Yes - It would be nice to be able to just "Draw" a Path, placing an Object at the beginning & have the Object move-along the self-drawn Path as you can in proDAD's Heroglyph Program that I've used for many years. I've often thought why the hell can't I just do that in iClone.

The answer of course is that Heroglyph is a 2D Application.

It's take/taking me a long time in getting my head around 3D space. Take Attachments for example; They look ok in "Face-on" Camera View. Rotate the Camera; the Attachments become Detached, because their Attachment is only relative to the Parent. Maybe Einstein's Law of Relativity comes into play here;)

My "Clumsy" workaround is to Render a number of different Camera Views to AVI Files & stitch those together in my NLE Program.

As an aside; Like Darren, I've had to alter Story lines to accomodate eg; Characters disappearing & reappearing somewhere-else when a motion is applied.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      REALLUSION FORUM ANNUAL PINHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECTS.

       New Pinhead Website & Project to be announced in September 2015

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

sw0000p, yeah I hate that as well because you have to take one component and place it relative to the main component which is relative to the global coordinates. It's annoying when working with child/parent prop animations.

However, for Darren's problem (which is the only thing I'm addressing in this whole thread), getting a control point to a desired location isn't very difficult when you use the gizmo.

- Keith

ah ok, I was thinking the gizmo was the arrow things that mark the points on the path.
cheers I'll give that a go

_________________________________________________________

Either I'm misunderstanding you, or you're misunderstanding me. With the gizmo enabled (control-q), you simply grab the arrow and drag it along that axis. It can't move along any other axis if you only have one arrow highlighted. It's very easy to position it exactly where you want it.



- Keith

I agree! :pinch:

General Picture - animating now to life itself(tm)
Member of Content Wizards

yeah I agree with you there, I'd be happy to see less new features like 3D etc in favour of more refinement of the existing tools. iClone currently has a huge array of features, but there are quite a few of those features I end up finding it's just easier to keyframe because they are so difficult & unpredictable. I've lost count of how many times my productions have lost momentum and/or completely come to a grinding halt because a basic, rudimentary feature (like walking from one place to another) doesn't work as it should. I've got one scene in this current project I'm working on that I gave up on in the short term because I can't stop the avatar from disappearing under the terrain everytime I try to make him walk the deck of a yacht. I've just skipped the scene and will try and figure at another time, otherwise I'd end up abandoning the project alltogether.

I think the path function certainly could do with a lot of work in regards to making it easier to use. I get a lot of unpredictable results. But for the mean time, Cricky's suggestion will make things a lot easier, we are lucky to have so many experienced people here willing to help us get us past these brick walls!

_________________________________________________________

now that's the way to do it!
I like it a lot, much better control
I wasn't aware that you could convert transform key frames to a path

thanks for putting that video together for me, Cricky! much appreciated as always

_________________________________________________________

Just use transforms for the item being thrown.

Once the positions appear on the time line, then you can highlight and create a Path from the transforms...makes arcing easy and the item can be speed controlled more precisely using path position once it is linked to the path created from the transforms.

A lot easier than trying to create a path from scratch in mid-air...took about 2 minutes to make this one.

SKYPE ID: rc.650

http://city.reallusion.com/store/ModuleExpand.aspx?id=GS634545170497417354&mdid=18866

http://city.reallusion.com/ContentTag.aspx?tagname=Cricky&AuthorID=20081020688550191201#]Reallusion Store Content

" If I had Alzheimer's (Old Timers), would I know it? "

thanks for the reply :)

Yeah I do use the edit mode to adjust all the pointers, but it's still a very awkward thing to use. Trying to get the pointers/gizmo to move on the correct axis is often near impossible. I move the mouse sideways in an effort to move across the x axis and the pointer/gizmo might move across the z axis, but repeat the same move on the next gizmo and it might decide to move on the x-axis. I have to keep flicking between views from above and views from the side until I can get the path as close as possible. Usually I end up having to compromise by moving the prop to suit the path, rather than the other way around.

I'd really like to be able to control the individual gizmos using XYZ coordinates, as you do when you want to accurately move an avatar or prop. That way you know what axis you are actually moving on. Unfortunately it seems there is no option to do this. I think you can only adjust the entire path collectively, using XYZ coordinates...

_________________________________________________________

After you create the path, click on Edit Path in the Modify panel on the right.
From here you can move each individual control point. Click on one of the control points and select the Move tool at the top. It's usually easier to use the "gizmo" at this point. If you don't see the X/Y/Z arrows, press Control-Q to toggle the gizmo on.

It's very easy to make a flight path once you realize that you can position each point individually in the "Edit Path" mode. Once you're done editing the path, click on Edit Path again to get out of edit mode.

If you happen to have "Project to Terrain" checked (just under the Edit Path button), the control points will be stuck to the ground - so make sure it's unchecked.

- Keith