Bend and Twist rig in Lightwave 2019

[lertola2]

I have been exploring the new deform nodes in Lightwave 2019 and I came up with a nice bend and twist rig. Its attached if any one wants to look.

The rig uses 3 control nulls. The base null (pyramid) controls the position and direction of the rig. You can move this and rotate it in any arbitrary direction. It does not need to line up with the world axis.

The tip null (ring) defines the range from the base null where the bend or twist will happen. The tip null should only be moved in its Z direction.

The control null (cube) controls the bending and twisting. Rotating this null controls the twist. Moving the control null away from the tip bends the object. Moving it 1 meter bends 90 degrees. So to bend something into a circle the control null should be moved exactly 4 meters away form the tip null. Once the control is moved the tip null can be rotated to change the direction of the bend. The control null should only be moved in its X and Y direction. If the control null is at X=0, Y=0 then the rig can be moved around without distorting the object. I have seen some glitches when moving the rig though. To fix this I have found that giving the control some tiny offset such as Y=1um makes the rig stable.

To use this rig on your object use load from scene to load the 3 nulls and the figure object. In the object properties for the figure select the two nodal displacements and right click to get the Copy command from the popup menu. Then right click in your object's properties to to get the Paste command.

-Joe

 

[raw-m]

Very nice, I especially like your the visual references for area of influence, thank you!

It’s a shame NT/VizRT don’t supply a simple tool to convert these into 1-click setups or self contained scripts that create all the nulls in place and add deformers. Oliver has similar Easy Bend in ODtools, which I use quite often simply because it is a one-click setup (that and it works well!).

Looking forward to giving it a blast!

 

[gar26lw]

anyone know if this be exported to unity at all?

 

[erikals]

interesting... Mucho interesting!

Thank You!

 

[ianr]

Nice lertola2 germination rubber dolls

Can this work with 'Rag Dolling' is that possible in the future ?


I hope S.bowie makes this sticky ?

 

[lertola2]

anyone know if this be exported to unity at all?

Probably not. For deforming animation I think you can only transfer bones and morph animations. Maybe there is a way to save deforming animation as an MDD file and bring that into Unity but I am not sure about that.

 

[lertola2]

Nice lertola2 germination rubber dolls

Can this work with 'Rag Dolling' is that possible in the future ?


I hope S.bowie makes this sticky ?

I am not sure what you mean by rag doling. If its some kind of dynamics then probably not.

 

[Tobian]

Very nice rig, nice and simple!

 

[marchermitte]

Yes, very cool scene setup. Tnank you for sharing!

 

[Gman2022]

I have been exploring the new deform nodes in Lightwave 2019 and I came up with a nice bend and twist rig. Its attached if any one wants to look.

The rig uses 3 control nulls. The base null (pyramid) controls the position and direction of the rig. You can move this and rotate it in any arbitrary direction. It does not need to line up with the world axis.

The tip null (ring) defines the range from the base null where the bend or twist will happen. The tip null should only be moved in its Z direction.

The control null (cube) controls the bending and twisting. Rotating this null controls the twist. Moving the control null away from the tip bends the object. Moving it 1 meter bends 90 degrees. So to bend something into a circle the control null should be moved exactly 4 meters away form the tip null. Once the control is moved the tip null can be rotated to change the direction of the bend. The control null should only be moved in its X and Y direction. If the control null is at X=0, Y=0 then the rig can be moved around without distorting the object. I have seen some glitches when moving the rig though. To fix this I have found that giving the control some tiny offset such as Y=1um makes the rig stable.

To use this rig on your object use load from scene to load the 3 nulls and the figure object. In the object properties for the figure select the two nodal displacements and right click to get the Copy command from the popup menu. Then right click in your object's properties to to get the Paste command.

-Joe

You're a life safer! I just used this on a tube I needed to bend and it was amazingly easy and customizable!