69.) Character Rig & Skeleton Bone Visualizer

       After expanding the XNAnimation library to support multiple animations working from a single .fbx model file, which I discussed in a previous post, I also adopted an approach originally created by Andy Dunn (aka The Zman). In his approach, each animation is to exported into a separate FBX file, and then a custom processor is used to merge them. With the help of Mixamo, I was able to add a wide range of animations to my game characters. Mixamo offers thousands of animations to choose from and an automatic rigging service. The base character model is solely a T-pose rig with no other additional animations. The animations from Mixamo are exported in separate files and the program plays their animations and applies them to the T-pose rig, thus animating the character. This approach essentially allows me to add an infinite number of animations. 

       In short, now the engine supports both multiple animations from a single .fbx model file and animations from separate .fbx files. Essentially both methods can also be applied at once. Thanks to Tom Looman, I was able to integrate the Rig/Skeleton Visualizer from the sgMotion library. It visualizes the animation skeleton to debug animation and rigging issues and helps finding bone/dummy names and indices more easily. The sgMotion library also allows you to cycle through the skeleton to highlight bones and their children. The source code to the sgMotion library can be found below. Unfortunately I had to mute the song in the video above to avoid any copyright claims.

(Source Code & Tutorial Coming Soon)

Special Thanks

• Bruno Evangelista for his original work
• Carlos Augusto of Floatbox Studios for the character marine
• Tom Looman for the Rig/Skeleton Visualizer
• Andy Dunn (aka The Zman) for the Merge Processor 
• cjHazard for the FBX multi-take importer

Thanks guys!

sgMotion Source Code: