Anim Tools

• Reset Controllers
  All selected objects will be set to linear controllers.Use this if you get 'valid controller' sanity check errors.

• Anim Browser
  This tool is used to quickly switch between animations. On the interface that pops up select a modelbase. This will list all animations of the base. When you doubleclick an animation entry the animation range will be set to these animation frames.
• Event Browser
  The event browser is similar to the animation browser, it will do the same with events.

The following tools are described below...

• Copy Animation Keys
• Anim Mapper
• Key Master
• Mass Key Tweaker
• Bake Anims
• Reduce Anim Keys

• Start Frame:
  First frame of the animation sequence to be copied
• End Frame:
  Last frame of the animation sequence to be copied
• Target Frame:
  First destination frame where the animation range will be copied
• Source:
  Source node/object whose animation keys are to be copied
• Target:
  Target object where the source animation keys will be copied
• Pos Checkbox:
  Check this to enable copying of position keys
• Rot Checkbox:
  Check this to enable copying of rotation keys
• Scale Checkbox:
  Check this to enable copying of scale keys
• Copy Child Nodes:
  Check this to copy the animations for the entire hierarchy of the object node. The target node must have the exact same hierarchy as the source node for this to work properly
• Absolute/Relative Radio buttons:
  This determines whether source animation keys are copied directly to the target node regardless of its state (position, rotation or scale) or if the source values are used to adjust the existing state of the target node. Select absolute to copy keys directly to the target. Select relative to preserve the initial state of the target object and modify that state using the source animation keys.
• Mirror on Axises (Axes) checkbox:
  Check this to enable mirroring of rotation keys (only) during the copy process. If this is checked, one or more of the following checkboxes must be active for this function to take effect. If none are checked, then activating this function has no effect.
• X, Y and Z checkboxes:
  These work in conjunction with the “mirror on Mirror on Axises” checkbox to allow mirroring or reversing rotation keys during the copy process (useful for creating symmetrical animations such as walk-cycles or reversing existing animations).

• 1. Sources to Targets section:
  This section allows the user to determine how the source MDL nodes are mapped to the target nodes in the current scene.
  • Browse MDL:
    This button allows you to choose the source MDL file using the standard windows file browser. Once selected, the MDL name will appear in the textbox above the button. Click the Load button to read the contents of the MDL and populate the “Source MDL Nodes” listbox.
  • Source MDL Nodes listbox:
    This list shows all the nodes available in the source MDL. This box will be empty until an MDL file is loaded using the procedure mentioned above.
  • Target Scene Nodes:
    This list shows all the valid nodes in the current scene than can be the target for the animation keys that will be imported from the source MDL. Click “Refresh Scene Nodes” to repopulate the list with a fresh list of scene nodes.
  • Mappings: Source -> Target:
    This area is the heart of the animation mapper tool. You can select a node from the Source MDL Nodes listbox and a corresponding node from the Target Scene Nodes listbox, then click the “>>” button to map the source node to the target node. The mapped pair will appear in the right-hand listbox. Once mapping is complete, animations imported from the source MDL nodes will be imported into animation keys for the target nodes. The “<<” button removes a mapped pair of nodes from the list. Click the “Auto” button to automatically map identically named nodes from the source and target lists.

• 2. Anim Data section
  This Section allows the user to determine which animations to import from the source model and the manner which those animations will be imported.
  • Anim Names Available listbox:
    This listbox contains all the animations from the source MDL. Select animations from this list and click the “add” button to mark an animation for import. Marked animations will appear in the “Anims to Process” listbox.
  • Anims to Process:
    This listbox contains all the animations that will be imported from the source MDL.

• Options:
  • Anim Names Defined
    selecting this option will import marked animations into identically named animations that are already defined on the model base/
  • Use Insert Point
    import marked animations beginning at the frame number set as the insert point.
  • Append to End
    import marked animations beginning 10 frames after the last frame of the last animation cycle defined on the model base.

The Key Master panel hosts a number of tools designed to ease manipulation of animation keys specifically for NWN-related applications.

Before any operations can be performed using the key master, an aurora model base object must first be selected. Click the “Select Aurorabase” button, then select a valid aurora base object by clicking on it in the viewport or using the “select by name” button in Max. Once selected, the name of the aurora base object will appear above the “Select Aurorabase” button.

The tools contained in the Key Master panel are as follows:

• Rename Anim Root:
  This tool performs a search-and-replace on the animroot entry of all animations defined on the selected aurora base object. The animroot is the first node in the model’s hierarchy that will have animations applied to it. Nodes not included in the animroot’s hierarchy will NOT have animations applied to them in-game regardless of whether or not they have any animation keys set.
  Parameters:
  • Old:
    Anim root to be searched for and replaced (must exist on the aurora base)
  • New:
    New anim root to be set in place of the value set in “Old”

• Insert Frames:
  This function inserts a number of blank frames at a certain frame number. Existing animation frames are moved later in the trackbar. Animation start/end definitions on the aurora base object are NOT affected.
  Parameters:
  • Insert Point:
    Frame number where new frames are to be inserted
  • Insert Size:
    Number of frames to be inserted

• Move block of frames
  This tool moves a range of keyframes from one point to another. It also auto-adjusts start/end ranges for animations defined on the aurora base.
  Parameters:
  • Start Frame:
    First frame of the range to be moved
  • End Frame:
    Last frame of the range to be moved
  • Target Frame:
    Frame number where the range of animation keys is to be moved.
  • Adjust Anim Names Checkbox:
    Check this to adjust start/end ranges for animations defined on the model base.
• Delete Keys:
  This tool deletes specific animation key types across a range of keyframes. This process affects ALL specified keys on all objects linked to the selected aurora base object.
  Parameters:
  • Start Frame:
    First frame of the range of keys to be deleted.
  • End Frame
    Last frame of the range of keys to be deleted.
  • Key types to delete:
    These checkboxes allow you to select which key types will be deleted. More than one type may be checked at once. At least one must be checked for the tool to have any effect.