Week 8 - Path Constraints

In this week's tutorial we had to create an animation where an object follows a path. This was a step-up from last weeks introduction to 3D animation and is a good technique to use in order to specify exactly where an object should travel during the animation without using lots of keyframes.

The original task was to create a path which a teapot shape could then follow. To do this, I began by using the line tool and making a curvy path. The path had to be as smoothly curved as possible to avoid jerky movements when it came to the animation. I then created a teapot from the standard primitives menu.

Once the teapot was created I had to link it to the path. To do this, I used the Path Constraint option from the Animation menu - clicking on the line I had just created to link the object to the path. Once this was done I could choose from several options to customise the constraint, such as whether the object banked around corners and whether it kept a constant velocity along the path.

After learning the basics of the path constraint technique I then decided to take the concept one step further and create a race track which a car could follow. To do this I still used the line tool, but created a closed spline, although I had to pay particular attention to the Z-axis here as sudden drops or inclines would be completely inappropriate in the animation. I then cloned the spline and put the second one a little way below. Once this was done, I extruded the second spline to make the track.

Once this was done, I applied a smooth concrete material to the track and made a basic landscape around it using a plane and the noise modifier, creating a few trees and applying a grass bitmap material.

I used a pre-created model of a Ford GT40 taken from http://artist-3d.com/free_3d_models/dnm/model_disp.php?uid=1042&count=count for the car. I could make this follow the track by creating a path constraint, linked to the top spline. I set the car to not have a constant velocity, so that it looked more realistic - slowing down for corners and speeding up on the straights. The banking was also turned off as the corners on the track were not banked.

Finally, I had to create a camera to follow the car around the track and add a daylight system. I created the following camera by cloning the spline which the car follows and placing it slightly above, so that the camera view would be looking down upon the car from behind. Once again, a path constraint meant I could link the camera to the path. The option of not having constant velocity on created a nice effect where the car gets further away from us on the straights before we close up in the corners.

There are a few mistakes in the final video render. In places, the car appears to slow down or speed up randomly - particularly just before the last corner. There is also a mistake a few corners from the end where the grass landscape cuts through the concrete track. However, overall I am pleased with the result.

I took this tutorial and created it into a mini project for myself in order to practice for the assignment task. By doing this, not only have I further practiced landscaping techniques already used when creating the bridge model, I have also gained more of an understanding of animation techniques. One major thing I have learnt in doing this is just how long videos take to render with 3DS Max and I can now take this into consideration for my final assignment animation.