Bone Translator
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| Submitted by volkan on Fri, 2007-11-30 16:35 | ||
Got a question for our resident experts. In the character mesh how does the bone translator for weapons/shields figure the ap_trace points? And how many are actually available? Just the two?
[body]
{
[bone_translator]
{
handle = grip;
middle = ap_trace02;
tip = ap_trace01;
}
}forums: |
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Those are all part of the weapons mesh. A weapon has a grip, 2 tracers and a dummy root. The dummy root is where the weapon mesh lies on the ground.
When you create a mesh in gmax, the item toolkit is where you get to add them. There are actually more than the toolkit provides, e.g. an ap_ammo for the miniguns, and in theory you could add any number of new ones, if you need them, because they're all really the same except for the names. You just rename the attach point after you add it if you need a different one. They are typically used to locate effects like the tracers, flames, muzzle flash, etc.
There's also only one grip that matches up to either the weapon_grip or shield_grip on the character according to what the item is defimed to be. Apparently you can't have multiple grips for two-handed items, probably because there would be conflicts making both connect at the same time. That has to be in the right place in the hierarchy, because it moves the weapon, but the others are less critical.
The direction of the attach point can also be used with the bone_orient parameter in an effect to control the direction of the effect, so that the flamethrower's flame aligns with the nozzle, for example.