Palm tree in storm

Sloth Motivator · 25-05-2005, 12:55 PM

Basically - I need to animate a palm tree being blown around in a storm using max 7. This needs to be done ultra realistically - so i was thinking a physics engine such as Reactor could help. No luck there - have tried all sorts from the soft body to the rope modifier, have also been through quite a few reactor tutorials. Am I missing something? If not, anyone know a way of doing this, bearing in mind that this animation cannot be hand animated?

kieranbelkus · 26-05-2005, 03:28 AM

Hey,

Ok, well im not sure how realistic this would look but...

1)Model the base of the tree, make sure your happy with it, and then add a bend modifier.

2) The leaves also add a bend modifier.

So now, you should have the basic outline, base of the tree, and leaves of the tree.

This stumped me, (exuse the pun) so i did a small test of this, basically i animated the "bend" on the tree base, and made it quite random (maybe you could even possible add a "noise modifier" (im not sure on this) so i hand animated the bend angle.

I then wired the parameters of the leaf position to the so the X position (it was x axis in my situation). This then ment when i played back the animation the leaf section moved in direction, i then went in and animated the rotation of the leaf section, and then the on the bend modifer i added to this leaf section i went in and animated the angle on this section, so it moved in the direction of the wind.

However it looks fairly realistic, im guessing with some good texturing, and good lighting, make the animation a little more chaotic.

Anyhow someone else might know how to do this alot better. Just a thought.

Good luck!

Sloth Motivator · 26-05-2005, 01:27 PM

shot for the info - also tried playing around with the noise and the bend modifier. You can get pretty close with these modifiers. I think you're right in using a combination. The flex modifier also looks interesting.

Ultimately though a plugin (tree storm) may be the best option.

AT the moment we're trying out using reactor springs on a bunch of boxes making up the base. These are affected by a wind. Once they are moving correctly we will use these same boxes as bones for the actual geometry of the palm trunk.

25-05-2005, 12:55 PM	#1
Sloth Motivator Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Palm tree in storm (3dmax 7) Basically - I need to animate a palm tree being blown around in a storm using max 7. This needs to be done ultra realistically - so i was thinking a physics engine such as Reactor could help. No luck there - have tried all sorts from the soft body to the rope modifier, have also been through quite a few reactor tutorials. Am I missing something? If not, anyone know a way of doing this, bearing in mind that this animation cannot be hand animated? Last edited by Sloth Motivator; 25-05-2005 at 06:20 PM.. Reason: add program

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

26-05-2005, 03:28 AM	#2
kieranbelkus Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 14 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hey, Ok, well im not sure how realistic this would look but... 1)Model the base of the tree, make sure your happy with it, and then add a bend modifier. 2) The leaves also add a bend modifier. So now, you should have the basic outline, base of the tree, and leaves of the tree. This stumped me, (exuse the pun) so i did a small test of this, basically i animated the "bend" on the tree base, and made it quite random (maybe you could even possible add a "noise modifier" (im not sure on this) so i hand animated the bend angle. I then wired the parameters of the leaf position to the so the X position (it was x axis in my situation). This then ment when i played back the animation the leaf section moved in direction, i then went in and animated the rotation of the leaf section, and then the on the bend modifer i added to this leaf section i went in and animated the angle on this section, so it moved in the direction of the wind. However it looks fairly realistic, im guessing with some good texturing, and good lighting, make the animation a little more chaotic. Anyhow someone else might know how to do this alot better. Just a thought. Good luck!

26-05-2005, 01:27 PM	#3
Sloth Motivator Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 2 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	shot for the info - also tried playing around with the noise and the bend modifier. You can get pretty close with these modifiers. I think you're right in using a combination. The flex modifier also looks interesting. Ultimately though a plugin (tree storm) may be the best option. AT the moment we're trying out using reactor springs on a bunch of boxes making up the base. These are affected by a wind. Once they are moving correctly we will use these same boxes as bones for the actual geometry of the palm trunk.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)