What Animatoin App did you use?
If you load a textured and animated model in 3ds max, you can remove and reposition planes and vertices using the EditMesh Modifier. This will keep UV Coodrs intact. But as soon as you use stuff like Compound Object (boolen subtraction etc.), things go mad and you'll have to remap the thing, which is the heaviest work IMHO.
Personally I prefere to use CharacterFX for Character Animation, but watch out, Pacemaker has just been released! (See Blitz Discussion Forum)And it's Freeware Version even handles up to 1500 Tris. It's used to make Bones based Animations, using the .B3D Format.
Basicly you need to assign all Vertices to a bone. In the lates Version of blitz the vertices can have a relative connection to the bone (and to multiple bones), this is giving more flexibility, but it also complicates things a bit.
Creating Animations using keyframe interpolation is something that requires some experience. You have to study human motion. If you find some soccer slowmotion avis with people running from left to right, the watch it closely.
Halo and me we once tried to start an Animation pool, but it died due to low activity. Now halo was anouncing a new tool he's gonna release, that will be able to add animation to models, just the thing you are after.
Anyway, when you are fit with CharacterFX, one loop such as "walking" may take 1 hour of work or so.
If you load a textured and animated model in 3ds max, you can remove and reposition planes and vertices using the EditMesh Modifier. This will keep UV Coodrs intact. But as soon as you use stuff like Compound Object (boolen subtraction etc.), things go mad and you'll have to remap the thing, which is the heaviest work IMHO.
Personally I prefere to use CharacterFX for Character Animation, but watch out, Pacemaker has just been released! (See Blitz Discussion Forum)And it's Freeware Version even handles up to 1500 Tris. It's used to make Bones based Animations, using the .B3D Format.
Basicly you need to assign all Vertices to a bone. In the lates Version of blitz the vertices can have a relative connection to the bone (and to multiple bones), this is giving more flexibility, but it also complicates things a bit.
Creating Animations using keyframe interpolation is something that requires some experience. You have to study human motion. If you find some soccer slowmotion avis with people running from left to right, the watch it closely.
Halo and me we once tried to start an Animation pool, but it died due to low activity. Now halo was anouncing a new tool he's gonna release, that will be able to add animation to models, just the thing you are after.
Anyway, when you are fit with CharacterFX, one loop such as "walking" may take 1 hour of work or so.