[OB] Need someone to animate mesh for me to just move down

[andersonsmith969]

EDIT: read last post by me

When you make an elevator script like Willy's that uses "setpos z" to make a mesh move up and down, the collision doesn't often move with the mesh because only meshes with certain NIF settings allow the collision to move with the mesh. I've seen this done in mods like Nehrim with elevator meshes, but I have no idea how to make one on my own.

I've also been told that certain animated meshes like ARDoor1 do this, but I don't want to use that mesh.

It looks like I'll just have to use animation, but that is problematic for me.

Edited May 11, 2012 by andersonsmith969

[InsanitySorrow]

[info=Topic Moved]Topic Moved to the Study Hall.[/info]

[syscrusher]

I ran into a related (but not identical) issue with trying to get the CollisionBox's collision to *not* move when I disabled and reenabled the reference under script control. WindmillTilter gave me a helpful tip. This is not a solution to your issue, but I thought it might be helpful to you as background reading.

http://tesalliance.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=4966

[syscrusher]

I've also been told that certain animated meshes like ARDoor1 do this, but I don't want to use that mesh.

Would dungeons\caves\CTortureCageDeep01.nif help you, if you replaced its visible mesh with your own, or grab its animation controllers and move them to your own NIF?

Edited May 4, 2012 by syscrusher

[andersonsmith969]

Probably. I have no idea how to do that. I figured that it would be something like copying the nif settings from another file that DOES work.

Do tell, although I'll try to look it up! Your link doesn't work.

It's too bad that nobody knows the actual nif settings that do this.

Edited May 4, 2012 by andersonsmith969

[syscrusher]

Oh, crud. I copied the URL of the wrong page! Here's the right one:

[syscrusher]

Probably. I have no idea how to do that. I figured that it would be something like copying the nif settings from another file that DOES work.

Do tell, although I'll try to look it up! Your link doesn't work.

It's too bad that nobody knows the actual nif settings that do this.

You'll need the "enable collision" and "enable animation" bits set, as a minimum.

[WindmillTilter]

Basic up and down animation is pretty easy. Do you already have a working static NIF of what you want to use for an elevator?

WT

[andersonsmith969]

Yes. I would highly appreciate it if you could make one for me or direct me to a tutorial. I need the mesh to move DOWN an exact amount of 6600 units in about 90-100 seconds. If anybody wants to do this for me, here is the mesh.

None of the ten tutorials I found on animation could really help me. Someone said they would write a guide on animating elevators, but it never happened. Sad. ;(

Edited May 11, 2012 by andersonsmith969

[syscrusher]

@andersonsmith969:

Do you still need this? As it happens, I wanted to learn to animate so badly that I actually took vacation time from work this week to grind through the process. A few minutes ago, I just successfully tested an elevator object based on your requirements. I needed a test project, and yours seemed as good as any to provide a requirement specification!

I didn't use your mesh as a base, but rather just created a flat stone disk. My elevator rises or falls 660 units in 15 seconds. I didn't try to go with your 6600 units because I don't have an interior test cell large enough.

For now, I used the Bethesda script from the lifts in the small Oblivion towers, and triggered it with either a direct activation of the elevator mesh, or the activation lever from the fort dungeons. I didn't bother adding a sound -- it's just a test object at this point.

If this will help you, let me know. I could tweak it to do the 6600 units in NifSkope if you need me to, or you can do that yourself. My test object is textured with one of the Colovian Highlands rock textures, but again, you can easily retex it in NifSkope.

FYI, the tutorial I used was this one: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/index.php/Morph_Animations_in_Blender

This teaches morph animations, which aren't useful for an elevator. The tutorial taught me how to export my mesh and keyfiles. The rest of what I needed I learned from Roland Hess' book "Blender Foundations", and by beating my head against the brick wall for several hours.

Kind regards,

Syscrusher

Edited May 13, 2012 by syscrusher

[WindmillTilter]

Looks like syscrusher has it pretty well in hand, good job syscrusher.

For basic animations like this I often find it easier to work straight in NifScope. This is a tutorial at the Wiki that covers the basics of animation in NifScope. If you have questions just post here and we'll help you get it working.

WT

[andersonsmith969]

Okay thanks guys I will give this a go!

[syscrusher]

Let me know if you want any of my files as a starting point.

[andersonsmith969]

Thanks guys, I took a look at NIF animating, and I didn't understand it at all from that tutorial.

Anyway, I did manage to copy the collision from another mesh and create a working custom elevator mesh, so I jerry rigged it I guess.

If anyone's interested, I used this mesh in my latest release, This Mortal Crag. http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/42187

[syscrusher]

Awwww, I wish I had known it was an Ayleid elevator you needed. That's exactly what I built for myself, and I would gladly have shared.

Your TMC mod looks great. I've tracked it to download as soon as I get a beta out of my own mod so I have some time available.