MSFS20 Animation dependent on distance from user aircraft?

[fabs79]

Hi, does anybody know if there is an easy way to make an animation play once the user gets close enough to the animated object? Up until now I was able to create looping animations and I also created some Simobjects which are only visible under certain conditions (time of day, month, weather....). What I want to do now is an animation that starts as soon as the user is less then about 500 feet away and then play only once. Is there a parameter I can use in the xml or does it require more complex programming?

Thanks and cheers, Fabian

 

[dickb]

Have you looked at SODE ? I believe that can do things like open hangar doors when you get near.

FSX Scenery designer? SODE it!

One of the biggest disappointments with FSX for scenery designers, when the sim was released umpteen-and-a-few years ago, was the fact that ACES neglected to include something called “conditional animations”. That means nothing to most people, but if I said “opening hangar doors“, “custom...

www.simflight.com

 

[fabs79]

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that it's for MSFS. In P3D SODE would surely be the best way to do something like this.

 

[rhumbaflappy]

First off, the object would need to be a SimObject. Then I think a clue would be found in the animation.xml of the Mashaller SimObject. For example I see:

            <Transition name="StandBy to MoveAhead" start="StandBy" end ="MoveAhead" duration="0.5">
              <Condition>              
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION Z PARKINGSPACE, METERS) 150 &lt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION Z PARKINGSPACE, METERS) 100 &gt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION X PARKINGSPACE, METERS) abs 25 &lt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT HEADING PARKINGSPACE, DEGREES) abs 95 &lt;
                and
                and
                and

Obviously, the Marshaller is reacting to the distance and heading of the AIRCRAFT. I would think this is where the testing should start.

 

[fabs79]

First off, the object would need to be a SimObject. Then I think a clue would be found in the animation.xml of the Mashaller SimObject. For example I see:

            <Transition name="StandBy to MoveAhead" start="StandBy" end ="MoveAhead" duration="0.5">
              <Condition>            
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION Z PARKINGSPACE, METERS) 150 &lt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION Z PARKINGSPACE, METERS) 100 &gt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT DISTANCE DIRECTION X PARKINGSPACE, METERS) abs 25 &lt;
                (A:MARSHALLER AIRCRAFT HEADING PARKINGSPACE, DEGREES) abs 95 &lt;
                and
                and
                and

Obviously, the Marshaller is reacting to the distance and heading of the AIRCRAFT. I would think this is where the testing should start.

That´s a good idea, I know some developers use the Marshaller SimObject to "fake" a VGDS. Maybe I can do somethiung similar. I only wish I had more knowledge in coding, most of these conditional variable things I do is trial and error...Can you tell me the location of the above xml so I can have a look?

Thanks, Fabian

 

[rhumbaflappy]

That´s a good idea, I know some developers use the Marshaller SimObject to "fake" a VGDS. Maybe I can do somethiung similar. I only wish I had more knowledge in coding, most of these conditional variable things I do is trial and error...Can you tell me the location of the above xml so I can have a look?

Thanks, Fabian

Look in the official folder .....\asobo-simobjects-characters\SimObjects\Humans\Marshaller

 

[Christian Bahr]

Hi,

is it currently possible to stop an animation when your own aircraft is nearby?
There are animated cranes on a platform. When a helicopter approaches to land on the platform's helipad, the cranes should not move. If the helicopter flies away, the animation of the cranes starts again.

Is this possible? If so, what would a formula look like?

 

[mamu]

Hi Chris, you can try with this approach (worldscript based)

MSFS - Triggering Hangar door animation in SimObject by distance?

You would call it an "RFID" tag. Carry it in your pocket and magically, the hangar door opens only for you and Elliot You were right Rick, it is fun Now I have to change the doors motor 😆 (This is using worldscript, Rectangle area and driving the SimObject model animations using the...

www.fsdeveloper.com

 

[Christian Bahr]

Thanks, but it's not what I need

The crane animation has already started. It should stop when my helicopter approaches the oil platform. Is there a solution to this?

 

[=rk=]

There is a solution if your crane models are SimObjects that you have placed as part of a scenery, in which case there are probably a few ways. The easiest of course being the "conceal joystick animation trigger:"

    <PartInfo>
        <Name>*ANIMATION_NAME*</Name>
        <AnimLength>400</AnimLength>
        <Animation>
            <Parameter>
                <Code>
                (L:XMLVAR_YokeHidden1) 1 == if{ 400 } els{ 0 }
                </Code>
                <Lag>10</Lag>
            </Parameter>
        </Animation>
    </PartInfo>

I think the easiest way to set it up is to have the crane animation loop with a pause at the beginning suitable for a landing. As you approach you trigger it to start and then land. You could probably get more elegant using SimConnect and/or some Template magic to change their animation state. For example, instead of interrupting the looping animation, you could have two complementary animation states, one of them has the cranes idle for the landing and your joystick Template or whatever you use to trigger switches between them. As to "hijacking" existing scenery cranes, I suppose you could write an edited "addon" Package of the particular scenery using the same tricks above.

 

[Christian Bahr]

The idea with the pause in the animation is a good idea, but could possibly be used elsewhere

I don't want to open and edit the 3D model again. The most elegant solution would be to add code to the XML file, like we do with the visibility code... but the code should control the animation.

... maybe the idea was too simple.

But okay, I thought someone had already figured it out. It's not a drama

EDIT
The solution with the yoke could really help me, let's see

 

[degorap]

What about creating a "dummy" LOD00 (moving actual LOD00 to LOD01) and removing animation from the LOD00 object?

 

[Christian Bahr]

I just think I made a mistake in my thinking. It probably doesn't work as easily as I imagined. So I reject my idea (for now).
Nevertheless, thank you very much for your answers