bcd Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Hi all. Does anyone have experience using VW to produce simple 3d mechanical animations. I know the Goodies folder includes the Geneva mechanism & am looking for something along this vein but in 3d. Thanks Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Hi bcd, there is a command "create animation' that allow the user to set up a series of rendered views and then will sort of connect the dots between them. I believe it is only available in the Industry Series products (eg: Architect, Designer, etc). I have tried once or twice, and for moving scenes (like a walkthrough) I found it very very time consuming and somewhat tedious. The results, in my case, were rather jerky, and I never had the patience to tinker with it for long enough to refine my skills. However, I have a feeling that for a still shot in which one or more parts is moving it might work really well. As I remember it (it's been a while) you set up a number of saved views, and then use the saved views to insert into a time-line of sorts which then renders and exports the video to quicktime. In order to do this effectively I think you will need to create different copies of the various moving parts, and place the duplicates in discreet classes. Each of the moving parts can then be rotated/moved/etc into their various positions, by class. Then you would create saved views in each state, with certain classes visible or invisible as required, sort of like a flip book... If you have a chance to try it, let us know how it works out. Quote Link to comment
GWS Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 ...if only VW had 3D contraints Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 Yes Peter, that will certainly work, it would be doable but very tedious. I'm thinking of trying to break into the Geneva Mechanism PIO and using that as a template to move my parts in 3d. It seems plausible, what do you think? Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 bcd, I haven't tried the Geneva Mechanism so I can't offer and opinion... Also, yes, it would probably be tedious, but perhaps not as much as you think. I guess it comes down to how complex your "machine" is and whether someone is paying you for your time or you are your own dime. Whatever you try, let us know how it goes. I'm sure there are others who would be interested in the results. Regards! P Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 I looks like the files in the Extras>Goodies folder may provide a better starting point. I'm looking at Box and Crank Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 Ok - here's a simple example - It does look very possible to achieve this. Open GL doesn't work with this example but perhaps if it's include within the script the party can begin. (nope - the board doesn't support .mov files) Quote Link to comment
AndiACD Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 ...if only VW had 3D contraints Like the man says . . . . ."If only . ..." Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 Ok - so it's rough and unsteady, but here it is: (did someone mention 3d constraints?) Simple 3d Animation http://gallery.me.com/smiletotheworld#100158 Quote Link to comment
CipesDesign Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 bcd, that is an admirable result for your first effort! Obviously could be smoother (add more frames per second??) but very very nice. I personally would like to see it as something solid (as opposed to wireframe) and on some other background (other than black). But all in all - Yay! Quote Link to comment
Kool Aid Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Nice work, bcd, very nice! (Even 2D-constraints cannot, AFAIK, be used in scripts PIOs.) Edited December 3, 2009 by Kool Aid Quote Link to comment
AndiACD Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Admirable Brian, Admirable! But . . . . Yes, you all knew there'd be one. A proper parent child hierachy is still what's really needed. Move one object, and anything else connected in a chain of 4 to 40 elements would follow suit without the longwinded approach you obviously had to go through to obtain your result. imagine the time needed to animate one rev of a v12. Nightmare! We patiently live in hope. Quote Link to comment
Kool Aid Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 A proper parent child hierachy is still what's really needed. As long as it is proper (object-orientated, not hierarchical.) Today I added another item to my long list of disappointments regarding VectorScript documentation: I realised that Object Events are totally missing from VS Function Reference to Mere Mortals, ie. the version that ships (or, as in my case, does not ship) with the program. Among these is AddAssociation, which could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship. There is some nebulous documentation and an example: VectorWorks Developer pages However, CONST kOnDeleteDelete = 4; {Target object is deleted when owner is deleted.} kOnDeleteReset = 5; {Target object is reset when owner is deleted.} suggests that this association is interested only in deaths of its members. Otherwise, one's crank object could rotate the crankshaft and the crankshaftbone could be connected to the pistonbone of the V12. Quote Link to comment
AndiACD Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 However, CONST kOnDeleteDelete = 4; {Target object is deleted when owner is deleted.} kOnDeleteReset = 5; {Target object is reset when owner is deleted.} suggests that this association is interested only in deaths of its members. Otherwise, one's crank object could rotate the crankshaft and the crankshaftbone could be connected to the pistonbone of the V12. Whilst i ALWAYS appreciate your Kool comments, this one really had me creased up. Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of pure Olio di Oliva Extra Vergine direct from the press. Quote Link to comment
GWS Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 bcd, that looks good. I have tried doing something similar by duplicating parts onto seperate classes and saving different views but I keep getting negative velocities when trying to set up the animation. Would you mind giving me a few pointers as to how you set this up please. Many thanks Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 HI Guy, I considered saved views- classes but it seems like way too cumbersome. Perhaps exporting a few rendered scenes and tweening them in Adobe Flash might also be a solution. For this exercise I deconstructed the Extras>Goodies>Crank file, broke apart the groups and replaced the 2d geometry with my own constructions. More in an exercise of the possible than for beauty's sake. But it works!!!! With that done, the next trick is to learn VS to the point where I can define the movements of my objects. And figure how to have OGL render for each frame. hth (nts. feature request .mov support for upload files) Quote Link to comment
propstuff Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 check out Animationworks http://www.ozcad.com.au/otherproducts/vwaddonsAW.html path animator (no VS to learn;just draw a path), rotation, transparency etc Modest price. Quote Link to comment
GWS Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Thanks bcd, that maybe more than I would want to attempt for a complex model but well done, it's even more impressive. Quote Link to comment
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