n4gix
Resource contributor
- Messages
- 11,674
- Country
<AnimationGroup> is a very useful feature that's new to FSX's modeldef.xml file system.
It's only purpose is to display a grouped list of all the animation scripts you're using in any project so you don't have to sift though all the entries looking for the one you need.
Of course, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to have only one item in a sorted "Animation Group," but the beauty of this system is that you can put any GUID in the list at all.
Here is a simple example, showing just one entry in it's entirety. I tend to keep all three sections close to each other while developing, since "order" isn't important at this stage, just efficiency!
Let's start with this GUID:
The Animation Group's GUID is separated every 64bits (8 characters) and connected by comma.
So first separate into 8 character blocks (delete the - sign)
Next , add 0x on the front which means written in hex
And connect by comma:
...that doesn't matter one bloody bit! It is still a unique GUID number!!!
Okay, now that we have this in hand, we simply need to create an entry for our new Animation Group:
I keep a copy of modeldef.xml loaded in Visual Studio, and every time I find a script I can reuse, I use "Find" to locate it's <Animation.../> entry, then copy/paste the GUID into my custom <AnimationGroup>. Then when I go back to Max to use the Animation Manager, I simply click on my C310 "Group List" to find it quickly!
The Acceleration SDK's "modeldef.xml" file has many pre-built Animation Group "categories," such as:
It's only purpose is to display a grouped list of all the animation scripts you're using in any project so you don't have to sift though all the entries looking for the one you need.
Of course, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to have only one item in a sorted "Animation Group," but the beauty of this system is that you can put any GUID in the list at all.
Here is a simple example, showing just one entry in it's entirety. I tend to keep all three sections close to each other while developing, since "order" isn't important at this stage, just efficiency!
Let's start with this GUID:
The Animation Group's GUID is separated every 64bits (8 characters) and connected by comma.
So first separate into 8 character blocks (delete the - sign)
Next , add 0x on the front which means written in hex
And connect by comma:
Now before the math purists hammer me to death, mathematically speaking these two are not the same number if compared in decimal, but...
...that doesn't matter one bloody bit! It is still a unique GUID number!!!
Okay, now that we have this in hand, we simply need to create an entry for our new Animation Group:
Code:
<!-- C310 Custom Animations -->
<Animation name="C310_needle_asi" guid="48b310a9-9adf-4499-95a0-7272f7def351" type="Sim" typeParam="AutoPlay" length="260" typeParam2="C310_needle_asi" />
<AnimationGroup name="C310" guid="0x6EDE437E,0xADD34bfe,0xAB44E73A,0xB6BCB013">
<AnimationRef guid="48b310a9-9adf-4499-95a0-7272f7def351"/>
</AnimationGroup>
<PartInfo>
<Name>C310_needle_asi</Name>
<AnimLength>260</AnimLength>
<Animation>
<Parameter>
<Sim>
<Variable>AIRSPEED INDICATED</Variable>
<Units>knots</Units>
</Sim>
</Parameter>
</Animation>
<MouseRect>
<TooltipID>TOOLTIPTEXT_AIRSPEED_KNOTS</TooltipID>
</MouseRect>
</PartInfo>I keep a copy of modeldef.xml loaded in Visual Studio, and every time I find a script I can reuse, I use "Find" to locate it's <Animation.../> entry, then copy/paste the GUID into my custom <AnimationGroup>. Then when I go back to Max to use the Animation Manager, I simply click on my C310 "Group List" to find it quickly!
The Acceleration SDK's "modeldef.xml" file has many pre-built Animation Group "categories," such as:
