Animating flying shoelace

[CommandZ]

In need of some help. I have a shoelace that I am trying to animate as flying through the air on a path. I need the shoelace to deform along the path with the entire object alligned and following the path without stretching.

I've tried using bones, parenting the bones of the shoelace to a null that I'm using to define the motion path. I align the bones to the path in "motion options", but my shoelace doesn't deform and the bones don't rotate.

Are there any simple recommendations out there for getting what is essentially a tube to follow and deform along a path?

Thanks in advance for your help.

CommandZ

[Surrealist.]

Serpent sounds like it might be the ticket. You can find it in the deform tab of the object properties panel by choosing add displacement/serpent.

It deforms a segmented object along it's own path. For full understanding of its controls you might want to look it up in the manual.

But what it does sounds exactly like what you are looking for. As you play the animation the object moves along the path and deforms to it as it goes - like a snake.

The lace will have to be a separate object from the shoe of course, so if you have a shoe that might make it more complex to set up.

Also there is a great quick video tut here : ftp://ftp.newtek.com/pub/LightWave/Tutorials/Vidz/property_web.mov

Its a tut on the scene editor but the example is a worm being moved along a path using bones. Check it out, serpent is simpler but this will give you perhaps another solution if it dioes not work.

One thing to really keep in mind though about serpent is the beggining and end of the path. They should be set to linear (graph editor pre and post behavior) so that the object when going into and out of the path does not do so abruptly. Another tip would be to plan the before and after portions of your path so that the object is deformed the way you want it. In other words, since the object's shape is being defined by the path you have to make it loger at the begining and end to keep the object from returning to the flat strip that it is in its undeformed shape during the animation. Get it? Same idea with linear pre and post settings.

Also there are some other things as to why your solution might not have worked but one of these two solutions will get you there.

[CommandZ]

Surrealist, thanks. The info gives me a direction, never having worked with Serpent before. I'm going to check it out right now and see what I can work out. You kick ***. Thanks.

CommandZ

[Surrealist.]

Hey no prob. Hope it works out.

[CommandZ]

Tried working with Serpent plug-in but it has been BEASTLY slow. :bangwall: Looks like it's back to some sort of bone deformation. Unless there is another plug-in that can create a deformation along a moving curve. Like in all the bad Anaconda movies. Thanks for your help. Any other recommendations are greatly appreciated.

CommandZ

[Surrealist.]

Wow. Slow? OK, thanks for posting an update. Lets see there was a few other ideas, I had, that was just one. Oh yea, did you look at that video? The link is in my post. That has an alternate method that might be faster.

[munky]

Ah!!!!!

I found this little beauty only a while ago as It's just been ported to the mac, and as my PC is more flakey than a lepers you know whats I'd never downloaded it till I could get a mac version but this might just do what you want.

It's a plugin called "trailer" by D-Storm which allows you to get your object to deform or animate along a motion path.

http://www.dstorm.co.jp/archives/plugins/Trailer/doce/index.html

hope this ties yer laces

regards

paul

[ckeyes]

Munky,

Sounds interesting, but how/where can it be downloaded?

Thanks,

Carl

[munky]

Doh!!!!!! sorry I sent you the link for the "how to"

It's here
http://www.dstorm.co.jp/english/plugin/displace.htm

along with a whole raft of useful stuff

regards

paul

[CommandZ]

Thanks for the link Munky. See if I can't give it a shot. Appreciate all the help!

CommandZ