Q: Chains, the easy way?

[edaddy]

i haven't used reactor too much but i would say that you could set them up w/ 'simcloth' (<- excellent FREE plugin), just make them rigid bodies.... if i have time(i'm at work) i'll try and test this out and post again

[proteus2002]

you can use a pathdeform modifier and use an animated shape for the deformations.
or a skin modifier with a spline as bone.
the vertexpoints of the spline can be linked to the objects with a linked xform modifier.

[edaddy]

ok i just tried the simcloth thing w/ 7 links in the chain and it looks pretty accurate and took about 20 sec per frame to calculate. i'll post the test avi or max file if anyone can host it for me

[Stroker]

Not sure if you want them to move or not. If not moving too much, I would recommend pathdeform as already mentioned. Getting them to sway and stuff with pathdeform with the chain not getting too funky can be tricky. Umm... something like that.

http://www.neilblevins.com/cg_education/tentacles_and_chains/tentacles_and_chains.htm

[BrandonD]

I had some tricky chain stuff to do on "Final Destination 2" where intially I tried doing an RBD sim. In the end though, a more flexible and faster approach was to do a reactor rope sim. Then snap instanced chain link objects onto the spline using Path Controllers with a single key. This constrains them along the spline as it moves.

The one caveat with this technique is that it doesn't work as reliably up close and is most useful when the chain is anywhere but close-up.

[Reality3D]

Cool tip!

[riley_ag]

There is a script on scriptspot called chainmaker, Haven't messed with it much, but might be just what you need

[Renzsu]

Wow, lots of usefull stuff! Thanks all for the tips! Unfortunately I can't test them out until the weekend.
Oh and the chains don't have to move, it's just for getting the chain in the right shape. I would do it manually, but there are quite a few chains in the final object, unfortunately because of NDA's I can't talk about that too much :(

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