motionpaths, move single vert up/down on path?

Mistara

is it one motionpath per critter?

can it support 2?

can they start anywhere on the path?

is possible to replicate things on a path, or replicate the motion path?

is possible to tilt a point on the path, to make like a squadron or nascars bank?

thanks 

epiphany moment, just thought to try a group on the path! 

zen of the motion path. 

evilproducer

A group would work. Duplicating an object with a motion path would work. Never tried tilting a point on the path, it's just easier to tilt the object myself and create a keyframe.

You can set the point in the animation that you wish to begin rendering in the Rendering Room, so it would be a bit of a moot point to start the motion in a motion path at anyplace but the beginning. If you want to begin the animation at frame 45, then set the renderer up to start at frame 45.

You can't replicate objects on a motion path, as it is a motion method and not an object with a surface. You could however, create a sweep path in the vertex modeler that you may be able to replicate objects on, but I don't know if you need to actually sweep polys along it first. Even if you do, you can hide the object that has the surface replicator applied to it. I do this all the time.

Mistara

thanks 

sweep path?

had my first go at a motion path.  i see the tool to convert curves, and tool to move whole motion path.
dont see anything to move a single vert x,y,or z?  up steps and trails and stuff. bank looks kewl. would look funny up steps

only 2 output options, gif and avi. no qt  

oops gif file too big

Mistara

tests discovered grouping or parenting before the motion path doesn't work.

parenting an object to the motion path object after the motion path is set up works.

so, you select the object, go to the motion tab, change keyframe to motion path. it makes extra tools appear on the left side bar. select the working plane from the side bar.
start with the 'extend tool' to draw the path.  the selected object is the starting point. 
haven't figured out yet how refine the path, beyond curves.

on the motion tab is a parameter for how far the object should move on the path.  it wasn't moving for me, until i changed value to 100, by itself it changed to 75.
i set the quality to highest.  clicked on the bank option, it makes the object face the direction the path is turning.

to replay the motion preview, had to remember to rewind to 1st frame after each play.

Mistara

carrara online manual says to control+click to drag object to motion path, but it won't move for me?

gonna send a support ticket to find out about moving a vert. or modifying path.

Mistara

extremely wierd to figure out with no guidance.  so, if i select the extend tool, i can keep clicking new motion paths. don't see how to connect to existing path?  does a path need to be contiguous?  

3DAGE

HI Misty

Motion pahs are a single path,. it;s not possible to connect other paths together.

The Ctrl move point Up/Down is working for me,. ..you should be using the main "move" tool (T) to adjust the position of path points,

Try clicking on the point you want to move, and then hold Ctrl to enable Up / Down movement.... (use a non perspective view, such as Left / Front) when you're working.

also pay really close attention to the direction and angles of the path and the handles for each curve point,. it's easy to create jumps or glitches in the motion of the object when you#'re manually creating the motion path from scratch.

If you manually extend or change th path or points, you cn get into a situation where the object fails to reach the end, or reches the end before the animation ends.

You can reset the motion along the path by going to the start and end and edjusting th "distance along path" slider option.

You can also keyframe the motion of the object,. and when you're happy with that,. convert the animation type to Motion path, from the Motion Tab options.

 

Quicktime is a 32bit applicationm, so it's not available as an export option on 64 bit software.

You can either export your animation as an "Image sequence" (frames) which can then be loaded into a Video editor and exported in various movie formats,

or you could install Carrara 32 bit,.... which would allow you to load your saved scene, then render and export as Quicktime.

A motion path Will work for a Group of objects but it'll only move the Group as a single thing, it won't animate the items in a group.

the motion path needs to be the motion for the "Group",

Hope that makes sense :)

 

Mistara

thanks.  :D  don't know why it won't let me move a vert?  oh, mebbe need to switch drawing plane?

 

Roygee

Motion paths are a lot of fun:)  Her's a couple I did to illustrate 

   

 

evilproducer

I believe they're called points, if you're talking about the black dots. If you move your mouse over the point, the pointer will turn into a cross hair. You can then click and drag the point. If in a 3D camera mode, on a Mac, if you click the point, and then the Command key (Apple key) you can drag it up. If you are in a 2D view mode, such as a side view, you can drag the point up without the need to press a modifier key.

evilproducer

MistyMist said:

thanks 

sweep path?

had my first go at a motion path.  i see the tool to convert curves, and tool to move whole motion path.
dont see anything to move a single vert x,y,or z?  up steps and trails and stuff. bank looks kewl. would look funny up steps

only 2 output options, gif and avi. no qt  

oops gif file too big

Sorry, I should have said polyline and not sweep path. My mind was blanking.

Mistara

was setting up the native content dog from obj tab.  
about 3 seconds into the motion path, all of a sudden he sank into the floor about half way.  can't figutre out why?

evilproducer

Does the motion path dip down to "floor" level (bottom of grid)? The motion path is centered on the hot point, so it is also possible that somehow you changed the hot point position and created a keyframe.

Mistara

thanks!

i added an infinite plane before starting drawing the motion path.  

did something else wrong, he's not going the full path.

i'm supposed to set the 100% at the last frame, right?  in this case i set animation length to 10 seconds.
there no speed setting, motion path should calculate how fast he has to go to reach the end in 10 seconds, is what i'm assuming?

 

mebbe a goodnight's sleep will make it all make sense. or more egg nog 

 

evilproducer

Yes, setting the slider at 100% should move the object along the path to the end, but if you add points to extend the path, if you move points further apart, or add or increase the curvature of the points along the path, you will need to go to the end of the timeline and probably move the slider to 100% again, as doing any of those things will increase the distance along the path.

Mistara

takes a lot of practice, eh?  

lookin thru the native content for a sample ...

evilproducer

Not a whole lot of practice, you just need to get used to how it works to better visualize it. For instance, if you have two points on the path and you initially have them curved to create a smooth curve, and then later decide to use the manipulators on the points to make an S curve, the path will become longer, and you will need to increase the distance along the path the object moves.

There is one quirk that kind of annoys me, and one I tend to forget to look for, and that is if you have your object elevated above the floor of the grid, and you begin creating your path in the top view mode, you will find that the path drops to the floor level of the grid at the first point you add.

Mistara

crosshair worked.  shoots out of the batting cage if not careful.  

time allocation wasnt sticking. tried to set it at 30 seconds, it wouldnt let me type 30 in the seconds box. changed to frame count. unchecked snap.

 

needs an ultimate carrara cracling fire for fireplaces :D

Mistara

there no way to copy a motion path to another object?

Mistara

evilproducer said:

Not a whole lot of practice, you just need to get used to how it works to better visualize it. For instance, if you have two points on the path and you initially have them curved to create a smooth curve, and then later decide to use the manipulators on the points to make an S curve, the path will become longer, and you will need to increase the distance along the path the object moves.

There is one quirk that kind of annoys me, and one I tend to forget to look for, and that is if you have your object elevated above the floor of the grid, and you begin creating your path in the top view mode, you will find that the path drops to the floor level of the grid at the first point you add.

 

was reading a thing in the ref manual about moving the working plane?
seen it happen in vertex room, but not in the assembly room

Dartanbeck

Roygee said:

Motion paths are a lot of fun:)  Her's a couple I did to illustrate 

   

 

Very cool, Roygee! Love that train especially! Sweet!

WendyLuvsCatz

MistyMist said:

there no way to copy a motion path to another object?

If you use a target helper on a path you can duplicate it

Mistara

thanks!

I've loaded a target helper and a cone.  both have a hot point. 

is there a way to aline them up so the hotpoints have both objects facing the same direction?
basically, how to make the parented item follow the banking of the motion path?

dohh, used a modifier to point cone at target helper, it's pointing from the flat bottom.
Kirk screaming Khan moment >.<  lol

Mistara

whah?  Motion: tab dropdown list has 'moon light' in it?

what's it for?

evilproducer

It's tied to Moonlight in the RSE I believe. Maybe it is a way to get an object to follow the moon disk? I never really tried it before.

Mistara

evilproducer said:

It's tied to Moonlight in the RSE I believe. Maybe it is a way to get an object to follow the moon disk? I never really tried it before.

 

that would be kewl.  tried getting a target helper out to moon disk, but cant see moondisk with the target helper selected.

a follow the hotpoint trajectory of moonlight

evilproducer

It may be useless on anything but a moonlight or maybe a distant light.