Spinning

[Simon Edmondson]

I'm trying to animate a ball spinning on a finger and wondered what might be the best way to achieve that ?

 

Tried using the repeat option in the graph editor under post interpolation but with no joy.

Presently keying it every frame to rotate through 176-9 degrees. Is there another possible way to do this ?

Any help gratefully received.

regards

simon

[detbear]

Hey Simmon,

 

It's been a while since I worked on a project that required a spin more than 360 degrees.

 

This issue comes up when you have a wheel, a propellor, or in your case a basketball spinning on a finger.

 

Whatever bone is controlling your spin needs to be set to Euler interpolation so that when it gets back to 1 degrees it doesn't start over

but rather continues the spin. There is a process to change the bones driver to Euler, but I can't remember what that is.

 

On the "Extras" DVD, there is a project called "Mufoof" that shows you how to set this type of thing up as far as I remember.

 

Maybe someone else here remembers all the steps.

[Rodney]

There is a process to change the bones driver to Euler, but I can't remember what that is.

 

Yes indeed, Euler Rotation is generally what is needed here.

I find myself wishing Euler was the default on many ocassions but if it was I know there'd be other reasons to want it set to something else.

I believe there are a couple good tutorials about using Euler Rotation in the tutorials forum but basically...

 

Right Click on the primary Rotation setting (not on the actual X, Y or Z asix settings) and change the Driver to Euler.

After the change rotations can then be entered in as needed with 360 being a full spin... 720 being two spins... 1440 being four spins etc.

 

Me likey some Euler rotations.

 

William mentioned Xtas's Multiple Frames On One Frame (MUFOOF) technique for creating motion blur effects and that's a great technique.

Well worth looking into. Briefly, it's a way of scaling down the keyframes from multiple frames so that they are then rendered on one frame.

This blends all the images together into one image.

[Simon Edmondson]

William and Rodney

Thank you for your replies and help. Much appreciated.

If I change the driver to euler does it affect all the key settings prior to that point too?

I'm about 6 seconds in and ( to be honest ) don't relish having to go back and do them all again, but will if needed.

regards

simon

[NancyGormezano]

It will change the whole channel (existing keys) to Euler keyframes, I believe, but there is no harm in trying! see what happens..

[Rodney]

I'm about 6 seconds in and ( to be honest ) don't relish having to go back and do them all again, but will if needed.

 

Nothing says you cannot have more than one Project/Chor that is exactly the same to the point of departure (into the great unknown).

Translation: Save your project under two different names and then edit the one. You can then render the first up to the point of change and then render the second after that.

 

Assuming any thing like that is even necessary of course...

 

Don't be afraid to break things. You want to do that as often as you can!

Just save everything first.

[Simon Edmondson]

I'm about 6 seconds in and ( to be honest ) don't relish having to go back and do them all again, but will if needed.

 

Nothing says you cannot have more than one Project/Chor that is exactly the same to the point of departure (into the great unknown).

Translation: Save your project under two different names and then edit the one. You can then render the first up to the point of change and then render the second after that.

 

Assuming any thing like that is even necessary of course...

 

Don't be afraid to break things. You want to do that as often as you can!

Just save everything first.

 

Rodney

 

I learnt that lesson a few weeks back. I do him a disservice in not remembering who, but someone advised to save different iterations with changes and I try to follow that closely now. This is 2euler. 01 was up to 4 seconds !

regards

simon

[Gerry]

Simon, the key to activating the Euler option is to create some slight rotation with a start AND end keyframe. Once you have those keys set, you'll see the Euler option. In case you haven't figured that out yet.

 

EDIT: I *think* the best bet is to create the end keyframe pretty much around the point where you want the rotation to end. But since you can always move the key, may not be that iimportant. If any of this isn't clear, just ask!

[Simon Edmondson]

Simon, the key to activating the Euler option is to create some slight rotation with a start AND end keyframe. Once you have those keys set, you'll see the Euler option. In case you haven't figured that out yet.

 

EDIT: I *think* the best bet is to create the end keyframe pretty much around the point where you want the rotation to end. But since you can always move the key, may not be that iimportant. If any of this isn't clear, just ask!

 

 

Gerry

Thank you for your help.

I had made a lot of progress with it yesterday then, after some time consuming roto work for another project, thought I'd just do some more before retiring.

Mistake.

Made a right dogs dinner of it and have to correct that today. Lots of learning going on, which is a very good thing.

regards

simon

[Rodney]

Sorry to hear of the difficulties... very glad to see your attitude.

That'll continue to work well for you.

 

It should be noted that you don't actually have to create keyframes in order to be able to set Euler Drivers.

Although that way works too.

You can also select 'Time Based' under the Rotate property (which preps the motion for timed keyframes) and then go back in and change the Rotation settings to use Euler Drivers.

[Simon Edmondson]

Sorry to hear of the difficulties... very glad to see your attitude.

That'll continue to work well for you.

 

It should be noted that you don't actually have to create keyframes in order to be able to set Euler Drivers.

Although that way works too.

You can also select 'Time Based' under the Rotate property (which preps the motion for timed keyframes) and then go back in and change the Rotation settings to use Euler Drivers.

 

 

Rodney

Thank you for your reply.

I've managed to get the Eular drive working and was pleased with the result.

Then noticed that the spinning ball had translated away from the finger. So went back to adjust the translation points again.

 

However, when I tried to move it with either the cursor keys or the mouse, using the translation tool it would 'jump' away. Aligned it in right view, then went to front, it would be 'off'", adjust that and, on checking side view again, it had moved there, so further adjustments were needed.

 

I wondered if that was caused by the Eular ?

 

So went back and, in a new Chor, constrained a null to the finger tip, then the ball to the null.

That seemed to work, but then the alignment changed again. So I'm about to have another look at it.

 

Is there an accepted way to translate the ball onto a pivot, eg a finger tip ?

 

regards

simon

 

 

 

Ps

On a trivial note.

doesn't Eular Drive sound like something that should be fuelled by Dilithium Crystals and powering Star Fleet ?

[Rodney]

When initially constraining the ball to the finger you'll want to make sure you have any Translation Offset off.

It is likely that you are animating the offset over time rather than setting it to one setting.

 

Rotation won't have any direct impact on the placement *unless* the pivot point of the object being rotated isn't in the center.

If it is off center then you'd also get movement away from the finger as the object/ball rotates.

This might be what is happening but it seems a bit less likely.

But easy enough to check.

 

It's easy enough to start over in placing/constraining the ball onto the finger.

That placement is key. The rotation will then follow that.

[Simon Edmondson]

When initially constraining the ball to the finger you'll want to make sure you have any Translation Offset off.

It is likely that you are animating the offset over time rather than setting it to one setting.

 

Rotation won't have any direct impact on the placement *unless* the pivot point of the object being rotated isn't in the center.

If it is off center then you'd also get movement away from the finger as the object/ball rotates.

This might be what is happening but it seems a bit less likely.

But easy enough to check.

 

It's easy enough to start over in placing/constraining the ball onto the finger.

That placement is key. The rotation will then follow that.

 

Rodney

Thank you once again. I shall look into that after eating.

This is the version that was giving me gip, There are some revisions going through now.

regards

simon

 

Bouncing2.mov

[Rodney]

You might have been having problems with that but it's looking pretty nice from here!

 

Nicely done.

[Simon Edmondson]

You might have been having problems with that but it's looking pretty nice from here!

 

Nicely done.

 

 

Rodney

Thank you. I'm hoping to finish it today. I'll post the result in the WIP blockheads thread.

regards

simon