Importing Motion Capture Data

I've spent the last week trying to import our test motion capture data into TGEA (Torque Game Engine Advanced). This is how the process works:

• Data is captured in Arena and exported as a .bvh file;
  
• the .bvh file is then converted to a .bip file in 3DSMax;
  
• the .bip file is then applied to a biped within Max;
  
• various helper objects are added to biped, to denote important points on the model;
• a bounds box is created surrounding all other objects;
  
• a special helper object is added and keyframed at the start & end of the animation;
  
• if necessary rearrangements are made to ensure the correct object heirarchy;
• the animation is cleaned up by hand, ensuring the biped faces the correct orientation (i.e. towards the back of the scene in Max);
  
• the DTS exporter is setup to export the correct sort of sequence;
  
• a config file is created in the destination directory that determines what will & won't be exported;
  
• the sequence is exported as a .dsq file;
  
• the dump file from the creation of the.dsq is checked;
• using Torque Show Tool Pro and an appropriate character .dts is opened and the .dsq is opened and run;
  
• if the .dsq doesn't work go backwards through the steps until the problem is found, otherwise proceed;
  
• the .dsq is placed in the appropriate folder within Torque;
  
• references are added to the animation in the correct TorqueScript file/s;
  
• changes are made to the TorqueScript files so that the animation may be run when the game is run;
  
• the game is run and the animation is tested;
  
• if things work celebrate! if not go backwards through the steps until the problem is determined.

So after numerous attempts I've managed to get our test data into TGEA, unfortunately it looks like there may be a problem with .dsq exports using the exporter in Max 2009 as I've been unable to get a .dsq to export that doesn't incorrectly orient itself in TGEA, even after having reoriented the biped inside Max. Alan has mentioned that he also has had problems exporting .dsq's in Max '09 (v. 11), he has however had success using Max v. 9 in the past.
So I'll try to get access to Max v. 9 and see what happens. If this doesn't solve the orientation problem we'll just have to ensure that we are correctly oriented when we do the motion capture.

Besides struggling with the animations I've been creating some graphics for use in the User Interface, including finding fonts for the player characters and the enemies. Additionally some of my time has been taken up sorting the videos we took to plan our animations and documenting our animations.

This week I'm hoping to sort out the .dsq issue, continue working on the UI, further document the animations, do some character documentation, explore how AFX works, conquer New Jersey, update the programming Wiki, check in with the rest of the programming team on how they're going with they're tasks, and probably a bunch of other things I've either forgotten or haven't thought of yet.