by run » Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:13 pm
Blender is a powerfull software for creating animation. You can create multiple bone in one armature. Each bone can move, scalling, rotate, drive another bone, and after drive a mesh. In blender, for a rotate animation, blender can use vector and angle or vector and quaternion. For flightgear, we don't need this. Animation in flightgear are more simple.
It 's very important to use in blender the "f key". This shortcut open a menu "FLightgear tools menu". This menu create armature with correct parameter for the script.
The script concept is, one bone for each armature. Very important, insert keyframe in "pose mode", when the armature is select. If you insert keyframe in Object mode, the coordinate of armature change and the result is a wrong value in the xml file.
If you need a complex animation for flightgear, use different armature, and link the armatures with "parent" association. The script use a recursive algorithm for computing the correct value in the xml file for each armature, and the correct sorting.
When you insert keyframe, move the timeline in the correct position. And after the script compute the interpolation.
Don't forget it's a work in progress. Now the script, export the ac file with a timeline dependance. And the result are wrong, when you export the mesh in ac3d format with armature" not in zero position". This is the next step for the script, and many tool function are write. For having a ac3d exporter with the timeline independance.
Actualy , I work to convert a x-plane plane for flightgear, with author authorization. And the script change.