Spinning Fan Blade

[flashawd]

Hello - I am working on an animated Fan Character for a client and I need to be able to have the blades of the fan rotate. I created a bone facing forward in the center of the fan and attached all the CPs to the fan blades, so that is set up fine. I started a new action and between frame 1 and 5 I tried to rotate the fan 359 degrees to the right, but it set it rotating to the left at -1 degree (the programs quicker way to get there). Any ideas on how do I do this?

 

Here is a pic of the character, so you can get a visual.

 

Thanks - Eric

 

[Luke]

Hello - I am working on an animated Fan Character for a client and I need to be able to have the blades of the fan rotate. I created a bone facing forward in the center of the fan and attached all the CPs to the fan blades, so that is set up fine. I started a new action and between frame 1 and 5 I tried to rotate the fan 359 degrees to the right, but it set it rotating to the left at -1 degree (the programs quicker way to get there). Any ideas on how do I do this?

 

Here is a pic of the character, so you can get a visual.

 

Thanks - Eric

 

 

Just a guess but it might make sense to put key frames in frames 2,3 or 4 and set the blades position accordingly.

[Paul Forwood]

Use more keyframes. If it has to rotate 360 degrees over 5 frames you will probably have to key every frame though I think that there is another way to do it by changing the rotation method to quaternian. Not sure though. You may have some success doing a search for "propellor". There was a thread some time ago that went into detail on setting up realistic spinning blades that can be controlled with an expression.

 

Good luck.

[flashawd]

Thanks Luke - I see what you are saying - maybe try rotating 90 degrees at a time on each frame instead of the full turn. That's not too obvious

[flashawd]

Thanks Paul - I'll do the search.

[flashawd]

Here is the thread if anyone else needs it

 

http://migrate.hash.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;hl=propeller

[largento]

I just noticed the fact that his mouth is going to open and close over the blades. That's pretty wild! Is his voice going to sound like it does when you talk through a rotating fan?

[Dhar]

Is his voice going to sound like it does when you talk through a rotating fan?

 

Man! I used to do that so often when I was a kid. It so fascinated me to hear my voice reverberate back. The early days of sound effects

[flashawd]

Hey Largento Here is a test of all his movements if you want to see him - he doesn't look bad in general, although, the Dope Sheet and lip poses - need some serious work - almost embarrased to show it. ... oh well here it is.

 

http://www.flashanimationwebsitedesign.com...urningFan2.html

[largento]

That's pretty cool, Eric. Neat idea for a character.

 

Dar, I used to do that as a kid, too! Actually I think the only reason I'm not still doing it is I don't have a fan in my apartment. :-)

[Tralfaz]

Here is the thread if anyone else needs it

 

http://migrate.hash.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;hl=propeller

 

When i click on the above link, I am redirected to the Hash main website. If anyone knows how to get to the above thread, please let me know.

 

Thanks...

Al

[Tralfaz]

Here is the thread if anyone else needs it

 

http://migrate.hash.com/forums/index.php?s...mp;hl=propeller

 

When i click on the above link, I am redirected to the Hash main website. If anyone knows how to get to the above thread, please let me know.

 

Thanks...

Al

 

Never mind, I found it here....

 

http://www.hash.com/forums/index.php?showt...mp;hl=propellor

 

Thanks....

Al

[phatso]

If you turn it a quarter turn each frame, it's going to look completely stationary.

 

When I want to show something spinning faster than the frame rate can handle, I create blurred blades (or spokes, or whatever) in about three positions and then fade them in and out in sequence. Not nearly as good as the real thing, but with the real thing you can hardly avoid the backwards-spinning-wagon-wheels effect.

[John Bigboote]

Cool character!

 

Turning the fanblade 90deg at each quarter (quaternion-rotation) is a 'fix', but there's a better way to do this. In your action or pose, jiggle the roll handle a little (So the program knows you are referring to that particular bone...) then find it's rotation parameters in the properties box. Right-click on the 'Rotate' and select 'Change driver to...Euler'. Now, you will find that the fan is much easier to animate as you can turn it past 180deg without additional keyframes...you can make it rotate 3,5,12,2000 times on 1 keyframe! This makes things like 'ramp-up' up 'ramp-down' a LOT easier, as well as the overall speed and look of the action.