Resident Evil 4 .FCV Animation Format

yes sir!



I've also tested with mutated Bitores (that camera seems to be from a cutscene, it worked without hex editing the FCV) 
I'm also pretty sure we can also make his second form spawn at the same time he dies, but it should have a specific Action value for spawning at that animation. I can take some time testing and post another video with that working too if anyone's interested


And also tested with a ganado (em12) (swapped animation from leon dying on Krauser's QTE)
I still need to do the extra homework of learning how to identify bones to fix that left arm, and sadly we'd have to work with the buggy sounds since i don't expect to hear about .SEQ modifications anytime soon


apart from that Bitores example, none of this should have a significant impact in the gameplay, but even minimal changes like that can give life to playing that game for the 1000th time

I managed to find his guide and compiled it up for you. 

Gustavo 2099 SEQ - Download

I've done some tests in the past and some animations only have sound if a proper .SND file is loaded in, so i think those values in the SEQ also applies for .SND in UHD version

EDIT: forgot to mention, seems like the sound ID for chainsaws or the Garrador scream is way too high, to a point where no other map (to my knowledge) loads any sound for them if you try spawning them in another area (there's no .SND entry for it), while a JJ's gattling gun can still play sounds in other areas, even if they're super bugged like sounds of a door opening or a barrel exploding.

Thank you Biohazard4X for organizing this, I have revisited the file format during the weekend and I believe my previous work on format work was correct.

I spent more time focusing on data types and have inspected over 4700+ fcv file samples to see if there was anything else I had missed. During this process I had discovered additional format types and animation types which is a bad thing because it means there is even more unknowns we need to deal with. :/

MAIN problems are:
- What do the Animation Types do? (8 are observed more may exist)
- How do we decode the data types (over 30 are observed again more may exist)
- How is the array data organized
- What do the array data values signify (do they assign animation curves, IK assignments, etc)

Secondary Problems are:
- Export Animation to a skeleton
- Import Animation to a skeleton (very unlikely)

For the most part I can't go any further with the FCV, the file is too heavily optimized with 1000's various compacted data types.
Therefore FCV Import is in my opinion is NOT POSSIBLE because of the difficulty of decoding the complex data with the FCV.

You may be wondering why there is already a SMD2FCV tool that works?
Well it only export using ONE of the thousands of data types and that is enough to export data out but NOT to import from the FCV.

Here is an example done last year of me trying to decode type 50 on animation type 2, using value[0]. As you can see there is some math required to actually calculate the proper angle. As soon as the type or animation type changed the value encoding changes and the array data changes which means you would need to start over and solve for a new configuration.


To summarize:

If your interested in importing animation data to a 3d editor, currently it IS NOT POSSIBLE!

If your interested in exporting the best solution is to use SMD2FCV which is known to work.

If your interested in Editing then use CRZOSK's FCV tool, or if you have 3dsmax you may use my maxscript

Maxscript: [CLICK TO DOWNLOAD]



*I have not tested it but it should work to "replace" a value here and there, however for absolute control I would recommend that you watch my video on the file specification. That way you can easily inspect the FCV data in a hex editor and make changes on a byte level.



Unfortunately this is the best I can do for this format, and wish anyone continuing this work good luck

-Corey

hello friends of the forum. I am very happy to hear that you are trying to find out more about this format.

So I want to help you remember a few simple points about animations, but they are extremely important when trying to create new animations or import existing ones.



1. I want to mention that this game was created with the Softimage xsi 4.0 program and using the famous Blueprints as programming means. quite used now in Unreal Engine 4.







2. Let's remember that to create an animation for any video game it is complicated since they still need different scripts

to optimize performance. Biohazard4X As you already mentioned, the FCV animations created by the developers are small because each bone has a different number of animation frames, thus achieving greater optimization.



3. mentioning the above, there are some animations that are more complex because they use more methods to be able to execute correctly. A quick example is the walking animation.

This animation uses at least 2 fonts to work.

     1. animating the entire skeleton on the timeline

      
      
     2. programing using "blueprints" (or another source of

     programing) the cuantity of distance the our

     character by pressing the combination keys to

     move forward.

these data together are stored in a single file (FCV)

for its correct operation.



Some time ago I experimented creating a simple animation of walking with the LegalSoul tool and only using the timeline method making bone 0 advance a small distance from frame 0 to 90. And when executing the game it advanced that amount and returned again to the starting point and thus infinitely without advancing further. this due to the aforementioned.



Then yes. In summary, we need a tool that exports an animation not only through the timeline method, but also through more advanced methods. as the programming ones linked to the timeline and all this together export it to a single FCV file.


this just to mention an animation that needs more than just the timeline.

but in this animation we are only talking about bone 0 who has a variation in the type of method to move.

but if we pay attention to other more secondary bones we can know that they are linked to gravity, for example the hair.

the movement of some bones is related to collisions, although this is already more in conjunction with the .BIN file



There are also other bones that have a limit of rotation, such as the elbows. When exceeding this limit, they deform in a very interesting way, although in the program it looks good.

I'm looking for the animation that holds the gun with both hands, but in the list of "Ultimate FCV List" I can't find it.

Please check my last post. I believe what you are looking for is in the wepxx.dat files.