Editing Arcane University:Animation

{{Trail}}

Before you start reading: There are two methods of animating meshes. One is used for characters rigged on skeletons, and the other is mainly using Nifskope settings for environmental assets like books or doors or chests. 
* Instructions for adding hinge animations with Nifskope is given in the article [[Arcane_University:Nifskope Hinge Constraints|Nifskope Hinge Constraints]].
* Instructions for altering skeletons to fit existing animations to a custom skinned mesh is given in the article [[Arcane_University:Editing Animation Skeletons|Editing Animation Skeletons]].

The '''Animation''' of skeleton-rigged meshes is the art of making them move correctly with Skyrim animation files. Creating new animation files is challenging, but doable. More commonly, an existing animation file is being used on a new skeleton,
that has mostly the same bone count and proportions.

=== General hints ===
* It is not recommended to place a lot of meshes in regions with a lot of movement, like armpits, tighs and so on as glitching (surfaces being visible where they should not) is more common to happen.
* Keep disconnected meshes at a minimum, as it will increase the effort to rig the mesh.
* Cover body parts that have different proportions (Argonian head, Khajit head, human head) to cut work for unique variants.
* Prefer booleans to insert meshes to avoid complex clipping.
* The quality assurance of your work must happen with the animations loaded. Expect that you have to go back and iterate on the movement a few times.
* The left thigh of humans moves more than the right.

=== 3DS Max ===
Click here for the main [[Arcane University:3DS Max for Skyrim|3DS Max]] page.

Here you can see a tutorial of animating a skeleton for FO4, which uses the same engine as Skyrim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-NkbrmG5po

=== Maya ===
Click here for the main [[Arcane University:Maya for Skyrim|Maya]] page.

=== Outfit Studio ===

Click here for the main [[Arcane University:Outfit Studio for Skyrim|Outfit Studio]] page.
Rigging within Outfit Studio is documented on the page [[AU:Rigging in Outfit Studio|Rigging in Outfit Studio]].

=== Blender ===
Click here for the main [[Arcane University:Blender for Skyrim|Blender]] page.
Rigging Tools within Blender is documented on these pages:
* [[Arcane University:Rigging with Blender  2.79|Rigging with Blender  2.79]]
* [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q_mNPVJdQ5udrYYftIaeXv7V1Wk7RFoP/view Rigging Jewelry with Blender  2.79]

=== Nifskope ===
Click here for the main [[Arcane University:Nifskope for Skyrim|NifSkope]] page.

* You have to enable each of these boxes in BSDismemberSkinInstance or NiSkinInstance of every skinned mesh:
** Partitions: ''BodyPartList''
*** Part Flag: PF_Editor_Visible, PFStartNetBoneSet ''BSPartFlag''
*** Body Part: SBP_32_Body ''BSDismemberBodyPartType''

[[Category:Arcane University-Animation| ]]
[[Category:Arcane University-3D Art| ]] [[Category:Arcane University-Method| ]]
@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Trail}}{{AUDisciplines}}
+{{Trail}}
-'''Animation''' in Skyrim has two sub-categories: character animations, rigged to a creature or npc skeleton; and static animations, like doors and chests. Creating new creature/npc animation files is challenging, but doable. More commonly, an existing animation file is being used on a new skeleton, that has mostly the same bone count and proportions. Static animations are much simpler.
-==Specific Tutorials==
+Before you start reading: There are two methods of animating meshes. One is used for characters rigged on skeletons, and the other is mainly using Nifskope settings for environmental assets like books or doors or chests.
-===Character and creature animations===
+* Instructions for adding hinge animations with Nifskope is given in the article [[Arcane_University:Nifskope Hinge Constraints|Nifskope Hinge Constraints]].
-* [[Arcane_University:Editing Animation Skeletons|Editing Animation Skeletons]]: altering skeletons to fit existing animations to a custom skinned mesh
+* Instructions for altering skeletons to fit existing animations to a custom skinned mesh is given in the article [[Arcane_University:Editing Animation Skeletons|Editing Animation Skeletons]].
-* [[Arcane University:Implementation of Custom Animations|Implementation of Custom Animations]]: implementing new creatures with wholly custom animations and behaviors
-===Static object animations===
+The '''Animation''' of skeleton-rigged meshes is the art of making them move correctly with Skyrim animation files. Creating new animation files is challenging, but doable. More commonly, an existing animation file is being used on a new skeleton,
-* [[AU:Exporting animated statics using ck-cmd|Exporting animated statics using ck-cmd]]: creating animated statics like doors or containers
+that has mostly the same bone count and proportions.
-====Videos====
+=== General hints ===
-* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DrN_AS28qk Animating Crash Course - Basic Static Animations in Blender (Youtube)]: creating a basic animated static in Blender, using an armature
+* It is not recommended to place a lot of meshes in regions with a lot of movement, like armpits, tighs and so on as glitching (surfaces being visible where they should not) is more common to happen.
-* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23-JjWs_nrg Nif Animation - Kettlewitch // AToMM August 2021 (Youtube)]: creating animated statics using only NifSkope
-== General hints ==
-* It is not recommended to place a lot of meshes in regions with a lot of movement, like armpits, thighs and so on as glitching (surfaces being visible where they should not) is more common to happen.
 * Keep disconnected meshes at a minimum, as it will increase the effort to rig the mesh.
 * Cover body parts that have different proportions (Argonian head, Khajit head, human head) to cut work for unique variants.
@@ Line 22: / Line 16: @@
 * The left thigh of humans moves more than the right.
-==Information by 3D software==
 === 3DS Max ===
 Click here for the main [[Arcane University:3DS Max for Skyrim|3DS Max]] page.