how can i get a light to follow?

almighty_gir

i want a point light (omni) to follow something around within a scene. i'm trying to link it to that object, but it keeps telling me it would create a dependancy loop. i can link the light to a helper, but the helper can't be linked to anything else afterward.

this one light must remain at a specific distance throughout the animation, so manually moving it through the frames could cause inconsistant light.
edit: solution found - linked the helper to a bone.

Mark Dygert

Yea you shouldn't link to a mesh that is animated, technically the mesh objects pivot won't move. You can view this by animating a skinned mesh away from its bind origin and then collapsing the stack you'll see the objects local pivot is back where it originally started while the mesh is way off in lala land. Gotta link it to moving pivots (bones) or attachment constrain it to the surface of the mesh.

almighty_gir

ah i should have elaborated. i realise what you're saying. what i was trying to do was simply do a turntable in realtime.

i linked the mesh to the pedestal, and rotated the pedestal via keyframe. i needed an omni to follow round.

i resolved the issue by creating a bone at 0,0,0 and rotating it with the pedestal, and having the light linked to the bone.

sprunghunt

well there should be no reason why you couldn't link a light to a rotating object and have it rotate with it?