[ReeNoiP]

I'm trying to make my own head anis. Just still frames for starters.

I know I need to use anibuilder and that the .pcx should be 256 colors and I can only use the first 16. From what I can find 160x120 is a good size. But I the following questions:

1) In FS2 the ani color changes with the HUD color. Will this happen automatically as long as I only use the first 16 colors in the palette?
2) Using Photoshop, is there an easy way to make sure I'm using the right colors? Right now I choose indexed color->256 colors and use the color table as reference.
3) If I have a background in true colors, is there a way to convert that to fit the 16 colors I can use?
4) Is there a tutorial for the picture editing somewhere?

[The E]

You should check back with Black Wolf. He has had some success making new head.anis.

[Black Wolf]

I don't know photoshop (I use Paint Shop Pro), but basic process will be the same. They're like any HUD element - you have to use the HUD palette. Extract it from an existing HUD element, then apply it to all your individual frames before conversion to ani.

[ReeNoiP]

Clever. This makes things so much easier. Thanks.

[Spoon]

http://www.mediafire.com/file/quqwi0dz4wz/hudpalette.act
Use index mode (custom) with that hud palette.
Going from true colors to index mode instantly makes it greyscale (not always with best result but it usually does fine)
and yes 160x120 is the right size

[ReeNoiP]

Thanks, I got it working. Next problem: Getting them into the game.
I save the ani in mod/data/hud and choose it as head ani in FRED by means of "browse", but they don't show up when the message plays.

I tried with the ones made by Black Wolf to make sure it wasn't a problem with my file. Same result.

[Black Wolf]

Don't use browse. Hack them into messages.tbl

[ReeNoiP]

  How? Overwrite an existing entry?

[Spoon]

Don't use browse. Hack them into messages.tbl

I've been using browse for a while now and it has always worked fine for me.

[ReeNoiP]

I've been using browse for a while now and it has always worked fine for me.

What build are you using? Where do you place your anis, and what do you name them?

[zookeeper]

Remember the naming scheme. Although I do vaguely recall having to use the same method for FREDded messages too (unlike how it's described there), so maybe you want to try that if it doesn't work otherwise in FREDded messages.

[Spoon]

I've been using browse for a while now and it has always worked fine for me.

What build are you using? Where do you place your anis, and what do you name them?

I've used 3.6.10, 3.6.11, 3.6.12 RC1, hud folder and I name them whatever I want

It is perhaps more interesting to ask what method you used to create your frames into .ani. I use that old little program anibuilder with the advanced settings on: 'Mainhall animation (makes all frames keyframes)'. (Though that wouldn't explain why black wolf's ani's dont show up for you)

An other possible cause is having a wave file selected in FRED that is too short. It will cut off the .ani if it ends before the .ani does. Be sure to keep Persona to <None> as well, see if that makes any difference.

[ReeNoiP]

I use anibuilder as well.

It works fine if I use one of the predefined head anis. But even if I try copying one of those to the mod/data/hud folder and selecting it there it doesn't work. It's as if the game can't recognize the folder or something.

I have attached my log if someone could take a look at it and see if there is something wrong with my data structure.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ReeNoiP]

  This is strange. I can get custom huds to work just fine, just not head ani's.

Could someone post an example of a headani, say headani1.ani hacked into the message table?

[Axem]

For the game to recognize the new head anis they need to be in an entry in the message.tbl. It can be any entry at all in some obscure message that will never get used. I'm using BW's custom head anis and I made a new persona, DONOTUSE and several entries along the likes of...

Code: [Select]

$Name: Instructor Attack
$Message: XSTR("XXX", -1)
+Persona: DONOTUSE
+Avi Name: Head-Civ1
Give it a try.

[Spoon]

A random thought just occured to me, can you try browse selecting your .ani's and disabling built-in messages and command messages in mission specs?