Hi whats up guys?
Got a question for you all. I'm working on a project and I was wondering if you guys could help. I have looked at maxscript and have decided that I'm not good at programming. Is there a way to create a script that will print the info from a custom attribute to a text field for a text object in real time.
Heres the idea, I have a robot arm that I have made and have made custom attributes to show the angle that it is currently at. the resting position is the arm completely outstretched. which would mean that the elbow is at zero degrees, if the arm bends down 90 degrees, my custom attribute reads 90 degrees, so that I know the precise angle. I want to be able to have a text object that sits next to the joint and reads what the current angle is but in realtime. I guess all it would have to do is wire the text field to the custom attribute printed field on the side, but there is no attribute for the text field. This is more for engineering test and analyses than it is for a pretty rendering, but during the final render I want it to also be available for the client to see the current constraints without having to go in and animate the entire text field which is almost impossible to do as it is.
Is there a way to do this or not?
Really appreciate your insight and help, thanks
Ben
Hiya,
Here’s a simple script to use the change handler to display info in a single
text object. Every time you select and move a part of your robot it will print
the name of the part in the text object. Substitute your custom attribute
for the name…
This should work for a real-time display as you’re working and testing. I dont think it’ll
work in an animation (the change handler doesnt get called according to the help files). Maybe someone can help you out there…
Putting a text object next to each part of the robot is more involved … hmmm.
Here’s the script…(its mostly comments)
Good luck
Maldwyn
rollout tester “Print to text obj”
(
– this script will print the name of an object that is being moved/
– rotated/scaled into a text object…
– to test it, put a text object somewhere in your scene, make sure
– its called “text01”
on tester open do
(
– assuming that the parts of your robot adhere to a naming
– convention – eg: “Robot_arm”, “Robot_claw”, “Robot_Sensor1”,etc
– … select everything in your scene that starts with “rob” (or whatever)…
robo=$rob*
-- start the change handler for those objects. Every time one
-- of the objects is transformed, the following code is executed
-- and the transformed object is returned in 'obj'
-- [see 'Change Handlers" in the Maxscript Help Index]
when transform robo changes obj do
(
-- substitute your custom attribute for obj.name
$text01.text=obj.name as string
-- use 'as string' to print a number
)
) -- end 'on tester open'
on tester close do
(
– shut down the change handler on closing. If you are
– programming and testing make sure you close the last
– rollout before running the next…
deleteAllChangeHandlers()
)
) – end rollout
CreateDialog tester 150 1