How to do this within Lightwave isntead of MAya

[theguaz]

I saw this tutorial:

http://www.cmivfx.com/m/shuffle.mov

And i like to know how to do the 3D part with lightwave instead of MAYA.

theguaz

[Dodgy]

Make the arrow pointing up, with the tip at the bottom of the move. Lay out a line of bones straight up (from the tip of the arrow upward), then bend them along the line you want the arrow to adhere to (so in the example in the video you'd have a group of straight bones pointing up, then one bone bent at an angle, then another group bent to point up again. Then make a morph for the arrow which just moves it up. (make sure you have 'Use Morphed positions' on in the Bones panel)Then play the morph in the animation and the arrow should follow the bones.

[UnCommonGrafx]

I flat out LOVE that site. Newly found and over-the-top worthy.

Yup, many many ways to do this. Bone Lattice, endos, object lists...

And the tute is easy to adapt to dfx.

[theguaz]

Hi there, and thx for reply. I tried to make the animation following the steps of Dodgy and i couldn't make it work.

You can see what i've done here in this video:

http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/asi.Avi (requires camtasia codec (http://www.techsmith.com/products/studio/codecdownload.asp))

What i'm doing wrong ??!!!


Best regards

theguaz

[Dodgy]

You should construct the bones straight, THEN bend them to the path you want. Also, you'll need to subdivide the arrow to give it more sections so it will adhere to the path better....

[theguaz]

i did the effect but when the arrow bends toward the bones it shows the geometry with sharp edges.


look:


http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/asi2.Avi

theguaz

[theguaz]

here i show you the last test, i almost get the effect, now i mapped an UV texture of the arrow to the object and make some test renders.

Now i need to get rid of the wired edges.

here is the video:

http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/almost_there.Avi

I need to replicate the shuffle effect for tomorrow.


thanks for the replies.


theguaz

[UnCommonGrafx]

Thegauz,
Now, just because he told you one bone, doesn't mean you have to STICK with one bone; I think that was just a starting place he was suggesting.

Split those curv bones up and make it a smoother transition for your arrow and I do believe you will have it!

Thanks for the insight.

[theguaz]

Thanks UnCommonGrafx for the advice with the bones, i've never used this technique before so i haven't realize that using more bones it would deform better. Also i had the subDivision order set on "First" and when i changed to "last" it deformed a lot better.

here is the video that shows the new deformed object, i'll upload a new one in a few hours with the combustion composite.


http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/more_bones.Avi

Maybe when i finish all i upload a video in to my server with the entire process (lightwave + photoshop + combustion) as a tutorial for the comunnity.

thank's to UnCommonGrafx and Dodgy for the help.

theguaz

[hunter]

Don't forget about the trailer plugin from Dstorm. Really easy deformations along a path. :)

[theguaz]

i did the combustion work but i couldn't make green the white border to get the overlaping effect.

here is the video:

http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/combustion_work.Avi

Cheers

Also hunter can you expalin me more about the trailer plugin ?
theguaz

[theguaz]

here's the final compositing:

http://www.theguaz.com/flecha/arrow_morph.Avi

cheers.

theguaz

[cornbreadandham]

I saw this Ipod tutorial a few weeks ago for after effects
Ipod Tutorial (http://www.digitalproducer.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=31558)

[theguaz]

cool link... i'll try to adapt that to Combustion since i don't use AE.
But i learn a way to do it in LW in the meanwhile.



theguaz