Need Help - Shark animation - Simply Maya User Community

# 1 20-01-2003 , 02:02 PM

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Join Date: Jun 2002

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Posts: 4

Need Help - Shark animation

Hi guys, i'm doing a shark project at uni and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions to my dilema. Basically i have finished my shark model. I want to rig it such that when i move/rotate the head from sid eto side the rest of the body follows suit in a shark-swimming-motion (basically s- shaped side to side). I would imagine i should have the root of the bones at the head end but after that i'm stumped. I haven't a clue how to get the other bones to follow the motion. Any suggestions would be great.

cheers

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# 2 20-01-2003 , 04:24 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

I know it won't help you right now, but there's a shark animation tut comming soon to SM...

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 3 20-01-2003 , 04:42 PM

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Join Date: Aug 2002

Location: Seattle, WA

Posts: 8,245

You can used what's I believe is called Flow Path animation. You attach your model to an animation path. Applying a Flow Path to the model creates a lattice that runs alongwith the curve. You'll more than likley need to increase the divisions more than the default value of 5. But with it applied, the model will curve like you mention.

That's a part of the vid that Rage mentioned. It'll be released in the near future. user added image

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 4 20-01-2003 , 04:50 PM

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Join Date: May 2002

Location: Niagara Falls, Canada

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Use spline Ik for the swimming motion and blendshapes for the mouth opening and fin movements. If you want to get a bit more creative you can make the tips of the sharks fins a softbody to get a sway action.

I've attached a small playblast of a fish test using spline IK so you can see what kind of movement a spline Ik can give you.

https://forum.simplymaya.com/showthre...?threadid=2676

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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# 5 20-01-2003 , 06:05 PM

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Thanks for the help guys.

mtmckinley - i thought of that before but my group are planning to use flocking to animate a school of sharks and the flocking algorithm will really control how fast the sharks swim so that means flow path animation is out of the question user added image

pity really cos that would have made my job a shit load easier user added image

Kurt - I think i'll give your method a shot.

cheers guys.

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# 6 20-01-2003 , 06:09 PM

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Join Date: May 2002

Location: Niagara Falls, Canada

Posts: 5,310

You can use motion path with the setup i told you about.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination, knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world. (Albert Einstein)

https://www.artstation.com/kurtb

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Need Help - Shark animation

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