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For each individual object it can be specified whether the object should rotate along the track during simulation and if it should be aligned to its track with its local y-axis. For free forms and nurbs it can be specified to transform the individual control points of the object during simulation.
The start, end frame and "speed" of the animation can be specified. During simulation, it is possible to see the tracks of the animation of each individual object. After simulation, the animation can be played and modified like any other animation in the animation menu.
Usage
All existing object groups can be found in this list. For scrolling the list
see field types.
Comments
All objects belonging to the active object group will be listed and can be
activated in the objects scroll list.
To activate as one, all objects belonging to the active object group, use the object group toggle button.
See also
objects scroll list, object group
Usage
All objects belonging to the active object group can be found in this list.
Comments
The wireframe of the active object will be displayed in yellow.
The active object can be made deformable (in case of free forms or nurbs) , rotational or alligned to track during simulation.
See also
deformable, rotation, y to track, object groups scroll list
Usage
Click on the object group toggle button to change from object group to object
(2-toggle button).
Comments
With the button switched to object, only the highlighted object in the objects
scroll list will be activated.
With the toggle button switched to group, all objects belonging to the highlighted object group will be activated and can be made deformable, rotational or alligned to track as one.
See also
deformable, rotation, y to track, object groups scroll list
Usage
Click the box to change from no display to display ani or display track
(3-toggle button).
Comments
no display will not display the animation during calculation. Only the current
frame that is calculated is displayed in the frame box. The animation can be
displayed in the animation menu after calculation. no display will save time
during the calculation of the animation.
display ani will display each fixed event of the animation while being calculated.
display track will display the tracks of all simulated objects while being calculated. The tracks are displayed as red/white lines with each line corresponding to the motion of one object or point during one frame.
Usage
First activate the required free form or nurbs model in the active group scroll
list. Then click the deformable toggle button to activate or de-activate it.
Comments
With the deformable button active, individual control points in the active free
form or nurbs will transform in time by the influence of the connected field
groups, causing the model to deform.
Only points that have been activated in the free form or nurbs modeler will be transformed. If no points have been activated, all points in the model will be transformed. Selecting active points with free forms must be done by tagging the active points in the free form menu before simulating the free form.
The deformable toggle button can be activated for each individual free form or nurbs model in the objects scroll list.
With the object group toggle button on object group deformable can be set for all free from or nurbs objects in the active group at once.
Usage
First activate the required object in the active scroll list. Then click the
rotation toggle button to activate or de-activate it.
Comments
With the rotation button active, the active object will not only move but also
rotate by the influence of the connected fields.
The rotation toggle button can be activated for each individual object in the objects scroll list which is not deformable (deformable objects rotate automatically if their control points are in a rotational motion).
With the object group toggle button on object group, rotation can be set for all objects in the active group as one.
Usage
Activate the required object in the active scroll list, then click the y to
track toggle button to activate or de-activate it.
Comments
With the y to track button active, the active object will be rotated at the
start of the simulation. This rotation aligns the object so that its local
y-axis points in the direction of the track that the object will follow.
The y to track toggle button can be activated for each individual object in the objects scroll list. With the object group toggle button on object group, y to track can be set for all objects in the active group.
Usage
Click the reverse mode toggle button to activate it.
Comments
With the reverse mode active, the calculation will start at the specified end
frame number, then calculates backwards to the specified start frame number.
This results in an animation which is the reverse of the simulation.
This option can be used for animations where the final frame is first modelled and then simulate in reverse mode from order to chaos. This will result in an animation from chaos to the modelled end frame.
Usage
Click on the simulate button to activate it. The animation for all object
groups which are connected to field groups will then be calculated. After
calculation, the time curves for all animated objects can be found and modified
in the animation menu.
Comments
The start frame, end frame, timestep and precision can be adjusted before the
calculation of the animation.
The rate at which events are fixed during the simulation can also be set.
To see the animation while being calculated, switch the no display toggle button to display ani.
To see the tracks of the animated objects while being calculated, switch the no display toggle button to display track.
See also
start, end frame, timestep, precision, fix event every
Usage
Click the start frame input box (leftmost box), or the end frame input box
(rightmost box), to activate it (red outline), the following prompt will then
appear in the input box:
_
In response to this prompt type the new start or end frame number. Press
<enter> to confirm.
See also
data input box: timestep
Usage
Click the timestep input box to activate it (red outline), the following prompt
will then appear in the input box:
_
In response to this prompt type in the timestep. For a faster animation use a
larger number. Press <enter> to confirm.
Comments
The timestep determines how much of the motion inside a field is actually used
during the simulation of one frame. A small timestep means less motion used
from all fields, resulting in a slower motion. A large timestep means more
motion used from all fields, resulting in a faster motion.
The larger the timestep, the less accurate the calculation of the animation will be. If undesired things happen because of less accurate calculation, set the precision to a higher value.
The speed of objects in the simulation also depends on the power of the individual fields. To change the power for the individual fields use the power input box in the field construct menu.
See also
power input box (field data input box), precision
Usage
Click the box to change from medium to high or low (3-toggle button).
Comments
The precision model defines how accurately the animation will be calculated.
The higher the precision, the more time it takes to calculate the animation.
Usage
Click the fix event every input box, to activate it (red outline), the
following prompt will then appear in the input box:
_
In response to this prompt type the interval of event fixing expressed in
number of frames. Press <enter> to confirm.
Comments
Fixing events at larger intervals results in a smoother motion. It also
increases the chance of missing certain movements occured during the simulation
because there were not enough frames fixed to reproduce the motion properly.
Fixing events at smaller intervals can result in rougher motion, for example fixing events every frame in a chaos field gives a much more chaotic movement than fixing every 10 frames. Fixing events at smaller intervals also results in more control points in the time curves, thus more data to be stored.
Usage
Click the wave cycle input box, to activate it (red outline), the following
prompt will then appear in the input box:
_
In response to this prompt type the length of the wave cycle expressed in
number of frames. Press <enter> to confirm.
Comments
The cyclic behaviour of the wave field can be used for creating cyclic
animations. For example with a wave field cycle of 50 frames, you only have to
simulate 50 frames and let the animation play by using loop or back & forth
in the animation menu.
If cyclic behaviour is undesired, just enter a number of frames larger than the total number of frames of the animation.
