my experiment with constraints....

[JoShuA]

Hey Guys,
I ve been messing around with constraints alot latley, and I built a robot for my demoreel, to kind of experiment all the new things im learning.
this is how far I got today, modeling took most of the day, and Ill probably get to his lower half tomorrow.
I got his eyes somewhat rigged to a dummy object.
and I got the pistons on his back to go up and down using a path constraint.

I only have one problem maybe one of you pros could help me out with...

well the pistons animate fine while he's in the default position. but when i rotate his chest/torso chassy, the pivots on the pistons go all wacky. they still go up and down but all diagnol and stuff.
could someone please tell me what is the proper way to link the pistons to the chassy?

Also any input of what you think of the model is much appriciated as well......
oh yeah I just noticed how his arms arent positioned correctly.. oops! easy fix. anything you can see besides that?



http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotfront1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotback1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotside1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotpersp1-0_1064363009_full.gif

[anim8]

You dont need to constrain the pistons. Just link them to the body, then set the pistons axis to local and animate them accordingly.
They will animate and stay where they should as the body moves.
If you just do one cycle (up and down), you can set the
"out of range" type to "loop" and it will automatically play the animation over and over without having to set any
more keyframes.

[JoShuA]

hey, thanks anim8
I asked my boss and he told me pretty much the samething.
hey do you or anyone out there know how to animate a minigun going spinning really fast?

[Drone]

Try making it spin not as fast as in real life (several thousand RPM's in order to give you that 3 000+ rounds rate of fire) and add motion blur :)

[JoShuA]

hey thanks Drone Im gonna try that. I got the legs pretty much done today, Ill post pics tomorrow cause I gots to go home. I based the legs on Hawkprey's grenadier sketch. with tank tracks. and I got the tank tracks to animate. Im so pumped to finish it.
peace out.

[ODIN SIX]

I am still learning how to rigg up mechanical models,, but just make sure all your pivot points are in the right places...

[poopinmymouth]

another possibility for the arms, so you would have a little better control, is to create a straight spline, and constrain the arms to move along that spline, and then set up a slider to control the value of where it lies along the spline. I know how to do it in maya, but not max, (still learning the advanced render and rig stuff, since its not too relevent in gaming) that way you would have a more local value to work with when animating.

[JoShuA]

Odin Six- I know pivots are so important in this type of model, with lots of ball/socket joints

Poop- You read my mind. His arms slide up and his head goes in when he goes into "artillery mode" but ive just sort of been moving the parts. If Iset a line constraint with a slider it would give me alot more control.

today Im gonna re-work the legs and maybe add some headlights. Im still debating on whether or not to make some sort of exhaust that will be putting out steam.

I was also thinking of making a blast-shield that goes around his face when his head retracts. Do any of you guys know the constraint that can have the blast-shield linked to the head so that when the head retracts it slids down automatically? I know how to do it in maya, you know when the ball gets close to the door and it slides open. and the closer the ball gets the higher the door gets. I need to know how to do that in max.
I'll try to post more current pics before the day is done.
thanks for the input guys.

[anim8]

You can do everything you mentioned with Max's "wiring".
Its really simple. Right click on the first object and go
to wiring........
That should get you started. (or read the help file!)


You can add a manipulator (slider, etc) to the view and
wire the object to it. Then you can move the slider to control
the object.

Wiring is like constraints in Maya, but easier to set up.

[JoShuA]

Hey guys, Here's an update. Got the legs done. I Have a question, when I try to pose him, like the legs for example, they scale all weird and get long and distorted. what causes this? and how do I stop it from happening?
any ways here is what got done today, the pistons and tracks animate properly.
I know the feet could use some help but Im drained, so just consider them place holder for now.
input is much appriciated.
thanks.


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotfront2jpg1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotback2jpg1-0_full.gif




http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotside2jpg1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotpersp2jpg1-0_full.gifhttp://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/bizlebotpersp3jpg1-0_full.gif

[anim8]

"I Have a question, when I try to pose him, like the legs for example, they scale all weird and get long and distorted. what causes this?"

Are you using bones?? Sounds like you need an end effector.
You would find Character Studio helpful here.

[JoShuA]

well the model is done, junk is all rigged and he's ready to be animated.I know nothing of lighting or rendering so I just merged him into a scene with lighting. I just need to texture him. I still don't like his feet. Ill change them later. I would appriciate any crits you guys have, that would make this a cooler model.





http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/brassknuts1jpg1-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/brassknuts21-0_full.gif


http://images.customize.org/category/dashboard/brassknuts3jpg1-0_full.gif