This tutorial will show you a quick way to do just that. Using XSI's GATOR feature you can quickly "transfer" the weights of a model and have it enveloped appropriately with just a few clicks.
I wont be covering the bits about modeling the mesh or texture mapping it.
Also you will need to be relatively familiar with XSI's basic functions to get this right.

You'll need psychOfred's skeleton and weighted clone trooper to get this done properly. You can get that file from this link: http://www.secretsociety.com/forum/down ... e_Beta.zip

Alright lets get started:
Import the .emdl file provided the zip into XSI. Once that's done you can either import/merge the mesh you want to envelope or build it with reference to the skeleton that came with the .emdl file. For this tutorial I used an edited version of the stock smuggler model that I had loaded into the scene:
Now select the mesh that you need enveloped and the mesh for the clone in the scene (override_texture). Click on Model->Property (under "Get") ->GATOR.
Now click on "Transfer" as indicated by the red arrow.

There! the mesh that you had selected alongside "override_texture" now has the weights copied onto it. How ever if the mesh has a different topology/shape then the weights may need to be tuned.

To tune them, set your selection mode to "point"
Select the vertices that may have been enveloped improperly:
And reassign them to an appropriate bone:
Now finally, freeze the mesh that had been enveloped (Select the meshes and then Click Freeze M at the bottom right) that you have enveloped and if necessary delete "override_texture" from the scene.
That's it, the model has been fully enveloped. Export it into the game and play around with it for a bit!

Wow thank you i'll try this. Since now i always made a whole new envelope

This should only be used to get a starting envelope. Also, editing vetex by vertex afterward is the slow way, use the weight painter.

mh i tryed it, but it doesn't work for me. I select the msh i want to envelope, than go to Animate(Deform)->Envelope->Set Envelope. Than i select all bones, and XSI makes the first envelope. Than i select all the points that should go to one bone and in the weighteditor i set the values for these points to 100.

thanks for the tip! it seems to be a really good way to get a decent weighting from the start.

@anakin: what doesnt work? the steps you describe do not match the tutorial at all.

I mean the steps from the tut don't work for me.
select both mesh, Model->get->Property->GATOR Transform.

After i did this the msh has not the envelope from the other one.

The steps i posted is the way how i make it.

you must select the unenveloped mesh, add the GATOR property and the pick the enveloped mesh.

Anakin wrote:I mean the steps from the tut don't work for me.
select both mesh, Model->get->Property->GATOR Transform.

After i did this the msh has not the envelope from the other one.

The steps i posted is the way how i make it.

Are you transferring the correct properties? You need to transfer the weights/envelopes (The 2nd transfer button, as indicated by the arrow in the 3rd snapshot).

Also are you using psychOfred's scene? (The one provided by the link).

minilogoguy18 wrote:This should only be used to get a starting envelope. Also, editing vetex by vertex afterward is the slow way, use the weight painter.

Yeah but it gives you a pretty good base envelope. Vertex to vertex may be slow but in most of my cases only a couple of the vertices need to be reassigned.

no i haven't opend the scene, because my XSI cannot open scenes anymore. I don't know why. So i imported an other unit with bones from the assets.

Wow, you guys have never really used GATOR before?

It's best used for your lowrez and shadowvolume meshes since they're close to the same structure and volume as the original mesh.

In JA modding I use it for the LOD's all the time.

minilogoguy18 wrote:Wow, you guys have never really used GATOR before?

It's best used for your lowrez and shadowvolume meshes since they're close to the same structure and volume as the original mesh.

In JA modding I use it for the LOD's all the time.

Years ago I attempted to match some motion capture data to the BF skeleton with GATOR, but I never really got too far with that experiment

You must be thinking of MOTOR since that's the operator used for animation transfer.

MOTOR only works when you have a biped rig, doesn't work good on bare bones.

If I were still modding this game I'd probably make a biped based on the unit template skeleton because of the success I've had with Jedi Academy.

minilogoguy18 wrote:You must be thinking of MOTOR since that's the operator used for animation transfer.

MOTOR only works when you have a biped rig, doesn't work good on bare bones.

If I were still modding this game I'd probably make a biped based on the unit template skeleton because of the success I've had with Jedi Academy.

It's weird that you mention that, because I was in the middle of making a biped to be compatible with MOTOR and the BF skeleton (after discovering MOTOR didn't work with the imported skeleton) stuff but that's when I lost interest in the experiment and stopped

you making a comeback to SWBF2 minilogoguy?
But what about DF2 mod! Think of the playerbase!

No, I doubt I'll come back to SWBF2 modding, not with the JO and JA having the source code out and a new render engine being implemented. Of course the DF2 mod as well.

I just like making rigs in Softimage so I considered it. I already made one based on the unit skeleton but I could make one way better now.