moving phaser object question - Scifi-Meshes.com

booa · 04-02-2008, 05:31 PM

hi im pretty new at 3ds max, and now ive desided to try to make a short clip of a ship fight. Im having problems with the posision of the cylinder i use as a phaser beam, i want the cylinder to be linked with two moving objects, problem is i can't get the cylinder to stay put on both of the moving objects at the same time, any help would be much appreciated!

hmm like 2 spheres and a cylinder between them, i want the cylinder to follow em both! when they move

spudmonkey · 04-02-2008, 05:40 PM

Check out "Linked Xform" in the help

booa · 04-02-2008, 06:12 PM

iknow this is prob the easiest ever but i can't link the linked xform to 2 objects at the same time. Is there any other way of doing this?

Melak · 04-02-2008, 09:55 PM

Do you want the Cylinder to be fixed between two points on these objects? (Like, phaser emitter on object A, and target on object B) While the distance is changing?

booa · 04-02-2008, 10:10 PM

yes thats what i need

**Howard Day** · 04-03-2008, 12:00 AM

Well, this can be done a couple of different ways. The Easiest is to create a LookAt rotation controller. Now by default this would lookat the center of whatever object you tag it to (IE the transform gizmo) so you'll want to have it look at a dummy instead. You then link the object to the first ship ( with the base of the cylinder at the fire point) and the dummy object to the other ship. You can even move the dummy independently from the other ship to do strafing attacks. Multiple shots? Have the dummy jump to different locations on the enemy ship while fading your phaser in and out.

booa · 04-03-2008, 01:01 PM

ah perfect thank you so much, just one more question, i want the cylinder to auto configure it size, it wont grow when the distance increases, is there a way to do this?

Ndege · 04-03-2008, 01:31 PM

Yes. Scripting or wiring can do that. The easiest way I can think of is to add an Expose Transform helper and have it "expose" your phaser emitter dummy node. Then set its Local Reference Node to the target dummy to get a "distance to reference" value. Wire the phaser cylinder Height value to the Expose Transform distance value.

If you set up a Look at controller like Howard suggests the cylinder should point at, and span, the distance between the emitter and target no matter where you move them in your scene.

booa · 04-03-2008, 05:08 PM

okok i understand everything exept how i wire the cylinder height value with the expose transform value?

**Guerrilla** · 04-03-2008, 05:24 PM

Right click --> Wire Parameters

04-02-2008, 05:31 PM	#1 (permalink)
booa SFM Nugget Realname: johan Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 13	moving phaser object question hi im pretty new at 3ds max, and now ive desided to try to make a short clip of a ship fight. Im having problems with the posision of the cylinder i use as a phaser beam, i want the cylinder to be linked with two moving objects, problem is i can't get the cylinder to stay put on both of the moving objects at the same time, any help would be much appreciated! hmm like 2 spheres and a cylinder between them, i want the cylinder to follow em both! when they move
	Last edited by booa; 04-02-2008 at 09:55 PM.

04-02-2008, 05:40 PM	#2 (permalink)
spudmonkey SFM Obsessed Total Awards: 3 (more» ...) Realname: Nick Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: UK Posts: 2,024	Check out "Linked Xform" in the help
	unofficial speed modelling challenge #1 - Communication devices My random WIP thread which includes some hints and tips on modelling which _may_ be useful for the link above...!

04-02-2008, 06:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
booa SFM Nugget Realname: johan Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 13	iknow this is prob the easiest ever but i can't link the linked xform to 2 objects at the same time. Is there any other way of doing this?
	Last edited by booa; 04-02-2008 at 09:20 PM.

04-03-2008, 05:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
Guerrilla Worldwide Phenomenon Realname: Mika Join Date: May 2006 Location: Helsinki Age: 25 Posts: 2,819	Right click --> Wire Parameters
	WIP: Semi-Random Projects Comco: i entered it manually in the back end Last edited by Guerrilla; 04-03-2008 at 05:43 PM.

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04-02-2008, 09:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Melak SFM Obsessed Total Awards: 1 (more» ...) Realname: Leon Join Date: May 2006 Location: Berlin Age: 18 Posts: 1,198	Do you want the Cylinder to be fixed between two points on these objects? (Like, phaser emitter on object A, and target on object B) While the distance is changing?

04-02-2008, 10:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
booa SFM Nugget Realname: johan Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 13	yes thats what i need

04-03-2008, 12:00 AM	#6 (permalink)
Howard Day Sensei Join Date: May 2006 Age: 26 Posts: 430	Well, this can be done a couple of different ways. The Easiest is to create a LookAt rotation controller. Now by default this would lookat the center of whatever object you tag it to (IE the transform gizmo) so you'll want to have it look at a dummy instead. You then link the object to the first ship ( with the base of the cylinder at the fire point) and the dummy object to the other ship. You can even move the dummy independently from the other ship to do strafing attacks. Multiple shots? Have the dummy jump to different locations on the enemy ship while fading your phaser in and out.

04-03-2008, 01:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
booa SFM Nugget Realname: johan Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 13	ah perfect thank you so much, just one more question, i want the cylinder to auto configure it size, it wont grow when the distance increases, is there a way to do this?

04-03-2008, 01:31 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ndege SFM Nugget Realname: Ndege Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 98	Yes. Scripting or wiring can do that. The easiest way I can think of is to add an Expose Transform helper and have it "expose" your phaser emitter dummy node. Then set its Local Reference Node to the target dummy to get a "distance to reference" value. Wire the phaser cylinder Height value to the Expose Transform distance value. If you set up a Look at controller like Howard suggests the cylinder should point at, and span, the distance between the emitter and target no matter where you move them in your scene.

04-03-2008, 05:08 PM	#9 (permalink)
booa SFM Nugget Realname: johan Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 13	okok i understand everything exept how i wire the cylinder height value with the expose transform value?

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