This page uses sample data to describe basic settings for texture pattern animations.
A texture pattern animation is an animation that changes the texture displayed in any given frame.
When using CreativeStudio, numbers are assigned to loaded textures, and the playback method (pattern) is set on the CurveEditor panel.
For details on the Material Animation Data panel, click here.
For details on the CurveEditor panel, click here.
Figure 1. CurveEditor Panel
The table below gives the settings for the horizontal and vertical axes on the CurveEditor panel used to create texture pattern animations.
Table 1 Horizontal and vertical axes shown on the ColorEditor panel when creating texture pattern animations
Animation | Vertical axis and horizontal axis of CurveEditor | Description of Setting |
---|---|---|
Texture Pattern Animation | Vertical axis | The texture number to be used. The texture number is set automatically when a texture is added to the Texture list on the Material Animation Data panel. |
Horizontal axis | Number of frames (number of frames to animate the texture) |
This page uses the ToyButterfly sample data to describe texture pattern animation settings.
This page also describes how to export data when creating a texture pattern animation using a 3D CG tool.
On the CreativeStudio menu, select File > Open > Intermediate file and open toy_mt.cres.
" %NW4C_ROOT%/SampleData/Graphics/Intermediate/ManualResource/TutorialToyButterfly/ToyButterfly.cres "
Figure 2 ToyButterfly
In the ToyButterfly sample, a butterfly is seen to flutter around inside a wooden frame.
Wing flapping of the butterfly texture is set using a texture pattern animation.
Confirm that the butterfly is animated to flutter around by pressing the Play button at the bottom right of the CreativeStudio main window.
The following six textures are used by the ToyButterfly sample data. The flapping wings of the butterfly are created using a texture pattern animation.
Starting from the left, the file names for these textures are ButterflyBtfry.00 through 05.
Check the textures registered on the Material Animation Data panel.
Selecting Toy_Butterfly.MaterialAnimation displayed on the CreativeStudio Contents panel will display the Material Animation Data panel shown in Figure 3. in the Properties panel.
Double-clicking on the material animation icon opens the Material Animation Data panel in a separate window.
For details on the Material Animation Data panel, click here.
Figure 3. Material Animation Data Panel
The six textures used in the texture pattern animation are configured on the Material Animation Data panel.
Textures used in the texture pattern animation can be added or deleted as described below.
When a texture intermediate file is loaded into CreativeStudio, the loaded texture is displayed in a pull-down menu.
Press the Add button to add the texture file selected in the texture list on the pull-down menu.
To delete the texture from the texture list, press the Delete button while the texture to be deleted is selected.
Use the CurveEditor to check texture pattern animations.
Selecting TextureMappers[0].Texture in the graph tree view on the CurveEditor panel will display the texture pattern animation curve shown in Figure 4 in the graph view.
Select the graph view and press the A key. The graph view will be arranged to show all keys.
Figure 4. Texture Pattern Animation Curve
The texture pattern animation is set using the above curve.
Frame | Description of Setting |
---|---|
0 ~ 55 | Expresses an animation of the butterfly slowly flapping its wings using Texture Numbers 1, 2 and 5. |
57 ~ 169 | Expresses an animation of the butterfly intensely flapping its wings using Texture Numbers 3 and 4 at a quick frame rate. |
171 ~ 195 | Expresses an animation of the fluttering butterfly returning to its original position and its wings slowly stopping using Texture Numbers 1, 2 and 5. |
Various pattern animations can be created by editing loaded textures using CurveEditor.
Use a special plug-in for output from a 3DCG tool.
Note: For details about exporting texture animations, see the plug-in manual located in the following folder: " %NW4C_ROOT%/documents/DccPlugin "
Maya sample data for ToyButterfly is located in the following folder.
" %NW4C_ROOT%/SampleData/Graphics/DccPlugin/Maya/ToyButterfly/scenes/Toy_Butterfly.ma "
Load a model that uses texture pattern animation into CreativeStudio.
Outputting the sample model Toy_Butterfly from the 3DCG tool will create the intermediate files shown in Table 2. We will try actually loading these file into CreativeStudio.
There are two methods of loading intermediate files output from a 3D CG tool. These are given below.
Table 2 ToyButterfly Intermediate Files
Filename | Content |
---|---|
Toy_Butterfly.cmata | This intermediate file contains material data for Toy_Butterfly. |
Toy_Butterfly.cmdl | This intermediate file contains model data for Toy_Butterfly. |
ButterflyBG.ctex | This texture intermediate file is for the front of the Toy_Butterfly wooden frame. |
ButterflyBG2.ctex | This texture intermediate file is for the back of the Toy_Butterfly wooden frame. |
ButterflyBtfly.00.ctex | This texture intermediate file is for the Toy_Butterfly butterfly. (It is used by the texture pattern animation.) |
ButterflyBtfly.01.ctex | |
ButterflyBtfly.02.ctex | |
ButterflyBtfly.03.ctex | |
ButterflyBtfly.04.ctex | |
ButterflyBtfly.05.ctex |
In CreativeStudio, click File → Open → Intermediate file... to simultaneously load Toy_Butterfly.cmata and Toy_Butterfly.cmdl.
When opening intermediate files from the CreativeStudio menu as described above, associated texture data is loaded automatically.
These intermediate files can also be loaded into CreativeStudio by dragging & dropping them.
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