full rotation on 2 or 3 axis.

Hi folks.

I have an object and a static camera.

I want to rotate the object 360 degrees on more than one axis and return to 0,0,0. For the sake of argument this animation is 360 frames, just makes it easier.

So I key frame 1, then key frame 120 with 120 rotation on x and y, repeat on 240 and finally 119 rotation on 395. Now I have a lovely smooth rotation. Except of course I don’t, because rotating a rotating axis puts everything out of kilter.

I’ve tried rotating two empties and constraining the object x to one and y to the other, but I get odd jumps in the animation.

At which point I ran out of ideas!

I have achieved the look needed by revolving the camera around x while rotating the object around y, but I can’t do that in this case.

Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks.

Hi,

you need to be aware of euler rotation system and understand gimbal lock to see more clearly why this happens. Do some googling, there are youtube videos that explain the nature of euler rotation very well. For your project, you have to determine the rotation order of your object. Of course you can always create an “artificial” rotation order by parenting your object twice, then rotating each of the parents on a specific axis. Or you can use quaternion rotation, which will stay stable but is more suited to mechanical motions etc. - rather than organic movement. If you’re going for a very linear, inorganic look, then by all means use quaternions.

Hadrien