CompuServe Thread

#keyscript not nodefetch

7 messages in this thread
#182644From: JEFF RIETERJul 28, 1995 4:07 PM
Kevin, What I am trying to show is a: two dimensional representation of two cars on a road in profile over approx 10 miles showing the change in elevation of the road and the relationship between the two cars. I am using keyscript to keyframe the motion of the car/ objects. I then want to use the path of one of the objects to model the road object presumably by extruding a polygon along the path created by keyscript. This path will have nodes for every frame, therefore I anticipate that the road will have a high polygon count ( being that it was modelled from the path of the car object. Do you follow my strategy here? I realize its a great deal of effort for what ammounts to a 2d animation but keyscript is so useful for translating postion data for every 30th of a second ( for approx 10 minutes). Please feel free to offer any suggestions based on what I have explained above. I realize its not a textbook reconstruction. Thanks for your interest Jeff
#182680From: CSA/CAJul 28, 1995 8:22 PM
Jeff, Hmmm. Certainly a long path. I'd break it into sections, and loft along a (relatively) short section of path, placing the road objects adjacent to each other. Depending on how detailed the road actually needs to be, I'd try to find some other way of representing it in a simpler fashion – perhaps forcing points within certain tolerances to a nearby representative value. Kevin Krell – Computer Support Associates
#182691From: JEFF RIETERJul 28, 1995 11:14 PM
Kevin, Thanks again for the input. I've already had to break the path into sections just so I could use keyscript and get by with 40 M RAM. I would like to find a better way to represent the road perhaps even 2d if possible. It needs to be close ( accurate ) with respect to the car objects moving on it of course. Thats why I thought the path was the way to go (npi). I think i'll exceed the vertices and faces limit if I use th path though and rendering times will go through the roof even with simple geometry. Hmm. Thanks again for your interest and suggestions.
#182857From: Rick MillerJul 31, 1995 10:56 AM
Jeff, If the camera is not moving during certain periods, then render all the objects that are ***NOT*** moving and use the image as a background. This would help tremendously, since all those objects are only rendered once and not every frame. With your limited time, having the camera motionless during some of the animation maybe your only option. Maybe if you would describe the motion that the camera will be using, someone might have some more suggestions. I have an idle Pentium computer with 32MB of ram that could render some of your frames. Do you have a ZipDrive and disks for transporting the images? Regards………..Rick – Technical Animations
#183042From: JEFF RIETERAug 1, 1995 1:25 PM
Rick Good to hear from you on this one.. Unfortunately camera movement is essential because of the point of view we are trying to show here. Showing movement of two vehicles over six miles at a distance great enough so that both vehicles are seen at the same time makes camera movement a necessity I think. Although, I've tried to think of ways to incorporate a static background of non-moving objects. I'm in a holding pattern at the moment, but I'll get back to you if I need use of your pentium machine. I do have a zip drive so no problem there. Thanks Jeff
#183084From: Rick MillerAug 1, 1995 4:32 PM
Jeff, >>Unfortunately camera movement is essential because of the point of view we are trying to show here.<< I suspected that might be the case, but it never hurts to ask. >>I'm in a holding pattern at the moment, but I'll get back to you if I need use of your pentium machine.<< When is your deadline? Let me know if you need help. Regards……………Rick – Technical Animations
#183092From: JEFF RIETERAug 1, 1995 5:46 PM
Rick, The deadline is early next week. I will let you know if I can use your help. Thanks Jeff- N-IMAGE