3DS MAX rotation question
I am creating a 3D logo that has drill bits sticking out at various angles. I am attempting to make the drill bits rotate as a drill bit would, however whenver I animate them they rotate the wrong way. If I have the bit standing straight vertical and rotate it to spin, the animation plays fine. But as soon as I turn the bit so that it is sticking out at an angle, the rotation causes the whole bit to spin around like a pinwheel.
It is obviously some sort of pivot issue but I have tried everything I can think of. I animated it spinning before I turned the bit sideways. I've linked it to a dummy object and animated it but that does the same thing. I've set the pivot to the bottom most point on the mesh but that did nothing. I've reset the xform, I've reset the pivot, I've played around with the curve editor.
So far, every time i've attempted to do this, I have autokey on when I set the spin, and then I turn it off when I go to rotate the bit and place it at an angle. I've also tried rotating the bit first and then turning the Reference Coordinate System to local and keying the rotation that way, but it's the exact same result every time. It's like the pivot point, no matter how I turn it or reset it, is always set straight up when I rotate (because it spins fine with the bit is standing straight vertical)
I know it's something stupid that I'm probably overlooking. This shouldn't be that difficult. Has anyone run into this before?
It is obviously some sort of pivot issue but I have tried everything I can think of. I animated it spinning before I turned the bit sideways. I've linked it to a dummy object and animated it but that does the same thing. I've set the pivot to the bottom most point on the mesh but that did nothing. I've reset the xform, I've reset the pivot, I've played around with the curve editor.
So far, every time i've attempted to do this, I have autokey on when I set the spin, and then I turn it off when I go to rotate the bit and place it at an angle. I've also tried rotating the bit first and then turning the Reference Coordinate System to local and keying the rotation that way, but it's the exact same result every time. It's like the pivot point, no matter how I turn it or reset it, is always set straight up when I rotate (because it spins fine with the bit is standing straight vertical)
I know it's something stupid that I'm probably overlooking. This shouldn't be that difficult. Has anyone run into this before?
Replies
Animate the drill bit with the pivot set to local, then rotate the dummy (which will rotate the drill bit) to whatever angle you need, you can even animate its position and rotation if you need to and the local rotation of the drill bit will always spin as expected.
The problem comes from how 3D apps in general work with rotation and in order to get around it you need to link the drill bit to another object where its position and rotation will override key parts of the drill bits own rotation. Basically you need two controllers one to do the bit rotation and then another to do the master rotation, trying to do it all on one controller will end in much frustration...
(I know because I was once there ha!)