The Race - Caution contains a Rude Young Lady.

Following this tutorial, in which I explain how to rig vehicles for the road, with wheels rotating and steering correctly, etc. I decided to make an animation of the car and bike from those tutorials in some sort of race, so I started off by enhancing the models a little and adding the Biker and Car Driver:


I have to apologies for the shocking behaviour of the young lady, named Honey, who has form for this kind of transgression from acceptable standards in other projects where she has appeared, her language is also quite bad at times I have to say. :eek:

The basis for the rigging is a curve, two planes to steer the vehicle, an Armature, some Drivers and some Animation Nodes per vehicle. :eyebrowlift:

There is still a lot of work to do on the models and a lot of work on the background, so progress will be a little slow I think before we see any video output from this project. I have used a Paint Material from a previous project - this is quite complex, but seems to get the job done, although it looks better with HDR lighting. :cool:

I wil explain the rigging and AN setup in the course of this project - feel free to ask any questions, or look at the tutorials on my website. I am not sure of the exact nature of the race, but it will take place on normal roads, that bit is settled.

Cheers ,Clock. :stuck_out_tongue:

Getting some work done on the road for the first scene, I have also started to sort the vehicle paths a little:


Just placeholders for the textures for now, until I find some more suitable ones. Yes, I know Erkinator is on the wrong side of the road and yes, I know he and Honey are blasting across a pedestrian crossing, that’s how it is meant to be… :yes:

I have switched to a Studio HDR for lighting and 50% renders, until I get more of the scene finished. :cool:

Cheers ,Clock. :eyebrowlift:

This explains why Erkinator took off to chase Honey down the road:


Not a nice thing to see when you are chilling in a lay-by. :no:

Cheers, Clock. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT:

I am making use of Pose Libraries for these two characters, just to make my life easier when it comes to defining animations.

Yeeeehaaaaa!!!


But the race doesn’t end here…

Cheers, Clock.

PS. I need some more stone images for the textures, must spend some time looking for one that doesn’t have a vignette problem.

Hmmmm some young lady drivers just don’t know the rules, or just plain don’t obey them:


Tut, tut, tut… mind you she got past the dumb robot… :stuck_out_tongue:

Cheers, Clock.

EDIT:

Perhaps it is time I fitted some brakes to her car?

OK, the next vehicle and potential obstacle to the racers, is now in the mix:


I have reworked the model form my tutorial, did I mention I have made some tutorials on my website, maybe I did, I can’t remember, old age is a cruel master… :frowning:

I think it will take the two protagonists a while to deal with my driver in the cool orange lorry - do you like the paint material by the way? :cool:

I can foresee many miles of trying to pass/cut up each other, undertaking, using the wrong side of the road, etc. while they try to pass the lorry - should be fun (simple things amuse old folk you know and don’t bloody laugh, you will be old one day…) :stuck_out_tongue:

The lorry is fully rigged so any bends I shall put in the road will not be a problem to the model. :wink:

Cheers, Clock. (why am I posting here, who am I, where’s me tea!) :rolleyes:

EDIT:

In case you are wondering, Erkinator is still waiting at the red light, who programmed him to be such a dumb-ass…

I thought I would share this procedure for setting keyframes so you know how fast each vehicle is travelling:


My Speed & Acceleration node calculates the speeds using the position of the vehicles at the current frame, 1 frame ago and 2 frames ago - this also gives me the acceleration and the speeds are displayed in the Node Editor, I can then adjust the F-Curves/Keyframes values & Handles to get the speeds I want during the keyframing exercise for the fix objects of the various vehicles. :wink:

Cheers, Clock. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT:

If you multiply the speed in meters per second by approximately 2.236936 you get miles per hour.

This is why Honey dived back in behind the truck at this point in the animation:


As seen in the image in my previous post, the bus is just pulling away from the pavement having picked up some passenger - fools that they are. :eyebrowlift2:

The additional tutorial to rig the rear steering wheels and to cater for entry onto, or exit off, hills is here.

Cheers, Clock. :slight_smile:

One more image from the race:


I have gone back to full resolution for this image.

Cheers, Clock. :mad:

You just knew there would be a train somewhere in this didn’t you: :eyebrowlift:


Well, if Brunel can build iron bridges, so can I - the train will follow later.

Cheers, Clock. :stuck_out_tongue:

PS. Hmmmm, I see Erkinator is back in front again, I wonder how that happened and how long it will last…

Hilarious so far! :smiley: (/follows)

@meshmonkey; I will try to keep it up! :smiley:

I have just realised that last comment might be misconstrued. :eyebrowlift:

I made a start on the train:


Pity the racers are totally ignoring the 50 mph speed limit…

I cannot decide whether it will be a Diesel or Electric train, I suppose it depends on whether I can be arsed to model the overhead cables. :yes:

Another view of the ironwork:


And the roundabout:


I am now going to attack the Jack Daniel’s bottle… :wink:

Cheers, Clock. :stuck_out_tongue:

EDIT:

Does anyone know where I can get a decent tarmac texture image?

In answer to my last question, I noted nobody replied…

Anyway I got this text from Honey:

“Hi Clock you dick-head, have you tried searching the internet for this? I found this before I had time to down another Schnapps, also tell tin-dick that his ass is toast, you really should re-programe your robot to be less of a freakin’ turd”

Oops, I told you she was rude, but that website looked good, you have to register and you can download so many free ones per day - the really good ones require paid access.

Cheers Clock.

The new textures, much improved, but still need some work on the UV maps I think: :yes:


Cheers, Clock. :slight_smile:

Udate:

The train was too big, so I shrunk it a little, added some more greenery, titivated the UV maps and edge sharpness in a few places, added a road sign, etc, blah blah blah, losing the will to live…: :confused:


Note Erkinator is doing 79 mph in a 50 zone, apparently Honey said “**** me - doesn’t he know he has two more ******* gears - stupid ******” :eek: - I removed the expletives this time. She is only doing 75 mph, but is accelerating in order to pass him shortly, probably on a blind bend and definitely on a double white line, which means “no overtaking” in the UK.

Cheers, Clock. :wink:

PS. It’s bedtime here in the UK, and as my Granddad said “If you’re not in bed by 11 O’clock - go home…” So it’s off to sleep for me.

I will watch the progress, very interesting, keep it up

Thank you Annie, I will certainly ummm… errr… try err… umm… to keep it err… umm… up! :evilgrin::evilgrin:

And Welcome to BA is nobody else has said so. mind you I don’t like the look of that pistol you are packing, I had better watch my behaviour… :eek:

So, to progress, I have added some more detail near the start of the race, this is just after Honey gives Erkinator the “finger” and he now blasts off in front of her, wrong side of the road, screaming the bike at 12,000 rpm and outside an old folks home tut, tut, tut… Mind you Honey has also put her foot down in second gear so is probably making a similar level of noise:


I have just noticed what it says on the sign - cheeky buggers, I am not that old yet…

Cheers, Clock. :wink:

A little drifting:


A very brief explanation is on my website (Tutorial-7) showing how to make the standard rig do this.

Cheers, Clock.