isssue with chain tut

# 1 28-10-2013 , 10:03 AM

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when i go to "animation snapshot options" to duplicate de chain at "End Time" where i can use 30 or 60 as value and the number of chain elements are the same does not change,how can i solve this?thanks

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# 2 28-10-2013 , 01:43 PM

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what version of maya are you using the menu's may have changed a bit from when that tutorial was done.

I just checked on my version of maya 2014 and the options appear the same as the version when the tut was made.

So I am not sure what the issue you are having is.

You should first select the link and then the path curve and then motion path>attach to motion path with start time 1 and end time equal to the number of links you want.

Then select the link and then choose the animation menu create animation snapshot with start/end time and choose start time 1 and end time the sane as you use in the step above.

That should be all there is too it.

If you are still having troubles then take screen shots and post them so we can see where you are stuck.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 3 28-10-2013 , 01:55 PM

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Oh there was one thing that has changed since that tut was made. After attaching the link to the motion path and creating the motion path snapshot...

1. Select the link and then open the window/animation editors/graph editor window
2. section the motion curve for the link
3. and then at the top select the tangents drop down and choose "linear"

In older versions of maya there was "ease in" and "ease out" as options but I think they have been removed so just change the start and end tangents to linear and the link will move a fixed distance for each step.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 4 28-10-2013 , 07:56 PM

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I'm using Maya 2013,you can see here what is happening https://youtu.be/PXaRX50ielI

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# 5 28-10-2013 , 08:48 PM

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Great music lol.

Yes the reason that is happening is you have created a motion path with 30 steps (1-30) so any end value above 30 in the create motion path snap shot will have no effect.

You have to delete history and rerun the attach to motion path and increase the number of steps. You have to keep repeating this until you get the link moving the correct distance each frame. It takes a bit of trial and error.

Also I noticed that the link is accelerating at the start and decelerating at the end. To fix this remember to go into the graph editor after creating the motion path and set start and end tangents to linear.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

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# 6 31-10-2013 , 02:58 PM

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it's done,i'm using the same number of steps now, i cant see the accelaration that you refer,but when i go the "animation snapshot" the start and end have more dense links..
Maya 2013 chain - YouTube

Last edited by meteoros; 31-10-2013 at 03:58 PM.

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# 7 31-10-2013 , 06:21 PM

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Open up the window/animation editors/graph editor window, select the curve, and then at the top you should see a drop down box labeled tangents and select linear. This will move the link a fixed amount for each step so they will not bunch up at the start and end of the animation.

By default the tangents are set to "flat" which has the same effect as "ease in" and "ease out" in older versions of Maya.

Then you just need to tinker with the number of steps when you do the attach to motion path to get the link moving the correct amount for each step. It's tedious but I have not seen a script or plugin that is general and makes this any easier.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Sir Isaac Newton, 1675

Last edited by ctbram; 31-10-2013 at 06:26 PM.

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