jakerupert Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 I need some help with some rigging experiment please. I have set up a model for a moving background. The idea is to use it for speedlines or a lift going up and down without moving the person in the foreground. So I constrained the first bone of the model of the lift to a circular path and also to a aim roll at constraint to a null in it`s middle, in order to have it always point in the same direction while circeling. The model itself is intented to fill up the circle entirely lateron.( not finished yet) Each segment has its bone which is attached to its parent bone in a chain. I would like the first bone segment to drag all the other boned segments behind like a train, so it would make one closed surface, so that it`s speeds and direction could be animated lateron. The first segment of the model is performing quite nicely The problem I have, I can`t get the other segments to follow the first. Any ideas, how to set up this??? Lift_Test.mov LiftBACK150410.mdl EmpireStateLiftP170410.cho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 19, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 19, 2010 One solution would be to give all the segments the same keyframes (in this case "ease" in the path constraints) and then offset the keyframes of each following segment slightly farther forward in time so they happen later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted April 19, 2010 Author Share Posted April 19, 2010 o.k. that seems to be quite laborious. Maybe there is a simpler solution? Like all the bones following the first bone automatically. How would one set up a train for instance with a locomotive and some waggons? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted April 19, 2010 Author Share Posted April 19, 2010 My experiments with pathconstraints are quite frustrating at the moment. I am beginning to think something`s broken. When I add the constraint with or without compensate mode the model jumps all over the place but not as expected.................... Can you only add and handle pathconstraints from topview? Also when I try to turn the model later its not maoverable but jumping around..... ( Securly my fault someghow but......... some people seem to be able to work with it.. can you only constrain the model bone to a path constraint. Maybe I should throw my old computer out of the window.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtpeak2 Posted April 19, 2010 Share Posted April 19, 2010 Why not just texture a cylinder? Then all you need to do is rotate it on one axis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted April 20, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted April 20, 2010 If you only need something whizzing in the background, Mark's idea is the way to go. If you have to have a stream of shapes like in your original chor, the path constraints can do it. load this PRJ... Elevator04.prj I modified your model to have 4 bones and 4 wall sections. Chor EmpireState 01 has all the sections constrained to the path. They all move together. Chor EmpireState 02 has the ease for each constraint keyed to 0% at 0:00 and 100% at 5:00. They still move together. Chor EmpireState 03 shifts the ease keys for each section 7 frames later than the one before. Look at those keys in the PWS. Now the sections follow in a train, but they are stacked together at the start and end and they only go around once. Chor EmpireState 04 I selected the keys for those four constraint channels and did >Curves>Pre-Extrapolation Method>Repeat and >Curves>Post-Extrapolation Method>Repeat. This makes the train repeat to infinity and never stack up. Try scrubbing past 5:00. They keep going around the track. Look at the curves for the eases in the PWS. The dotted line shows the automatic repeats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted April 20, 2010 Author Share Posted April 20, 2010 Thanks a lot Robcat! I will look into it asap. (maybe Thursday) And Mark, I think the cylinder in this case would have to b way too big for proper handling I fear.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtpeak2 Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 I would also try using a material and animating that. I would use a tilable image with the bitmap plus plugin on a flat plane, then translate the material in the direction you want it to go in an action or chor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Coming back to the theme of constraining multiple objects to a path. I am breaking my brain, how you probably would rigg a train the best way. Your solution, Robcat, for the elevator would not quite work here, I think, because when you change the speed for your leading object in the ease channel, the locomotive, the speed of the other objects doesn`t change with it automatically, because you have a path constraint for each wagon and also you cant copy/paste the ease-keyframe either. So I wonder ,there must be a solution to constrain the locomotive to the path, and constrain the waggons to follow the locomotive and each waggon to follow each object in front while at the same time not leaving the path (track), right? But cant find the right setup, translate, orientlike, dynamic doesn`t seem to work. Has anybody ever rigged a train to a path? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnl3d Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 this maybe close ..1st model constrained to path 2nd translated and orient to 1st with lag of 1 frame 3rd translate and orient to 2nd with lag of 1 frame by adjusting the bone positiion you can get then closer follow.prj follow.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted April 30, 2010 Author Share Posted April 30, 2010 Hm, that`seems to work quite nicely. I needed a lag of 6.7 to achieve this. Guess for a cartoony look it will be good enough. Only thing left: How did you manage to loop smoothly. I get that strange beginning. Could it be, because I fiddeld around with the path in musclemode or is it some adjustments with the constraints that are still not correct? MoletrainTest_Circle_300410.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnl3d Posted May 1, 2010 Share Posted May 1, 2010 the 1st two frames are goofy so looping might be tricky maybe hide that position behind something at that point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakerupert Posted May 3, 2010 Author Share Posted May 3, 2010 o.k. added some more cars, just for the fun of it! MoletrainTest_Circle_030510.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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