Animated low-poly tanktracks?

LEViATHAN

Want to make a low (sub-600 tri) tank model, but would like to have "animated" tracks (just 2 textures - cycling). Needs to be animated in max. Switching the texture every keyframe would probably work, but is not really... efficient.

glib

Would animated UVs not work?

LEViATHAN

Don't know, that's why I'm asking. :poly114:

Sage

just offset the uv coordinates. Unwrap your tracks in a straight line and make sure there is enough geometry to do this. If you a using one texture sheet leave an area so you can offset the uvs for the tracks. The easiest way though is to make a texture that tiles in one direction if you don't want a noticeable repeat and you offset that in the material editor. The other thing you can do is use the unwrap modifier for the tracks or the uvw xform modifier to offset the uvs for animation.

here is an example of the tank tracks in a sheet that can be animated because it tiles vertically.

http://apsentertainment.com/previews/cthull1.jpg

Hope that helps.

For a how to

1. unwrap object.

2. if the tracks are part of the tank as in one mesh select the tracks make a new material for it. Call it tracks. Assign the texture and off set via material editor. Set a key frame and you can have it loop if needed, Or you can also do it with the unwrap mod but you need to keep that there, you can't collapse the stack one you animate it.

LEViATHAN

Ah, so the UV just "slides" over the texture map vertically?
Will try that, danke.