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TUTORIAL Animation in Assetto Corsa

Gunnar333

Well-Known Member
Here is my small tutorial on how to do a ferris wheel animation for AC with CSP.

the ferris wheel has 3 different parts:
  1. the rotating main wheel
  2. the gondolas
  3. the wheel stand which doesn't move at all
We have to build a hierarchy in 3DSMax so that the gondolas are linked to the wheel. And we have to use helper dummies.
We need to have at least every gondola, the main wheel and the wheel stand as different objects.

Create a dummy (helpers tab) for the main wheel and position it to the center of the wheel. The pivot position of this dummy defines the rotation axis.
Y-axis (green) must point up and z-axis (blue) is the rotating axis and points forward.
Link the main wheel mesh to this dummy.

For the gondolas you are doing the same. Create a dummy for every gondola, move them to the rotating points and check if the pivot points have the right axis orientation. Then link the meshes to the dummies.

Link the gondola dummies to the main wheel dummy.

For better understanding see picture below:
FW_3DSMax.png


Now we create the animation.
Activate the timeline by clicking on "Auto" and create a Key on Frame 0.
Now move the slider to the frame where you want the animation to stop. (I chose 170/200)
select the main wheel dummy and rotate it 360° clockwise. An animation key will be created autamatically.

Now the wheel should turn but with all gondolas attached.

We want that every gondola stay vertically.
So select every gondola dummy (Cabin_xxx) move timeline slider to 0, create key, move slider to 170 and rotate the gondola dummies 360° counter clockwise. Create the key.

Now when the animation looks good in 3DS Max export the fbx with Animation activated in export panel settings. (Bake Animation)

Open the fbx file in ksEditor. Then open FBX Animation in ksEditor (it's the same fbx file)
ksanim file will be created automatically in the same folder.
Now you should be able to play the animation in Animations tab.
And your objects/mesh hierarchy should look like that:
FW_ksEditor.png


Save as KN5 CAR file. (because of the animation with the different pivot points)

create/edit your ext_config.ini in yourtrackname/extension and move the ksanim file to this folder too.
Code:
[ANIMATED_...]
NODE = Ferris_Wheel
ANIMATION = FerrisWheel.ksanim
DURATION = 60
Node is the main wheel dummy, Duration is in seconds.

incude your KN5 file in your track layout.ini like this:
Code:
[MODEL_0]
FILE=FerrisWheel.kn5
POSITION=0,0,0
ROTATION=0,0,0
If every thing goes well, this is how it should look in game:

I hope this helps getting more and more nice aninations in AC. Maybe someone can add how to do this with blender.
 

Johnr777

Moderator
Here is my small tutorial on how to do a ferris wheel animation for AC with CSP.

the ferris wheel has 3 different parts:
  1. the rotating main wheel
  2. the gondolas
  3. the wheel stand which doesn't move at all
We have to build a hierarchy in 3DSMax so that the gondolas are linked to the wheel. And we have to use helper dummies.
We need to have at least every gondola, the main wheel and the wheel stand as different objects.

Create a dummy (helpers tab) for the main wheel and position it to the center of the wheel. The pivot position of this dummy defines the rotation axis.
Y-axis (green) must point up and z-axis (blue) is the rotating axis and points forward.
Link the main wheel mesh to this dummy.

For the gondolas you are doing the same. Create a dummy for every gondola, move them to the rotating points and check if the pivot points have the right axis orientation. Then link the meshes to the dummies.

Link the gondola dummies to the main wheel dummy.

For better understanding see picture below:
View attachment 5333

Now we create the animation.
Activate the timeline by clicking on "Auto" and create a Key on Frame 0.
Now move the slider to the frame where you want the animation to stop. (I chose 170/200)
select the main wheel dummy and rotate it 360° clockwise. An animation key will be created autamatically.

Now the wheel should turn but with all gondolas attached.

We want that every gondola stay vertically.
So select every gondola dummy (Cabin_xxx) move timeline slider to 0, create key, move slider to 170 and rotate the gondola dummies 360° counter clockwise. Create the key.

Now when the animation looks good in 3DS Max export the fbx with Animation activated in export panel settings. (Bake Animation)

Open the fbx file in ksEditor. Then open FBX Animation in ksEditor (it's the same fbx file)
ksanim file will be created automatically in the same folder.
Now you should be able to play the animation in Animations tab.
And your objects/mesh hierarchy should look like that:
View attachment 5334

Save as KN5 CAR file. (because of the animation with the different pivot points)

create/edit your ext_config.ini in yourtrackname/extension and move the ksanim file to this folder too.
Code:
[ANIMATED_...]
NODE = Ferris_Wheel
ANIMATION = FerrisWheel.ksanim
DURATION = 60
Node is the main wheel dummy, Duration is in seconds.

incude your KN5 file in your track layout.ini like this:
Code:
[MODEL_0]
FILE=FerrisWheel.kn5
POSITION=0,0,0
ROTATION=0,0,0
If every thing goes well, this is how it should look in game:

I hope this helps getting more and more nice aninations in AC. Maybe someone can add how to do this with blender.
Indeed, excellent write up! I've been meaning to post my findings with animation and custom sounds, thanks for getting the ball rolling!

There is also the possibility of having objects follow a path constraint and skinned meshes (see Road America flying objects and track marshals). I'll contribute soon :)
 

Gunnar333

Well-Known Member
There is also the possibility of having objects follow a path constraint and skinned meshes (see Road America flying objects and track marshals). I'll contribute soon :)
Yes. I am redoing my helicopters to follow a path (3DSMax - Motion Path Constraint) in Goodwood FOS now. It works in the same manner as described above.
 

Johnr777

Moderator
Yes. I am redoing my helicopters to follow a path (3DSMax - Motion Path Constraint) in Goodwood FOS now. It works in the same manner as described above.
Thats awesome! Pro tip, you can set the path constraint to control speed based on spline vertices, forgot the setting as I'm not on my design PC.. That way you can ensure the copter takes off and lands slower than when in flight, :lol:

Also, feel free to use the bank file I created for Road America, there's a helicopter sound in it, code to use it is in the config file.
 

Gunnar333

Well-Known Member
Thats awesome! Pro tip, you can set the path constraint to control speed based on spline vertices, forgot the setting as I'm not on my design PC.. That way you can ensure the copter takes off and lands slower than when in flight, :lol:

Also, feel free to use the bank file I created for Road America, there's a helicopter sound in it, code to use it is in the config file.
Thanks for the tip! BTW can you perhaps send me the FMOD studio package file of this racetrack.bank? I'm still struggeling with bank creation.

Ahhh... and I get into this BLM lights CTD problem as well. Must be something in the config.ini.
 

Johnr777

Moderator
Thanks for the tip! BTW can you perhaps send me the FMOD studio package file of this racetrack.bank? I'm still struggeling with bank creation.

Ahhh... and I get into this BLM lights CTD problem as well. Must be something in the config.ini.
BLM lights app is indeed causing it to crash, Blamer is aware and working on a solution. In the meantime, it needs to be disabled when running Road America.

Will send you the FMOD files soon :)
 

luchian

Administrator
Staff member
That is so cool. My track is in a very.. flat and bland environment. Adding some life to it with people, would be great.

Where do I learn more about how it's done? :nerd:
 

quetillo

Member
A little tutorial on how to make a character with movement would be of great help, I have seen some old video, and I can't finish it. I use makehuman, since it has the 3d modeling created, then mixamo for the movement, then already in 3dmax I think the dummy, but I get an error and I think it's something related to the makehuman. I don't know how to create people, so that's my method. thanks
 

John Harding

Active Member
Thanks so much for this tutorial, it's been invaluable! Currently working on my first track and managed to get a low poly wind turbine working by following this method using Max. Just for reference, in my case I didn't need the correctly orientated dummy object, the original object seem to work fine despite the local z axis not being in the object rotation axis, but granted it might work because of the relative simplicity in this case compared to a Ferris Wheel. I've attached the Max file if anyone finds it useful to learn from in future.

 

Attachments

quetillo

Member
Thanks so much for this tutorial, it's been invaluable! Currently working on my first track and managed to get a low poly wind turbine working by following this method using Max. Just for reference, in my case I didn't need the correctly orientated dummy object, the original object seem to work fine despite the local z axis not being in the object rotation axis, but granted it might work because of the relative simplicity in this case compared to a Ferris Wheel. I've attached the Max file if anyone finds it useful to learn from in future.

It would be good to see some small tutorial video on how to put that, I tried a thousand times without result, I get an error when exporting from 3dmax
 

quetillo

Member
Ilja added support for skinned mesh animation in tracks, so after I experimented a bit, finally got it to work.

This is the next step I’m working on:

I would love to learn how to create that, I tried to create a doll, give it movement and put it in a small circuit, without any result, I saw a video and followed the same steps and nothing, I would like for my earth circuits
 

Johnr777

Moderator
I would love to learn how to create that, I tried to create a doll, give it movement and put it in a small circuit, without any result, I saw a video and followed the same steps and nothing, I would like for my earth circuits
What video did you watch
 
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