Jeff Prince Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 2 hours ago, VIRTUALENVIRONS said: Most users don't consider Vectorworks to be a good 3D modelling package, when it is one of the best available. Paul, this thread is about animation, not modeling... I think we can all agree that Vectorworks is not an animation tool and just includes a few amateur tools that serve mostly to aggravate. In terms of modeling, it is very good for AEC modeling. However, it's never going to be the go to tool for real industrial design. Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Hi Jeff, I appreciate your point of view and the others. Yes, in terms of animation, it has the basics only. I quickly ran through the Animation tools in 2022, good improvements. Have an idea on the wobbling. So, just a question, no heat on this. What do you or any others (that want to chime in) see as an Industrial design software.....and if you have a "why" to go with your thoughts, please do. Quote Link to comment
Popular Post Jeff Prince Posted April 14, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 14, 2023 (edited) @DiggleDesigns based on what I think you described, I threw an example together. Is this what you are trying to achieve? Vectorworks and Blender.mp4 If so, the steps were pretty easy. Model it all in Vectorworks Export pieces you want grouped together in Blender as separate .DAE files, this makes turning things on and off really easy. Import into Blender Position camera Keyframe the scenery rotation. Done. I hadn't tried this prior to today and my Blender skills aren't much beyond knowing how to launch the program... Figured it out during lunch by watching a few tutorials... Positioning the camera: https://youtu.be/0sDZ0zRVn1M Rotate around different axis: https://youtu.be/2RADeCcafCI For future times when you just need a SMOOTH spinning turntable animation of a object: https://youtu.be/6oXkRIN_t0Y Hope it helps. Edited April 14, 2023 by jeff prince 5 Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 14, 2023 Share Posted April 14, 2023 Very well done and describe. A picture is worth a thousand words.....but an animation is exponential. regards.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Popular Post michaelk Posted April 15, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 15, 2023 With apologies to @James Russell… Here is a simple script that will rotate an object within VW. Not saying that this is the best way to accomplish this, but it's fun to tinker. To use it you have to have name the object "Spin Me". The object can be a group. Symbols spin nicely. Not good for spinning: 2D geometry, 3D geometry, parametric objects. Good news: a symbol containing any of the above, spins fine. Things that VW has to redraw (2D geometry, 3D geometry, parametric objects, even generic solids) will flicker in and out of another dimension depending on speed (and probably your computer's specs). Turn them into symbols. To use this script name an object or group Spin Me. (Name it at the bottom of the OIP) Run the script. It will ask for a speed greater than 0 and lest than or equal to 100. The actual speed depends on your computer and what you are spinning. In reality it's spinning the object that value in degrees every compute cycle. Most importantly: To stop the script hit space bar or any other key on the keyboard except a modifier. (Shift, control, alt, option, command, etc). {April 2023 Badly scripted by Michael Klaers This script will spin the object named "Spin Me" around the center of that object. Hitting any non modified key will stop the spin.} Procedure TEST; VAR Spinner : HANDLE; Speed,XCtr,YCtr : REAL; KeyHit : LONGINT; BEGIN {Main} Spinner := GetObject('Spin Me'); IF Spinner <> NIL THEN BEGIN Speed := RealDialog('Speed (.00001-100): ','1'); IF Speed <= 0 THEN Speed := 1; IF Speed > 100 THEN Speed := 100; HCenter(Spinner,XCtr,YCtr); REPEAT HRotate(Spinner, XCtr, YCtr, Speed); HMoveBackward(Spinner,FALSE); HMoveForward(Spinner,FALSE); ResetObject(Spinner); ReDrawAll; UNTIL KeyDown(KeyHit); END {Spin Me exists} ELSE BEGIN AlrtDialog(CONCAT( 'Please name the object you want to spin "Spin Me".',CHR(13), 'You can also group objects and name the group "Spin Me"')); END; END; Run (TEST); 81562792_SpinMe.mov 1229864685_rotatetest.vwx 7 Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Peter Neufeld. Posted April 16, 2023 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted April 16, 2023 That's brilliant Michael and so easy thanks! Is there anyway to specify the degrees eg 180º or 360º etc, and/or specify the number of revolutions?. It seemed to finish with my file with the revolve facing upstage. Is there a way to reset it to the start position? Also, odd things are happening in the Shaded render in my file with the walls 'flashing' and disappearing. Is there anyway for the render to hold? It's not the lights or Renderworks background. Spin Flash.mp4 Cheers, Peter 865910821_SpinMerevolve.vwx 1 Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 It's flashing because VW has to redraw the walls, extrudes, windows, doors, etc every increment of the rotation. Make everything inside the group a symbol and it will spin smoothly. Yes. Defining the rotation is probably possible. I'm actually working on a way to have multiple objects spinning at different rates in different directions. I wonder if this is how @Julian Carr got started with animation works -- Sitting in his kitchen making things spin and laughing his butt off. 1329100053_PetersTurntable.mov 2 Quote Link to comment
Popular Post michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 16, 2023 Here's a new version that allows multiple objects to spin at different rates in different directions. Even objects inside of other objects can spin independently. Attach the record 'roundNround' to an object and it is eligible to spin when using the Multi Spin script. The values of the record determine if it spins, what direction, and at what relative speed. @Peter Neufeld. I haven't implemented a stop point. Let me know if that's important. I'll also post this in an older version of VW. Just having the script won't work without the record format so you need a file with both. 85769124_MultiRotate.mov 842250788_MultipleRotate.vwx 1235070565_MultipleRotatev2020.vwx 2 3 Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 That is so cool. Is this playing in real time or is this a rendered out animation. Either way, it's impressive. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Real time. In my tests it works in real time in Wireframe, Shaded, and Hidden Line. It doesn't work in Renderworks. Too slow. 2 Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Just now, michaelk said: Real time. In my tests it works in real time in Wireframe, Shaded, and Hidden Line. It doesn't work in Renderworks. Too slow. How do you activate it or start the animation. The play button, etc. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Run the script. There is a script palette called "Adventures in Spinning". Inside that there are two scripts. Multi Spin w/ Record will look for objects with an attached record called "roundNround". The settings in the record determines how it spins. Spin This will spin any object named "Spin Me" To run the script just double click on the script in the script palette. Hit the space bar or any key except a modifier key to make it stop. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 A play button would have been a cool idea! Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Thank you. I never thought I would see Vectorworks animate in real time. I don't know anything about scripting, marionette, etc. I animate in C4D. This is a great stride forward though. Do you think there is a way to "ease in" and "ease out". Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 Sorry, my question may have ben unclear. To start the animation slowly and come to a stop slowly. Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 🙂 I knew exactly what you meant! I'm sure it's possible. Maybe if I revisit this I'll add Peter's suggestion for a stopping point and your suggestion for acceleration and deceleration. But there is no guarantee. I'm just messing around with this. This is trickier than I expected it to be. To trick VW into doing this you have to rotate every object by however many degrees then force a redraw of the entire drawing. I haven't tested it, but I suspect that 2023 SP4 would run this script MUCH better than VW 2020 or 2021. And for reasons I don't totally understand, the procedure that calculates the revolve increments and forces the redraw doesn't like logical tests. (IF a thing has a specific value THEN do this). My scripts are often littered with IF/THEN statements and iterative procedures called FOR loops (which also don't play well in the central procedure). So it's been a fun little brain teaser for me to write in a way I don't normally write. Maybe Julian will fix it for us 🙂 Quote Link to comment
VIRTUALENVIRONS Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 You are doing an amazing job testing and probably having a lot of fun doing it. It is probably the first thing I have seen in years that is new or ground breaking in Vectorworks. Kudos to you Michailk. Quote Link to comment
Popular Post michaelk Posted April 17, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 I am having fun with it. Just sitting in my kitchen laughing at spinning chickens and wheelbarrows and ignoring the work I should be doing. You have to acknowledge how cool it is that VW allows anyone with little more than high school computer science class programming to hack it like this. 4 1 Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Popular Post Peter Neufeld. Posted April 17, 2023 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 Wow, this is the first time I've been able to fake a mirror ball. An Array of Renderworks Spotlights at 90º with a dot gobo texture in all 6 of them, coupled with a sphere with a mirror surface as a symbol spinning! All due to SP3 amazingly allowing any texture be applied to a Renderworks Spotlight plus then Michael's spinning script! Plus it's going in the opposite direction of the revolve! I'd still like the following: Being able to bring it back somehow to it's original start position otherwise it's trial and error and hitting the space bar to stop It would be great to choose the degrees up to 360º. Maybe if 360º is chosen it just keeps spinning and that is the default? Somehow be able to couple it up with the animation export so users can control the number of frames and size? Either way in a seemingly short period of time Michael you've created a really easy to use and very useful script that answers @DiggleDesigns original question so much better than my feeble attempt! Spin Me Revolve 2.vwx Mirror Ball and Revolve.mp4 Cheers, Peter 5 Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Just curious, Peter, what are your computer specs? When I ran your file on my computer, it was much much smoother. Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Peter Neufeld. Posted April 17, 2023 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted April 17, 2023 M1 64GB UM MBP macOS 13.3.1 No external screen. ?! Quote Link to comment
michaelk Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Interesting. I just went back and checked again. It's smoother on my computer. But not that much. I have a 16" MBP M2 Max with 96 GB. 4K external monitor. Tell your boss you need a new computer 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment
Vectorworks, Inc Employee Peter Neufeld. Posted April 17, 2023 Vectorworks, Inc Employee Share Posted April 17, 2023 Even if I have Shaded settings set to Low the same thing?! Quote Link to comment
James Russell Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 @michaelk : It's not often I awaken from my forum slumber - however I'm impressed and you deserve to know it. However, I'm a marinonette man now, and as such the challenge has been reset. I'm off to explore this for a bit. One day we'll know the Animation works secrets... one day. 1 Quote Link to comment
James Russell Posted April 19, 2023 Share Posted April 19, 2023 (edited) Additionally, let's not forget how crazy this little animation concept can become [See attached Pacman project from 2015] Controls: W : Up A : Left S : Down D : Right Space: Stop Esc: Quit I still strongly believe this deserved to be in the included sample files of VW by default, perhaps @Peter Neufeld. the AU/NZ VW2023 needs to be rebundled. 😅 @michaelk - Pacman definitely requires your tagline of "Badly scripted by James Russell" JRussell - PacMan 2015.vwx Edited April 19, 2023 by James Russell Controls kept turning into Emojis 1 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.