Attachment Points

07-31-2004, 09:46 PM	#1
Shimrra	Could some create, or explain how to create, attachments points on models? There are some good custom models, but many of them do not have the proper attachment points. This messes up games because, for example, it looks bad to activate immolation but not have any flames. Thanks in advance.

08-01-2004, 01:14 AM

Oinkerwinkle

Are you using 3ds max or just MDL editing? If 3ds max, the art tools documentation explains it. Otherwise, do the following. You will probably have to ask for clarification somewhere, but I don't know how much you already know.
- Convert to MDL using Yobguls' File Converter (downloads section).
- Download the ObjectId inserter from here.
- Open the MDL and find the ObjectId of the last helper.
- Find the ObjectId of the last helper.
- Use the ObjectId Inserter to insert 1 id after whichever you found to be the last helper.
- Find the last helper again and, right after it (you'll see a single } with no tabs before it denoting the end), paste something like this:

Code:

Attachment "Origin Ref " {
	ObjectId 55,
}

- Change the ObjectId of that to (the objectId of the last helper) + 1.
- Go to the PivotPoints (just search for PivotPoints) and find the pivotpoint cooresponding with the new ObjectId. It will be marked by a comment line (something like //ObjectId 55). Change those coordinates to where you want the attachment to be. They are listed as { front/back, left/right, up/down }.
- Convert back to MDX.

08-01-2004, 01:45 AM

Shimrra

I'm a bit confused... (I have no modelling experience, by the way) Before posting this, I had done some research, and founs this attachment point in the Lich model:

Code:

}
Attachment "Hand Right Ref " {
	ObjectId 112,
	Parent 9,	// "Mesh04"
	Visibility 3 {
		DontInterp,
		41833: 1,
		42933: 0,
		45167: 0,
	}
}

From what I've gathered, this is the right hand attachment point. Parent is the object that this is based off of, ObjectID id the ID of this object, the rest; I have no idea. Visibility was 3 on all the attachment points, so I assume it should be like that. I was wondering what the "DontInterp," and numbers were and how I could find those parts within the objects in the mdl. One of the models has the different objects commented on, like left hand, and such, so I know which part it is. The other one, however, has no such comments, so how would I find out which part is which?

Next, the origin and overhead attachment points were wierd; perhaps you can assist.

Code:

}
Attachment "Origin Ref " {
	ObjectId 117,
}
Attachment "OverHead Ref " {
	ObjectId 118,

They haven't any numbers, making them an anomaly. Why is this?

Thank you for your time so far. It is appreciated.

08-01-2004, 02:44 AM

Oinkerwinkle

Code:

	Visibility 3 {
		DontInterp,
		41833: 1,
		42933: 0,
		45167: 0,
	}
}

Traslates to:
There are three 'visiblity keys', or places during the animations when the visibility is toggled on/off.
There is to be no interpolation (blending between different keys). In other words, it will disappear instantly as opposed to fading out.
The first key is at the beginning of the death animation (41833), marking it as 1, or visible. This means that at the beginning of the death animation, the effect attached to that point will be visible. All the animations before that don't need keys because the default is one (on) and they don't need to switch at all.
The second key is slightly farther into the death animation, at 42933. It has a value of 0, or off. This means that the attachment will turn invisible at that frame.
The final key is at the beginning of the dissipate animation, marking it again as off.

As you can probably tell, the keys will vary depending on which animation set is being used.

The parent defines which bone the attachment point follows. In this case, it's the right hand bone. But how, you might ask, is one to know which bone is the right hand bone. The lich is a particularly bad example to use there. Usually the bones will be named descriptively (Bone_Hand_R).

The origin and overhead bones don't have those numbers because they are always visible. They also don't need parents because they stay still.

08-01-2004, 04:04 PM	#5
Shimrra	So where do I look to find what those three numbers will be in a model? Also, what if the model doesn't have any comments denoting what part that object is?

08-01-2004, 08:46 PM

Oinkerwinkle

Quote:

Also, what if the model doesn't have any comments denoting what part that object is?

That makes it a lot more difficult, particularly if you don't have 3ds max. I guess you could look at the PivotPoint coordinates that associate with each ObjectId, though.

If I were you, I'd start without doing any visibility modifications. If you do want to try them, look in the sequences section for the start/end times of animatons.