help about animating spline

[helenistikyay]

first thanks anybody thought about help

this is my problem

i need to make an animation about water pipe moving along a path

i used PathDeform (WSM)

but my path is so long and have many vertex

you can see the problem in the pics below

 

how can i a do it

[hughie]

did something similar recently, ended up using multiple splines

[Claudio Branch]

To make your object follow the spline you need to animate the Percent value. 100% = 1 pass. You will might need to tweak the Stretch command so your cylinders length stays intact.

 

You are probably getting those sharp corners in the cylinder as it goes through the hair pin turns because your vertice count is too low.

 

I helped another person out with this problem over a year ago. Here is the old thread:

 

http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/27314-3dsmax-unwiding-coil.html

 

Here is my old animation as well:

 

http://www.vimeo.com/4731333

[helenistikyay]

thanks but the real problem is max vertice count of cylinder is 200

and my path is so long

[Claudio Branch]

I see...perhaps you can use multiple cylinders starting off at different places along the path. Like a relay race.