Stuck on uni assignment- fairground ride

# 1 04-01-2013 , 05:30 PM

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Join Date: Oct 2012

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For my latest uni assignment we're to work in pairs to make a fairground - one person does a Ferris wheel, the other does an octopus ride and both make a ticket booth and the landscape.

I'm doing the octopus ride and while I understand in theory how it should work, I'm stumped on actually making it/animating it. The whole thing needs to rotate while the carriages rotate in the opposite direction. Think I should maybe use an expression?

I only started using Maya a few months ago and haven't done any animation except for some blocks moving around etc. Our last assignment was to model, light and render a fruit bowl so that's not exactly helpful.

Can anyone explain in really basic/simple terms how they might approach this?

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# 2 04-01-2013 , 05:49 PM

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Location: Toronto

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You probably won't need an expression. You could do it simply with parenting objects to other objects and setting the pivot point so the rotation works properly. You could try googling "making a solar system in maya" because this is a common example and the principles would be the same.

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# 3 04-01-2013 , 06:15 PM

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Thanks. I'll try looking up the solar system.

Not exactly sure how to parent things in maya or how to set the pivot point, but hopefully I'll figure that out...

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# 4 04-01-2013 , 07:39 PM

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I was assuming it was already modeled until I read "I'm stumped on actually making it/animating it." So, they're asking you guys to do all this without teaching you guys about pivot points or parenting objects? That's a bit upsetting. Anyways, expressions would make adding believable movement to this easier only if you're comfortable with MEL otherwise you're creating headaches for yourself. Some practical grouping/parenting would save you major hassle down the road.

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# 5 04-01-2013 , 07:54 PM

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Yeah... I know how to model certain objects, but making a complicated ride (we're supposed to show the gears working!) has just sent me into a panic.

We have been taught with video tutorials - one of them did cover simple expressions (to make some train wheels move) but I was off the week they covered it in class and just got completely lost when I tried to follow it. Doesn't help when the tutor spends half the tutorial going 'now, where was that menu/option again?' and looking for it!

I've modelled the octopus for the middle of the ride, and could probably do all the other 'parts' but I'm not sure how to join/group them together. Do they need to be physically joined (through edges, vertexes etc) or just grouped for the whole thing to move together?

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# 6 04-01-2013 , 08:16 PM

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They don't need to be the same mesh (connected with edges, faces etc), in fact they shouldn't be, if they are going to move mechanically. The solar system tuts should show proper parenting, and that should get you going on the basic motion of the ride. Worry about the gears later. In fact, I would look into parenting and grouping before you start modelling the rest of the ride, because that will help you stay organized and anticipate the animation before you get there.