Root Contol

# 1 08-05-2013 , 12:54 PM

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My project is a jet. I have it animated and everything else finished about it. But one last thing that i need. The flaps on the aircraft don't move! I heard of a tool called Root Control. I tried looking it up but my results come up as only problems instated of "How to's." This is my schools computer so i don't have the access to youtube or anything. Nor do i have a computer at home. So if anyone could give a quick tutorial below on how to use Root Control, that would be great.
Basically I want to link something one one polygon so that one polygon follows the root.
Thanks!
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# 2 08-05-2013 , 02:59 PM

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Just parent the flaps to the jet.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

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# 3 08-05-2013 , 04:14 PM

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yep parent the flaps to the plane. Select the child (the flaps) then the parent (the plane) then press the p-key.

You can control the flaps (up or down) using a new attribute added to an object like the plane, or to a locator using a set driven key. But it sounds like your class has not advanced to that level yet.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 4 13-05-2013 , 01:36 PM

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"yep parent the flaps to the plane. Select the child (the flaps) then the parent (the plane) then press the p-key."
I dont quite understand. I don't know where these tools or options are so you have to be more specific on what to do. Sorry and thanks for the tips.

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# 5 13-05-2013 , 04:38 PM

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it could not be more clear.

1. select the flaps
2. shift select the plane
3. press the p-key

now the flaps are parented to the plane and will move with the plane

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 13-05-2013 at 04:41 PM.

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# 6 13-05-2013 , 05:11 PM

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I think he mean how does he control the flap Rick, just use the rotate for the flap you might what to move the rotation point back use the "insert" key to do that...........dave

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# 7 15-05-2013 , 01:14 PM

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No, the reason why i don't understand is because the flaps are not separate from the plane. The plane and the flaps are one whole mesh. Not two. So how would you select the flaps and the plane when its all one mesh... Thats what i don't understand. Thats why i got into root control.

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# 8 15-05-2013 , 02:03 PM

The thin red line
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You need to cut the flaps out, you can do this by selecting the face then do a duplicate face and delete the old faces, Then append to polly to clean up the rest of the mesh.................dave

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# 9 15-05-2013 , 05:10 PM

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???

Read your initial post. Now I am totally confused. The entire point of the post was that the flaps were not moving with the plane. Which infers that they are separate. So at this point I don't know how to help.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 10 16-05-2013 , 08:50 AM

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cant you just extract dave?

bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

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# 11 16-05-2013 , 09:44 AM

The thin red line
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cant you just extract dave?

Originally Posted by bullet1968

Yes.............LOL............dave

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# 12 17-05-2013 , 02:16 PM

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But read the original post guys. Am I retarded or something because it clearly implies the flaps were already extracted and "...not moving with the plane" which is why I give up on trying to understand this question because I have no clue what he is asking.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 17-05-2013 at 02:20 PM.

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# 13 17-05-2013 , 08:08 PM

The thin red line
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Rick I think next time just ask to see the mesh It would have stopped a lot of miss understanding user added image

.............dave

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# 14 18-05-2013 , 12:46 AM

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Yes Rick he does but further down restates that it is one object. I was a noob once ( I still am) and its very difficult to convey messages to elders (no offence meant) in the correct language or proper terms. I shudder to think the pain and suffering I caused to you all when I first came here LOL. fox you are also talking to ctbram and daverave who live and breathe military equipment...and ND is the general genius type (he is the tough guy who drinks milk at a bar).

Im not savvy on what you want with the control other than agreeing with ND in the first instance then ctbram and dave thereafter. Why dont you slip across to ctbrams Bearcat and have a look at his model user added image

cheers bullet

bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

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# 15 18-05-2013 , 03:02 PM

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This is really a fairly complicated procedure and trying to describe it is difficult because it involves a couple of things several of which are pretty advanced stuff like aligning the local rotation axis properly so you can rotate the flaps along the proper axis, creating an attribute to control flap rotation, creating expression or set driven key.

Unfortunately I cannot record you a video because Maya has been and still is locking up on all three of my machines with he same issue I have had since the Maya 2010 release and I refuse to roll back to 2009. So I have been using other modeling packages for quite a while now.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 18-05-2013 at 03:05 PM.

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