Animation

This chapter describes procedures and precautions for creating animations using NintendoWare in Softimage.

Animation Overview
Character Animation
Visibility Animation
Color Animation
Texture Pattern Animation
Texture SRT Animation
Scene Animation

Animation Overview

Automatically Creating Animation Data

If the Export option Bake All Animation is ON or if the animation curve in Softimage cannot be output as-is, animation curve data will be automatically created from the data baked from all frames.
Animation data is always automatically created and output from baked data in the following cases.

• When the horizontal axis of the animation curve does not represent the time axis (such as with pass line animations and link animations).
• Animation curves are partially disabled on the dope sheet.
• When the animation is expression-dependent.
• The animation uses animation mixers.

The rotational value automatically generates animation curve data after adjusting the baked data so that it is continuous and has a small absolute value.

All values in the output range are output for baked animations.
All animations using extrapolation are also baked, but not reflected in the animation curve repeat type.
Plans call for providing support for the repeat type of baked animations.

About Animation Curve Extrapolation Mode

If the Export option Bake All Animation is OFF, the animation curve extrapolation mode is referenced and repeat mode is output. Repeat is output and other cases are ignored only when the extrapolation mode is Cycle.

Loop Animation

When Loop is set ON in the Export option, specify the End Frame so the conditions are the same as for the Start Frame. For instance, if animation is being looped under Softimage and frame 1 and frame 10 are the same, specify 1 for the start frame and 10 for the end frame.

Whether looping is set on or off, the FrameSize in the intermediate file is = (EndFrame - StartFrame).

Values Output to CMDL Files

If attributes are being animated, values for the start frame specified with the Export option are output to the CMDL file. Note, however, that bind pose values will be output for the translate, rotate and scale nodes, which are affected by skinning.
Note: Be aware that the values of the current frame in Softimage are not the values being output.

Visibility animation

This type of animation controls the Visibility attribute of a node to make it displayed or hidden.
Visibility animation data is output to the intermediate file as an CMDLA file.

To configure a visibility animation, set the animation curve to View Visibility.

Color Animation

Diffuse, Specular, Incandescence Color

Color animations are set by animating the Color, Transparency (R value), Specular Color and Incandescence Color of material nodes.
When Enable is used to configure ON/OFF animations, in the OFF state these colors are output as black. Animation data is always automatically created and output from baked data in the following cases.

• If an animation has been set for enable.
• Incandescene Color animation.

Polygon Alpha

This configures animation for Transparency.
If Enable is turned OFF, the object is treated as opaque. If Enable is on and UseAlpha is also turned on, an animation configured for the Alpha values is output to the intermediate file as the diffuse alpha value.
If UseAlpha is OFF, an animation configured for the Red Color values is output to an intermediate file. (Green and Blue values are ignored.)

Texture Pattern Animation

This type of animation swaps textures.
Texture pattern animation data can be output to the intermediate file as a material animation (.cmata file).

Setting Attributes

Texture pattern animation settings use either sequential textures or SCR files supported as standard by Softimage.

An SCR file is a text-format file with file extension .scr.
In an SCR file, the absolute path to the texture image file to be displayed in the nth frame (where n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) under Softimage is written on the SCR file's nth line. This allows you to animate displays by swapping texture patterns by frame number by specifying an SCR file, rather than specifying a texture image file for each Image node in Softimage as is commonly done. These cannot be specified for negative frames having a value equal to or less than 0.

Sequential textures are textures that have been given sequential numbers, such as p.1.tga, p.2.tga, and p.3.tga.

Whether you use SCR files or sequential textures, edits made using the Warp feature of Softimage (a feature for editing the correspondence between frames and textures using a graph) are not applied.

Texture SRT Animation

This type of animation varies the SRT of a texture by manipulating a texture matrix.
Texture SRT animation data can be output to the intermediate file as an CMATA file.

For texture animation, animation curve data is always automatically created and output from baked data.

Setting Attributes

Texture SRT animations are configured according to the procedure below.
Apply textures in Softimage,and open the Texture Projection property editor. Move to the frame you want to configure, and set animation keys for ScalingU, ScalingV, RotationW, Translation U, and Translation V.

Scene Animation

Scene animations are configured by animating the camera and light attributes.

Camera

• Camera Types

  Supported camera types are: Perspective, Telephoto, Wide Angle, and Orthographic.

• Cameras that are not output

  A camera will not be output if its Visibility property View Visibility is OFF.

• Aspect Ratio

  The aspect ratio is set by selecting Primitive > Pict. Ratio under Camera Properties, or Projection Plane > Film Aperture (Fixed Aspect Ratio OFF).
  

• Angle of View

  Angle of view is set by selecting Primitive > Field Of View > Angle under Camera Properties or Projection Plane > Film Aperture (Fix Aspect Ratio ON). Since vertical Field of View (Fovy) is output to the intermediate file, if Primitive > Field Of View is set to Horizontal, convert it to Vertical Field of View before exporting. The relationship between Horizontal Angle of View and Vertical Angle of View is determined by the Aspect Ratio.
  The relationship between the Vertical Field of View (Fovy) and the Horizontal Field of View (Fovx) is given by the following formula:

  Fovy = 2 * atan( tan( Fovx * 0.5 ) / aspect )

• Attributes For Which Animation Can be Set

  The following is a list of attributes that can be configured with animation:

  • The camera kinematics Translate and Rotate (Rotate is only supported by Rotate type cameras) (Global coordinates)
  • The kinematics Translate of the camera-direction constraint destination (Camera_Interest) (for Aim type cameras) (Global coordinates)
  • The kinematics Translate of up-vector control objects (when using up-vector control objects) (Global coordinates)
  • Up-vector Roll (when the up-vector is active)
  • The camera properties Picture Ratio (controlled by Film Aperture X/Y), Field of View - Angle, Clipping Plane (Forward/Reverse), Focal Distance, and Ortho Height.

Lights

• Light Types

  Supported light types are: Infinite, Point, and Spot.
  Render > Edit > Ambience converts light into ambient light. However, there can only be one ambient light.

• Lights that are not output

  A light is not output if the Visibility property View Visibility is not animated and is OFF.

• The Spotlight's Visibility property

  A spotlight is not output if either its own Visibility or the Visibility of Spot_Root is OFF.

• Light Contribution

  If the light property Light Contribution > Specular is ON, then the color value is output as specular color.
  If it is OFF, then black is output to the specular color.

  If the light property Light Contribution > Diffuse is ON, then the color value is output as diffuse color.
  If it is OFF, then black is output to the diffuse color.

• Ambient color

  Black is always exported for the ambient color of Infinite, Point, and Spot light types.

• Specular Color 0, Specular Color 1

  The intermediate file can have two settings for specular color, but the same value is output for both from Softimage.

• Attributes For Which Animation Can be Set

  The following is a list of attributes that can be configured with animation:

  • The light kinematics Translate and Rotate (Global Coordinates)
  • The light Visibility property View Visibility (except for Ambient Lights)
  • The light Color and Intensity
  • Ambient Light Color
  • Intensity is output as the alpha component of the light color. (Valid values range between 0.0 and 1.0. (Valid values are 0.0 through 1.0 and correspond to alpha values ranging from 0 to 255 in the intermediate file.)
    However, 1 is always exported for the alpha value of the ambient color of Ambient Lights and Lights.
  • The kinematics Translate of the spot light Interest node (Global Coordinates).

Animation Limitations

Currently shape animations (moprhing) cannot be used.

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