animation rotating

[thespokesman]

does anyone know how to make something rotate constantly for 600 frames

[jamiebyers]

Yeah.. you set your timeline to 600 frames.. then go to the end.. of the timeline. Hit AutoKey.. and pick the left viewport and rotate an axis.. be sure it will rotate on incriments.. (like full interger numbers and not floating numbers with decimals)... makes this much easier and more accurate. Anyway, to get the full rotation, you'll have to make sure it at least gets 360 degrees around.. so for every rotation you need.. depending on the spend of the rotating object.. you'll have to play around with that. Then set your keyframes tangents to smooth. You do that by right clicking on the keyframe and selecting the top choice on the menu. Be sure to set it for the correct Axis, (the one you rotated). Then do the same for the last keyframe.. you can also achieve this in the curve editor.

 

Hope this helps..

[MongoMan]

I would say to try and find a max script actually, I dont have one to do what you want but some of the things I have seen scripts do I would say it would be an almost trivial thing to achieve. Whats that guys name bobo or something

or have a search around at http://www.scriptspot.com/start.htm there might be something there you can modify to suite your needs .

[MongoMan]

I became interested in exactly how easy it was to achieve what you want with max script and I found it to be very easy and quick .

have the object you want to rotate selected before you run this script and make sure you have your time line set to 600 or more frames. Hit the new script button paste this in below

 

set animate on

sliderTime = 600f

rotate $ (angleaxis -1440.000 [0,0,1]) -- x,y,z

set animate off

 

 

hit the evaluate menu on the script editor and there you go all done

thanks for the question because I learnt something from it.

[Jennifer]

If you are looking for something to, say, rotate 360 degrees every X number of frames even though your animation is longer than X, you move to that X frame, then turn on Auto Key and rotate the object as usual. To get it to Keep rotating through the length of your animation, open the Curve Editor, go to the Controller -> Out of Range Types menu option, and select the Loop option. It will now continue to rotate beyond frame X.

 

You may want to also change the Rotation Controller type for the object to Linear from Bezier, also within the Curve Editor. Click on the Z Rotation controller, then Right Click, select Assign Controller, and choose Linear Float.

 

Have fun!

[MongoMan]

I know this is the spokesmans post , but I just have to say thank you to the last post, I tried what you suggested and that is very cool ,I tried for fun see if I could get a script to do what you suggested and It could only seem to get so far the listener doesn't record the loop Out of Range Types menu option when you run the script it will pop up the linear float box and ask for an ok but it doesnt record the loop. Anyway thanks very helpful stuff I think with alot of people the curve/graph editors are somewhat of a mystery and often i see tutorials where they say " I never got around to learning the graph editors. " So thank you for some of your insight

[Jennifer]

Hi,

 

If you are going to do a lot of animation, the Curve Editor is definitely your friend and learning how to use it is certainly time well spent. There are a number of max tutorials that cover the features; open the Help -> Tutorials and search for "Curve Editor" with the quote-marks.

 

Have fun!

[RyanSpaulding]

Good god. I think this is being overthought.

 

Just hit "Auto Key", set a keyframe. Go all the way to frame "600" and rotate your model 360 degrees. Set another keyframe and you're done.

[IC]

Hehe

Well said-I thought I was missing something here!!

 

It's THE most basic of animation procedures. RTFM?!?

[MongoMan]

hhaha yeah i know what you two guys are saying sure ,

but Jennifers post was a bonus (for someone who is not a veteran it is always great when an experienced user shares some extra options the loop out of range on the curve edtor is certainly a bonus) I didnt know this Im sure 10,000 others didnt either, So i would always appreciate and encourage someone to share knowledge. I agree with you guys that scripting this senario was overkill sorry for that ok . The funny thing is the spokesman never came back so we dont know if he got help on his specific problem .I m pretty sure that it was a bit more complicated than just a garden variety 360 deg rotation for 600 frames because every one knows how to do that . like I said I think jennifer addressed the issue well .

either way no harm done

cheers..

[Christopher Nichols]

Sorry mongo man... but i have to agree with IC and Ryan... turntables animation is something you learn in the first couple of tutorials. Don't want to sound elitist, but...

[MongoMan]

but you do...(joke) I agree hey im not hurt and Im not trying to start a flame war about who knows what or who knows who . the fact is that her post benifited me and thats got to be a positive thing I just wanted to thank her like i said no harm done

i think that we were staying on topic and the issue was really about controlling the rotation, knowing this is a good thing . And thats what forums are for arent they ? asking questions and admitting we dont know everything . I mean the first thing I learnt in max was the Pflow not everyone takes the same path ... But the thread is dead really dont you think I mean its good you guys comment on how basic something is to you good for you .

But as far as holding a referendum on what everyone thinks is basic, Is really just a waste of time .. So lets leave it at that and move on eh .

have a nice christmas

[William Alexander]

Good god. I think this is being overthought.

 

Just hit "Auto Key", set a keyframe. Go all the way to frame "600" and rotate your model 360 degrees. Set another keyframe and you're done.

A little flustered? You don't have to 'set a keyframe' with 'AutoKey' (that wouldn't be automatic would it?), hehehehe... 'set key'?

 

Curve editer adjustment or changing controller types are required for "Constant" rotation, ie a 20 sec ani looped to play continuously. As Jennifer stated.

 

xmas cheers

WDA

[Advisor]

Another way is via Expression Controller

right click on object go to curve editor

right click on the rotation axis that is required to rotate

choose assign controller from menu then choose the Expression controller from the box

type in the expression window

([i]X[/i]*F)

where X is the angle you want to rotate in radians (you can use the pi, for example: 45deg=pi/4) click Evaluate and your done it'll rotate with a very constant speed thought pi/4 rad per frame if x = pi/4

[IC]

It's expected for people to ask questions on a Forum and normally, even the most basic are answered.

What's odd about this one is that if someone doesn't know how to rotate an object continuously then I would assume utilising a script or an expression would be well beyond them.

 

And why the need for a script? The Graph Editor is all that's needed.

You have to learn the basics first. Rtfm.

[Advisor]

And why the need for a script? The Graph Editor is all that's needed.

I agree IC but I thought he wanted an alternative way, a way that automates the process. Maybe its for the good of the masses.

God knows how many times I learned something new from a situation like this. And this forum is for the public, so not only the one who asked the question will see it others may benefit of it.

[MongoMan]

hey good on you Advisor and i agree 100 % with you thank you for taking the time to pop in a script, IC your really fired up over nothing I think, and you really need to get over it and stop being so outright judgmental about someone wanting to know if something is possible with a script or not. I said before that

It really is petty and a waste of time to pass these sort of judgements on what is or isnt basic or suitable learning material. comments like RTFM I actually find kinda offensive and condesending in tone.We are have an interesting discussion here and constantly jumping in and berrating someone for contributing is really aggresive, I mean we are talking about various methods of rotations so what ? . if you are so against what we are talking about dont read the thread, youve made it clear its well below you .Like i said good for you your a ninja what ever. ok just give people a break stop making superficial assumtions and get your feet back on the ground .. stop with the policeman act ya know jezzuz

[IC]

I wasn't going to answer your post MongoMan but I think your comments are unfounded and out of order.

The initial question posed on this thread was a VERY basic one. Nothing wrong with that and it was answered quickly.

 

Then without any prompting you suggested someone who obviously knows very little about animation should use a script. I (reasonably?) thought that was a bit too much for the process in question.

 

I'm not being elitist-I'm keeping this thread on the track of the initial question posed and I actually find your comments offensive.

I didn't make any personal attacks on you or anyone else and I won't as this is against the rules of the forum.

RTFM is a phrase which has been used by IT people for years. It's abbreviated so as not to cause offence and I personally think it should be used much more often.

[Advisor]

Well the one who started this thread (who is somewhere reading what you guys are saying and ROTFL instead of RTFM) asked a very general question.

does anyone know how to make something rotate constantly for 600 frames

but then people wanted to show other ways of doing it, and it's true that maybe all of them are doing it just for showing off. so what? I'd like it if some gave me 1000$ for showing off.

I agree to the fact that everybody should read the manual or at least ask F1 before coming to any forum.

It wasn't a waste of somebody's time I'm sure people read it and maybe someone will learn something new from it.

besides the one asked this question upon seeing the type of answers won't bother the viewers of this forum with such questions. He'd say " I'd rather RTFM! it's easier"

[MongoMan]

HAHAHAH oh my god this is out of hand ,, Look sorry IC ok seriously I do apologise for my comments they were more designed to be witty rather than offensive.. I thought that was obvious ... I think my back shot up with chris nicols comments and I really tried to clarify my point there after ... I did say look lets not have a flame war about it, I was just enjoying seeing the variations, it seemed as though this was bugging you somehow and you wanted it to stop. You have since clarified your position on this and I accept your comments as being valid

 

have a good christmas

[MetalUrge]

Reviving a 5 year old thread for hopefully another requirement of rotations using expressions. I wasn't able to gather much from the discussion held previously, so here is my question.

 

Question: How do we use expressions to rotate an already existing rotation by a certain number of times?

 

Details: I have a cylinder (as a wheel) with radius equal to 36 and I generate continuous rotation by autokeying and rotating at the last frame for 360 degrees. I have made a plane as a road which is 3500 units long. Now from the beginning of the road till the end the wheel will have to rotate something like 15.47 times before it can stop (after certain maths).

 

Now all these calculations seem unnecessary but now if I can multiply my already existing rotation into 15.47 (using Expressions like how we do in Wire Parameters) and place the wheel at the end of the road, it would display actual rotation covering the entire length of road and wouldn't be sliding now at any point.

 

So how do we use expressions to rotate an already existing rotation by a certain number of times?