3ds Max modifiers not animating after compiling

Garry's Mod modelling
#1

I have made an object in 3ds max 2011, and when I apply a modifier to it (such as bend in my case) and animate it, the animation plays fine in the program. I export the reference model and the animation model, compile it and open it up in hlmv.

This is where things start to get weird. The model shows, but the animation does not play. So I go back into Max and create another animation not using a modifier which simply moves the object around the viewport. I compile again and this animation plays. I’ve tried lots of modifiers and none of them play in the model viewer.

Is this a known smd exporter bug? If not, does anyone have any idea whats going on?

#2

you must use bones and polygons, with a skin modifier.

#3

Every other animation works. Is that only for modifier animations?

#4

I didn’t understand the question, so i’ll answer it with somewhat useful info.

The source engine uses animated skeletons aka bones to animate a mesh.
The mesh is weighted aka skinned to the skeleton, causing it to move with the bones.

If you are not using bones or skinning the mesh to the bones. Then the mesh will not animate in source.

#5

Thank-you for the information, but it will. I’ve been modelling for years, and not once have I used bones or skinning to animate meshes. It’s only when I use 3ds max modifiers that the animations of said modifiers don’t work. Every other animation works, such as move, scale and rotate.

#6

Source only makes use of vertex animation for facial expressions. All other animation is done on a per-bone basis.
If an object doesn’t have an assigned bone, the SMD exporter will automatically add one and animate that object as a whole.

If you really must use vertex animations, then you can try a hacky approach, using flexes (like you would for faceposing), forcing it to play through your animation like that, but it isn’t the best way to do things.

#7

So my compiler automatically adds a bone to the object i’m compiling? Got it. And about the modifier animation, I have a thin plane-like box and have applied the bend modifier to it. I want to animate the box from 0 - 100 in the timeline and at 0 the bend be at one extreme, and 100 the bend be at the other. Is this not possible then?

#8

Just rig the box to a couple of bones and animate like that.

#9

Okay. But what if, for example, I have an object and want to animate individual (or a group of) vertex/vertices? Is that possible with bones?

#10

You could add a separate bone for those verts to move with, then animate that or mess around with flexes if you really must have it.

#11

As I have never used bones before (well, not added them myself anyway) could you just quickly describe how I use them?

#12

Not quickly no, try watchng those.