3D studio max r3...

[TheJamsh]

Do you want the bible in pdf?

haha..

[Avatar]

The bit you posted is very interesting, and I'd like to know if using a controller with 7 allows you to do vertex animation.   I'd also like to know if just keyframing a simple object also makes it into BZ2, like I'm doing with r3...  if it's the same exporter it seems like it'd work the same...
-Av-

I think you're talking about "Morph target animation"? If so, the answer is yes, max 7 has a skin morph modifier. (although xsi will not export it) Do you want the bible in pdf?

Yes on the second part.

I was thinking more of applying a "Linked XForm" modifier to the verticies and animating it...    the 'morph' modifier will animate a morph from one form to another but I've found it a little strange unless it's the exact same object, with the exact same verticies, in which case you might as well just animate the verticies themselves.

"Linked Xform" is the manual way of linking verticies together to a sort of a controller (helper dummy, actually) and animating the helper to animate the verts.  This doesn't make it through the exporter, though...

Max is strange in that just about anything can be animated.  For a parametric modelling program (one that uses values to create objects) this is incredibly powerful, since you can animate anything from the basic parameters of the object to the verticies themselves to the UV mapping to the various cool modifiers you can apply.  This means you can do just about any sort of animation you want INSIDE MAX...

For game objects the problem is you're entirely dependant on the exporter used to get the object into the target game.  The idea that the Pandemic Exporter might export controller-driven animation at the vertex level even in r3 is exciting...  and I'm sure going to be looking at it over the weekend...  I'd love to be able to do Scion-like mesh animation, especially for the Ancient Hadeans.

-Av-