bouncing ball

[brandy_ke]

Hi guys,

I am redoing my bouncing ball animation , got some questions regarding rigging of the ball

Say i want the squash feeling so i put the pivot point at the base , when the ball hits the ground it can deform , but putting the pivot there wont allow me to rotate or spin the ball as per normal.

I remember using locator constraint to allow me to squash and rotate but i dont noe the exact steps, can anyone advice?

thanks

[jsprogg]

Simply Maya has a free bouncing ball video tutorial to download which should help you .

heres the link
http://www.simplymaya.com/movie_pages/tutorial.mhtml?tut_id=85

[mirek03]

pivot point?? use the squash deformer and remember to parent it to the ball

[AlphaFlyte]

You typically want to keep the pivot at the center of gravity all times. For a ball that'd be at object center. Deformers are indeed a better solution.

[mirek03]

yes, ; non-linear deformers/ squash deformer :)

select the object first .., its a bit tricky at first.., you can animate it from the channel box, 'bend' (I think thats right!?) context menu/ key seslected

[Ailill84]

Hi everyone! I've experienced some problem with the bouncing ball tutorial..
First of all I read that the pivot point of the ball must be centered on the ground(not in the center of the ball), is that correct?
Second I've some problem on shearing the ball.. when I set the negative shear value the ball actually move back(because the pivot point is setted on the ground). What can I do?

[mirek03]

memory recall, yes pivot on ground.., dont remeber anything about shearing.., i only underatnd shearing in after effects, motion, FCP and the wool sheds.

yes you want it ti move back the head and bottom will push back with cause and effect.., think of car accident.., whiplash!

M:)

[Ailill84]

ehm... then? what am I supposed to do? :P

[mirek03]

pivot on the ground.., bend and squash deformer; parent them to your ball and then.., animate !

you must have instrutions in front of yu or are you attempting this on your own?

[Ailill84]

Originally posted by mirek03
pivot on the ground.., bend and squash deformer; parent them to your ball and then.., animate !

you must have instrutions in front of yu or are you attempting this on your own?
I have this hierarchy: ballTranslate--->ballShear--->ballScale--->ball, I'm following a tutorial but is for windows and there are some little difference with options and control. All the pivot are set on the ground and I stil have this problem.. I wonder if there is some option or lock to set...

[mirek03]

sorry, its been a while.., no you do not move the pivot as such., you move the whole deformer unil its pivot is on the ground plane and the scale it until the squash handle is at the top of the object (sphere, probably better to use nurbs??) . then parent it to the object.