#Stage Editor
5 messages in this thread
James,
A current limitation is that with grouped objects you cannot access any child
objects in the stage editor. This may be changing in the future.
For now, you can do what you want this way, using Imagine 3.0 and up….
1) Break apart the head of the lamp where it pivot's from the lamp body.
2) Keep the objects relative positions in the detail editor so that when you
load them into the stage editor they are positioned correctly relative to each
other.
3) In the action editor load in the lamp_body
4) In the action editor load in the lamp_head. ADD a bar in the lamp_head's
ASSOC timeline and enter the name of the lamp_body object as it appears in the
action editor.
5) SAVE these changes.
6) Endter STAGE editor.
Now you will be able to rotate the head of the lamp at will. Also, if you move
the lamp body, or even rotate the lamp body, the head of the lamp will keep
it's relative position/alignment to it! Thats what the ASSOCIATE bar does.
Note: if you do move the lamp-body, teh lamp_head will not automatically track
with it. You will need to re-enter the frame to get it to update it's
position/alignment relative to the lamp_body.
Also, you can now in the ACTION editor delete the ALIGNMENT bar of the
LAMP_HEAD object, and ADD a new one. When doing this, you can TRACK it to the
picture object by selecting TRACK TO OBJECT, and then entering the picture
object's name as it appears in the action editor. So now, if the picture
moves, the lamp head will rotate to always point on it…like it's a spot-light
following it. <g> NOTE: When objects are TRACKED to other objetcs, their Y
axes are what point to the other objects…so just have the parent axis of the
lamp-object's Y axis pointing in the direction of the shining light.
If you are not using Imagine 3.0 or higher, you won't have the ASSOCIATE
command, which means you'll just have to manually maych up the positions of the
lamp_head and lamp_body objects.
If you are totally confused now, <g> let me know and we'll tyake it slower.
Just let me know which version of Imagine you are using..2.0, 3.0, or 3.2
-GreG
Hi Greg,
I am using Imagine 3.0 and I tried associate but I could'nt get it to
work.
Here's what I did. I joined a lot of the individual objects into 4 main parts.
The head, upperarm, basearm and base. I loaded them one at a time into the
stage editor and they aligned in the exact same position as they were in the
detail editor.
Then I went into the action editor and added an ASSOC bar to the head. I typed
in the name of the upperarm as the action editor sees it (tube.7). I saved
changes and entered the stage editor but when I moved or rotated either the
head or the upperarm the associated object did not follow it. I selected goto
frame 1 to re-enter the frame as you said but it still did'nt move. Did I miss
anything?
BTW- I have tracked a light to an object before and it has worked fine so I
should'nt have any trouble tracking the lamp head to the picture later on.
Thanx…
->James
James,
I'm sorry, the docs don't make it clear and I didn't mention the fact that
frame 1 is used to maintain the relative relationships of the objects for
reference that ASSOCIATION needs. Once you add all your objects, and define
their ASSOCIATIONS, you need to leave frame 1 alone, and start with frame 2 and
on. That is, keep the positions and alignments of the objects in frame 1 as
you set them up. Imagine needs this "default" positioning/alignment for
reference. Start moving/rotating objects with frame 2.
Also, if you don't want to use the ASSOCIATE route (sometimes you don't need it
when doing quick positioning), just SHIFT-select the objects you want
rotated/moved and they will all rotate/moved relative to the first object you
select when you SHIFT-select.
-GreG
Hi Greg,
I sort of got associate to work but I think I'm going to stick
to selecting the separate objects in multimode and moving/rotating them that
way for now. It seems to be working out ok.
Thanx for the help…
->James
>>
I sort of got associate to work but I think I'm going to stick to selecting the
separate objects in multimode
<<
Sure thing James, no need to go overboard for just creating a still. When you
have some time though, do check out the associate function…ask more questions
if you get stuck. It's really powerfull, and in animations it's really a
lifesaver.
-GreG