it goes by volume and intensity of the playing portion of the sound file )..

if thats the case, can I apply that technology to that Mesh in my map, w/ several animations .. So to make the model look like its dancing when music is played in the background..?

Im interested to know if this idea would work.. for a project Im working on.
Thanks
-B

 

[derby]

You could certainly import animated models into HL1, so it must be possible in HL2. Valve's lip synching is actaully a lot more sophisticated than previous efforts (eg RTCW) which worked by the volume of the sound file alone. The lip synching in HL2 works by analysing the frequencies present in the sound file and working out what the shape of the mouth should be. It would be possible to make a character dance by telling HL2 that thier arms and legs were parts of the face. The dancing would probably be very erratic....

 

[f-c-m]

thanks for the info

Thanks for the info on that,
I was assuming it was possible
but ive never tried it within hl1 so didnt know how much to expect.

If i can get it to work properly it should be pretty nice indeed.
i'll definately be investigating the lipsynch stuff to see how it will work with the model.. I know what you mean by irratic , I would expect that.. so possibly If I select only key "word or letters" to subject the model to animations, it wont be to sensitive to the musics beat and only key bass will promote movement.

eh? sound like I know what im talkin about?
im just guessin but im pretty sure that'd be the best approach

-B

 

[Baileymog]

dance dance revolution!

are you using your own created music? if u are try just exporting say the bassline or the drumbeat, def just the rythym section, cos u dont dance to a lead guitar do u? should be cool if u can pull it off, keep us posted

 

[derby]

Now, I think about it, Valve mentioned a lip synch editor, where you could tune the 'performance' to be more lifelike, perhaps just using the basline (or if that isn't an option just creating your own track at the same tempo!) would be give a convincing dance after all. Good suggestion Bailmog.

 

[f-c-m]

thanks,

Thats pretty much where I was headed with it
I would have the music playing, but create my own bass hits at the right tempo.. to adjust the animation cycles to be to the beat of the music playing..
I cant wait to get the new hammer editor and get this map underway
ive been spending hours upon hours creating new textures for the map,
so hopefully 90% will be all custom,
environmental sounds as well.

once i have something to show, i'll be posting it dont worry

 

[ComradeBadger]

hmmmm, I had a similar idea... sounds good (altho it was some US Marines tapping their feet)

 

[derby]

You could remake that scene from The Full Monty, where they're all in a queue, doing the dance to 'Hot Stuff'. It would probably require a bit more careful animating, though.

 

[f-c-m]

haha, that would be a challenge

Well, once Ive created my 1st hl 2 map,
i'll be more interesting in experimenting with the finer details of what can be done

for now ive got alot of challenged ahead of me with this one map...
i'll be lucky to have it done by christmas with my time schedule these days hehe.

But i'll post screens once i can start developing it..


Is it worth while to start making the brush geometry of the map in the current hammer?.. or should I be waiting until the new ones out..