Help with Tread animation
I'm trying to model a sort of siege tank for a project. The model needs to have at least two moving parts. The first moving part is the main cannon which swivels from side to side. I wanted to make the second moving bit, the treads on which it travels. But I'm having some difficulty figuring out how to get them to move in a tank tread sort of manner.
I used a path constraint around the wheels of the vehicle with a box and then used the snapshot tool to get the treads to form. Now I'm stuck as to how to get them moving in a tread fashion. Any one have some pointers please? Thanks!!
I used a path constraint around the wheels of the vehicle with a box and then used the snapshot tool to get the treads to form. Now I'm stuck as to how to get them moving in a tread fashion. Any one have some pointers please? Thanks!!
Replies
What app?
The easiest way I've seen it done, is with animated UV's.
The most complex included a lot of collision and some amazingly complex rigging.
In the middle you have some pretty high poly treads following a path(spline) by using a path constraint and animate the % along path. But it really depends on the app you're using and the projects requirements.
http://www.highend3d.com/maya/downloads/mel_scripts/modeling/misc/2285.html
jocose- We're not supposed to use Maya, but i'll check out the link for reference :]
The only problem is I can't get the damn thing working in maya 8.5
You'll probably need to go into the curve editor and adjust the curve to be linear otherwise it will ease in and out slowly speeding up at the beginning and slowing down toward the end. While you're in there set it to constant so you don't have to create a bunch of keys, it will loop over and over again.
Ridgid treads: Use path constraint on many thread pieces.
- Create a oval shaped spline (path)
- Create a dummy, bone or some other non-rendering object
- Path constrain the dummy to the spline: Click object > Animation menu > Constraints > Path Constraint > click path spline)
- Adjust its properties in the Motion tab (Wheel) with auto key on and the time slider moved, the % along path to move the tread around the spline.
- Copy the dummy and tread piece (hopefully instance the tread so you can work on one piece and all are effected) offset its % along path so its just in front of the other piece, do that until all the tread is filled in.
- There will be gaps as it goes around the ends, but if you designed the tread well no one but you will ever notice.
Stretchy method: Using path constraint on a large section of track
- Create a long section of track
- Path constrain it to your path oval spline
- Animate the % along path
- Its going to stretch the mesh as it rounds the corners, hopefully no one will notice but you...
[ame]
And here is my stunning texture flat
What we ended up doing was:
- copying a single tread however many times we needed it to round the wheels.
-Using a spline to get the shape of the oval around the wheels
-Apply a pathdeform modifier to the treads with the spline as the chosen path
-Then use the Wire parameters to link the two animations together
Vig: Thanks so much for taking the time for all those suggestions. I'll defenitly make sure to check them out for reference. It's always good to have options xD
Kodde: Awesome video. That really helped me understand the whole animated UV thing better. I'm excited to try out these other options now too xD Great texture btw. Haha!
This really was an awesome resource, I looked all over google and couldn't find what I needed but this was perfect for doing bone-driven tank tread animation for a game engine, so thanks again!