Hmm.. I don't know why.. I must not understand the challenge. How I'd do it is:
1) duplicate your astroid(s) ( in this case not instances for art-direction ) # of times you want. 2) select all, and path constrain to a Circle Curve. ( roughly 40 units ) 3) Multi-select their constraint, and set the length to r(0,100) 4) Then set the translation along the bias, and normal to be r(-5,5) you'll have to play with the values to get a proper dispersion. 5) now you have a ring of astroids randomly distributed along a torus. You can animate the ring to get them all moving. You can set keys using the random property... *shrug* I must not fully understand the problem. On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 2:23 PM, Matt Lind <[email protected]> wrote: > An artist came to my desk yesterday asking how to do what I felt was a > simple task, but after getting 80% through it I ran into a speed bump > realizing it needed custom scripting or other advanced tools to fully > resolve to satisfaction. I had to give him a procedure that was 'good > enough'. This problem has multiple solutions, but I am curious how others > would solve it: > > > > The problem: > > > > Artist must create an asteroid belt around a planet. The asteroids are > likely 2D sprites which must face the camera and tumble as they orbit, but > could be 3D objects as well. Asteroids must vary in size, shape, and > animation speed (linear as well as rotational). Asteroids cannot collide > with anything. Movement is generally slow - like a screen saver for your > computer desktop. Asteroid positions are jittered within the belt. > > > > The question: > > > > Dispersing objects into a ring is fairly straightforward through a number > of techniques, but how do you apply the random jitter to the object > positions? > > > > The rules: > > > > - Cannot use ICE > > - Cannot use custom scripts, custom operators, or shaders. > > - Must only use tools out of the box that a junior or staff > level artist would know how to use. > > - Must be able to create the asteroid belt, from scratch to > completion, in less than 30 minutes - and be iteration friendly to react to > art director feedback. > > - Ideally, the belt could be made a child of the planet in > encompasses so it can be reoriented with respect to changes in the planet's > size/shape/tilt/orbit. > > - Final output must be able to exist with full integrity on its > own in a vacuum. Cannot not have dependencies on custom code, external > assets, or special case logic. > > - Asteroid belt fits within the default grid as seen in the > scene camera. Think torus with diameter 40 SI units, and cross section of > roughly 3 SI Units diameter > > > > > > Ready.....GO! > > > > > > > > > > Matt >
