Notes on Modding Character Animations

[CheesyDave]

^ ^)/ hello--

after the 'how to swap casting animations' thread, i was curious about this and poked around some in the model viewer. there're only a few dats which hold the animation data for each race. i started with hume_m (my character) and then found out that my hex editor makes changes to the file whenever i make changes in the editor. *cough* so, i kinda messed up my hume animations w/o a backup.

then! i made a backup of the mithra animations and started on the character build of my friend. here're my notes:

BLM===================the motion being displayed.

1-51-89.dat in "mb00" // 000ec730 to 000ef4af = 2d80 (11648) length
1-51-89.dat in "mb01"
combined and displayed.
the motion being displayed.
1-51-89.dat in "mb10"
1-51-89.dat in "mb11"
combined and displayed.
the motion being displayed.
1-51-89.dat in "mb20"
1-51-89.dat in "mb21"
combined and displayed.

NIN===================
the motion being displayed.
1-51-89.dat in "mn00" // 0015dfa0 to 0015f19f = 1200 (4608) length
1-51-89.dat in "mn01"
1-51-92.dat in "mn02"
combined and displayed.
the motion being displayed.
1-51-89.dat in "mn10"
1-51-89.dat in "mn11"
1-51-92.dat in "mn12"
combined and displayed.
the motion being displayed.
1-51-89.dat in "mn20"
1-51-89.dat in "mn21"
1-51-92.dat in "mn22"
combined and displayed.

messy, huh? it's obvious that the animation name, "mb0", for example, is magic-blm-0/1/2, where 0/1/2 are three different states for casting. we see the same in the ninja casting. the names, "mb00, mb01, etc" in the dat information are locations in the dat file. there is a section of the dat with titles 'mb00' and 'mb01'.

it is curious to me that there are three sets for the nin animations while there are only 2 for blm. i had originally assumed that these were in reference to parts of the body-- there was a section of the dat for the head, body, and legs. this is incorrect as there are animations for still shots that modify the entire skeleton with only one section in the dat.

i believe that it is possible that there are two sections for skeletal modification, and the third in many lists is for effects (the effects might be the different dat file, noted above).

the problem with this is, obviously, that the blm wouldn't have effects according to this theory, while it obviously does have effects in-game. after checking both files for graphics in the POL Utilities Data Browser program, it appears that there are no graphics in either file.

i can say for certain that the animation information is stored in these files 'cause it certainly messed up my hume_m animations pretty good with they were modified.

anyone know the file format of the animations? how does the model viewer read them?

anyone have any additional information and/or thoughts?

ps-- this board coding has problems o.o;

[CheesyDave]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

well, i did it.

i switched back to editing hume_m animations, so the numbers here're a lil different.

BLM====================================



the motion being displayed. 14 frames
1-27-82.dat in "mb00" // 0000c310 - 0000d02f = d20 (3360)
1-27-82.dat in "mb01" // 0000d030 - 0001136f = 4340 (17216)
1-27-86.dat in "mb02" // 00000cc0 - 0000127f = 5c0 (1472)
combined and displayed.

NIN====================================
the motion being displayed. 15 frames
1-27-82.dat in "mn00" // 0012a990 - 0012b82f = ea0 (3744)
1-27-82.dat in "mn01" // 00126620 - 0012a98f = 4370 (17260)
1-27-86.dat in "mn02" // 0002ca30 - 0002d29f = 870 (2160)
combined and displayed.

these're the two animations i chose to edit. i repaced nin's starting casting animation with blm's starting casting animation. the labels in quotes are the beginnings of the you'll need a hex editor and some knowledge of how to use it




should use save target as... for these, as the host is a little slow o.o;
http://ffxi.wronger.com

the steps are:
1. make a back up of the two .dats for the race you're editing
2. find the locations of each labeled portion of the animation (1-4 parts it seems)
3. make sure there's enough room to paste the animations (may need to add space or cut some out)
4. copy & paste the desired animation over the old animation
5. check to see if it worked

this process can take a while, especially if you have a crappy free hex editor like mine. i don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to swap animations from any npc/player/mob with the same skeleton as another :3

hope you guys enjoy it^^

[Nakate]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

This is quite interesting. I have a few questions, though. Maybe this is just my inexperience with a hex editor, but what is the "= d20 (3360)" on the end of each line you wrote? And how do you know how many lines that part of the animation is? Getting to the end of your mb01, I don't see anything that would mark it as the end, or the beginning of something else. I apologize for asking what's probably a noobish question, but I can't seem to figure it out...

[Gulkeeva]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Interesting indeed, I'll go download a hex editor n try this later

oh 1 small question, does this require copy paste of the same name, or have you tried like... changing like for example...

idl0
idl1
idl2

from like say... an attack animation and renaming
at10 -> idl0
at11 -> idl1
at12 -> idl2

does this work for you..?
If so this opens up alot of possibilities...

[CheesyDave]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

my apologies for being unclear--





a sample set of lines:

the motion being displayed. 14 frames


1-27-82.dat in "mb00" // 0000c310 - 0000d02f = d20 (3360)
1-27-82.dat in "mb01" // 0000d030 - 0001136f = 4340 (17216)
1-27-86.dat in "mb02" // 00000cc0 - 0000127f = 5c0 (1472)
combined and displayed.

the 14 fames i added just for notes, this is from the model viewer.


upon opening 1-27-82.dat, i search for "mb00"
the 'm' is at location 0000c310. i scroll down in the file until i see another label at the start of a line... like "mw11" for example. (i don't remember if it is actually mw11 or not for this one, it's just an example).
i then take a note of the last address before the "mw11" label, which is 0000d02f for this example.
then i open up window's calculator (start > programs > accessories > Calculator). and switch it over to scientific mode (view > Scientific). then hit the Hex radial button on the left.
then i subtract the bigger number from the larger number. d02f - c310 +1
the +1 is because i want to include the 1st address. (like thinking how many numbers are there 9-5. there are 5 numbers, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. so, it's 9-5+1).
d02f - c310 + 1 = d20. which, in decimal is 3360, 'cause i'm not very good at reading hex.
i don't know how many lines there are persay, but i can see the different lengths from my notes to see if there's enough room. if, for some reason, you need to know how many lines there are, you can divide the length (d20) by 10 (and i mean 10 in hex, 16 in decimal).

difference between hex and decimal is that hex is 0123456789ABCDEF (0-15 -- 16 numbers). decimal is 0123456789 (0-9 -- 10 numbers). 10 in hex = 16 in decimal. if you play with the calculator in windows for a while switching between hex and decimal, it might help with this if you're confused.

:3 gimme a kick if this doesn't help.



:O and Gulkeeva, i didn't try just renaming the sections. >>; tha'd be a lot easier, though. i'll try it a little later and update this post.

================================================

._.; /sigh-- you're right Gulkeeva. just swapping the labels of the animations in the files works fine. you don't have to move the data at all, just the labels. so, no moving of hex code, no windows calculator junk jus simple and easy search and replace. but, i doubt you can have two animations the same w/o having to move data some.

so~~~

1. back up the two files for your race
2. look for the 1st set of animations, for example, mb00, mb01, and mb02
3. rename them to a temporary name, mx00, mx01, mx02
4. look for the 2nd set of animations, for example, mw00, mw01, and mw02
5. rename those to mb00, mb01, and mb02
6. look for the mx0 set
7. rename to mw00, mw01, and mw02
8. save, close, and check in the model viewer to verify that it worked

sounds like cake

[Mellowy]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Does this mean that you in theory can switch out any animations you feel like? (within same race).

So one could add in some of that Mithra Thief (whatshername) walk animations over your standard, without losing the other animations, which you do if you just switched dats?

Oh wait, nevermind. The real problem with those animations were that the weapon ended up on the ground, so unless that is avoidable with just hex editing over dat swapping, I don't really see myself trying this.

[Korith]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Wow. GREAT find.

Decided to give this a try myself and had wonderful results. I decided to change the walk animation for Mithra. The walk animation uses 51-89.dat, 51-90.dat, and 51-93.dat so I opened all of them up in my hex editor. Next, I looked through the NPCs and found a Mithra with a different walk animation (just called "Mithra NPC"). That NPC is 4-45.dat, so I opened that up in the hex editor as well.

Next, in 45.dat, I searched for wlk0, wrote down the line it started on (64E0) and scrolled down until I found a different label (as described by CheesyDave). The first new label I found was 7EE1, so I stepped back one line to the last line of code for wlk0; 7EE0. I wrote the starting line and ending line down in notepad. I did this for wlk1 and wlk2 as well.

Next, I went to 89.dat and searched for wlk0, and did the above process. I searched 90.dat for wlk1, and 93.dat for wlk2. When I was done with all this, I had the starting line and ending line for wlk0, wlk1 and wlk2 for both the NPC and PC. I went to 45.dat selected the top line for wlk0, pressed shift and clicked the bottom line. Ctrl+c. Went to 89.dat selected the top line for wlk0, pressed shift, and selected the bottom line. Crtl+v. I did this for wlk1 and wlk2 as well. Saved, opened model viewer. Only the wlk animation has changed and it works perfectly.

Just for the record, the NPC's wlk animation code was shorter than the PC's. So length doesn't matter, just overwite all the code and you'll be set.

Edit: OMG! I just had a crazy thought. If you were to replace the Mithra animations with that of Semih Lafihna (has a bow strapped to her back, 4-95.dat) is it possible that the new animations wouldn't hide the bow on your characters back? Interesting. Somebody give this a try, and tell us how it comes out.

Double Post Edited:
Hmm, well it appears FFXI doesn't like changed animations as much as the model viewer. It crashed. This could either be because the animations are different lengths, or it just doesn't like you changing animations period. I have a feeling its the first one since I've seen Gulkeeva use changed animations ingame.

[CheesyDave]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

wanted to add in this thread that it's possible to alter battle animations-- made a hume_m savage blade animation for one of the three attack animations

http://ffxi.wronger.com

[Gulkeeva]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Did you accomplish that with the.. windows calculator method or the rename method? O_o

[CheesyDave]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

for the ws thing, i had to copy and paste the data (using a hex editor, calculator, etc). 'cause the ws data is in one .dat and the savage blade stuff is in another.

Korith:
all the animations that i've altered have been different lengths. make sure that you're getting all the information that needs to be copied. also, be sure that you're copying and pasting the entire 1st and last line. in my hex editor, when i copy and paste, it sometimes doesn't do the last byte

and i'd bet the bow on that mithra's back is part of her model, not in the animation code. you could prolly ask one of the VRS peoples to put a non-functional bow on the back of your body armor?

some notes to add from another thread:
[regarding the mod of taru attack animation] i had a problem modding this ws. after copying over the two sections from the ws.dat, the model viewer would only play the first 47 frames of the animation (47 was the length of the original animation). after changing the label in the odd.dat that had the attack animation in it (1-51-35 for tarus) from at22 to atx2, it worked fine. changing the label prevented the viewer from finding that part of the animation. i'm guessing that the shortest section determines the length of the overall sum of the 3 sections' animation.

also:
if you change the label of each of the three sections, one at a time, it is obvious that the first, at00, is the upper body, the second, at01, is the lower, and finally, at02, doesn't do anything noticable

and:
it seems you can add more onto animations by simply adding the data with an increased index, i.e. at03. i havne't tried this or tested it, but might be something to play with.

[Nakate]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Been a bit since I checked up on this thread.

I already knew about hex and the windows editor (they forced me to learn hex in programming, the bastards) but I didn't realize the number you put after it was the length. Pretty obvious now that I look at it, feel kind of stupid for not seeing it.
I was originally thinking you found the length of the segment by looking for the next title, but the end of your mb01 confused me, since I didn't see another title at the end of it. I just wasn't sure how you determined that was the end. Thanks for clearing that up, though, let's see what I can do

[Khielraen]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

Would it be possible to find/edit mob animations this way as well...? Posted a while back on finding two specific monster abilities from the Hippogryph family so the hippogryph carbuncle I have could look/act more like a hippogryph XD.

After crashing my FFXI several times using the trial 'n error method that was suggested to me, I sorta' gave up.

In your attack clip video where your character is using the Savage Blade animation, it doesn't have the visual effects that savage blade has. Would this be true to, say, the animation of Nihility Song (hippogryph TP move) when if I swap it in for Healing Ruby? The animation of the gryphon would be there but none of the visual effects?

[Balfree]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

\o/

AWESOME!

*hugs CheesyDave*

Double Post Edited:
Can you do something for me?

Can you make me that SAME animation, only for BLM ?

I mean, when casting a black mage spell i,

Want to keep the special effects of BLM.
Want to keep starting skeleton animation of BLM.
Want final animation to be that of NIN.

Would that be too hard? D: i have no idea what hexing is all about, i got some hex editor and all i see is 324 423423 4235 345 426 2oi23 ewofgjnwe +38 tyn4yh reg i dont get any of it D:...

[CheesyDave]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

\o/ AWESOME! hugs from a dev! lol

^^ sure, it shouldn't be too hard. need to know your race and sex, though

Khielraen:
on the hippo-carby thing: i doubt it'll work. if i could find it, i could move the animation on top of carby's, but the skeletons are certain to be different. and, no, you wouldn't see the amorphous globby effect thing that the hippos do
i don't recall exactly who it was-- was it gulkeeva that posted the Cure > GobBomb animation thing? where the character was severly deformed while performing the bomb toss? something like that would prolly happen.

is this something i should do a guide for? it's not really hard, jus really messy :/

[Balfree]

Re: Notes on Modding Character Animations

heh.. i'm a dev but PiNG done all the work he assigned to his devs... he promised to let me make a layout for the site, but never really gave me the stuff i needed for that.. orz.

anyway, i forgot the race ya, i'm hume male :p and thanks a bunch, i will give this a go once i get home, but id like to have something working already heh, lot's of kudos, i've been looking to do this for... ever? i LOATHE the hump animation humes make when casting BLM spells.. it's.. saddening.