Skip to content

Animation Tools and Animation Slots

GrizzlyOne95 edited this page Jun 4, 2026 · 1 revision

Animation Tools and Animation Slots

Legacy VDF/SDF animation writes object transform keys for separate GEO parts. It does not write skeletal deformation, mesh bending, skin weights, or shape keys.

Legacy Animation Rules

  • Each moving legacy part must be a separate GEO object.
  • Rotation and location keys are the normal supported channels.
  • Scale keys can be exported through the legacy SCLKEY/Translation2 path when enabled.
  • Armature animation is for Redux mesh/skeleton export, not legacy VDF/SDF animation.

Animation Elements

Animation elements live in Scene Properties > Battlezone > Animation Elements.

Each element has:

  • Index: gameplay slot/action.
  • Start: first frame.
  • Length: frame count.
  • Loop Count: number of loops.
  • Speed: playback speed.

The legacy guide prefers short clips around 10-20 frames. Longer clips can work, including 100+ frame authoring, but test in the target game if you support legacy BZ behavior.

Presets

The addon includes preset helpers for common slot groups:

  • deployable turret core slots,
  • walker core slots,
  • person-style slots,
  • animated-object starter validation.

Use presets as a starting point, then adjust slots to the target class label and gameplay behavior.

Looping Animations

For looping legacy animations, the first and last keyed transforms should return to the same pose. Validation warns when a looping slot starts and ends on different keyed transforms.

Animated GEO Count

The legacy guide warns that roughly more than 25 animated GEOs may glitch. Modern Redux-era setups may tolerate more, but treat high animated-GEO counts as something to test carefully.

Mirror Legacy Keys

3D View > Battlezone > Animation Tools > Mirror Legacy Keys opens a settings dialog.

Use explicit object selectors when automatic name matching is not enough:

  • Mirror From: source GEO object.
  • Mirror To: target GEO object.

When both selectors are set, token matching is skipped. The tool gives a warning-only mesh similarity check so mismatched objects can still be used deliberately.

Default token matching uses .L -> .R.

Related Pages

Clone this wiki locally