Second Life Forums Archive - animate prim ala waving thingies like in ivory tower

Dante Breck

Spellchek Roxs

Join date: 29 Oct 2006

Posts: 113

01-10-2007 09:22

I want to create (well I created it now I want to animate it) an object that waves about starting at a fixed point. The kind of thing I have seen that is similar is the waving grass things in the ivory tower or the tentacles that some people wear.

I'm not trying to copy either one, but I've no idea where to really start investigating how to do this. I am a scripting newbie too so please be gentle.

After searching it seems I can do this through two possibilities since as far as I know you can't build IK into prims in SL and animate them. I'm also not looking for random movement. I basically want to play a series of positions in order around one root prim that would be attached to an AV.

The two options I found but don't know what to look at, are to play a series of positions, rotations on each part synchronized (I think) or to put a series of each position together then "play" each one by hiding showing each state like frames in an animation. I want it to look fluid though so I'm thinking the first option is probably where I want to go.

So that being said, can anyone point me at the right places in the wiki to start reading? I'd really like to use this as an opportunity to get my feet into scripting.

Thanks!
Dante

Senuka Harbinger

A-Life, one bit at a time

Join date: 24 Oct 2005

Posts: 491

01-10-2007 09:47

the waving grass and tenticles are simply Flexiprims, with something like llSetRot(...) put in a timer loop to have them flick back and forth occasionally.

_____________________

My SLExchange shop

Typos are forgiven; desecrating the english language with reckless abandon and necrophilic acts is not.

The function is working perfectly fine. It's just not working the way you wanted it to work.

Dante Breck

Spellchek Roxs

Join date: 29 Oct 2006

Posts: 113

01-10-2007 09:56

That would give me a random action through depending on what the flexi prim decided to do though. My project doesn't have flexi prims in it and has a couple of articulated areas that I want to move through a very specific series of motions.

Example: Think space arm on the shuttle. I want to script it lifting something out of the cargo bay. and then returning to its original position. Thats the kind of motion I am looking at in a timed repeating fashion.

Its not specifically a space arm thats just an example. Any resemblance to RL is totally unintentional. Do not use with alcohol. Batteries not included. Not for ingestion.

Newgate Ludd

Out of Chesse Error

Join date: 8 Apr 2005

Posts: 2,103

01-11-2007 00:35

From: Dante Breck

That would give me a random action through depending on what the flexi prim decided to do though. My project doesn't have flexi prims in it and has a couple of articulated areas that I want to move through a very specific series of motions.

Example: Think space arm on the shuttle. I want to script it lifting something out of the cargo bay. and then returning to its original position. Thats the kind of motion I am looking at in a timed repeating fashion.

Its not specifically a space arm thats just an example. Any resemblance to RL is totally unintentional. Do not use with alcohol. Batteries not included. Not for ingestion.

There are several animation systems of this type posted in this forum or in the library.
Check out the BVH to Prim importer which i think is similar to what you are talking about.

animate prim ala waving thingies like in ivory tower
Dante Breck Spellchek Roxs Join date: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 113	01-10-2007 09:22 I want to create (well I created it now I want to animate it) an object that waves about starting at a fixed point. The kind of thing I have seen that is similar is the waving grass things in the ivory tower or the tentacles that some people wear. I'm not trying to copy either one, but I've no idea where to really start investigating how to do this. I am a scripting newbie too so please be gentle. After searching it seems I can do this through two possibilities since as far as I know you can't build IK into prims in SL and animate them. I'm also not looking for random movement. I basically want to play a series of positions in order around one root prim that would be attached to an AV. The two options I found but don't know what to look at, are to play a series of positions, rotations on each part synchronized (I think) or to put a series of each position together then "play" each one by hiding showing each state like frames in an animation. I want it to look fluid though so I'm thinking the first option is probably where I want to go. So that being said, can anyone point me at the right places in the wiki to start reading? I'd really like to use this as an opportunity to get my feet into scripting. Thanks! Dante
Senuka Harbinger A-Life, one bit at a time Join date: 24 Oct 2005 Posts: 491	01-10-2007 09:47 the waving grass and tenticles are simply Flexiprims, with something like llSetRot(...) put in a timer loop to have them flick back and forth occasionally. _____________________ My SLExchange shop Typos are forgiven; desecrating the english language with reckless abandon and necrophilic acts is not. The function is working perfectly fine. It's just not working the way you wanted it to work.
Dante Breck Spellchek Roxs Join date: 29 Oct 2006 Posts: 113	01-10-2007 09:56 That would give me a random action through depending on what the flexi prim decided to do though. My project doesn't have flexi prims in it and has a couple of articulated areas that I want to move through a very specific series of motions. Example: Think space arm on the shuttle. I want to script it lifting something out of the cargo bay. and then returning to its original position. Thats the kind of motion I am looking at in a timed repeating fashion. Its not specifically a space arm thats just an example. Any resemblance to RL is totally unintentional. Do not use with alcohol. Batteries not included. Not for ingestion.
Newgate Ludd Out of Chesse Error Join date: 8 Apr 2005 Posts: 2,103	01-11-2007 00:35 From: Dante Breck That would give me a random action through depending on what the flexi prim decided to do though. My project doesn't have flexi prims in it and has a couple of articulated areas that I want to move through a very specific series of motions. Example: Think space arm on the shuttle. I want to script it lifting something out of the cargo bay. and then returning to its original position. Thats the kind of motion I am looking at in a timed repeating fashion. Its not specifically a space arm thats just an example. Any resemblance to RL is totally unintentional. Do not use with alcohol. Batteries not included. Not for ingestion. There are several animation systems of this type posted in this forum or in the library. Check out the BVH to Prim importer which i think is similar to what you are talking about.

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animate prim ala waving thingies like in ivory tower