Quote:
|
Originally Posted by obsolete?
Not completely sure how Maya tackles the issue, but for me, I prefer one dummy for ever axis the objects move or rotate on... When I created my Portland Int'l Raceway video, my cars all had a rigging convention that I thought up myself, for what would give me the most control of the vehicle's animation... and this idea of breaking everything up by axis of movement seems to be the best solution.
So for our hypothetical car, we'll think of our alignment as:
Driving direction: Y axis
Sides of car: X axis
Height: Z axis.
So for the tires, they spin along the X axis... they steer along the Z axis, and camber along the Y axis... so for the most realism when you're steering the car while it's stopped... you'd require a steering dummy that rotates to steer the tire, and a camber dummy that rotates to camber in or out, depending on which way you steer.
I usually name my dummies something easily recognizeable... like:
(without the parentheses, which are used to separate naming convention units)
(D)(type)_(objectname)_(specialnotes)
(D) - indicates the object is a dummy
(type) - indicates what the dummy is supposed to control about objectname
(objectname) - the same name as the object that the dummy controls.
(specialnotes) - gives further description of (type), if needed)
So here's an example of my subaru impreza outback sport wagon's rig setup:
Domni_ImprezaWagon - main vehicular positioning dummy
|_Drotate_vehicle_spinout - for spinning vehicle from the center
-|_Drotate_vehicle_fishtail - for slipping the rear of the vehicle out during turns
--|_Dorigin_axle_F - used as a guide in re-alignment of suspension
--|_Dorigin_axle_R - used as a guide in re-alignment of suspension
--|_Dpos_axle_F - controls height of both tires at once
---|_Drotate_steeringL - steers the front-left wheel
----|_Drotate_tire_fl - spins the front-left wheel
-----|_tire_fl - the front-left wheel itself
---|_Drotate_steeringR - steers the front-right wheel
----|_Drotate_tire_fr - spins the front-right wheel
-----|_tire_fr - the front-right wheel itself
--|_Dpos_axle_R - controls height of both tires at once
---|_Drotate_tire_rl - spins the rear-left wheel
----|_tire_rl - the rear-left wheel itself
---|_Drotate_tire_rr - spins the rear-right wheel
----|_tire_rr - the rear-right wheel itself
--|_Drotate_body_roll - both tilts the car side to side, and front to back
---|_Body - car body itself
---|_glow_brakes - Brakelight glow objects
---|_glow_turnsigRL - Rear-Left Turn Signal
---|_glow_turnsigRR - Rear-Right Turn Signal
---|_glow_runningLamps - DTRL glow objects
---|_glow_headlights - headlight glow objects
---|_glow_hibeams - high beams glow objects
---|_glow_turnsigFL - Front-left turn signal
---|_glow_turnsigFR - Front-Right turn signal
---|_glow_centerbrake - Rear center brake glow object
---|_RaceCarDriver - the chick driving the car
---|_ImprezaExhaust - exhaust particle system
---|_Drotate_doorFL - door
----|_Dpos_windowFL - door window Front-Left
----|_Dorigin_windowFL - window re-alignment dummy
---|_Drotate_doorFR - door
----|_Dpos_windowFR - door window Front-Right
----|_Dorigin_windowFR - window re-alignment dummy
---|_Drotate_doorRL - door
----|_Dpos_windowRL - door window Rear-Left
----|_Dorigin_windowRL - window re-alignment dummy
---|_Drotate_doorRR - door
----|_Dpos_windowRR - door window Rear-Right
----|_Dorigin_windowRR - window re-alignment dummy
---|_Drotate_boot - boot/trunk/5th door
---|_Drotate_bonnet - bonnet/hood
small note: a curve editor can make re-alignment of obejects easier than eye-balling it all the time.... but re-alignment dummies (Dorigin) can be the best, when you're trying to work quickly...
does this type-out of my rig system help you out or at least give some ideas how to get started with your own rigging conventions?
|
****edit****
oh my... I just realized you may be meaning "rig" as in, getting the tires to rotate as the car moves... heh
I prefer all the stuff hand-animated myself... the expressions that I've worked with all fall short of anything that's useful to me. The one time I've sat down and worked up a speed-based expression for rotating my tires, I got a circular dependancy error, and never bothered with it since.