Seeing as I wasn't the least bit pleased with the majority of the playable character models animations, I decided that I'd do some quick ones myself. Upon decompiling one of the models to check out the .qc file and the .smds I did this:

As an animator, I was quite horrified by the .smds and .qc file. Apparently BrainBread uses an animation for each individual weapon, something that's unneeded and causes models' filesize to skyrocket. Funnier yet, almost all of the animations for weapons of relatively the same type were exactly the same. All pistols for instance used different .smds (aim_deagle.smd and aim_p226.smd) but the animations contained in the files were the same.

If this is the case, why not just have an animation for rifles, smgs, and pistols rather than an animation for each seperate gun in the game? For instance both the mp5, mp5sd and any other smgs in the game would use a smg.smd animation rather than the mp5 use mp5.smd and the mp5sd use mp5sd.smd.

This would simplify it for people who want to create custom content and whoever the BrainBread player animator is.

Also, I was slightly disturbed by the lack of blending. As it is, there are only animations provided for 'straight aiming' so the gun animations do not blend up or down. This means when you are looking up to shoot a zombie, your player model looks like it's shooting straight forward. This of course is not necessary, but it adds to the aesthetic value and immersion of the game.

Overall on BrainBread, decent job guys, but being an animator I kinda cringe at times...

Ouch my brain hurts....

Sorry did I throw too much animation jargon at you?

Basically animation files as they are in BB:

deagle = aim_deagle.smd
usp = aim_usp.smd
m4 = aim_m4.smd
ak47 = aim_ak47.smd

The thing is, the animations on the different .smds are the same so:

aim_deagle.smd = aim_usp.smd
and
aim_m4 = aim_ak47

So why not just:

deagle = aim_pistol.smd
usp = aim_pistol.smd
m4 = aim_rifle.smd
ak47 = aim_rifle.smd

If all the pistols used the same pistol animation file, all the smgs used the same smg animation file, and all the rifles used the same rifle animation file things would be a lot simpler. It would cut the number of animations required for brainbread from 134 to like... 50 (max), which would lower the amount of filesize hogged by animations by like 60%. Since most pistols are held the same, most smgs are held the same, and most rifles are held the same this would technically be feasible.

WARNING: If you know nothing about models or animating, stop reading now so you don't die of a brain hemmorage.

For those of you a bit model savvy here's the weapon animation segment of a .qc file from one of the player models:

$sequence "aim_2" "aim_2_blend1" "aim_2_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 14 loop
$sequence "shoot_2" "shoot_2_blend1" "shoot_2_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 14 loop
$sequence "aim_1" "aim_1_blend1" "aim_1_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 14 loop
$sequence "ref_aim_ak47" "ref_aim_ak47_blend1" "ref_aim_ak47_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_ak47" "ref_shoot_ak47_blend1" "ref_shoot_ak47_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_ak47" "crouch_aim_ak47_blend1" "crouch_aim_ak47_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_ak47" "crouch_shoot_ak47_blend1" "crouch_shoot_ak47_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_p225" "ref_aim_p225_blend1" "ref_aim_p225_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_p225" "ref_shoot_p225_blend1" "ref_shoot_p225_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_p225" "crouch_aim_p225_blend1" "crouch_aim_p225_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_p225" "crouch_shoot_p225_blend1" "crouch_shoot_p225_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_deagle" "ref_aim_deagle_blend1" "ref_aim_deagle_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_deagle" "ref_shoot_deagle_blend1" "ref_shoot_deagle_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_deagle" "crouch_aim_deagle_blend1" "crouch_aim_deagle_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_deagle" "crouch_shoot_deagle_blend1" "crouch_shoot_deagle_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_beretta" "ref_aim_beretta_blend1" "ref_aim_beretta_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_beretta" "ref_shoot_beretta_blend1" "ref_shoot_beretta_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_beretta" "crouch_aim_beretta_blend1" "crouch_aim_beretta_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_beretta" "crouch_shoot_beretta_blend1" "crouch_shoot_beretta_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_glock" "ref_aim_glock_blend1" "ref_aim_glock_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_glock" "ref_shoot_glock_blend1" "ref_shoot_glock_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_glock" "crouch_aim_glock_blend1" "crouch_aim_glock_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_glock" "crouch_shoot_glock_blend1" "crouch_shoot_glock_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_usp" "ref_aim_usp_blend1" "ref_aim_usp_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_usp" "ref_shoot_usp_blend1" "ref_shoot_usp_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_usp" "crouch_aim_usp_blend1" "crouch_aim_usp_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_usp" "crouch_shoot_usp_blend1" "crouch_shoot_usp_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_p226" "ref_aim_p226_blend1" "ref_aim_p226_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_p226" "ref_shoot_p226_blend1" "ref_shoot_p226_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_p226" "crouch_aim_p226_blend1" "crouch_aim_p226_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_p226" "crouch_shoot_p226_blend1" "crouch_shoot_p226_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_microuzi" "ref_aim_microuzi_blend1" "ref_aim_microuzi_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_microuzi" "ref_shoot_microuzi_blend1" "ref_shoot_microuzi_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_microuzi" "crouch_aim_microuzi_blend1" "crouch_aim_microuzi_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_microuzi" "crouch_shoot_microuzi_blend1" "crouch_shoot_microuzi_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_microuzi_a" "ref_aim_microuzi_a_blend1" "ref_aim_microuzi_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_microuzi_a" "ref_shoot_microuzi_a_blend1" "ref_shoot_microuzi_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_microuzi_a" "crouch_aim_microuzi_a_blend1" "crouch_aim_microuzi_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_microuzi_a" "crouch_shoot_microuzi_a_blend1" "crouch_shoot_microuzi_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_beretta_a" "ref_aim_beretta_a_blend1" "ref_aim_beretta_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_beretta_a" "ref_shoot_beretta_a_blend1" "ref_shoot_beretta_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_beretta_a" "crouch_aim_beretta_a_blend1" "crouch_aim_beretta_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_beretta_a" "crouch_shoot_beretta_a_blend1" "crouch_shoot_beretta_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_glock_auto" "ref_aim_glock_auto_blend1" "ref_aim_glock_auto_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_glock_auto" "ref_shoot_glock_auto_blend1" "ref_shoot_glock_auto_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_glock_auto" "crouch_aim_glock_auto_blend1" "crouch_aim_glock_auto_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_glock_auto" "crouch_shoot_glock_auto_blend1" "crouch_shoot_glock_auto_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_spas12" "ref_aim_spas12_blend1" "ref_aim_spas12_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_spas12" "ref_shoot_spas12_blend1" "ref_shoot_spas12_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_spas12" "crouch_aim_spas12_blend1" "crouch_aim_spas12_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_spas12" "crouch_shoot_spas12_blend1" "crouch_shoot_spas12_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_tavor" "ref_aim_tavor_blend1" "ref_aim_tavor_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_tavor" "ref_shoot_tavor_blend1" "ref_shoot_tavor_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_tavor" "crouch_aim_tavor_blend1" "crouch_aim_tavor_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_tavor" "crouch_shoot_tavor_blend1" "crouch_shoot_tavor_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_benelli" "ref_aim_benelli_blend1" "ref_aim_benelli_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_benelli" "ref_shoot_benelli_blend1" "ref_shoot_benelli_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 33
$sequence "crouch_aim_benelli" "crouch_aim_benelli_blend1" "crouch_aim_benelli_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_benelli" "crouch_shoot_benelli_blend1" "crouch_shoot_benelli_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 33
$sequence "ref_aim_aug" "ref_aim_aug_blend1" "ref_aim_aug_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_aug" "ref_shoot_aug_blend1" "ref_shoot_aug_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 33
$sequence "crouch_aim_aug" "crouch_aim_aug_blend1" "crouch_aim_aug_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_aug" "crouch_shoot_aug_blend1" "crouch_shoot_aug_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 33
$sequence "ref_aim_m16" "ref_aim_m16_blend1" "ref_aim_m16_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_m16" "ref_shoot_m16_blend1" "ref_shoot_m16_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_m16" "crouch_aim_m16_blend1" "crouch_aim_m16_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_m16" "crouch_shoot_m16_blend1" "crouch_shoot_m16_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_knife" "ref_aim_knife_blend1" "ref_aim_knife_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_knife" "ref_shoot_knife_blend1" "ref_shoot_knife_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_knife" "crouch_aim_knife_blend1" "crouch_aim_knife_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_knife" "crouch_shoot_knife_blend1" "crouch_shoot_knife_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_minigun" "ref_aim_minigun_blend1" "ref_aim_minigun_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_minigun" "ref_shoot_minigun_blend1" "ref_shoot_minigun_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_minigun" "crouch_aim_minigun_blend1" "crouch_aim_minigun_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_minigun" "crouch_shoot_minigun_blend1" "crouch_shoot_minigun_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_mp5_10" "ref_aim_mp5_10_blend1" "ref_aim_mp5_10_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_mp5_10" "ref_shoot_mp5_10_blend1" "ref_shoot_mp5_10_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_mp5_10" "crouch_aim_mp5_10_blend1" "crouch_aim_mp5_10_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_mp5_10" "crouch_shoot_mp5_10_blend1" "crouch_shoot_mp5_10_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_mp5sd" "ref_aim_mp5sd_blend1" "ref_aim_mp5sd_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_mp5sd" "ref_shoot_mp5sd_blend1" "ref_shoot_mp5sd_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_mp5sd" "crouch_aim_mp5sd_blend1" "crouch_aim_mp5sd_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_mp5sd" "crouch_shoot_mp5sd_blend1" "crouch_shoot_mp5sd_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_stoner" "ref_aim_stoner_blend1" "ref_aim_stoner_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_stoner" "ref_shoot_stoner_blend1" "ref_shoot_stoner_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_stoner" "crouch_aim_stoner_blend1" "crouch_aim_stoner_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_stoner" "crouch_shoot_stoner_blend1" "crouch_shoot_stoner_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_sig550" "ref_aim_sig550_blend1" "ref_aim_sig550_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_sig550" "ref_shoot_sig550_blend1" "ref_shoot_sig550_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "crouch_aim_sig550" "crouch_aim_sig550_blend1" "crouch_aim_sig550_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_sig550" "crouch_shoot_sig550_blend1" "crouch_shoot_sig550_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30
$sequence "ref_aim_glock_auto_a" "ref_aim_glock_auto_a_blend1" "ref_aim_glock_auto_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_glock_auto_a" "ref_shoot_glock_auto_a_blend1" "ref_shoot_glock_auto_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "crouch_aim_glock_auto_a" "crouch_aim_glock_auto_a_blend1" "crouch_aim_glock_auto_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_glock_auto_a" "crouch_shoot_glock_auto_a_blend1" "crouch_shoot_glock_auto_a_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 24
$sequence "ref_aim_case" "ref_aim_case_blend1" "ref_aim_case_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_case" "ref_shoot_case_blend1" "ref_shoot_case_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 45
$sequence "crouch_aim_case" "crouch_aim_case_blend1" "crouch_aim_case_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_case" "crouch_shoot_case_blend1" "crouch_shoot_case_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 45
$sequence "ref_aim_grenade" "ref_aim_grenade_blend1" "ref_aim_grenade_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_grenade" "ref_shoot_grenade_blend1" "ref_shoot_grenade_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 25
$sequence "crouch_aim_grenade" "crouch_aim_grenade_blend1" "crouch_aim_grenade_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_grenade" "crouch_shoot_grenade_blend1" "crouch_shoot_grenade_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 25
$sequence "ref_aim_axe" "ref_aim_axe_blend1" "ref_aim_axe_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_axe" "ref_shoot_axe_blend1" "ref_shoot_axe_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30 loop
$sequence "crouch_aim_axe" "crouch_aim_axe_blend1" "crouch_aim_axe_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 12 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_axe" "crouch_shoot_axe_blend1" "crouch_shoot_axe_blend2" blend XR -45 45 fps 30 loop

With the exception of the knives, ax, and gatling gun, all of this could be simplified into:

$sequence "ref_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_pistol" fps 30 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_pistol" fps 30 loop
$sequence "ref_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_smg" fps 30 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_smg" fps 30 loop
$sequence "ref_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_rifle" fps 30 loop
$sequence "ref_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_rifle" fps 30 loop
$sequence "crouch_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_pistol" fps 30 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_pistol" fps 30 loop
$sequence "crouch_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_smg" fps 30 loop
$sequence "crouch_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_smg"
$sequence "crouch_aim_pistol" "ref_aim_rifle"
$sequence "crouch_shoot_pistol" "ref_shoot_rifle"

*dead. From Overloadede Brain*

Please donate $5 to pay for my brothers funeral and his coffin.

Send to 724 crinton Street 42016

Thanks.Oh and say farewell to my lil brother *sniff* I hope he is resting in heaven peacefuly...

*crying*

Point is, that big block of text could equal the small block of text if organized correctly

Wow, I'm surprised that its like that too o_O.

true, we should optimize that, thanks

Hey Rifter, thanks for the comment!
I was not animating when I worked on public-enemy, then one day we had to accept, that we did not find any animator. This was when I learned to animate and I created all the animations for the PE playermodels in a rather short period of time. I didn't know a lot about compiling either.
Fact is, we didn't recreate any playermodel from scratch since then and this is the curse of BB, it's based on PE and it includes some very horrible animations and horrible qc code I did at that time I look forward to fix this. The only advantage the todays method has: custom animators are able to create different animations for each weapon if they want to.

I did have some problems with the blending, maybe you can help me: when I tried more extreme blendings, the neutral pose (straight forward) looked totally off, except when I only modified the arms and not the back or the shoulders. And this looks very static and unrealistic. The key would be to use more than 2 blending poses, but I don't think this is possible in hl. Do you know any solution for that problem?

Haha yeah I might be able to help a little bit. I'm the official animator over at Hostile Intent (the current animations are NOT mine, my player model animations are going into v1.4) and contributing some animations to The Specialists 2.2 as well so I might e able to help a bit. For both of these mods, we only use 2 way blending (like you have) but for HI we kind of have 2 and a half way blending. Basically, rather than a 'look up' and 'look down' pose we have a 'look up' 'look straight' and 'look down' position, so the midway one looks a o.k. AFAIK, the only mods that incorporate blending past 2 1/2 way are ones currently under the guiding hand of Valve (DoD, CS). Both of these mods utilize 9 way blending, and this requires some substantial coding work that I don't think Valve has made available to the public.

Here's an example of some .qc lines for weapon blend we have at HI (Note: I'm at school now so this might not be precise):

$sequence "aim_pistol" {
"aim_pistol_blend1"
"aim_pistol_blend2"
"aim_pistol_blend3"
"aim_pistol_blend4"
"aim_pistol_blend5"
"aim_pistol_blend6"
"aim_pistol_blend7"
"aim_pistol_blend8"
"aim_pistol_blend9"
blend XR -45 45 fps 30
}

Prior to when I joined the team the HI crew was apparently attempting to impliment 9 way blending, but they weren't too sucessful. So basically this is how this works: blend 1-3 deal with raised position, so all of them are the same but they look up, blend 4-6 deal with straight forward, and 7-9 take care of looking down. As far as I know, the type of blending used has to be coded in so I'd talk to your coders a bit (Example: when I first joined HI team, I tried condensing the blends into blend1 = up blend2 = forward blend3 = down, but the code still dictated that blend 1-3 were ment for looking up, so the animations didn't translate correctly).


Edit: Oh yeah.... your player model skeleton lacks bones for the hands (simple ones that bend all the fingers at once would be nice)

Only the downlaod/install size is increased by having multiple files for each animation?

So the only advantage is the download time .Vs. Custom weapon models.

Maybe keep it for custom weapon models?
But good idea and well spotted in the code Rifter.

Thanks for the input Rifter! *Sight*, I didn't know all that when I was animating, I read a bunch of tutorials and had some days left for the animations I'll ask our coder about it. So far I would suggest the following animations for a playermodel:

-pistol
-largepistol
-smg
-rifle
-axe
(-winchester)

I think this way all the major differences have been borne in mind. Of course each of them has a 8 anims (refaim,refshoot,crouchaim,crouchshoot, each one with 2 blendanims) or even more if we suceed to implement 3 stage blending.
The skeleton I'm working with is the hl1 sdk skeleton, it does have 1 finger. But if I don't assign any vertexes to it, the compiler cuts that bone. If you want I can email you the max file for better anim possibilitys, but this would require a reassignement of the hands of the playermodels.

nah thats ok man. Oh and I would suggest two more weapon animations there: Minigun and akimbo since the minigun isn't held like a rifle and you need akimbo for the berettas and the uzis.

Oh thanks, I forgot those! So this would be the final list:

-pistol
-largepistol
-smg
-rifle
-axe
-minigun
-akimbo
(-winchester)

I look forward to fix the playermodels for the next patch. I will propably not reanimate anything because the 2 new weaponmodels take some time, but this might be an option for the future. If you need anything for your custommodels (maxfiles, assignements,...) just pm me.

edit:
...