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Animate following a path?

Scotty ZScotty Z Posts: 44
edited December 1969 in Art Studio

Ok, so I was able to get some passable results animating vehicle movement with Puppeteer, but I'd like to do something a bit more complex and not as tricky with the timing (i.e. the way it can be tricky with puppeteer to see if you're getting the effect you want while also staying on the dots you made). So, I'm wondering if there's a way to make an object follow a predetermined path using any of the tools available to D/S users?

Any help appreciated. :)

Comments

  • Scotty ZScotty Z Posts: 44
    edited December 1969

    Nothing huh? Wow, I'd think this a common enough issue that someone would have some kind of input.

  • JimmyC_2009JimmyC_2009 Posts: 8,891
    edited December 1969

    I am sorry that nobody has replied to your query. I don't do animations myself, but I have enver seen anything like you are asking about inside DS, it does exist in Poser, and you can draw a path on the ground for the animated figure to follow.

    I hope somebody sees this and can give you a better answer.

  • Scotty ZScotty Z Posts: 44
    edited December 1969

    I don't think a lot of people use D/S for animation. I have Poser 7 (I think...) but I hate it's interface even more than the new D/S mess. I'm starting to feel like if I have to use an unintuitive (to me) interface, I might as well just download Blender and get to learning. My problem is (even though I seem to do nothing but complain lately) I have a perverse sort of loyalty to Daz as it was my introduction to 3D. Oh well, we'll see...

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Liquid Monkey Brain said:
    I don't think a lot of people use D/S for animation. I have Poser 7 (I think...) but I hate it's interface even more than the new D/S mess. I'm starting to feel like if I have to use an unintuitive (to me) interface, I might as well just download Blender and get to learning. My problem is (even though I seem to do nothing but complain lately) I have a perverse sort of loyalty to Daz as it was my introduction to 3D. Oh well, we'll see...

    I don't know of a path thing in DS - so could not help you .
    what I have done in the past is put some obj ( box or what ever ) in a scene and did the walk by hand using aniMate
    walk .

  • Scotty ZScotty Z Posts: 44
    edited December 1969

    [quote author="bigh" date="1366631008"I don't know of a path thing in DS - so could not help you .
    what I have done in the past is put some obj ( box or what ever ) in a scene and did the walk by hand using aniMate
    walk .

    I don't think that would be of much use with a vehicle. What I've done using Puppeteer is to set points where the vehicle is in different locations and then move between the points, the problem however is timing. If the timing is even off by a small amount the movement looks ridiculous.

    Besides being able to move along a per-determined path it would be nice to be able to have the speed "evened out" so that the movement wouldn't appear jerky or uneven.

    Another idea I had for turning a vehicle would be to parent the vehicle to a null some distance away (depending on the desired turning radius) and then rotate the null. This should get a nice smooth turn, but there are two problems. 1) a smooth turn isn't always what I have in mind, and transitioning in and out of the curve evenly is problematic.

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited December 1969

    Liquid Monkey Brain said:
    [quote author="bigh" date="1366631008"I don't know of a path thing in DS - so could not help you .
    what I have done in the past is put some obj ( box or what ever ) in a scene and did the walk by hand using aniMate
    walk .

    I don't think that would be of much use with a vehicle. What I've done using Puppeteer is to set points where the vehicle is in different locations and then move between the points, the problem however is timing. If the timing is even off by a small amount the movement looks ridiculous.

    Besides being able to move along a per-determined path it would be nice to be able to have the speed "evened out" so that the movement wouldn't appear jerky or uneven.

    Another idea I had for turning a vehicle would be to parent the vehicle to a null some distance away (depending on the desired turning radius) and then rotate the null. This should get a nice smooth turn, but there are two problems. 1) a smooth turn isn't always what I have in mind, and transitioning in and out of the curve evenly is problematic.

    you could do it the same way - just takes more time - hand work is the best way
    if you save the animation as a aniBlock you can play with the timing
    there are plug-in you can buy for DS that might help you

  • bighbigh Posts: 8,147
    edited April 2013

    bigh said:
    Liquid Monkey Brain said:
    [quote author="bigh" date="1366631008"I don't know of a path thing in DS - so could not help you .
    what I have done in the past is put some obj ( box or what ever ) in a scene and did the walk by hand using aniMate
    walk .

    I don't think that would be of much use with a vehicle. What I've done using Puppeteer is to set points where the vehicle is in different locations and then move between the points, the problem however is timing. If the timing is even off by a small amount the movement looks ridiculous.

    Besides being able to move along a per-determined path it would be nice to be able to have the speed "evened out" so that the movement wouldn't appear jerky or uneven.

    Another idea I had for turning a vehicle would be to parent the vehicle to a null some distance away (depending on the desired turning radius) and then rotate the null. This should get a nice smooth turn, but there are two problems. 1) a smooth turn isn't always what I have in mind, and transitioning in and out of the curve evenly is problematic.

    you could do it the same way - just takes more time - hand work is the best way
    if you save the animation as a aniBlock you can play with the timing
    there are plug-in you can buy for DS that might help you

    link - on SALE TODAY
    http://www.daz3d.com/gofigure

    Post edited by bigh on
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