How To Create an Animal
 

I read a little about importing models but how would I make my own kind of animal? Would I build it and import it? If I did would I be able to animate it's joints? If I am suppost to build the model and import it what program do I use to build it? Would blender work? 5 questions is a lot for one post but do your best to answer them. Thanks to everyone who replies with useful information:).

I suggest you do a search of the forum and also look through the "Share Objects" section. There is a lot of material there addressing your question.

For quick answers - you can either make your own model (Blender will work - personally I prefer Anim8or) or import one from the web - first converting it to .ase format using Biturn.

Also Alice 2.x does [B]not[/B] support an articulated model (i.e., one with a skeleton (joints and bones) and a skin. You basically have to break your mesh up into parts and move the parts relative to one another. (You can see this by viewing the Alice models in mesh view.)

Thanks. I'll be sure to search the shared objects. I'll also search the forums a little. I guess I wasn't clear with what I said about joints. The way you can animate certain parts of a model like only move the feet or only move the arms is what I meant. I was trying to ask if I could still animate certain parts if I imported it. Creating or importing a model is the last thing I'm going to try but thanks again for replying!:)

Share Objects?
 

Just making sure, when you say 'share objects' do you mean in Alice where you go to the 'Web Gallery'?

[QUOTE=Whitellama;10871]Just making sure, when you say 'share objects' do you mean in Alice where you go to the 'Web Gallery'?[/QUOTE]

No, I mean the forum section at [url]http://www.alice.org/community/forumdisplay.php?f=8[/url] .

If your object's mesh is broken up into parts, you can move them separately, just as for regular Alice objects. For a hierarchial arrangement, you can import the parts individually as textures (there is a discussion in the forum). If you import all the parts together, you have to set up your own parent-child relationships - but you can still move individual parts.

You should have no problems with this for your own models - except making the movement look realistic. That means taking considerable care as to where you place the local origin for each part. For models from the web, the mesh is often just one piece and the animation is done with a sub-structure skeleton. In theory, you can cut up the mesh - in paractice it rarely if ever looks good afterward.

[QUOTE=DrJim;10874]
You should have no problems with this for your own models - except making the movement look realistic. That means taking considerable care as to where you place the local origin for each part. For models from the web, the mesh is often just one piece and the animation is done with a sub-structure skeleton. In theory, you can cut up the mesh - in paractice it rarely if ever looks good afterward.[/QUOTE]

Indeed. While it works in theory, the results are often suboptimal.
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Alexandra from [URL="https://w2c.ca/en/dogs-cats-spiders-and-snakes-importing-animals-into-canada/"]W2C[/URL]

Re: How to Create an animal
 

For Alice 3:

A short answer to your questions would be to see this document on the Alice website:

[URL="http://http://www.alice.org/resources/how-tos/importing-models-overview/"]http://www.alice.org/resources/how-tos/importing-models-overview/[/URL]

Let me know if you cannot find the answers to your questions here...