Animation help

# 1 24-04-2008 , 11:50 AM

Registered User
Join Date: May 2005

Posts: 84

This seems like it should be simple but I can't get it.

QUESTION:

What is the best way to animate an object with it's own "local" animations, and then animate the object globally?

I have a coin-like object. What I want is for it to be slowly spinning in mid-air, and slowly sinking down.

What I've done--which DIDN'T work--is I animated the rotation of the coin first. I went in the hypergraph and looped it, so it spins indefinitely. But then when I try to keyframe the sinking, it errors out somehow. The whole object disappears.

I've tried variations of these processes, including parenting the coin to a separate control object and I'm still screwing something up. I can see how this is something I'll run into again if I don't learn it now. Any help?

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# 2 24-04-2008 , 02:17 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jul 2006

Location: London

Posts: 567

The simplest way to do this would be instance your coin onto a particle then give the particle a gravity (for the falling) field and a turbulance (for some variation in the fall) field. Then apply a random rotation expression to the particle so it spins around whilst falling.

I can give you some more info if you need but am out now so shll get back to you later.

Hope its a start,
Chris

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# 3 24-04-2008 , 02:34 PM

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Join Date: Mar 2007

Posts: 1,055

Or, you could just figure out how long the animation is going to be, and keyframe the rotation over the whole length instead of looping it. Key the rotation at 0 on the first frame, and then at 3,600 on the last, assuming you wanted say 10 turns in total.

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# 4 24-04-2008 , 02:48 PM

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Join Date: May 2005

Posts: 84

Thanks for the replies. I think that last one is the way I'll have to go.

I just ask, because in the future, with more complex objects/characters, it would be good to know. So if I've got, say, a character whose chest I want to be visibly breathing, and then I want to walk him around, I'd like that localized breathing-animation to loop infinitely while I move the character around globally.

I know there's a way to do this, I just can't find it.

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# 5 24-04-2008 , 03:51 PM

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Join Date: Dec 2005

Location: London

Posts: 429

if you dont know your way around particles,

group you coin, roate it to have the flip effect
Group it again and animate the up and down on the second group.

on your body.

You can set a deformer on the chest. or a blendshape

and then post infinite the animation.