Nice!
I can not help being reminded of a now defunct program called “Real Motion”.
Basically you used a real time engine to drive around an assortment of vehicles on your imported low proxy terrain meshes. The engine then spit out frame data with all the xyz for the vehicle rig. Take the data into the high rez version and render. The rigs include multi wheeled land vechiles, aircraft and different camera views. The harrier jet was a hoot to fly. I think the programmer got cobbled up by one of the biggies, code lost forever. Anyway great work.
It was ReelMotion. The company has been Acquired by Rainbow Studios. The software is supposed to be still alive and available at Rainbow Studios, but on some forums I’ve read posts saying that it was no more sold. Its a shame.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_20050229/ai_mark01012817/?tag=content;col1
I have been playing around with the latest release and I find that it breaks (meaning the wheels act unnatural when traversing certain terrains). Is there anything that can be done about this?
I was wondering if I could just use a single sensor for both rear wheels? Do you think this might help? Sometimes the wheels tilt/lean too much, is there a way to set a maximum rot/tilt?
Attachments
No, you can’t use only one sensor. This rig requires one sensor per wheel. I have tried solutions using my old method with a the arrow mesh on the curve : I used the arrow mesh as a big sensor on which I parented the empties for the wheels : it gave very huge deformations, because of the compress / stretch effect in the curves.
I know that in extreme situations, the distance between wheels can be enlarged (see the big hole in terrain that I have put put for testing around frame 530).
I have not noticed other problems… I will look at it as soon as possible. I think that it can be solved by adding some contraints to limit the range of the arms bones…
It can also be because the Sensors are parented to the Master Bone, and the Arms bones are located on the Empties parented to the sensors. I think that big slopes slightly modify the dimensions of the rig… Maybe I have too much simplified !
EDIT : Hmm, you are right : the problem is bigger than I thought. Thank you for the feedback !
I have noticed something unexpected : The empties following the curve by Clamp To constraints are not affected by the ShrinkWrap modifier applied to the curve ! So, as the master bone tracks empties which are at a wrong altitude, the Sensors position are wrong and it leads to a bad positionning of the wheels and a broken rig !
I think that I will have to come back to the heavier solution with a “Ribbon” mesh following the curve and suporting the empties.
EDIT : New 4.1 version with most bugs fixed in this thread :
Everyone has to be interested in this! What an incredible asset you have made available to the community! I was on turbosquid the other day, and I saw a fully rigged semi truck selling for over $500.00. This is so much more than that IMO, as it is a setup that can be adapted for any vehicle. Too many people are shy, or dumbfounded so they don’t comment, or they have no idea what it takes to produce something on this level. I think this needs to be included in a repository somewhere. (of course this forum works great, but I feel that items like this get lost in the shuffle)
Thanks.
-n00bie
4x4-Autodrive v 5.3 released !
Hi, Thank you for your comment !
I’m currently working on the 5.x release. It is very different. I change the main version number each time there is a big change in the method.
It looks more complicated, but indeed it is really easy to use.
Main advantages :
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No more dependencies, and so a very reactive rig.
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No more geometric deformations on the rear axle, even in strong slopes.
Maybe you will not like it at first glance, because the setup uses many solid objects and empties, but it is accurate and responsive, and works well in extreme stress conditions.
It is easy to make not visible and not selectable objects that are not necessary in normal use, so the view would not be too populated. It is also easy to hide the setup on a layer.
The Truck option is a first test, and is not suitable for very bumpy terrains, but it is the same for real trucks !
Here is a blend file compressed with Blender built in compression feature, so if you save it again , do not be surprised if the file is bigger after saving it !
http://3d-synthesis.com/Blender_Files/4x4-Autodrive-V5-3-TRUCK-Compressed.blend
I have not yet added the springs (absorbers) deformation.
Comments will be welcome.
To be followed…
Cool stuff, I am currently using your old tutorial to rig and animate the bmw m6 in my signature i am trying to get a nice image with motion blur and all in luxrender and an animation in blender internal if I can manage it. I am almost done with that car and have been prospecting for new ideas this new rig you made got going me thinking that a bmw x6 or audi q5 might just be the project.
I am not the fastest modeler, I work full time so I only blend in my free time, but I think am good with cars if you need a 4x4 model just pm me.
@tyrant monkey : Hi ! I have looked at your BMW,it looks fine ! Good work. Thank you for your proposal, but I like to do all my models myself, even if it takes a long time. My Blend-Rover model is not finished. The model is still in mirror, and many details and textures are missing, but it is only a template for the Blend file.
Currently, I’m working on the 6.x version of the 4x4 setup. It is a translation of the rig into armature.
I have noticed a lack of accuracy in the rear axle in extreme torsion, due to a bad displacement of the rear sensors… I’m on this trouble for days, and so far I haven’t found the good way to fix it…
Stay tuned !
Philippe.
I’m completely dumbfounded!
This project is amazing work :D!
I’m going to try to play around with it some this weekend :).
I’m working for months on my 4x4 Autodrive system, and I will release the "official version "including the Tracks Creator in a close future, but you will have to use it with 2.48a, because of 3 bad bugs in the particles system (used by the tracks creator).
Well… I’d prefer not having to say that, but after some tests, the particles system that had some bugs in 2.48a and some features broken by 2.49a is worse in 2.49b.
A blend file perfectly rendering particles objects in 2.48a doesn’t render these particles in 2.49a and 2.49b.
When I read that there are improvements in the Particles system in 2.49b, I like to know where they are ? I’m very worried about important broken features.
The bugtracker seems to be not read for a long time, and I really fear that these bugs would be imported in v2.50…
Hi,
After several months and 6 main differents versions alternating Setups made of solid objects and Armatures, with tens of various attempts and variations in between, I have finally built this 6.1 version of my 4x4 Autodrive system, including the Tracks Creator.
The goal of this setup is to provide a system that is ready to use, allowing to animate automatically a four wheels vehicle on any kind of terrains, with automatic obstacles detection, and not using physics simulation : The Game Engine is not used in this setup.
This setup uses an simple and efficient armature driven by four “Altitude Sensors” made thanks to ShinkWrap modifiers.
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Just import your own model of car, wheel and terrain : the system is ready to play.
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Animating the car requires only to edit the curve (trajectory) in top view, and adjust the speed of the vehicle by an unique Ipo curve.
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A driving character is provided, automatically animated. You can easily edit the shape and materials of the mesh to create you own character that will still be animated if you don’t break the Vertex Groups.
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The system also produces automatically tires tracks after each wheel. It allows to create easily animated textures to make tracks in all ground materials : sand, mud, soil, snow, grass…
Here is a video example on vimeo :
The link on vimeo is :
http://www.vimeo.com/6455614
The blend file of the 4x4 Autodrive System v6.1 setup :
http://3d-synthesis.com/tutorials/4x4-Autodrive-V6-1-Compressed.blend
The manual in of the 4x4 Autodrive System in PDF format :
http://3d-synthesis.com/tutorials/4x4-Autodrive-V6.1-Manual.pdf
I hope that you will find it useful !
Best regards,
Philippe.
Hi, my web access provider has been bought by an other one, and this is cause of the loss of important features, like e-mail redirections. I recently discovered that most of the e-mails sent to the contact adresses of my website have been lost, probably since early june !
As they are unable to fix this problem, I’m currently switching to an other web provider, but it will take one or two weeks before geting a new e-mail box. So, please, if you want to tell me something, send me a PM on this forum.
If you have sent me an e-mail since may or june, I’m really sorry, but it is very probable that it has been lost, eaten by a black hole ! So, please, write me a PM here, or send me an e-mail again in early october through the adresses on my website.
Best regards,
Philippe.
That is too bad. Well, looks great! keep it up!
-shingwantin