SC2Mapster

I have made a custom death animation of a unit, following the Art Tools tutorial by Blizzard, but I have no idea how to add blood splat effects to it. I guess I should add a node just like spot lights for projector, but it seems the tutorial does not cover it. Could you please help?

If you are using the Blizzard Art Tools (which it sounds like you are), you can create a blood splat by using particles.

- create a SC2Particle
- Set "Emitter Shape" to "Plane"
- Set the "Instance Type" to "Ground Oriented"
- Set the Particle Emitter facing to straight down
- Set the orientation close to the ground plane, but not at 0

The Art Tools installer comes with some demo files that should be located around:
"\Program Files\Blizzard Entertainment\StarCraft II Art Tools (64-bit)\Examples\Units\"

There are 3DS Max files for units and deaths. I would recommend checking out the marine death for particle specifics.

Correct ( what ZombieZasz said) check the marine model, it uses some cool dead animation particles like blood dust cloud, blood goey and blood on the floor.

I use it for nearly all my models.

T.

Thanks, ZombieZasz & TaylorMouse.

So I have managed to create the particle by imitating what was done on the sample, but should I connect it to the blood texture(as .tga file) via material editor manually? I tried export preview and I still don't see any blood splat or mist.

@kim743: Go

Yes, the particle emitter will need a material assigned to it.

If the emitter has a material and is still not showing, in the cutscene editor, try moving the timeline cursor around a bit then playing the animation. sometimes particles do not load initially.

Ok, Thank you!

I will try that.

I set emitters for blood splat and stuff, but I still don't see the color when I preview it... Could you explain how to properly assign the material to particle emitters? I simply drag and drop from the material editor and I wonder if that's the right way.

Also, how can I copy the emitter from the sample and paste it on my model? I think it will be much easier than creating one of my own.

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I did 'save selected' for the particles and merged them with my own model and have them assigned with material, but it still doesn't work. Do I need to set particular key frames for them?

@kim743: Go

Drag and drop should do it.

Here's a method for copying a particle effect:

Get Source

- ( open the emitter source file. ex: Marine_Death) select the emitter and choose file > Save As > Selected (which you did)

Save the Animation

- Select the Emitter
- In the menu bar, Choose Animation > Save Animation
- In the save animation dialog, choose Segment > Active Time Range (button of clock with a line over it)
- Check the From and To are correct
- Save

Import

- In your working project, Import > Merge or drag and drop the emitter max file
- goto the segment in the timeline that you wish to have the animation play
- select the emitter
- in the menu, choose Animation > Load Animation
- select your animation file (.xaf)
- in the load animation dialog, choose "Replace" at *enter the starting frame of your current sequence*

Notes:

Should see the keyframes in the timeline.
The primary attribute that is animated in a particle is the Emission Rate, which is how often is spits out particles.
squirt amount is how many particles per emission, life is how long before the particle is removed. More info can be found within
the art tools docs.

@ZombieZasz: Go

You are my lifesaver.

Thank you so much!!