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Animations - First Person Animations

Below is an outline of the files that comprise the Halo 2 first person animation system.

BASIC ANIMATIONS

The following files is the base file list you need for a standard first person weapon animation set. They should reside in the weapon’s “fp” animation folder.

For instance you would find the SMG first person animations here: \data\objects\weapons\rifle\smg\fp_smg\animations

We recommend creating a “working” directory in the “animations” folder where you can store your DCC files and reference.

  • first-person firing.jmo

  • first-person idle.jmm

  • first-person melee-1sthit.jmm

  • first-person melee-1sthit2i.jmm

  • first-person melee-2ndhit.jmm

  • first-person melee-2ndhit2i.jmm

  • first-person melee-3rdhit.jmm

  • first-person moving.jmo

  • first-person overlays.jmo

  • first-person posing.jmm

  • first-person put-away.jmm

  • first-person ready.jmm

  • first-person reload-full.jmm

  • first-person reload-empty.jmm

  • first-person throw-grenade.jmm

  • rename.txt

FIRST PERSON ANIMATION BREAKDOWN

The following text describe the purpose for each animation file needed for a basic first person animation graph.

first-person firing.jmo

  • firing animation overlay

  • shares timing with the 3rd person firing animation for that weapon

first-person idle.jmm

  • basic breath idle

  • should have at least one other variation

first-person melee-1sthit.jmm

  • melee attack

  • 1st hit of melee combo

  • roughly timed the same as hit #2

  • animated from idle pose to end position of attack #1

  • hold in end position

first-person melee-1sthit2i.jmm

  • return to idle from melee attack #1

  • quick return to idle

  • used if combo is interrupted or discontinued

first-person melee-2ndhit.jmm

  • melee attack

  • 2nd hit of melee combo

  • roughly timed the same as hit #1

  • animated from end position of attack #1 to end position of attack #2

  • hold in end position

first-person melee-2ndhit2i.jmm

  • return to idle from melee attack #2

  • quick return to idle

  • used if combo is interrupted or discontinued

first-person melee-3rdhit.jmm

  • melee attack

  • 3rd hit of melee combo

  • biggest attack of the combo

  • animated from end position of attack #2 to idle

  • returns to idle

first-person moving.jmo

  • simulates the character’s upper body movement

  • gun and arms sway from side to side to simulate footsteps being taken

first-person overlays.jmo

  • overlays used to simulate delay/overlapping action

  • eg: a character strafes left and the gun/arms delay then move left with the character

  • 0-9 [10 frames]

Frame Name Pose Reference
0 All-Base - base pose holding gun
1 Arms-Back - arms move back
2 Arms-Front - arms move forward
3 Arms-Left - arms move left
4 Arms-Right - arms move right
5 All-Base - base pose holding gun
6 Gun-Left - gun pitches left
7 Gun-Right - gun pitches right
8 Gun-Up - gun pitches up
9 Gun-Down - gun pitches down (helpful to slide the rig back a little on this one)

first-person posing.jmm

  • flavour animation / flavour idle

  • used when character is idle for a longer period of time

  • eg: character fidgeting with gun

  • animated from idle pose to idle pose

first-person put-away.jmm

  • used to stow weapon

  • weapon completely leaves screen

  • animated from idle pose to off screen

first-person ready.jmm

  • used to bring weapon to idle pose

  • weapon comes from off of screen

  • animated from off of screen to idle pose

first-person reload-full.jmm

  • reload weapon

  • changing magazines/clips/etc

  • different for each weapon [eg: shotgun]

first-person reload-empty.jmm

  • reload weapon

  • reused from “first-person reload-full” animation in the rename.txt

first-person throw-grenade.jmm

  • throw grenade

  • left handed throw

  • do not export with a grenade in the scene

rename.txt

  • a text file

  • intended to list reused animations

HELPFUL HINTS

Note

export is basically the same method, with the graph living under the weapons’ tag directory

Note

start with a static animation as an idle to get the pose down on screen before moving on to creating the rest of the moveset

Note

you can reuse a lot by referring to existing animations as a base to start from

Note

the slightest movement can make or break a first person animation, so be aware of what you are doing and refer to the animations in the engine for the final look