Tom Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Hello All- Came across this fascinating little animation which I think was done in another program. I think the actual revolving of the bones/parts might be fairly simple or straightforward but I can't figure out how they get the skin to not crease as the parts fold in on themselves... Any ideas how not to crease the outer skin as the parts rotate? Thanks for any info! Tom CubeSpin.wmv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 10, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted September 10, 2010 Any ideas how not to crease the outer skin as the parts rotate? Possibility... Each bar is a separate piece, cylinders that have the same diameter as spheres that are placed at each junction. Each bar is boned along its length and "scale to reach" is used to make each one size itself to reach between the spheres. If the bar ends and spheres are aligned exactly they will appear as continuous. The spheres are animated and the bars follow along with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted September 10, 2010 Admin Share Posted September 10, 2010 Here is a simple cube shaped proof of concept using spheres and cylinders. (Following Robert's basic idea) Adding materials would hide breaks/creases in the surface. In my example I've just ramped up the ambiance setting. There are no Bones used in this animation. The Control Points were animated. wiredshape000.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 10, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted September 10, 2010 Here's a simple bones version SphereandBars.mov Using snap to grid when modeling and boning helps make everything align right. The two bones have "Aim At" constraints to the sphere with "Stretch to Reach, Z-Axis Only" turned on BarAndSphereJoint01.prj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Wow, Rob--- that would make a GREAT elbow joint or knee joint for a toon character! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 10, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted September 10, 2010 I was impressed that Rodney's worked because I don't know how he got that to stay all lined up without bones and constraints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted September 10, 2010 Author Share Posted September 10, 2010 Many thanks for all the feedback and suggestions! I have downloaded the Bar And Sphere project and will study it. Thanks for what seems like a brilliant solution! Best, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Great puzzle... I almost have it! I am stuck at the point where the squares resize either up or down... the connector rods need to scale up and down accordingly. I think this needs 1 more set of bones and constraints. THE PROBLEM I HAVE: When I use a 'scale like' constraint it seems the scaling is controlled by the bones parent and not the scale-like target, which has me baffled. cuberQ.mov cuber.prj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 Weeeell- I can't figure out that 'scale-like' constraint, why it gets over-written by the parent bone...defeats the entire purpose! SO- I added the extra bones that were needed and animated their scale the olde-fashioned way- BY HAND. Project included if anyone wants take a looky. cuberQ.mov cuber.prj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 10, 2010 Share Posted September 10, 2010 One for the road... HAD FUN! Thanks Tom, Rob and Rodney! In this one I saved out each 'squares' choreography as a separate action, then made a new chor and brought in each of the 4 squares and applied the appropriate action to each, setting the loop to 10. I see that I missed a scale operation on one of the legs, somehting for folks to find and fix down the road. I used a matcap for the look. I can post the prj if there's an interest cuberQ.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted September 11, 2010 Admin Share Posted September 11, 2010 Wow. You guys really nailed it! I'm impressed. An underlying theme for those looking in on the topic: Not all splines need to be unibody in shape to appear as if they belong to the same model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted September 11, 2010 Author Share Posted September 11, 2010 Yes- Fantastic...That really nailed it! Wow..If you could post the project it would be helpful to follow your description of the various steps you took. Thank you! Best, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 15, 2010 Share Posted September 15, 2010 Sorry- I fell away from this... but I DID revisit it and made a nifty little title sequence with it... matcaps...DOF... enjoy! cuber.prj cuber_square1.act cuber_square2.act cuber_square3B.act cuber_square4.act illusion_small.mov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted September 16, 2010 Author Share Posted September 16, 2010 Sorry- I fell away from this... but I DID revisit it and made a nifty little title sequence with it... matcaps...DOF... enjoy! Hey John- That looks GREAT! Thanks for posting the files. It is appreciated! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted September 16, 2010 Hash Fellow Share Posted September 16, 2010 Sorry- I fell away from this... but I DID revisit it and made a nifty little title sequence with it... matcaps...DOF... enjoy! Looks better than the original done in Brand X! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bigboote Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 Thanks... I'll tell you what I learned in that last video... getting DOF to work is a bit tricky... I had to set the near and far controllers very close to the focal plane to get the effect the way I wanted it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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