Developer Talk Series: February 2010

Title: Avatar integration within your XNA Game Studio Title, by Dean Johnson

Description: Learn how to take advantage of the new avatar features available in XNA Game Studio 3.1? Topics include how to playback custom animations using avatars, designing custom avatars to use in your game, and how to render thousands of avatars for use in crowds in your game.

Questions? View this session's forum.

Recorded Session

Avatar Integration Within Your XNA Game Studio Title from XNA Tutorials on Vimeo.

Questions and Answers

The following are questions asked during both sessions for the Avatar integration within your XNA Game Studio Title talk. The time stamps below each question are the locations in which the questions was answered/demonstrated.

Don't see your question below? Ask it today in our February 2010 Developer Talk Series forum!

==========================================
Question: There only one light color and direction (there’s also an ambient property on the avatar renderer) . Can you render an Avatar with multiple lights or integrate it with deferred shading?
Answer: 37:22

Question: Is it possible to use another tool for your art creation of your animation, other than Maya 2008 or Softimage mod tool?
Answer: 39:04

Question: How would you handle multiple camera angles when rendering crowds (i.e. a camera rotating around a crowd in the sample you showed)?
Answer: 40:13

Question: The demo showed for the render target is not on XNA Creators Club Online. Where can we find it?
Answer: 41:48

Question: Where is the Avatar’s origin?
Answer: 42:42

Question: In the slide with the Avatar description, there was a question about the comment on the byte code.
Answer: 43:01

Question: Does the non-violence clause apply to Avatars only, or to other characters in the game with Avatars (can the Avatars shoot Zombies that are not Avatars)?
Answer: 43:58

Question: How many Avatars can be rendered at once on the screen?
Answer: 44:47

Question: The Softimage documentation for how to use the Avatar Rig come with Softimage, or is that available on XNA Creators Club Online?
Answer: 45:32

Question: Is cartoon-like violence permitted?
Answer: 46:16

Question: Are there any other Avatar samples in the works?
Answer: 46:46

Question: Is there any documentation for the Maya rig?
Answer: 47:10

Question: When talking about the lighting, how can you make your Avatar a silhouette?
Answer: 47:32