Exercise 6

[Short Circuit]

We are trying to open the door for Shaggy to walk through later but it starts opening at the first keyframe.

[elliotclem1]

What you have done is insturted a key frame to start opening the door at the start of the animation.

 

To stop this goto:

 

View (Think) > Timeline

 

This will put a timline at the bottom of the screen.

 

Find the door model and move the first keyframe to where you want the door to start opening and the second keyframe when you want the door to be fully open.

 

I hope this helps.

 

I will try and help you more when i have some free time (As i am just playing a game on my ps3).

[phatso]

More detail: this is something beginning animators always trip over. Not just with A:M but with every program.

 

If you have a keyframe at the beginning that tells A:M, in effect, "door closed," and then another one well into the animation that says "door open," the program will draw a timeline from the first key to the second key and progressively open the door during that whole time.

 

What you need to do is go to the frame where you want the door to start opening, and insert a keyframe that says "door still closed." That is, a control point that's the same as the one at the beginning. Then the door will start opening from that point.

 

It's worth mentioning here, so you don't have to figure it out later, that you'll get a little "backswing" before the door starts to open. That's because A:M works in splines and the math calculations will place a smoothly curved spline (defining the door's motion) through the "door still closed" control point.

 

To defeat this, go to the "door still closed" control point in the timeline. Right-click on it and you will see that the interpolation through that control point is the default smooth-spline. Click at the bottom of the menu for more options. Choose the "zero-slope" interpolation. You will immediately see the "backswing" disappear from the movement spline (in the timeline). Now the door will be motionless until the moment when it's supposed to start opening. The zero-slope interpolation is the animator's all-purpose tool for preventing movement before you want it. If I could remember how to set it as the default interpolation on my machine, I would do it.

 

For jerky motions, like the way a squirrel moves, instead of choosing "zero slope" just peak the control points.

[Short Circuit]

Thanks, we'll try it.