Edit

Share via

Adding Frames and Animations (Direct3D 9)

  • Article

This section shows how to add frames and animations to a simple cube.

Working with Frames

A frame is expected to take the following structure.

Frame Aframe {        // The frame name is chosen for convenience.
FrameTransformMatrix {
...transform data...
}
[ Meshes ] and/or [ More frames]
}

Place the defined cube mesh inside a frame with an identity transform. Then apply an animation to this frame.

Frame CubeFrame {
FrameTransformMatrix {
1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000,
0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000,
0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000,
0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000;;
}
{CubeMesh}        // You could have the mesh inline, but this 
                  // uses an object reference instead.
}

Working with Animations

An animation is defined by a set of keys. A key is a time value associated with a scaling operation, an orientation, or a position.

Animation Animation0 {        // The name is chosen for convenience.
{ Frame that it applies to - normally a reference }
AnimationKey {
...animation key data...
}
{ ...more animation keys... }
}

Animations are then grouped into AnimationSets:

AnimationSet AnimationSet0 { // The name is chosen for convenience.
{ an animation - could be inline or a reference }
{ ... more animations ... } 
}

Now take the cube through an animation.

AnimationSet AnimationSet0 {
Animation Animation0 {
{CubeFrame}    // Use the frame containing the cube.
AnimationKey {
2;             // Position keys
9;             // 9 keys
10; 3; -100.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
20; 3; -75.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
30; 3; -50.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
40; 3; -25.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
50; 3; 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
60; 3; 25.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
70; 3; 50.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
80; 3; 75.500000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;,
90; 3; 100.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;;
}
}
}

For more information, see the Animation and AnimationSet templates.

X Files (Legacy)