Animating Weapons for Counter-Strike Source/Idle Animation

Important!

Save your work periodically.

Setting Up edit

  • Open css-lr300-idle.exp

Note:
From now on you will be doing a lot of your own work. Animation methods will be taught throughout the rest of the animating pages.

Finding the Length of the Animation edit

  • Find your default folder, which contains the decompiled default sg552.
  • Open idle.smd in a text editor.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the file.
  • Now scroll up and find the nearest line that reads time #.
  • Subtract one from this number. The frame range for this animation is 0-15.

Changing the Length of the Animation in XSI edit

  • Locate the timeline in XSI. It is near the bottom of the screen and has many numbers running across it.
  • Look to the left of the timeline. There are two text boxes. Change them both to zero if they are not zero already.
  • Look to the right of the timeline. There are two text boxes Change both of them to 15.

Finding out the Frame Rate of the Animation edit

  • Locate the default folder and open mdldecompiler.qc in a text editor.
  • Locate the line that beings by reading "$sequence idle".
  • Look at the end of the line. It should read fps 30.00.
  • The frame rate of this animation is 30 frames per second.

Changing the Frame Rate of the Animation in XSI edit

  • Look at the bottom-middle of the XSI screen. There should be a darkened gray button that reads Playback. Click this button.
  • Click Playback Options.
  • Under Precision, change Format to Custom framerate.
  • Change Frame Rate to 30.
  • Close the playback options window.

Review edit

Note:
You should know how to..

  • move and rotate objects by now using the 'Transform' panel.
  • maximize and minimize viewports.
  • change viewports (e.g. User to Camera)
  • navigate around the scene in all viewports.
  • change the rendering mode of a viewport. (e.g. Textured Decal, Wireframe, Hidden Line Removal
  • open up the schematic view of the scene. (Hint: Press 9)
  • change the hierarchy of objects in the scene. (Hint: Use the Cut and Parent buttons on the right hand Constrain panel.

Navigating in the Schematic View edit

  • Open the schematic view.
  • Press s to pan around the view.
  • After pressing s click and drag with the middle mouse button to zoom in and out.
  • Press a while the cursor is in the schematic view to frame the whole scene within the window. This also works in the viewports so if you ever get lost you can just press a.
  • To zoom in on a specific object, hold onto SHIFT+Z and click and drag a rectangle upon the area you wish to magnify.
  • Press CONTROL+R to refresh the view. This is useful when changing the hierarchy of objects.
  • The schematic view is handy for selecting objects.

Posing edit

Important!

These animations must be done in positions of a left-handed person, unless you are animating any of the following: famas, galil, m249

The idle animation is usually just a still position, but you can put a little animation in there if you want. For this tutorial we will make the idle animation a still position.

Setting a Key edit

  • Move the red frame marker to 0.
  • Select a null, such as Bip01_L_Forearm, and, and move it near the grip of the LR-300.
  • Press K. This sets a key for the frame 0. To remove a key, press SHIFT+K.
Tip: The shortcut key for translating is V, and the shortcut key for rotating is C. You must set keys for translation and rotation separately.
Tip: Bip01_L/R_Wrist are useful when rotating the arm.
  • Now you are on your own for creating the pose.

Aligning to the Camera View edit

  • Change one viewport to Camera and one to User.
  • Move the null ValveBiped.ValveBiped so it aligns with the camera well.

Setting All Keys edit

  • Change the selection filter to Null.
  • Press CTRL+A.
  • Press VKCK to set all keys.

Exporting edit

  • Go to ValveSource>Export SMD.
  • Check the first checkbox.
  • Change the drop down list to "Skeletal Animation (.SMD)".
  • Save the file as idle.smd in your tocompile folder.
Animating Weapons for Counter-Strike Source
Setting up the Camera Idle Animation Testing Animations