Animate linked dwg model

[jtiscareno]

Is there a way to animate an object of a linked autocad 3d model in max? I always drawe the majority of my models in CAD and then linked them to Max, I am doing a walkthrough and would like to have some doors open, I wanted to use the constraints or the dummy object to follow a path but I can't seem to get them to work, any suggestions....

 

thx

[theqball]

I’m guessing but your doors are probably blocks in autocad and when linked in they have a "Block/Style Parent" as the parent node in the hierarchy (look in schematic view to confirm). This is how most of the data I get is file linked in.

I’m not very familiar with autocad so I’m not sure if you can change the pivot location (local axis) of the object in autocad. If you can then it would be best to do that in autocad first, but I’m doubtful that you can.

So, the first setup is to position the pivot point of the objects needed to animate.

· To do this I like to place a dummy object in the location of the hinge point of the door.

· Then in the hierarchy tab select the door objects and go to “Affect Pivot Only”.

· Next use the align tool to align the pivots of the door objects to the dummy you just created.

If you have just one object that needs to animate you can skip the dummy part and just move the pivot in the “Affect Pivot Only” mode.

Next step is to constrain the door parts to the dummy.

• Select one of the door parts and go to the motion panel
  
• Under the assign controller rollout expand the transforms and select the rotation:euler controller
  
• Click assign controller and assign a “orientation constraint”
  
• “add orientation object” and pick the dummy
  
• Repeat for other door objects

If you have just one door object you can again skip all this and just key from the door’s rotation

After objects are constrained to the dummy, select the dummy and test the rotation. Everything should be rotating about the pivot point of the dummy. Last thing you could do is link the dummy to the block’s "Block/Style Parent", this would keep the assembly in place if the block move’s to a new location in autocad.

I know this seems like a lot of work and all but it does maintain the file link functionality for these objects. You could always snapshot the door objects into new meshes and turn off the linked geometry or bind that layer.

[Jartain]

You can also just apply and edit mesh modifier or edit poly modifier to the object and then it will work like a max object and will still keep linked.

[jtiscareno]

Shane sorry for the late response but WOW! man what a great and detailed set-by-set instructiones. Worked like a charm!

 

Know I have another animating question, what is an easy way of synchronizing the opening of the door with a simple walk-thru animation. My intent is to start in an elevator lobby, having a double door swing open and then later in the walk having a couple of sliding doors open as I walk into and out of rooms.

 

Thanks for all and thanks again for the superb tips!

[theqball]

Hi, sorry I’ve been on holiday for a bit here and just getting caught up a bit....

I’m sure you probably figured a way around this already but you can automate it the door opening and closing with the new EposeTm (expose transform) helper object. What I have seen done is to setup exposeTm between the door and the camera's from point and then wire the distance output from the exposeTm to the rotation of the door. You’ll need to write an expression to get the conversion done properly but with a little R&D you can have a stock setup to use on all your doors.