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Shaun_michael
12-05-2004, 09:40 AM
Hiya,

I've had a trawl through the various posts that talk about how to link objects to particles etc, and haven't really found the answer I'm looking for, so I'm asking for help from you guys.

I have a very simple scene really. It consists of a large text object, a pound sign (£) object, an emitter, and a ground plane.

What I would like to do is have the text object fall and land, showing that it is heavy, and I have managed this no problem. I also want, when the text object hits the ground, for particles (eventually with the pound object linked) to fall from the sky like a shower of £s. I have set up the dynamics as follows:-

Text Object: HardFX & Collision
Ground Plane: Collision - plane
£ object: HardFX, Impact effect:force; Collision by node
Emitter: 200 particles, 1 per frame, starting at frame 31

When I run the simulation, the original £ object falls beautifully, lands, collides, and rocks to a halt, just exactly how I would like it. To prevent this object from just falling from frame zero, I have taken the gravity off it (this might be the problem, I dont know, but I can not think of another way of preventing this object from falling right from the start - it has to start at frame 31). The problem is that when I link this object to the particles, they just fall and stick to the ground plane at whatever y-value the pivot point is at.

I have tried changing the size of the particle, but if I introduce any random rotation during linking, they just look like they're floating off the ground, and they also dont roll like the original one does.

So basically, I have a bunch of £ signs landing like they are in glue, with no more dynamic motion after they have landed.

I tried putting interaction on, and self interaction, and the £ signs did collide with each other, but still no falling over, like you'd expect when you drop something.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, but I just wanted you to know all I've tried.

Does anyone have any ideas as to how I could make all the clones act in exactly the same way as the original £ sign acts when I run the simulation to start with?

Many thanks in advance.

Shaun
ztreem
12-05-2004, 04:48 PM
I'll would skip the emitter thing and do a pound object with lots of pound signs in it. Then apply hardFX to that object and choose parts as piece mode. If you pu that object above the text object it will fall down over it and collide as you want it to.


Here' an example. The yellow M's is how the object is modeled. Then when HardFX is applied you get the result of all the M's collide as separate objects.
Shaun_michael
12-05-2004, 05:54 PM
Hey ztreem, many thanks for the reply.


I have a question though. I can see how your way would help with the collision problems I'm having (which are how the £ signs collide with the ground plane actually, as opposed to anything else. They just seem to stick in the floor, right up to their middle - which is where their pivot point is). However, how do I have these objects fall over time if I have not linked them to something that is being emitted over time, such as particles are from an emitter?

Any ideas?

Shaun
ztreem
12-05-2004, 06:13 PM
You could model all of the £ sign on top of eachother, like a high pile of £ signs. Then you get the same effect as if you emitt particles from an emitter. Hope I make any sense.
Shaun_michael
12-05-2004, 06:43 PM
Hi,


Yes, you are making sense, but I'm still wondering how I'm going to get it to look like it's raining down over the whole scene as opposed to just over the text object. You see, the emitter I created was wide enough on the x and z axes to produce 25 £ signs a second that fell randomly over the entire scene, some of which hitting the text object, and some not.

So I'm really looking for a solution that provides coverage over the whole scene, with the £ objects colliding both with the text object, and the ground plane, but when they hit the ground plane they act "normally" and dont just stick halfway through the floor.

I hope that explains things a little better. I've been starring at the screen all day trying different settings in the dynamics panel and am probably a little punch-drunk by now.

Thanks again for your reply ztreem.

Regards,

Shaun
ztreem
12-05-2004, 08:38 PM
Hi

Here's an example of how you could spread out your £ signs so they rain all over the scene. If you want it to cover a bigger area just make the object bigger.

This is one Z cloned to make this object. Could be some heavy calculation times, but it should work as you want.
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