Re: Animated booleans now and then

[Mladen Kevic]

sorry wrong gif i sent, here is animated cutout i want to show
http://g.recordit.co/FHSqM3VwL0.gif


On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 11:26 PM, Mladen Kevic 
wrote:

> Hi Sven, in my projects i had to do lots of cuts of CADs object, and in
> XSI i used slice PolyMesh in ICE (attach it to null for control), but
> without automatic cap (it flicker too much) and then create poly from
> border edge. that workflow alow me to do animated cut out without
> flickering and artifacts
>
> several moths ago i switched to Houdini, and i'm impressed how it works,
> just now  making one cutout of animated valve with moving parts and it go
> like a charm, totally recommendation.
>
> quick example: http://g.recordit.co/lEs1G1NfQs.gif
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 7:03 PM, Sven Constable 
> wrote:
>
>> FYI: seems to me the standard boolean operator in XSI 2015 creates a
>> memory leak. Create a simple animation(sphere cutted by a box, animated as
>> a cycle) do a flipbook over a few hundred frames and watch the memory
>> consumption. Even a 'Delete All' command or creating a new scene does not
>> flush the memory.
>> The Implosia booleans (tested with 2015) don't have these issues btw. Nor
>> the built in booleans in XSI 2011.
>>
>> How about a google doc or something like that, where we can add bugs and
>> issues left in XSI for future reference? Just a thought.
>> Sven
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sven Constable
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2017 10:50 AM
>> To: 'Official Softimage Users Mailing List.
>> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list'
>> Subject: RE: Animated booleans now and then
>>
>> Thanks for the tips, guys. I may try the Implosia booleans next time.
>> Sven
>>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:
>> softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Morten Bartholdy
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 1:53 PM
>> To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. https://groups.google.com/foru
>> m/#!forum/xsi_list
>> Subject: Re: Animated booleans now and then
>>
>> Implosia is a good bet. Remember to triangulate your geo before doing
>> complex booleans - it will be a lot more stable.
>>
>> Other than that, I know it might not help you, but the new boolean engine
>> in Houdini 16 looks amazing:
>>
>> http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/nodes/sop/boolean
>>
>> Also Maya has lately gotten a couple of boolean plugins that look
>> promising, although I have no idea about stability:
>>
>> http://www.hard-mesh.com/
>>
>> http://lesterbanks.com/2017/08/new-live-boolean-plugin-maya/
>>
>>
>> //Morten
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > Den 29. august 2017 klokken 13:09 skrev wavo :
>> >
>> >
>> > Hello,
>> >
>> > you can also try Implosia
>> > http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=5=6373=m
>> > omentum its now free, You can create booleans via Icetree or
>> > sricptedOp vie the PulldownMenu
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Am 8/28/2017 um 11:28 PM schrieb Sven Constable:
>> > >
>> > > ,,
>> > >
>> >
>> > > Hi list,
>> > >
>> > > I had several projects lately  that involved animated booleans with
>> > > CAD data, which is problematic sometimes. I used the old BoolTrace
>> > > shader by Alan Jones but it has its drawbacks: With many objects,
>> > > using different materials, it's hard to  keep track of the shaders.
>> > > Another problem was, that there is a limitation in the shader with
>> > > reflections. Let's say you have a box and a sphere and the box is
>> > > cutting the sphere in half. If another objects that is reflective,
>> > > intersects the cutting volume (the box) it will reflect the box by
>> > > it's primary rays. I assume that is because the shader interchanges
>> > > primary and secondary rays under the hood. I could potentially get
>> > > it solved by using passes/partition trickery or another shader to
>> > > get selective reflections on object basis. However, this becomes
>> > > quite complicated with a handful ob objects, all using different
>> materials.
>> > >
>> > > On some projects I switched back to real (geo) booleans and fixed
>> > > the "popping" of meshes by slighty adjusting the fcurves or cleaning
>> > > the topology a bit, but its a hack. On another project I got away
>> > > with slightly incorrect reflections using render time booleans. At
>> > > the end it worked somehow but it was almost never elegant or straight
>> forward.
>> > >
>> > > Is there an alternative to the (rather old) booltrace shader for XSI?
>> > > Anything for redshift in that area? Last, not least, how do you
>> > > approach animated booleans with complicated/heavy meshes nowadays?
>> > >
>> > > Thanks,
>> > >
>> > > Sven
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > --
>> > > Softimage Mailing List.
>> > > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.aut
>> odesk.com with 

Re: Animated booleans now and then

[Mladen Kevic]

Hi Sven, in my projects i had to do lots of cuts of CADs object, and in XSI
i used slice PolyMesh in ICE (attach it to null for control), but without
automatic cap (it flicker too much) and then create poly from border edge.
that workflow alow me to do animated cut out without flickering and
artifacts

several moths ago i switched to Houdini, and i'm impressed how it works,
just now  making one cutout of animated valve with moving parts and it go
like a charm, totally recommendation.

quick example: http://g.recordit.co/lEs1G1NfQs.gif





On Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 7:03 PM, Sven Constable 
wrote:

> FYI: seems to me the standard boolean operator in XSI 2015 creates a
> memory leak. Create a simple animation(sphere cutted by a box, animated as
> a cycle) do a flipbook over a few hundred frames and watch the memory
> consumption. Even a 'Delete All' command or creating a new scene does not
> flush the memory.
> The Implosia booleans (tested with 2015) don't have these issues btw. Nor
> the built in booleans in XSI 2011.
>
> How about a google doc or something like that, where we can add bugs and
> issues left in XSI for future reference? Just a thought.
> Sven
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@
> listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sven Constable
> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2017 10:50 AM
> To: 'Official Softimage Users Mailing List. https://groups.google.com/
> forum/#!forum/xsi_list'
> Subject: RE: Animated booleans now and then
>
> Thanks for the tips, guys. I may try the Implosia booleans next time.
> Sven
>
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@
> listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Morten Bartholdy
> Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 1:53 PM
> To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. https://groups.google.com/
> forum/#!forum/xsi_list
> Subject: Re: Animated booleans now and then
>
> Implosia is a good bet. Remember to triangulate your geo before doing
> complex booleans - it will be a lot more stable.
>
> Other than that, I know it might not help you, but the new boolean engine
> in Houdini 16 looks amazing:
>
> http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/nodes/sop/boolean
>
> Also Maya has lately gotten a couple of boolean plugins that look
> promising, although I have no idea about stability:
>
> http://www.hard-mesh.com/
>
> http://lesterbanks.com/2017/08/new-live-boolean-plugin-maya/
>
>
> //Morten
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Den 29. august 2017 klokken 13:09 skrev wavo :
> >
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > you can also try Implosia
> > http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=5=6373=m
> > omentum its now free, You can create booleans via Icetree or
> > sricptedOp vie the PulldownMenu
> >
> >
> >
> > Am 8/28/2017 um 11:28 PM schrieb Sven Constable:
> > >
> > > ,,
> > >
> >
> > > Hi list,
> > >
> > > I had several projects lately  that involved animated booleans with
> > > CAD data, which is problematic sometimes. I used the old BoolTrace
> > > shader by Alan Jones but it has its drawbacks: With many objects,
> > > using different materials, it's hard to  keep track of the shaders.
> > > Another problem was, that there is a limitation in the shader with
> > > reflections. Let's say you have a box and a sphere and the box is
> > > cutting the sphere in half. If another objects that is reflective,
> > > intersects the cutting volume (the box) it will reflect the box by
> > > it's primary rays. I assume that is because the shader interchanges
> > > primary and secondary rays under the hood. I could potentially get
> > > it solved by using passes/partition trickery or another shader to
> > > get selective reflections on object basis. However, this becomes
> > > quite complicated with a handful ob objects, all using different
> materials.
> > >
> > > On some projects I switched back to real (geo) booleans and fixed
> > > the "popping" of meshes by slighty adjusting the fcurves or cleaning
> > > the topology a bit, but its a hack. On another project I got away
> > > with slightly incorrect reflections using render time booleans. At
> > > the end it worked somehow but it was almost never elegant or straight
> forward.
> > >
> > > Is there an alternative to the (rather old) booltrace shader for XSI?
> > > Anything for redshift in that area? Last, not least, how do you
> > > approach animated booleans with complicated/heavy meshes nowadays?
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > >
> > > Sven
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Softimage Mailing List.
> > > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > *Walter Volbers*
> > Senior Animator
> >
> > *FIFTYEIGHT*3D
> > Animation & Digital Effects GmbH
> >
> > Kontorhaus Osthafen
> > Lindleystraße 12
> > 60314 Frankfurt am Main
> > Germany
> >
> > Telefon +49 (0) 69.48 000 55.50
> > Telefax +49 (0) 69.48 

Re: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Martin]

This kind of problem also occurs in SI. If the parent has a rotation the 
children objects gimbal axis can get really messed up. I'm having this problem 
myself in Softimage now with a character skeleton that who knows why has her 
hip bone rotated (client's data) and doesn't have a rig, so some of the skirt 
bones Im adding are impossible to animate.
I can workaround with controllers and constraints though and I only need to do 
some test animations so no big deal. A Neutral Pose could work too but I can't 
modify the bones.
In Maya you could do the same, although only joints have a Neutral Pose kind of 
thing, extra controllers and constraints should work.

Martin
Sent from my iPhone

> On Sep 12, 2017, at 0:01, Morten Bartholdy  wrote:
> 
> Thanks guys - there is plenty to investigate here :)
> 
> //MB
> 
> 
> 
>> Den 11. september 2017 klokken 16:50 skrev "Ponthieux, Joseph G. 
>> (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]" :
>> 
>> 
>> Here is another example which is probably closer to what you really want. 
>> I'm making that assumption of course with no knowledge of your scene. (BTW, 
>> ignore the cone2 and pipe2, they are left behind as a result of my editing 
>> the MEL. 
>> 
>> There are some details in the original MEL which are left out or cryptic. 
>> This is an attempt to explain that.
>> 
>> What you can't easily see in the MEL that I am doing at several steps, is 
>> that when the Pipe and Cone are resting as children to locator2 I am 
>> executing Freeze Transformations then Reset Transformations on both the Pipe 
>> and Cone  after all repositioning is final. This effectively zeroes them out 
>> in relation to their parent. This works if everything is aligned properly in 
>> original construction. 
>> 
>> The MEL command below that represents that freezing action on the transforms 
>> is "makeIdentity". I use Freeze then Reset because Freeze zeroes out the 
>> pivots, Reset zeroes out the transforms sending the transform "center" back 
>> to "world zero". The actual MEL commands are :
>> 
>> FreezeTransformations;
>> ResetTransformations;
>> 
>> They are normally executed from Modify. They can be seen in MEL if you set 
>> the script editor to Echo All Commands. It may not look like Reset is doing 
>> anything if you have not moved the object away from world center. Reset's 
>> action will only be evident if you move the object to something of non-zero 
>> translation. Generally its just habit after 20 years, I always execute 
>> Freeze then Reset as a default part of the process. If the object wasn't 
>> moved, it wont hurt it.
>> 
>> 
>> A synopsis of the process is as follows:
>> 
>> Create, rotate and move the pipe. Preferably at world center and its length 
>> aligned with z axis. 
>> Create, rotate, and move the  cone (analog for a bullet I guess). Also at 
>> world center and also aligned with z axis for z translation in relation to 
>> the pipe.
>> Parent both under a locator. Also at World center. Do not move or change its 
>> position or orientation.
>> Execute Freeze/Reset on both Pipe and Cone.
>> Move & rotate the locator at will. Cone should follow the pipe and be 
>> keyable as translation only in the z axis to follow the pipe.
>> 
>> 
>> Here is the MEL to demonstrate.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> file -f -new;
>> CreatePolygonCone;
>> polyCone -r 1 -h 2 -sx 20 -sy 1 -sz 0 -ax 0 1 0 -rcp 0 -cuv 3 -ch 1; 
>> setAttr "pCone1.rotateX" -90;
>> CreatePolygonPipe;
>> polyPipe -r 1 -h 2 -t 0.5 -sa 20 -sh 1 -sc 0 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 1 -rcp 0 -ch 1;
>> setAttr "pPipe1.rotateX" -90;
>> select -cl  ;
>> spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
>> spaceLocator -p 0 0 0; 
>> select -r locator1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> select -r locator2 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> parent locator2 locator1 ;
>> parent pPipe1 locator2 ; 
>> select -r pCone1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> parent pCone1 locator2 ; 
>> select -r locator2 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> select -r pPipe1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
>> select -r pCone1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
>> select -r pPipe1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> setAttr "pPipe1.scaleZ" 10;
>> select -addFirst polyPipe1 ;
>> setAttr "polyPipe1.thickness" .1;
>> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
>> select -r locator1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> rotate -r -os -fo 32.234531 0 0 ;
>> rotate -r -os -fo 0 33.615086 0 ;
>> select -r pCone1 ;
>> selectKey -clear ;
>> if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
>> "pCone1.tz";
>> currentTime 30 ;
>> move -r -ls -wd 0 0 -37.704086 ;
>> if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
>> "pCone1.tz";
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Joey
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -Original Message-
>> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
>> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, 
>> Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
>> Sent: Monday, September 11, 

RE: Animated booleans now and then

[Sven Constable]

FYI: seems to me the standard boolean operator in XSI 2015 creates a memory 
leak. Create a simple animation(sphere cutted by a box, animated as a cycle) do 
a flipbook over a few hundred frames and watch the memory consumption. Even a 
'Delete All' command or creating a new scene does not flush the memory.
The Implosia booleans (tested with 2015) don't have these issues btw. Nor the 
built in booleans in XSI 2011. 

How about a google doc or something like that, where we can add bugs and issues 
left in XSI for future reference? Just a thought. 
Sven   

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Sven Constable
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2017 10:50 AM
To: 'Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list'
Subject: RE: Animated booleans now and then

Thanks for the tips, guys. I may try the Implosia booleans next time.
Sven

-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Morten Bartholdy
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 1:53 PM
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list
Subject: Re: Animated booleans now and then

Implosia is a good bet. Remember to triangulate your geo before doing complex 
booleans - it will be a lot more stable.

Other than that, I know it might not help you, but the new boolean engine in 
Houdini 16 looks amazing:

http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/nodes/sop/boolean

Also Maya has lately gotten a couple of boolean plugins that look promising, 
although I have no idea about stability:

http://www.hard-mesh.com/

http://lesterbanks.com/2017/08/new-live-boolean-plugin-maya/


//Morten


 



> Den 29. august 2017 klokken 13:09 skrev wavo :
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
> you can also try Implosia
> http://www.si-community.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=5=6373=m
> omentum its now free, You can create booleans via Icetree or 
> sricptedOp vie the PulldownMenu
> 
> 
> 
> Am 8/28/2017 um 11:28 PM schrieb Sven Constable:
> >
> > ,,
> >
> 
> > Hi list,
> >
> > I had several projects lately  that involved animated booleans with 
> > CAD data, which is problematic sometimes. I used the old BoolTrace 
> > shader by Alan Jones but it has its drawbacks: With many objects, 
> > using different materials, it's hard to  keep track of the shaders.
> > Another problem was, that there is a limitation in the shader with 
> > reflections. Let's say you have a box and a sphere and the box is 
> > cutting the sphere in half. If another objects that is reflective, 
> > intersects the cutting volume (the box) it will reflect the box by 
> > it's primary rays. I assume that is because the shader interchanges 
> > primary and secondary rays under the hood. I could potentially get 
> > it solved by using passes/partition trickery or another shader to 
> > get selective reflections on object basis. However, this becomes 
> > quite complicated with a handful ob objects, all using different materials.
> >
> > On some projects I switched back to real (geo) booleans and fixed 
> > the "popping" of meshes by slighty adjusting the fcurves or cleaning 
> > the topology a bit, but its a hack. On another project I got away 
> > with slightly incorrect reflections using render time booleans. At 
> > the end it worked somehow but it was almost never elegant or straight 
> > forward.
> >
> > Is there an alternative to the (rather old) booltrace shader for XSI? 
> > Anything for redshift in that area? Last, not least, how do you 
> > approach animated booleans with complicated/heavy meshes nowadays?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Sven
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Softimage Mailing List.
> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
> > "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
> 
> 
> --
> 
> 
> *Walter Volbers*
> Senior Animator
> 
> *FIFTYEIGHT*3D
> Animation & Digital Effects GmbH
> 
> Kontorhaus Osthafen
> Lindleystraße 12
> 60314 Frankfurt am Main
> Germany
> 
> Telefon +49 (0) 69.48 000 55.50
> Telefax +49 (0) 69.48 000 55.15
> 
> _mailto:w...@fiftyeight.com
> http://www.fiftyeight.com
> _
> 
> 
> ESC*58*
> Eine Kooperation der escape GmbH und der FIFTYEIGHT3D GmbH
> 
> _http://www.ESC58.de
> _
> --
> Softimage Mailing List.
> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
> "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.

--
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To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
"unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.


--
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To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
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To unsubscribe, send a mail to 

RE: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Morten Bartholdy]

Thanks guys - there is plenty to investigate here :)

//MB



> Den 11. september 2017 klokken 16:50 skrev "Ponthieux, Joseph G. 
> (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]" :
> 
> 
> Here is another example which is probably closer to what you really want. I'm 
> making that assumption of course with no knowledge of your scene. (BTW, 
> ignore the cone2 and pipe2, they are left behind as a result of my editing 
> the MEL. 
> 
> There are some details in the original MEL which are left out or cryptic. 
> This is an attempt to explain that.
> 
> What you can't easily see in the MEL that I am doing at several steps, is 
> that when the Pipe and Cone are resting as children to locator2 I am 
> executing Freeze Transformations then Reset Transformations on both the Pipe 
> and Cone  after all repositioning is final. This effectively zeroes them out 
> in relation to their parent. This works if everything is aligned properly in 
> original construction. 
> 
> The MEL command below that represents that freezing action on the transforms 
> is "makeIdentity". I use Freeze then Reset because Freeze zeroes out the 
> pivots, Reset zeroes out the transforms sending the transform "center" back 
> to "world zero". The actual MEL commands are :
> 
> FreezeTransformations;
> ResetTransformations;
> 
> They are normally executed from Modify. They can be seen in MEL if you set 
> the script editor to Echo All Commands. It may not look like Reset is doing 
> anything if you have not moved the object away from world center. Reset's 
> action will only be evident if you move the object to something of non-zero 
> translation. Generally its just habit after 20 years, I always execute Freeze 
> then Reset as a default part of the process. If the object wasn't moved, it 
> wont hurt it.
> 
> 
> A synopsis of the process is as follows:
> 
> Create, rotate and move the pipe. Preferably at world center and its length 
> aligned with z axis. 
> Create, rotate, and move the  cone (analog for a bullet I guess). Also at 
> world center and also aligned with z axis for z translation in relation to 
> the pipe.
> Parent both under a locator. Also at World center. Do not move or change its 
> position or orientation.
> Execute Freeze/Reset on both Pipe and Cone.
> Move & rotate the locator at will. Cone should follow the pipe and be keyable 
> as translation only in the z axis to follow the pipe.
>  
> 
> Here is the MEL to demonstrate.
> 
> 
> 
> file -f -new;
> CreatePolygonCone;
> polyCone -r 1 -h 2 -sx 20 -sy 1 -sz 0 -ax 0 1 0 -rcp 0 -cuv 3 -ch 1; 
> setAttr "pCone1.rotateX" -90;
> CreatePolygonPipe;
> polyPipe -r 1 -h 2 -t 0.5 -sa 20 -sh 1 -sc 0 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 1 -rcp 0 -ch 1;
> setAttr "pPipe1.rotateX" -90;
> select -cl  ;
> spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
> spaceLocator -p 0 0 0; 
> select -r locator1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> select -r locator2 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> parent locator2 locator1 ;
> parent pPipe1 locator2 ; 
> select -r pCone1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> parent pCone1 locator2 ; 
> select -r locator2 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> select -r pPipe1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
> select -r pCone1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
> select -r pPipe1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> setAttr "pPipe1.scaleZ" 10;
> select -addFirst polyPipe1 ;
> setAttr "polyPipe1.thickness" .1;
> makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
> select -r locator1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> rotate -r -os -fo 32.234531 0 0 ;
> rotate -r -os -fo 0 33.615086 0 ;
> select -r pCone1 ;
> selectKey -clear ;
> if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
> "pCone1.tz";
> currentTime 30 ;
> move -r -ls -wd 0 0 -37.704086 ;
> if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
> "pCone1.tz";
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Joey
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
> [mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, 
> Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 9:52 AM
> To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
> Subject: RE: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms
> 
> More than likely this has something to do with the way your hierarchy is 
> organized. There is no reason why you can't do this. The key to making this 
> work is that the gun cannot have had its pivot or transforms modified in 
> relation to the child. The object as child to the gun must be zero-centric to 
> it. In other words, the gun must be the "world" coordinates for the gun. Does 
> that make sense?
> 
> Run the MEL commands below in your script editor in an empty scene. See 
> specifically the angle of locator2 and the keyframed z translation of pCone1. 
> Move locator1 around at will, and you can change the orientation of locator2 
> if you desire, but the cone's motion is always maintained on Z axis relative 
> everything it is parented to. And it is only 

RE: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]]

Here is another example which is probably closer to what you really want. I'm 
making that assumption of course with no knowledge of your scene. (BTW, ignore 
the cone2 and pipe2, they are left behind as a result of my editing the MEL. 

There are some details in the original MEL which are left out or cryptic. This 
is an attempt to explain that.

What you can't easily see in the MEL that I am doing at several steps, is that 
when the Pipe and Cone are resting as children to locator2 I am executing 
Freeze Transformations then Reset Transformations on both the Pipe and Cone  
after all repositioning is final. This effectively zeroes them out in relation 
to their parent. This works if everything is aligned properly in original 
construction. 

The MEL command below that represents that freezing action on the transforms is 
"makeIdentity". I use Freeze then Reset because Freeze zeroes out the pivots, 
Reset zeroes out the transforms sending the transform "center" back to "world 
zero". The actual MEL commands are :

FreezeTransformations;
ResetTransformations;

They are normally executed from Modify. They can be seen in MEL if you set the 
script editor to Echo All Commands. It may not look like Reset is doing 
anything if you have not moved the object away from world center. Reset's 
action will only be evident if you move the object to something of non-zero 
translation. Generally its just habit after 20 years, I always execute Freeze 
then Reset as a default part of the process. If the object wasn't moved, it 
wont hurt it.


A synopsis of the process is as follows:

Create, rotate and move the pipe. Preferably at world center and its length 
aligned with z axis. 
Create, rotate, and move the  cone (analog for a bullet I guess). Also at world 
center and also aligned with z axis for z translation in relation to the pipe.
Parent both under a locator. Also at World center. Do not move or change its 
position or orientation.
Execute Freeze/Reset on both Pipe and Cone.
Move & rotate the locator at will. Cone should follow the pipe and be keyable 
as translation only in the z axis to follow the pipe.
 

Here is the MEL to demonstrate.



file -f -new;
CreatePolygonCone;
polyCone -r 1 -h 2 -sx 20 -sy 1 -sz 0 -ax 0 1 0 -rcp 0 -cuv 3 -ch 1; 
setAttr "pCone1.rotateX" -90;
CreatePolygonPipe;
polyPipe -r 1 -h 2 -t 0.5 -sa 20 -sh 1 -sc 0 -ax 0 1 0 -cuv 1 -rcp 0 -ch 1;
setAttr "pPipe1.rotateX" -90;
select -cl  ;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0; 
select -r locator1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
select -r locator2 ;
selectKey -clear ;
parent locator2 locator1 ;
parent pPipe1 locator2 ; 
select -r pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
parent pCone1 locator2 ; 
select -r locator2 ;
selectKey -clear ;
select -r pPipe1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
select -r pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
select -r pPipe1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
setAttr "pPipe1.scaleZ" 10;
select -addFirst polyPipe1 ;
setAttr "polyPipe1.thickness" .1;
makeIdentity -apply true -t 1 -r 1 -s 1 -n 0 -pn 1;
select -r locator1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
rotate -r -os -fo 32.234531 0 0 ;
rotate -r -os -fo 0 33.615086 0 ;
select -r pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
"pCone1.tz";
currentTime 30 ;
move -r -ls -wd 0 0 -37.704086 ;
if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
"pCone1.tz";




Joey






-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Ponthieux, Joseph 
G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 9:52 AM
To: softimage@listproc.autodesk.com
Subject: RE: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

More than likely this has something to do with the way your hierarchy is 
organized. There is no reason why you can't do this. The key to making this 
work is that the gun cannot have had its pivot or transforms modified in 
relation to the child. The object as child to the gun must be zero-centric to 
it. In other words, the gun must be the "world" coordinates for the gun. Does 
that make sense?

Run the MEL commands below in your script editor in an empty scene. See 
specifically the angle of locator2 and the keyframed z translation of pCone1. 
Move locator1 around at will, and you can change the orientation of locator2 if 
you desire, but the cone's motion is always maintained on Z axis relative 
everything it is parented to. And it is only animated explicitly on Z. See the 
Graph editor for pCone1. Is this similar to what you are trying to accomplish?




file -f -new;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
updateRenderOverride;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
CreatePolygonCone;
polyCone -r 1 -h 2 -sx 20 -sy 1 -sz 0 -ax 0 1 0 -rcp 0 -cuv 3 -ch 1; parent 
pCone1 locator2 ; select -r locator2 ; selectKey -clear ; parent locator2 
locator1 ; select -r locator2 ; selectKey -clear ; rotate -r -os -fo 

Re: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Anto Matkovic]

While it won't help with global-local switching - just in case you don't know 
already when it comes to 'motion path' thing -  there's relative new feature 
called "editable motion trail", basically is function curve in 3d viewport, 
imho it's nice feature, worth to try.
  From: Morten Bartholdy 
 To: "Userlist, Softimage"  
 Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 12:16 PM
 Subject: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms
   
So I understand (to some degree) that there are fundamental differences between 
the  way transformations are handled in Maya vs Soft, but I just ran into 
something which on the surface looks simple, but is quite mindboggling. 
Hopefully it is just a case of Mayas way of hiding useful stuff in some obscure 
submenu or relationship editor, but here goes:

I am doing some very simple keyframe animation in Maya (one of the few things 
that does not drive me entirely crazy) and am animating a thingy which is 
parented to a gun which is pointed in a particular direction. I just want it to 
fly of on its local z-axis so I select it, set Transform Tool Settings, Axis 
Orientation to Object, key frame translate out along z-axis and keyframe. Now I 
want to edit the function curves to make sure it accelerates as desired, open 
the graph editor and see graph representation of its motion is in world space, 
ie. it is not only animated on the z-axis, but also on x and Y. Obviously 
editing these curves  manually will easily lead to having the object not flying 
in a straight line...

In this case I could draw a curve to use as motion path, but is is more 
cumbersome (like so many things in Maya) and for many reasons I would really 
prefer to be able to switch between World space and Object space in the Graph 
Editor. Our resident Maya artist has looked for similar functionality many 
times through different Maya versions, so far without luck, so she can not 
offer relief from this specific lack of brainpower on the part of the Maya devs.

Can Maya knowledgeable people here confirm this fundamental lack of 
functionality or perhaps tell where I find it, or barring that, offer advice 
regarding how to achieve something similar?

Thanks (sigh)

Morten
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RE: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Ponthieux, Joseph G. (LARC-E1A)[LITES II]]

More than likely this has something to do with the way your hierarchy is 
organized. There is no reason why you can't do this. The key to making this 
work is that the gun cannot have had its pivot or transforms modified in 
relation to the child. The object as child to the gun must be zero-centric to 
it. In other words, the gun must be the "world" coordinates for the gun. Does 
that make sense?

Run the MEL commands below in your script editor in an empty scene. See 
specifically the angle of locator2 and the keyframed z translation of pCone1. 
Move locator1 around at will, and you can change the orientation of locator2 if 
you desire, but the cone's motion is always maintained on Z axis relative 
everything it is parented to. And it is only animated explicitly on Z. See the 
Graph editor for pCone1. Is this similar to what you are trying to accomplish?




file -f -new;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0; 
updateRenderOverride;
spaceLocator -p 0 0 0;
CreatePolygonCone;
polyCone -r 1 -h 2 -sx 20 -sy 1 -sz 0 -ax 0 1 0 -rcp 0 -cuv 3 -ch 1;
parent pCone1 locator2 ;
select -r locator2 ;
selectKey -clear ;
parent locator2 locator1 ;
select -r locator2 ;
selectKey -clear ;
rotate -r -os -fo 9.453111 0 0 ;
setAttr "locator2.rotateX" 45;
select -r pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
"pCone1.tz";
currentTime 30 ;
move -r -ls -wd 0 0 -8.127347 ;
if( `getAttr -k "pCone1.tz"`||`getAttr -channelBox "pCone1.tz"` )setKeyframe 
"pCone1.tz";
currentTime 22 ;
selectKey -clear ;
currentTime 15 ;
select -r locator2 ;
selectKey -clear ;
select -r locator2 pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;
select -r pCone1 ;
selectKey -clear ;





Joey Ponthieux
__
Opinions stated here-in are strictly those of the author and do not 
represent the opinions of NASA or any other party.






-Original Message-
From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Morten Bartholdy
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 6:17 AM
To: Userlist, Softimage 
Subject: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

So I understand (to some degree) that there are fundamental differences between 
the  way transformations are handled in Maya vs Soft, but I just ran into 
something which on the surface looks simple, but is quite mindboggling. 
Hopefully it is just a case of Mayas way of hiding useful stuff in some obscure 
submenu or relationship editor, but here goes:

I am doing some very simple keyframe animation in Maya (one of the few things 
that does not drive me entirely crazy) and am animating a thingy which is 
parented to a gun which is pointed in a particular direction. I just want it to 
fly of on its local z-axis so I select it, set Transform Tool Settings, Axis 
Orientation to Object, key frame translate out along z-axis and keyframe. Now I 
want to edit the function curves to make sure it accelerates as desired, open 
the graph editor and see graph representation of its motion is in world space, 
ie. it is not only animated on the z-axis, but also on x and Y. Obviously 
editing these curves  manually will easily lead to having the object not flying 
in a straight line...

In this case I could draw a curve to use as motion path, but is is more 
cumbersome (like so many things in Maya) and for many reasons I would really 
prefer to be able to switch between World space and Object space in the Graph 
Editor. Our resident Maya artist has looked for similar functionality many 
times through different Maya versions, so far without luck, so she can not 
offer relief from this specific lack of brainpower on the part of the Maya devs.

Can Maya knowledgeable people here confirm this fundamental lack of 
functionality or perhaps tell where I find it, or barring that, offer advice 
regarding how to achieve something similar?

Thanks (sigh)

Morten
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Re: Friday Flashback #315

[Morten Bartholdy]

Good times :)

MB


> Den 8. september 2017 klokken 17:05 skrev Stephen Blair 
> :
> 
> 
> 1998 Bunny hops to fame
> http://wp.me/powV4-3sC
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Re: Friday Flashback #315

[Rob Wuijster]

Still have that CD(/DVD?) somewhere :-)

Rob

\/-\/\/

On 8-9-2017 17:05, Stephen Blair wrote:

1998 Bunny hops to fame
http://wp.me/powV4-3sC


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Re: Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Tom Kleinenberg]

I think that you may be out of luck - Maya has no conception of World vs
Object space. If you parented the object under a group, you may be able to
set the orientation of that according to the gun and then you'd only have
to animated it in 1 axis (maybe 2 if there's drop... but at least on a ZY
plane rather than through XYZ). You can also use a Motion Trail (Animate >
Create Motion Trail) for a visual representation. Little video here :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nst3db21N-E

I don't know if those suggestions are any help.

On 11 September 2017 at 11:16, Morten Bartholdy  wrote:

> So I understand (to some degree) that there are fundamental differences
> between the  way transformations are handled in Maya vs Soft, but I just
> ran into something which on the surface looks simple, but is quite
> mindboggling. Hopefully it is just a case of Mayas way of hiding useful
> stuff in some obscure submenu or relationship editor, but here goes:
>
> I am doing some very simple keyframe animation in Maya (one of the few
> things that does not drive me entirely crazy) and am animating a thingy
> which is parented to a gun which is pointed in a particular direction. I
> just want it to fly of on its local z-axis so I select it, set Transform
> Tool Settings, Axis Orientation to Object, key frame translate out along
> z-axis and keyframe. Now I want to edit the function curves to make sure it
> accelerates as desired, open the graph editor and see graph representation
> of its motion is in world space, ie. it is not only animated on the z-axis,
> but also on x and Y. Obviously editing these curves  manually will easily
> lead to having the object not flying in a straight line...
>
> In this case I could draw a curve to use as motion path, but is is more
> cumbersome (like so many things in Maya) and for many reasons I would
> really prefer to be able to switch between World space and Object space in
> the Graph Editor. Our resident Maya artist has looked for similar
> functionality many times through different Maya versions, so far without
> luck, so she can not offer relief from this specific lack of brainpower on
> the part of the Maya devs.
>
> Can Maya knowledgeable people here confirm this fundamental lack of
> functionality or perhaps tell where I find it, or barring that, offer
> advice regarding how to achieve something similar?
>
> Thanks (sigh)
>
> Morten
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> Softimage Mailing List.
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Maya - what were they thinking 2 - transforms

[Morten Bartholdy]

So I understand (to some degree) that there are fundamental differences between 
the  way transformations are handled in Maya vs Soft, but I just ran into 
something which on the surface looks simple, but is quite mindboggling. 
Hopefully it is just a case of Mayas way of hiding useful stuff in some obscure 
submenu or relationship editor, but here goes:

I am doing some very simple keyframe animation in Maya (one of the few things 
that does not drive me entirely crazy) and am animating a thingy which is 
parented to a gun which is pointed in a particular direction. I just want it to 
fly of on its local z-axis so I select it, set Transform Tool Settings, Axis 
Orientation to Object, key frame translate out along z-axis and keyframe. Now I 
want to edit the function curves to make sure it accelerates as desired, open 
the graph editor and see graph representation of its motion is in world space, 
ie. it is not only animated on the z-axis, but also on x and Y. Obviously 
editing these curves  manually will easily lead to having the object not flying 
in a straight line...

In this case I could draw a curve to use as motion path, but is is more 
cumbersome (like so many things in Maya) and for many reasons I would really 
prefer to be able to switch between World space and Object space in the Graph 
Editor. Our resident Maya artist has looked for similar functionality many 
times through different Maya versions, so far without luck, so she can not 
offer relief from this specific lack of brainpower on the part of the Maya devs.

Can Maya knowledgeable people here confirm this fundamental lack of 
functionality or perhaps tell where I find it, or barring that, offer advice 
regarding how to achieve something similar?

Thanks (sigh)

Morten
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