I am writing a script to export armature animation data to a custom file format that is then loaded into a game engine. The problem is in interpreting the data from blender. We are getting frame based skeleton states by sampling the associated IPO curve at a set interval (0-num frames) to gain a quaternion. What is this quaternion? I am not asking about the nature of quaternions themselves, I understand that. However the data we gain from the quaternion is not what I would expect. interpreted as eular angles the frame 0 angles are not all 0 which I would expect them to be if it where a transform from rest. It would seam there is something very silly we are missing here, as everything in the engine code and export script is so simple. So what are we missing?
If anyone could help us out and let us know anything about the nature of blender’s quaternion and what it represents (in relation to a transform), it would be much appreciated.
Thanks for the reply. No, we never managed to write the script, and so are now giving the ms3d file format a shot (as it supports key framed skeletal animation). Unfortunately we have been unable to locate an export plugin for blender for the ms3D (milkshape) format, and so will have to use a converter. This makes me nervous, but it may work out fine (we should be able to start testing tomorrow).
In summary, no. I have not yet found the information I needed, and this information would still be valuable, if anyone has an answer.