How to twist the center of an object?
GarrettDR
Posts: 229
Ok Carrara Geniuses! I need your help! . I created a rope bridge model in Hexagon and for the life of me, I cant figure out how to twist this model the way I want. So, I broke out the big guns and loaded up Carrara Pro 8.5.
This is what I am trying to do:
1. Create rope bridge model, Check!
2. twist the center, cant figure this out!
3. I can bend it in Hexagon as if it was drooping between two cliff formations. Check!
I attached an image that closely resembles the effect I am after but I want to make it a bit more dramatic. Again, I want to twist only the center of the rope bridge.
image credit: http://historicbridges.org/bridges/browser/?bridgebrowser=washington/tacomanarrowsbridge/
Any help would be appreciated!
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Comments
Use a 'bend and twist' modifier on the bridge, a very subtle twist on the X or Y axis should do it I would think. Select the model of the bridge portion you want to twist, then go to the 'modifiers' tab, and bend and twist I think is the first selection in the drop down. Then it's all just a matter of fiddling with the settings.
Hello Jonstark, long, long, time since last we talked! I appreciate the quick response! I will let you know how it goes!
Bend and twist is also my first thought but if you need a more specific part to bend, you can create one or more morph targets.
Yet another way is to add a few bones....this gives you more options to bend, twist & make waves in specific areas of the object.
The attached screenshot is very basic.
If you want lots of control, combine morph and bones.
- create at least one morph area (perhaps all of the vertexes) and at least one morph (called placeholder) in that morph area as per Dudu.
- create some bones (I think I'd have the bridge be the spine and the ropes be limbs). as per McGuiver
- save the mesh and skeleton in an animation group
- When you manipulate the bridge, you will have options to twist and bend the bones, adjust weightpaints, create and adjust morphs.
- You can save bridge and rope poses as NLA clips for repeated use
- If you have the ERC control plugin, you will have some additional tools to coordinate the bridge and the ropes
If you are just doing a single image of a still frame, then what I just described would be overkill.
Thanks guys for your replies. I have thought about the rigging and was going to be 'plan a' for this project however I am having a hard time using Carrara. It takes about a minute, to a minute and a half to load my object and it is slow to respond when it finally does. I can only make a about four or five adjustments before Carrara freezes. My object is about 92 mb and I know the problem is with the model, not Carrara. So, I either will have to take what I learned when i modeled my rope bridge and build a new one or find a way to make this onle work. I have decimated this object down farther than I wanted to. I just need to learn to model better! I will try rigging in Carrara and then look at creatinga morph target. I originally tried to rig in DAZ, But that is just isnt going to work at least for this model. I tried to ZBrush Core, but my lack of knowledge again slaps me in the face. So onward I will go with your suggestions!
Diomede, your process would be overkill, but I feel it would be neccessary to build the rope bridge correctly. I usually just 'do enough to get the shot' I want but everyone is correct. Build the model correctly and then manipulate it to fit what I need.
Here are two images of what I am working with. I took these pics from Hexagon as currently it loads it and I can manipulate. I know I am on a Carrara forum and the plan is to remodel it and use Carrara as I think the tools will do what I need them to.
Not sure why Carrara is so slow and crashing. Are you importing / exporting as obj or similar? Or are you in Hexagon and using "save as" and then choosing .car (carara format)? Or, it could be that the poly density of the ropes is the issue. I've created tree objs with more mesh density that have slowed Carrara, but it didn't crash.
Ok Diomede, Thanks! I am exporting from Hexagon as an object. I am importing in Carrara as an object. What is the preferred method, save out of Hexagon as a .car file? I think I am going to use a simple test model first and get the process down in Carrara and then rebuild my rope bridge.
I don't know that it will make a difference, but Hex can save in Carrara format. Just brainstorming ideas that might account for the slow performance and crashes. It is very common for people to model in Hex and use in Carrara, so I'm not sure what the problem could be othwerwise.
Gotcha! I appreciate yours and as well everyone else's time in commenting. Knowing the tool to goto in Carrara is what I needed. I am trying to improve myself and love, LOVE what Carrara offers in its tool set. I just gotta spend more time on it. Thats why I love the forums here, because of people like you guys willing to throw your two cents in, and brainstorm possibilities!
The problem seems to be that the model is "over-modeled"
you've created a lot of fine details using modelling,.. which should be done using shaders,../texture maps/normal/bump etc,.. to achieve that "look" of detail.
If i were creating a city building,. I wouldn't model every Nut/bolt/screw/pipe/cable/socket/window/door, etc,.. especially if those details won't be seen.
I'd use texture maps to create the apperance of those details.
Z-Brush and other modelers, allow you to work on a high detail mesh,. but export a lower resolution "base" model and a set of texture maps to recreate that high detail using Normal maps or displacement maps.
so,. the problem is that you model is too well made :)
Another way to twist the bridge might be using a magnet which you will find under: Animation - Create Deformer - Magnet.
Basic tutorial: http://carraracafe.com/tutorials/magnet-deformer-tutorial/
Note you can apply more than one magnet to an object for better adjusting. Magnet and zone can be moved, rotated and resized seperately.......well.mh..ok..rotating the zone doesn't change anything.
.......and there is the inagoni shaper plugin. It builds a bounding box with manipulation points around your object. As far as I remember deforming works quite well but animation is limited.
Thanks 3DAGE for the complement! I remember not too long ago I was frustrated trying to learn how to model. To hear the words, "...your model is too well made", really makes me feel good knowing all the banging my head on the desk paid off! I started remodeling my rope bridge and I have made some major improvements. All 'ropes' are 5 sided as compared to the default 20 sided, so that was a major improvement. I will be interested to see the difference between the new one and the old one. Once I get it finished, I will definitely take a look at magnets and the 'inagoni Shaper Plugin'. Thanks for the suggestion rock livrette! I have a lot of suggestions I cant wait to try on the new model when its is finished. I, as well as 100 other people, was laid off January 31, 2017 after working 24 years as a programmer for a distribution company. I just started a new job today, September 11, 2017, so my time will be limited on this project, but, I will continue my progress here and let you guys see the results. Thank you all for your help and as always, if there is anything you think of that might help, please let me know!