How To Question...........
 

Hi all, thanks for looking hopfully someone can help!

I want to do the generic animated ribbion look, which animates around a sphere shape.

But I'm not sure on how to do the revealing part or make the ribbion grow so it becomes quite long and wraps the object a number of times.

I'm hoping someone has done this before or knows where a tutorial might be that covers this somewhere?

Please help - this is for a major project im doing.

Thanks
Bacon

Lots of ways to do it.

One way you might could try is by using an extruded shape along a path (Surfaces > Extrude. Ask if you don't know how to use it), but check the "Partial" option in the option box.

You'll get 2 extra attributes in the Extrude options in the channel box. One controls the length of the surface along the profile curve, the other the path curve. You can animate the path curve option from 0 to 1 to simulate the shape "growing" along the path.

Hi mtmckinley,

Thanks for replying - sorry I havent writen back earlier, been away the last couple of days.


"One way you might could try is by using an extruded shape along a path (Surfaces > Extrude. Ask if you don't know how to use it), but check the "Partial" option in the option box."

Ok first question - I created a path with the CV curve tool but not sure how to go from there, do I create a primative shape and try to extrude that??

Hope you can help!

Cheers
Bacon

After creating the path curve, you'd create a profile curve. If you're wanting to make a tube shape, the profile would be a circle. For a ribbon, though, I'd imagine it'd be a slightly irregular line.

Select the profile, shift select the path, and Surfaces > Extrude.

You may need to adjust the settings a little to get the surface to follow the path like you want.

Thanks again mtmckinley!

Umm.........got a question thats not really related.

Im having problems with maya, as in - I create text bevel plus it save the scene and when I reopen it I cant see the text, but the history eg: bevelpolygon is in the outliner.

What am i doing wrong ? :headbang:

Please help!!!


Thanks
Jason

ok.........ive got the text thing sorted......

Im using 4.5 on a mac, everytime i delete the paths after I bevelplus the path the text seems to disappear.

So I just kept the paths.........is this normal?

Also how do I asign a different colour or material to the bevel on the text or even the side of the bevelplus text?

I believe if you delete the paths before deleting the history on the surface, yeah, it'll mess up.