Here is a code snippet that draws the bones of a 3D character skeleton for debugging (similar to the original SkeletonHelper.DrawBones method). The result looks like this:
(Click image to enlarge.)
Here is the code:
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Manually creating good ragdolls in code can be tough. This blog post takes you on a hands-on ragdoll creation journey and provides several tips.
The DigitalRune Animation library supports ragdolls. DigitalRune Animation has a lot of helpful methods for character animation and ragdoll creation, but it does not yet have a method that visualizes ragdoll constraints. Choosing good joint limits and correct joint orientations can be really difficult without a visualization. – But do not fear, constraint visualization is here!
The following .zip archive contains a “RagdollHelper” class that draws constraints for a ragdoll. It also contains an updated “DudeRagdollCreator.cs”.
In DigitalRune Animation, motion retargeting (or more precise: animation retargeting) is the process of transferring the animations of one character to another character with a different skeleton topology.
In the video below, the walk animation of the Dude model (left) is applied to the PlayerMarine model (right).
At the first look the models seem similar, but a look at skeletal structure reveals a number of differences: …
This time we take a look at the TwoJointIKSolver class of DigitalRune Animation. This IK solver can be used to control an arm or a leg. In the following video the IK solver is used for foot placement:
The DigitalRune Animation library contains several inverse kinematics (IK) controllers that can be used to procedurally animate a 3D character. This blog post demonstrates the Look-At IK solver. So, have a look:
Together with yesterday’s update we have also put a new version of DigitalRune Game UI online. Below you can find a list of a few things that have changed.
The most important – though maybe not obvious – change is that all GUI controls can now be animated using our new DigitalRune Animation library. Properties such as foreground color, background color, x, y, width, height, opacity, etc. can easily be controlled using animations. A new sample is included which demonstrates some of the possibilities.
We are about to release the first (alpha) version of our new animation library for XNA: DigitalRune Animation.
I am currently working on the documentation and have just finished writing the summary of all features. This library is packed with features! I dare to say that this is the most comprehensive animation library for .NET and XNA to date.
(I am personally really excited about this new product. It is the result of months – actually years – of research and hard work.)
The current alpha release of the DigitalRune Game UI does not not have built-in support for animations. This will change when we release our DigitalRune Animation library. Here is a preview video of an XNA application with animated GUI controls:
The DigitalRune Game UI is a very flexible XNA GUI library that can be used in games for Windows, Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7. The library can be used to create a simple menu in a console game or a complex GUI in a game editor.
It contains several predefined UI themes. Yesterday, we have created a new theme that will be included in the next release. This blog post shows the necessary steps to create a new UI theme.
A collection of the most useful blog articles can be found here:
Article Collection (on Documentation page)
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