The CrowBot build proceeds apace! WIP test animations

THIS IS INSANE :exploding_head:. The level of detail is net level. would you have any tips for anyone trying to achive the realistically mechanical look?

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Thank you for the compliment!

Here are my thoughts on your question:

First thing is you need to develop your understanding of machines. They are essentially a bunch of functional rigid forms articulated together. Each component has a job to do and it’s shape depends on that. Each component takes input from others and outputs to the next component in sequence.

For example, a lever is connected to some kind of stable base, it receives energy maybe from a cable or ram or another lever, then it applies that energy to an axle or another lever or an articulated flap or whatever.

Each component must have properties applicable to how it is made and the job it has to do. Metal is stamped, cast or machined. Plastic is injection or blow moulded. Wood is sawn, sanded and painted etc. This will affect the shape and texture of the component. These things will be affected in turn by the component doing its job and the environment.

So you need to master hard surface modelling and texturing, then rigging in all its applicable guises, bones, constraints, drivers, modifiers, curves and so on.

Best to start with simple machines you find around the home and at work, that you can study and replicate. Reference is vital in this quest. Also do lots of tutorials on mechanical rigging, make notes of what you learn, and keep a directory of the good ones so you can go back to them.

Keep going and remain very open to feedback from people who do lots of this stuff. Look at the great feedback I got from lolypoly above! Clearly a guy who works with audio equipment every day! I am defo looking into that!

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I Love the eye!

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Welcome aboard!!!

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Do you mind me asking how you rigged the neck cables? :slightly_smiling_face:

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I assume you mean the thick detailed “throat” tube that connects the head to the body.

Firstly, I used a bezier curve hooked to several empties, with the empties parented to the objects that the cable passes through. Now you will find that scaling the empties along the tangent of the curve will scale the control points of the curve! Power at your fingertips!

Now you can use a driver that takes the local rotation of the neck segment axes to drive that scale! So, as the angle between the two neck segments increases, the control handles of the curve lengthen to keep the curve nicely “wrapped” around the axis of rotation.

Next is to add the cable thickness. I used two methods together. The basic cable thickness is just the “bevel” adjustment in the curve properties tab. Easy!

I added an array of small triangles, binding them to the curve using the curve modifier. Then I instanced my mesh for the rings on the face of each triangle. I used a triangle because its the simplest mesh that has a face, plus a triangle is always flat! Instances depend on normals so that’s important! I added a driver to the array modifier that makes sure the distances between the triangles along the curve stays like I want them as neck segments rotate.

Now the whole arrangement will respond automatically to movements of the head and neck. No need to animate them independently!

I did that with two different ring mesh objects as you can see. I could have just arrayed these meshes along the curve, but then their shape would have deformed according to the curve. The instances don’t inherit deform information from the triangles.

I tried to make that brief yet detailed enough to give an idea of how its done. Best is to fiddle with the concept until you conquer it. That’s what I did!

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Thanks bro. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain all of this.

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I featured you on BlenderNation, have a great weekend!

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Thank you Bart!! You’re a star!

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You’re on the featured row! :+1:

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Thanks again Bart!

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