Animation question.Please answer.

# 1 19-03-2003 , 08:44 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Zurich/London

Posts: 663

Q1- I am working on an animation where cameras,mobile phones....etc (communication devices) fly all around in the scene.
In this animation I have a newspaper rolled up at the start and then it unrolls near the end.
I keyed the the 1st frame(rolled newspaper) then at the last frame I opened the newspaper and set the key. I was expecting Maya to do the inbetween opening part but the newspaper in the 1st frame changes as well to unrolled newspaper.
How do I do this???????? Please HELP me !!!!!
Normally if I have a small cube on the 1st frame and then I make it bigger in the last frame Maya creates the transition. In this case it is the same objet(newspaper) but I used the edit points to open the newspaper in the last frame.......but it does not open the newspaper. If I change one frame it changes all. I hope you understand my problem

Quote

# 2 19-03-2003 , 08:48 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Zurich/London

Posts: 663

I guess the answer to this problem will solve my other ones as well which is how do I make an object convert from opaque in one frame to transparent in another.
OR have a light turn on and off or change brightness user added image

Quote

# 3 19-03-2003 , 11:56 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002

Location: USA

Posts: 1,172

My guess is that it's probably just a keying issue. If it were me, I would delete all keys made in the timeline, then rekey the newspaper making sure that you're at frame 1 when it's rolled and at the last frame when it's unrolled. Also, if you are just going to have these two key points, your newspaper whenn begin to unroll at frame two and will slowly unravel until the last frame. Are you sure you want it to be unrolling throughout the entire animation or do you want it to be rolled up for most of the animation, then near the end unrolls? If so, you need to key your newspaper in its "rolled" state near the end. You can easily do this by simply copying and pasting the frame 1 key. Hope that helps.

www.Darkware3D.com

Quote

# 4 19-03-2003 , 11:59 AM

Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002

Location: USA

Posts: 1,172

www.Darkware3D.com

Quote

# 5 19-03-2003 , 12:16 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Zurich/London

Posts: 663

Thanks Darkware...will try again when I get home.

grrrr

Quote

# 6 19-03-2003 , 08:19 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 1,154

It sound like you're trying to animate the actual vertices on your newspaper mesh, which you cannot do. One possibility is to use clusters to control the vertices. Another is using a bend deformer. Yet another is using blendshapes.

Danny Ngan
Animator | Amaze Entertainment
my website | my blog | my job

Quote

# 7 19-03-2003 , 08:29 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: May 2002

Location: Faringdon, UK

Posts: 1,480

bend deformers

- Simon

My Website: www.Glass-Prison.com

Quote

# 8 19-03-2003 , 08:33 PM

The Maya Mountain
Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm able to key vertices... user added image

I think what I would do in this situation is Blend Shapes with Inbetween.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

Quote

# 9 19-03-2003 , 10:00 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Oct 2002

Location: USA

Posts: 1,172

You can animate vertices by keying them individually.

www.Darkware3D.com

Quote

# 10 22-03-2003 , 12:44 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Zurich/London

Posts: 663

Yes I can key vertices as well:-) I could not before when I posted this thread.......

grrrr

Quote

# 11 29-03-2003 , 10:24 PM

Subscriber
Join Date: Jan 2003

Location: Zurich/London

Posts: 663

Of and for your second question, transparency and the brightness of lights can also be keyed. Select a light and choose Window>Attribute Editor I think. Adjust the brightness, then right-click to the left of it and select "key frame."<<<<<

OK I did this and it works fine for increasing or decreasing the intensity of a fixed light source. I can't make it to work with a light that is moving or part of a group.
For example I have a mobile phone which is revolving with a LED. I want the LED to be off and then near the end of the phones rotation to light up. I can make the light turn on and off on it's own but not when it is changing it's position. Do I need to use set driven keys or something???

grrrr

Quote

# 12 29-03-2003 , 10:36 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2003

Posts: 1,113

what the problem may have been, was that you were only keying the position. But if it turns out you can key vertices, then do that. However, unless you put in a lot of keys, it wont look right, so i sugest a bend deformer as others said.

Armitrex Studios
Now open!!

Quote