I hope I posted this in the right spot. If not, please move it.
Using either maxscript or Solvers (or both)… I need to animate a rope on a pulley that is connected to a crate (box). The rop will lift the box up using the pulley system. :\ Anyone know how to do this? Or any tips/tricks? Suggestions?
Thanks!
Larissa
Does it have to be dynamic?
You could probably do this with standard modifiers.
Thanks for replying. But, what do you mean by Dynamic? 0_o … I assume it means on the fly … and time … not keyframed?
Well, the assignment is for creating a mechanical animation using Solvers, Wiring parameters, or Max script. So, it cannot be keyframed. Sadly.
LoL, are we doing your homework?
Well, I’d attach helpers to a spline that serves as the rope/pulley’s path, and then use linked xform modifiers to move the actual rope along that path, and the box could be linkedXform’d as well…
then drive the helper’s path along the spline with whatever wiring setup you’d like (moving a square in Z offsets the helpers path %…)
That’s my initial thougts, but I haven’t tried it to discover any problems with that method…
Ah, I see, that is a conundrum… I’ll see if I can think of something, but if you want my advice try to get PEN’s attention, he’s really good at this kind of thing.
LOL. Nope. ;D Teacher just didnt go over it very well and he kept having issues with it. So, I dont want to follow his ‘method’. :shrug:
here’s a quick and dirty scene, it’s not perfect, but depending on what your desired end result is this might work, or it would at least show you the first few ideas of how you could approach a more complex setup.
SnipeyX – Thanks. Ill try this out.
The teacher didn’t know how to do it eh, I remember those days. Better to just find the answer your self.
I’m with the other suggestion. Create two pullies, and two splines with two verts only on each. Add the splineIK modifier (not a solver) to each of the splines and press the create points button (or what ever it is called) . Link the points to each of the pullies and you have now move the pullies all you like and the splines will stretch inbetween. To satisfy the teacher wire the height of one of the pullies to a spinner so that it moves up and down.
Thanks. Ill try this out. Hopefully it will render fast! Due in 2 hours. ACK!
And as for the teacher not knowing … it is typical. :\
The question…
The answer…
The truth?..