Projectile 2.0: Rigid Body Instances and Velocity

https://twitter.com/i/status/1105477256791486464

Ohh! A fancy twitter embed! :slight_smile: Download here

But as the video shows, I added functionality for objects to be hidden in viewport and render before they are launched. This wasnā€™t possible before because the visibility couldnā€™t be keyframed in 2.80!

Also added support for drawing all trajectories rather than just the selected object.

Silenced a few warnings.

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More updates this week!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1106692613174775813

Added a scene gravity update handler
Optimized drawing of trajectories (calculates all trajectories then draws)

As always, get the latest version from GitHub

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This doesnā€™t seem to be working anymore, any likelihood of this being updated for 2.8?

@Nirurin I just downloaded the most recent projectile.py found on GitHub and ran it within Blender with no issues. Could you please explain what isnā€™t working either here or on GitHub?

I was just coming back to correct this - turns out it does work, but Blender is very particular about how to install it. It wonā€™t install via the ā€˜installā€™ function, and it wonā€™t work if you put it in the addons folder inside the ā€˜Projectileā€™ folder, but it does work if you just put the .py straight into the addons folder. First time Iā€™ve had this problem but apparently it happens with some addons.

Seems to be working now, although Iā€™m having some issues. One of my objects is only moving for the first frame and then stopping and hanging for no reason (that I can see). Also the trajectory lines are curving downwards as if itā€™s expecting there to be gravity, even though there is no gravity.

Ended up having to fix the glitch by removing and re-adding the object. Other than the trajectory lines being wrong, everything else seems to be working pretty well :slight_smile:

@Nirurin Are you downloading a .zip of the repository, or just the .py file. This is a single file addon, so you will need to install just the .py file. I install within Blender without issues each time I change the addon. The download link for the single file is in the readme. (Right-click, save link as)

The object only moving for one frame sounds like an older issue I had. Are you sure you are using the most recent version of the addon? The same goes for the trajectory lines, I just tested in the official 2.80 release and the lines are drawn correctly, even with scene gravity changes.

Iā€™m not sureā€¦ Iā€™m using the .py file that I downloaded from the github master, itā€™s the only file available as there arenā€™t any ā€˜releasesā€™ on the releases tab in github. It says itā€™s version 1.0?

For me, the trajectory lines are staying curved as if there was gravity, even though I have gravity turned off in the ā€˜sceneā€™ settings. Perhaps Iā€™m meant to be turning it off in some other way?

@Nirurin Thanks for clarifying. Iā€™m not sure why the install fails for you. Iā€™ll check but I donā€™t think there is anything I can do with that.

Thanks for clarifying about the gravity. I failed to check for disabling the scene gravity, so Iā€™ll make that update and fix the script soon. Thanks for reporting! :slight_smile:

Sorry @Zachman I meant to say, when I was trying to install it I did install from the .zip download, which created a ā€˜Projectilesā€™ folder for the .py file automatically. Which doesnā€™t then work, because blender wonā€™t see it if its in a folder.

Works fine installing it manually without the folder though, so itā€™s not a big problem :slight_smile:

Great service on the updating though haha, and so far its a really useful looking addon. Makes my life easier on this project anyway!

@Nirurin I have fixed the gravity toggle issue! Sorry it took a while to set aside some time. You can download again from GitHub. Iā€™m glad the addon is helping you!

Changes

Moved the Projectile panel to the Physics tab of the sidebar (ā€œNā€ panel)
Fixed issue where scene gravity toggling did not update the trajectories.

Thankyou! Iā€™ll grab the update now. Appreciate it!

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Hmmā€¦ having some issues with this. Similar to the issues I had when I was originally trying to set objects in motion just by manually turning ā€˜animateā€™ on and off.

Basically, Iā€™ve added 3 objects to ā€˜projectile objectsā€™, and given them all speeds in the Z axis. One of them moves about 1 mm in 1 frame, and then stays still, and the other two donā€™t move at all.

@Nirurin I have seen this issue before, but I thought I resolved it. Could you share a .blend file that shows the problem, otherwise it will be difficult for me to debug :slight_smile:

Whoa, fantastic addon! Makes things so simple. Very useful, thanks for making it! :+1:

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I just pushed a small update today. Now the initial velocity can be set in spherical coordinates (radius, incline, azimuth) rather than Cartesian coordinates. As always, the latest version is on GitHub.

image

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Version 2 is now available which keeps all old behavior but allows rigid body instancing. Still free!

New features include:

  • Rigid body instancing
  • Rigid body lifetime
  • Spherical coordinates
  • Simplified UI
  • Animated emitters

Overview Video:

Download for free:

If you want to support, consider donating a small amount on Gumroad! Enjoy!

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Nice addon- but i canā€™t bake objects to keyframes. Any solution?

Thanks!

I have no issues baking the projectiles to keyframes. Select the object. Object > Rigid Body > Bake to keyframes. You can select all the instances and run that operator.

Could you be more specific if that doesnā€™t solve the problem?