animating objects with gizmo/geometry position 3dsmax

[super gnu]

ive got a potential job where elements of a model have to spin/scale/ animate as another object passes through.

i could obviously hand keyframe it all.. but, what i would like is to, for example, keyframe all the elements doing their animation as i wish,, then have the individual parts timing offset by a gizmo or volume select.. that way if i speed up or slow down/change shape of the intersecting object, the other parts remain in sync.

is this possible? im not sure how to search for this online. i would imagine i could do something like this with tyflow and using the animated elements as particles/ tyactors or something.. but a) it would be nice to have something simple and in-built to max, and b) ive no idea how to do that in tyflow anyway beyond a vague idea.

[theedge]

Animators Toolkit might be the tool you're looking for. It only uses native 3ds max tools under the hood.
BUT : I am not sure it is still developed and it seems to work with 3ds max up to version 2017 only. So maybe try the demo version before buying.

[super gnu]

hm.. well that plugin seems extremely cryptic to use, the help files are full of "coming soon" pages, none of the online video examples work, and so far, no reply from my email to the makers.

i dont think ill be using that!



ive found one method (not super user friendly) where you put a pointcache on top of the animated object, then use the exposeTM helper to get distance from that object to a dummy. you can then use parameter wiring to link pointcache playback frame to distance measured in exposeTM helper.

however a) you have to manually set it up for each object, and
b) adjusting the relationship between distance and frame offset is not simple at all and involves maths in the parameter wiring dialogue, object by object.

hopefully ill find a simpler solution.. i saw a video of somebody doing something similar in c4d using "effectors" and it looked sooooo easy.

i suspect if i can actually get some pointers from an expert, tyflow is my best bet.

[thablanch]

Not sure of the overall complexity of your setup, but if simple enough, this could help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzw_X-vxwYU
The expose node is quite powerfull to do modifications based on different positions and objects
Hope it helps

[super gnu]

Not sure of the overall complexity of your setup, but if simple enough, this could help
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzw_X-vxwYU
The expose node is quite powerfull to do modifications based on different positions and objects
Hope it helps

ha.. i think you didnt read my post above yours.. i was using the exposeTM helper already, it does exactly what i want, but is extremely manual to set up. im sure somehwere somebody has automated this into a nice script or mcg... maybe thats what ATK does, but ill be damned if i can find out.

[fixeighted]

Seems like the reaction manager could probably help here quite easily, possibly

[super gnu]

Seems like the reaction manager could probably help here quite easily, possibly

you know Max continues to surprise me. Every time i think i know it, somebody points out an entire category of tools i didnt know existed. i shall have to do some research and find out how to use this "reaction manager"

[fixeighted]

To be honest, I had not used it before, so can't say when it was introduced.
Your post made me think, so some research led me to it and I tested functionality.
It may work for you but it's tricky to say without knowing more specifics. Good luck anyway