Tank Track Moving too fast (x2)

Okay,

So I created a tank track using the standard methods out there in tutorial world.

-Make a curve ( at origin ).
-create a track shoe (at origin )
-modifier on shoe -array…
-modifier on shoe -curve (apply to curve created above )
-tweak…

If you translate along the Y axis ( in this case ), you get tracks rotating around the curve -quite nice.

Now, I cant stop there, so I rigged a bone to translate the tracks. I also rigged up some nice gears and made them match up and rotate ect, but I digress…

So I discover when I translate my tracks the track itself is moving too fast for the plane it is traveling on. ( one unit of translation equals ~2 units of track translation ) Why can probably be answered with some math… but anyway.

Is there a fix for this? I fooled around for hours to discover I’m probably going about this all wrong…

I want to be able to easily animate the tracks traveling over a path…

I also want full control over the tracks as well independently so I can perhaps show the “slipping” in the mud -so to speak.

I’m at a loss… where am I headed to next?

Thoughts?

I don’t think there is a “fix” for such things, you will have to do what all animators do, and keep experimenting with different speeds until you get it right.

Let me ask this then…

Is there a way to create a bone which can be made to translate a percentage of that of a parent bone…
(Bone A is translated 1 unit along Y… and Bone B moves .5 units along Y along with it.)

Already looking at some new way to do all this.

copy location constraint with the influence set to 50% or the transformation constraint might be useful but a bit of a pain to set up.

Randy

That did it… also needed to be world space. Thanks!