Few quick questions regarding light animation, animation, Unity and orientation.

[USB4]

I have 3 problems I think could  be solved fairly quickly as Im sure its  a few small things Im missing.

 

Firstly, Im currently trying to animate this  model using the ModuleLight module.

Spoiler

Video is of less cover retracting, spot light turning on and getting brighter, both protected by transparent shielding using alpha transparency.

 

While the model appears in the game without any animations, it does not show up (part not found), whenever I add an animation. Its quite frustrating as I have no idea why it isnt working. Ive tried many variations to no avail. I would like to include more info that might perhaps help whoever reads this to get what issue Im having, but Im not sure what other details are needed.

Spoiler

Side note, Ive previously gotten an engine rotation animation to work, however, the same steps I used there, dont seem to be working here.

 

 

My second issue, relating to the first, is Im not actually sure which version of Unity I should be using. On the forums in various places, what I have seen being recommended as the go to version is 4.2.2. However, those posts are generally fairly dated, and in the wiki, patch notes say the game has been updated to 5.4.0. Im thinking perhaps the older posts are right and my having the wrong (newer) version, is whats causing me trouble.

 

Lastly, completely unrelated to the first 2, I have no idea how to orient parts in Blender/Unity to have them facing upwards both with surface attachment and placement. Im not sure that really gets what Im trying to convey across well, so heres a video showing what Im talking about, where another part, used for comparison, is orientated correctly before and after surface placement.

First part is this one (without animation working), and the second part is from MRS as an example.

Spoiler

 

Thanks in advance.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

Hi,  lets get straight down to business,  I would recommend  a unity version no older than U5.2.4 ,  while yeah sure you can if you really must use unity 4.22 quite successfully ,  it has features that are not in the latest versions, I suspect that come the unity engine upgrade  to unity 2017 then these older methods may not be applicable.  SO it pays to learn the newer ways  to do things rather than a legacy and unfavored method.

Your lights drop nicely into the things that are different between unity versions, in unity 4.22 you can animate emissives as easily as any other thing, in later versions you have to use a squad supplied color animation editor ( comes packaged with part tools.)  there's a how to in this sub forum somewhere, it's not that difficult. 

To get your light panel to glow, you can do it one of two main ways,   the traditional method, create a light animation, create the emissive animation (the glow) and using the animation compiler merge them into one animation. Or create just the light animation, make the emissive part a separate mesh with it's own emissive texture ,  and then you use the stock ksp module color changer to make the panel glow. ( check squad pods for modules etc)

Your part must be set to  use  the animation legacy rig on import to unity, otherwise the part is unlikely to load  or even export to ksp properly

Can't help with your Blender rotation issues , though do a forum  search for blender cheat sheet or some such , i know the blender users  out number  the rest of us 10-1 so there's plenty of help and related threads here , just don't go way back in time,  there's an awful lot of contradictory info out there and most of it  will hinder rather than help

Edited December 1, 2017 by SpannerMonkey(smce)

[USB4]

1 hour ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

Hi,  lets get straight down to business,  I would recommend  a unity version no older than U5.2.4 ,  while yeah sure you can if you really must use unity 4.22 quite successfully ,  it has features that are not in the latest versions, I suspect that come the unity engine upgrade  to unity 2017 then these older methods may not be applicable.  SO it pays to learn the newer ways  to do things rather than a legacy and unfavored method.

Alright. Well, I guess Il stick with the one recommended on the wiki 5.4.0p4

Quote

in later versions you have to use a squad supplied color animation editor ( comes packaged with part tools.)  there's a how to in this sub forum somewhere, it's not that difficult. 

Perhaps my googlefu is weak, but I evidently dont even know what terms to search for to find that guide. Im bringing up nothing.

Quote

 

To get your light panel to glow, you can do it one of two main ways,   the traditional method, create a light animation, create the emissive animation (the glow) and using the animation compiler merge them into one animation. Or create just the light animation, make the emissive part a separate mesh with it's own emissive texture ,  and then you use the stock ksp module color changer to make the panel glow. ( check squad pods for modules etc)

 

I actually did the that part I think, based on a video you made. Thats what I was trying to follow. This video actually (along with a few others when for some reason it wouldn't load). In the spoiler, is not very visible but it does glow somewhat.

 

As for the squad module color changer, should I have a clue about what youre talking about? I should probably have  a clue shouldnt I....

Quote

Your part must be set to  use  the animation legacy rig on import to unity, otherwise the part is unlikely to load  or even export to ksp properly

Ive tried this, still end up not seeing it show up in game. Its baffling because its the same process as the ducted fan I used  that worked (also from a video you made actually), but here it doesnt work and I cant figure out why.

Quote

Can't help with your Blender rotation issues , though do a forum  search for blender cheat sheet or some such

You wouldnt believe how many search tabs I regularly have open for kerbal related things. Believe me when I say I wouldnt make a post without searching and a whole lot of trial and error, mostly error.  I guess Il just have to keep digging and hope its out there in the sea of dead links and out of date guides. Out of  the three problems, this one doesnt matter as much though  I suppose.

 

Thanks for the reply.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

2 hours ago, USB4 said:

Perhaps my googlefu is weak, but I evidently dont even know what terms to search for to find that guide. Im bringing up nothing.

 

[USB4]

15 minutes ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

 

So thinking about this, I realized why my mod wasnt showing up.... I think, probably, perhaps, and maybe it was kind of obvious, but having the emissives animated in what I think youre saying is the wrong version, was my problem. The animation now exists in the game. Il just have to figure out that whole colour thing, and from that thread it seems like there are a whooooole lot of caveats. I think a great temporary solution though, since this has a shutter is just leaving the bulb permanently glowing.

Thanks!

Edited December 1, 2017 by USB4

[USB4]

For future people reading this, I found out how to orient the part in the way I wanted. It was node attach angle I was looking for (node_attach = 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, -1.0). That did the trick. If yours is just incorrectly flipped all the time, then you can also use 

rotation = 0.0, 180, 0.0

 

Or you can just flip it in Unity/Your modeling program of choice.

Edited December 2, 2017 by USB4

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

11 hours ago, USB4 said:

Il just have to figure out that whole colour thing, and from that thread it seems like there are a whooooole lot of caveats

Hi it's actually not that difficult to do,  and the only time it's a real pain is when the item to receive the color animation is several children down in the hierarchy, otherwise it's quite easy. Drop me a pm if you get stuck an would rather not wait a day for a response,

 

[USB4]

12 hours ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

Hi it's actually not that difficult to do,  and the only time it's a real pain is when the item to receive the color animation is several children down in the hierarchy, otherwise it's quite easy. Drop me a pm if you get stuck an would rather not wait a day for a response,

 

You were right. Wasnt very hard to figure out with that guide. I do wish it could be brighter though.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

On 12/2/2017 at 10:22 PM, USB4 said:

I do wish it could be brighter though.

more white in the emissive color,  will make the glow brighter

[USB4]

1 hour ago, SpannerMonkey(smce) said:

more white in the emissive color,  will make the glow brighter

Its maxed out. I suppose what Im really looking for is a halo effect, but Im not sure thats supported.

[SpannerMonkey(smce)]

33 minutes ago, USB4 said:

I suppose what Im really looking for is a halo effect

Stock KSP does this around lights etc using a textured plane, BUT imo it looks crap,  be aware that emissives cast no light,  if you want light you 'll have to add a light source