Changing the speed of an object on a MotionPath

# 1 11-05-2005 , 08:13 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005

Location: I live inside my computer

Posts: 79

Changing the speed of an object on a MotionPath

I want to animate a ball rolling and falling off the table, and i wanna use a motion path... BUT: when the ball is falling off the table, i want it to move faster than when it's rolling. I saw this "set motion path key" but i don't know what that's for...

I want to just snap the ball to the curve, and then move it with the move tool, and set keys, kind of what you can do in flash, except here, when you move the ball it comes off the curve: I want it to stay "Snapped" while i'm moving it.

Thanx user added image

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
--Albert Einstein

Quote

# 2 12-05-2005 , 12:50 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2005

Posts: 23

You'll need to key the uValue of your motion path to your timeline. The uValue starts at 0.000 at the start of the path, and runs to 1.000 at the end of the path. So if the edge of your table was at say .5 on your motion path, you might want something like:

Frame 1: uValue = 0.000
Frame 48: uValue = 0.500
Frame 72: uValue = 1.000

That would make the ball fall twice as fast as it rolls across the table.

You can further tweak the motion with the graph editor to get smooth acceleration, proper bounces, etc...

"Getting Started with Maya 6" has a good tutorial on motion paths, Chapter 6, Lesson 3.

Hey, looking that up was good for me too, I think I finally figured out how to fake wheels rolling on a surface: An expression linking object rotation to the uValue...

Last edited by Jedi Bob; 12-05-2005 at 12:56 AM.

Quote

# 3 12-05-2005 , 07:51 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005

Location: I live inside my computer

Posts: 79

Ya, that sounds good, but the question is: "How DO you do that?" I don't have the book you are talking about. srry, if you know any tutorial or if it's simple enough to explain here, go ahead, i appreciate the help!! user added image

thanks a lot!!

Imagination is more important than knowledge...
--Albert Einstein

Quote

# 4 13-05-2005 , 01:58 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2005

Posts: 23

If you installed the documentation then you have it.

In Maya click on "Help|Tutorials" Your web browser will open with the Learning Resources intranet site. Click on "Getting Started with Maya", click on "Animation", click on "Lesson 3 Path Animation", click on "Changing the timing of an object along a motion path."

Quote

Changing the speed of an object on a MotionPath

Posting Rules Forum Rules

Similar Threads

Topics

Free Courses

Full Courses

VFX News