I've set up some conversations where I want the speakers to vary their pose and position as the conversation progresses. In the conversation editor in coordination with a stage, there are possibilities to pose the speakers, but the animations do not blend the way they blend with the GAD system in the cutscenes. Am I right that if I want my speakers to do more than gesture and change facial expressions I should do it through the cutscene system? Or is there an animation blend possiblity within a simpler conversation and stage?
Conversation vs. Cutscene Animations
Débuté par
Qutayba
, déc. 06 2009 03:45
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#2
Posté 07 décembre 2009 - 09:00
Craig Graff
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You are right. If you want to use a cutscene within a dialog though, you can usually accomplish what you want by converting the line to a cutscene (Edit/Convert Line to Cutscene).
#3
Posté 09 décembre 2009 - 05:12
Lairythian
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I have a cutscene w/a stage and conversation in it but I can't figure out how to get the GAD system working to smooth out the transitions between animations. The animations I'm using don't move the NPC but do change posture, but there's a really notable change between transition of animations. Will the (Edit/Convert Line to Cutscene) you mention work for me in this regard as well? I'm at work at the moment otherwise I'd just try it. Just curious...
#4
Posté 16 décembre 2009 - 05:28
cstanish
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Craig Graff wrote...
You are right. If you want to use a cutscene within a dialog though, you can usually accomplish what you want by converting the line to a cutscene (Edit/Convert Line to Cutscene).
I don't have a "Convert Line to Cutscene" in my edit menu. Any idea why that might be?
EDIT: Never mind. There it is.
Modifié par cstanish, 16 décembre 2009 - 05:30 .
#5
Posté 23 décembre 2009 - 07:16
Qutayba
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Here's a whole slew of questions on this issue. What I want to do: I want to have a scene where two NPCs are talking, while one of them is scrying the surface of a pool of water (floor scrubbing anim!). The PC and companions walk up, and there will be much pacing and gesturing in the ensuing branching conversation (it's introducing a pair of central characters).
So, am I right that a pure cutscene is not suited to conditional or branching dialogue, although it is suitable for making sure the actors interact with elements and spaces in the environment properly? You can assign a setting, and frame camera shots very precisely to include action, actor, background, and props.
On the other hand, the convert line to cutscene option seems to take gestures and animations from a stage on a line-by-line basis, subservient to the conditionals and branches of a conversation. But it seems to give no option for setting, relying on the abstract stage for reference, which would make it difficult to depict speakers in relationship to environmental props without a lot of trial and error. It would also be harder to position actors for the ideal shot (like having a tree be visible over their shoulder and not growing out of their head).
So what is the best option for a scene that allows both actor interaction with props and scenery and branching and conditional conversations? Or do I need to string a set of cutscenes with stages with a set of stages with line-by-line cutscenes? Am I making this task needlessly complicated? Anywhere you can point me to (the wiki doesn't help much with integrating stages and cutscenes at this point)?
So, am I right that a pure cutscene is not suited to conditional or branching dialogue, although it is suitable for making sure the actors interact with elements and spaces in the environment properly? You can assign a setting, and frame camera shots very precisely to include action, actor, background, and props.
On the other hand, the convert line to cutscene option seems to take gestures and animations from a stage on a line-by-line basis, subservient to the conditionals and branches of a conversation. But it seems to give no option for setting, relying on the abstract stage for reference, which would make it difficult to depict speakers in relationship to environmental props without a lot of trial and error. It would also be harder to position actors for the ideal shot (like having a tree be visible over their shoulder and not growing out of their head).
So what is the best option for a scene that allows both actor interaction with props and scenery and branching and conditional conversations? Or do I need to string a set of cutscenes with stages with a set of stages with line-by-line cutscenes? Am I making this task needlessly complicated? Anywhere you can point me to (the wiki doesn't help much with integrating stages and cutscenes at this point)?
#6
Posté 29 décembre 2009 - 11:46
AmstradHero
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Qutayba: Don't know whether you solved this problem or not, but it's possible to reference an area within the stage and conversations properties - thus within your preview windows for both the stage and the conversation, you'll be able to view the actors in relation to the area and all relevant props.
For the stage, simply edit the stage's properties. For a conversation, you need to set the area under the "preview" tab within the conversation after having already linked the stage to the conversation. From the bits of the single player campaign that I've looked at, this seems to have been the method BioWare used for a lot of their cutscenes.
e.g. Using a conversation with a stage as the bulk of the conversation, but using "convert line to cutscene" for longer and more complicated animations in-between branching options.
I'm still coming to terms with stages and cutscenes within conversations myself, but using the two in concert seems to be the quickest and easiest way to get good results. Having done one cutscene entirely by hand, I can assure you that using a stage and the swag of auto-generate tools within a conversation that it buys you is far better.
I might put a short tutorial on the wiki once I've experimented a little more and released my Add-In module.
For the stage, simply edit the stage's properties. For a conversation, you need to set the area under the "preview" tab within the conversation after having already linked the stage to the conversation. From the bits of the single player campaign that I've looked at, this seems to have been the method BioWare used for a lot of their cutscenes.
e.g. Using a conversation with a stage as the bulk of the conversation, but using "convert line to cutscene" for longer and more complicated animations in-between branching options.
I'm still coming to terms with stages and cutscenes within conversations myself, but using the two in concert seems to be the quickest and easiest way to get good results. Having done one cutscene entirely by hand, I can assure you that using a stage and the swag of auto-generate tools within a conversation that it buys you is far better.
I might put a short tutorial on the wiki once I've experimented a little more and released my Add-In module.
