Question

how do i animate an md2 model with opengl, using simple keyframe animation?

Asked by: kipl20

hi, i would like to know how to animate an md2 model using opengl and C++.
i have loaded the md2 file in and can get it to display fine. but i dont know where to go from here?

i think i need to make keyframes out of the model but how do i do that?

i am a newbie and this is confusing to me, so go easy on me and try to explain it as easily as u can lol

thanks in advance

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Asked On
2009-03-15 at 09:34:34ID24231861
Tags

MD2

,

opengl

Topics

3D Game Programming

,

Game Programming

,

C++ Programming Language

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
9

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Answers

 

by: ikeworkPosted on 2009-03-16 at 02:34:38ID: 23895802

hey kipl20

have a look at:

http://tfc.duke.free.fr/old/models/md2.htm

especially the paragraph "Animating"


ike

 

by: ikeworkPosted on 2009-04-16 at 23:38:49ID: 24165324

hey kipl20

any luck so far?

 

by: kipl20Posted on 2009-04-17 at 02:13:25ID: 24165950

hi, no luck as of yet, i have code to load the models in etc, but i fall down at the stage of actually setting up the model to animate.

i have set up an array to access the md2 model, where would i go from here, how would i access the first keyframe and move to the second etc?

any ideas,

thanks in advance

 

by: ikeworkPosted on 2009-04-17 at 02:20:41ID: 24165994

did you have a look at the document i posted above? can you show us the code?

 

by: kipl20Posted on 2009-04-17 at 02:50:30ID: 24166138

hi yes i did have a look but i didn't really understand, i am completely new to this and find it extremely difficult and confusing.

i have included code below, i can get the Md2 to appear on rendering so there is no problem loading the model, i just dont know how to go about setting up the key frames etc

thanks

here is where declare my model
CGModel							*myModel[4];
 
and here is where i set up an array to access the model
 
for (int i=0; i<4; i++){
		myModel[i] = new CGModel();
		//importGSF("Assets\\Models\\beast.gsf", myModel);
		importMD2("Assets\\Models\\Beast.md2", myModel[i],i+1);
                                              
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by: ikeworkPosted on 2009-07-08 at 23:27:10ID: 24811089

>> hi yes i did have a look but i didn't really understand

Did you download the source code and look at it? Its doing excactly that.
If you still need help, can you ask a specific question, about what you dont understand?

ike

 

by: satsumoPosted on 2009-09-07 at 15:35:58ID: 25277630

I've animated MD2 models so I am able to help.

The header of the MD2 has a variable containing the number of vertices used in the MD2, the number of frames and the file offset to the first frame.

A frame is structured like this -

typedef struct
{
      float scale[3];
      float translate[3];
      char name[16];
}
MD2_FRAME;

That is followed by an array of vertex structures, like this -

typedef struct
{
      unsigned char x, y, z, n;
}
MD2_VERT;

That's followed directly by the next frame.  All the frames are the same size, so you can calculate the size of one frame and multiply that by the frame number to get a specific frame.

x, y, z are transformed by the scale and translate values for the frame.  n is an index into an array of normals, which you should find at the link provided  by ikework.

The triangles of the MD2 model are described like this -

typedef struct
{
      short vert[3];
      short uv[3];
}
MD2_TRI;

vert is an index into the vertex array.  uv is an index into the texture coordinate array.  There is only one texture coordinate per vertex as the UV's do not animate in an MD2.

Need anymore info?

 

by: aungsithuPosted on 2009-10-12 at 02:13:36ID: 25549539

hey man

following is the best place to learn about your problem.
http://www.videotutorialsrock.com/opengl_tutorial/animation/video.php

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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