Has anyone tried replicating avatar style movement with physical objects or vehicles?

I'm trying to replicate the walking of an avatar with an object the avatar's sitting on. I haven't a great deal of experience with the physics engine and was wondering if anyone had done something similar?

EDIT: See clarification below.

Check out Dirty McLean, I think he has some robots. This is very difficult to do well because there is no hierarchical linking in sl.

Try the .bvh importer and player.

Perhaps I should clarify.

I'm not looking for something I can animate like an avatar, I'm looking for something that moves about like an avatar. E.g. something that you wouldn't notice you were sitting on if it weren't or the stand up/ release keys buttons.

It's possible but it's really difficult to get looking good and feeling natural.

Have you seen something like it then? I know it's possible in theory, but I'm learning the foibles of the physics engine at the same time as trying to make it so was looking for some pointers as to the best approach. Like: is there a good method for keeping a vehicle or other physical object upright when it's top heavy, or a way to make a balloon hover at ground level.

For me, AJ, the problem is that the physics stuff, as well as scripted prim movement, is so wonky, no matter how well you did it, the thing probably still wouldn't work correctly, with scripts that are supposed to work at the same time firing off at different times, the physics stuff blowing up the sim and various other wonderful things that happen in SL, through no fault of their own.

I'm thinking your best bet would be to cheat (as in theatre, not as in exams) and have the AV move the "vehicle".

If you'd like to have a conversation and try to figger out how to do it, shoot me an IM in game. I'll offer whatever expertise I can.

Personally to keep it from leaning/toppling over I'd use :

llSetStatus(STATUS_ROTATE_X,FALSE);
llSetStatus(STATUS_ROTATE_Y,FALSE);
llSetStatus(STATUS_ROTATE_Z,TRUE);

, to lock it so it can only turn along the z axis like an avatar would. I don't think I follow what you mean by having a balloon hover at ground level, if you mean have it uniformly hover say 2m off the ground, I'd just put a decent sized rounded transparent prim 2m down underneath the balloon, I never had any luck making vehicles hover at the same distance above land and/or prims any other way.

Aye, it's well wonky, I've just got it in my head that I have to do this.

If you're suggesting what I think you are here (that I should have the object follow or attach to the avatar) I'm afraid that doesn't suit my purposes.

That'd be awesome, thanks. Not going to be in world for a bit (as in hours, not days), I'll drop you an IM to organise when's good for you next time I am.

D'oh, how'd I miss those?

I'd want it hovering as close to 0m off the ground as possible, so if I play a standing animation and make the prim invisible it looks like the avatar's standing on the ground. I can't seem to get it to stay any lower than 10m without it floating up. Still, might not need to worry about that if I can lock a car to stay upright.

This is might be what you are looking for:
Puppeteer - Prim Animation Kit (Free Edition)
http://www.slexchange.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=163930

Check out the Rendezvous Friends Animator sold at Muse Isle - it is a full system for allowing an avatar to mimic all the motions of walking, flying and swimming , piggy back riding, dancing etc, in one vehicle device and yes I know all about how it works and what makes it work. Unfortunately, its taken me 8 months to figure it out and make it work and feel only a limited obligation to share the things one has to do to make it work. But check it out if you want to see that it can be done.

Val,

Your Rendezvous appears to be a very well done product. But, it is impossible to actually 'check out' since the demo is stationary. The animations are top notch. The only way to see how the thing moves around is to buy it, or find someone who owns one. Personally, I would love to see it in action, especially around the problem areas that I have encountered trying the same thing. But, honestly, the price tag is a bit steep without putting it through its paces. Also, how does it work under Havok 4?

As a closed system, it is also of limited use in this discussion. At best it can be looked at as proof that the concept can be done. But unless you are willing to provide hints as to its construction, I don't know that it can add much. (disclaimer: I do think it is a very fine product, and you have done remarkable work with it. Actually, I have recommended it to people who are looking for that type of product. I also understand why you would not want to reveal any details and respect that decision. Please don't take this as an assault, or insult. I do not mean that way. Only that it doesn't really help anyone seeking to do the same thing)


For the OP, I have so far tried several different designs of my own. The three approaches I've been playing with are:
1. Physical Object using llMoveToTarget() (There is also an open source version of this in the script library)
2. Sled-style platform that slides along the ground with the avatar standing on it
3. Hover-style object that floats at ~1-2m with the avatar walking beside it.

In every case, it isn't too hard to get basic smooth motion for flying/swimming, or for walking on flat ground. (at least I had reasonably decent results after a few hours of tweaking) The big problem areas I have had so far are with dealing with prim objects/terrain such as steps, bridges, and other things that avatars normally move over just fine. I also haven't tried simulating jumping yet (not sure if Rendezvous does that?).

Of course, this is just the platform's motion. There is still the issue of firing animations correctly, at the right time.

yes, it can be done.

abranimations has one, too. as you can see the people who HAVE done it are not eager to share their knowledge. that's fine.



however, there are a small few of us who are trying to build it from the ground up. the latest thread for it was here:

http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?t=200261


i have been working on it off and on. my last experiments i got discouraged because my stupid sphere vehicle kept doing faceplants on the slightest hill or bump. though this rotatex/y false bit might just be the thing.

i was also toying with the thought of making a group to work on this together and share stuff in-world. hah, of course, i dont have room for any more groups.... but if enough people are interested, we could organize something. maybe. sorta?

I wasn't aware of the abranimtions one. I thought they only had the couples hud. I'll check it out tonight.

Setting 'llSetStatus(STATUS_ROTATE_X | STATUS_ROTATE_Y, FALSE);'
will keep you from rotating when hitting things. But from my experience so far, it doesn't help with moving over what you are hitting. I think when these flags are set, the physics engine still tries to translate the forward momentum to angular motion, then the flags stop the angular motion from being applied, and it stops there with the result that the motion is simply damped and not deflected into another linear vector. So for even small steps, you will simply stop dead in your tracks. Maybe the sphere shape will help with that. I haven't tested a sphere yet.

Look at Vertical Attraction Efficiency and Timescale, and also Hover height. That should help with some of the problems you describe.

As for the sphere 'falling flat' on an incline, the above should help with some of that, though I've not worked on something like this before I've had people ask for it as a vehicle creator. The rotate false suggestion combined with this might alleviate most any of the problems.

I think you might need to look at the build of the 'vehicle' as well. Most ground vehicles have some kind of invisible ramp at the front to assist with climbing over small bumps and hills. You could try something like this \_/ or even (_) and see if either of those works...you can widen them to improve stability if you need.

Essentially if you give the vehicle high vertical attraction efficiency (how hard it's going to try to stand upright) and low attraction timescale (how long it will take to do it) that should really alleviate any tip over problems.

yeah...

i just tried the status rotate in my tiny rickshaw, and that made it tip and bank WORSE than not. :/

vertical attractor of 10 and decay of .1 seems to be working better.




another thing im having trouble with is going uphill. when i get the speeds and frictions throttled to get natural speeds on level ground, i can barely drag the vehicle uphill.


btw, im using a car, not a hover. maybe that's my problem? but doesn't hover calculate by height from the ground? what if you're on a platform or prim ground?

i have a non-physical vehicle that's very nice, but it doesnt go downhill (unless you hold page down), and it doesnt climb prim surfaces. :/