[3ds Max - Rigging] Military ship hatch

NuclearCookie

Hello all,

I'm making a scene in UDK, and in that scene, i would love to have a military ship hatch (like this).



I made a door already



But now i have to start animating it. I'm running in to quite some problems getting this rig to work.. (I'm new to animation).

For now, i really need reference of how the mechanism of these doors works.. Maybe a video or something, that would be really handy! (i can't find it.. perhaps i just don't know the correct terms)

Once i get some reference of the mechanism, i will most likely be able to animate it

For now, this is my setup:



I'm not excactly sure how the mechanism works, that's why i'm a little stuck rigging this

Some video reference would be so nice!

Thank you in advance guys!

DWalker

It's actually fairly simple - I've included an image of a similar hatch that has been undogged.


Once you have the pivot and connection points correctly mapped, there's really only one way things can move, and the only control is the wheel/lever unit.

Here's a link to a USN training manual that describes the various quick-acting watertight doors. Yours starts on page 4. http://www.hnsa.org/doc/doors/index.htm

NuclearCookie

Thank you DWalker
That Training manual makes things quite clear!
So if i get it right, The long metal upright beams, move a little inwards during the animation don't they?

Because those "closing hinges" turn around a pivot point, causing movement as shown in the above image... Would that be correct?