Pen tool in max ??

[jneim]

as far as i know i don't think there is. Line tool is your friend ;D

[Anvirol]

I don't think so... You could draw a spline and constrain your objects movements to it.

Some experts might have better ideas to offer though.

[Bobo]

Hi everyone!!, I wonder if there is a pen tool in max that can be attached to an animated object,to draw its motion path...thanks a lot!!

Draw what where?

You can convert the motion path of any object to a spline (see Motion Tab > Trajectories).
You could then grow an object along that path using PathDeform or animated loft or something like that.
There are scripts that can turn the motion of an object into a drawing in a bitmap, but that is a special case. You might want to provide some more details about what you are trying to do (draw with a pen on paper?).

There are also plugins for creating Trails - check http://www.maxplugins.de

[thatoneguy]

Is it possible to manipulate trajectories? Or a script to do so?

One feature I love in combustion is I can directly manipulate the trajectory path.

Animating a perfect figure 8 for instance in max is reallllly hard when trying to tweak 3 axis curves. By directly manipulating the trajectory it's a breeze.

[musashidan]

Is it possible to manipulate trajectories? Or a script to do so?

One feature I love in combustion is I can directly manipulate the trajectory path.

Animating a perfect figure 8 for instance in max is reallllly hard when trying to tweak 3 axis curves. By directly manipulating the trajectory it's a breeze.

I apologise if you knew this already;)as i know you're an experienced Maxer.

You can enter Tajectory path sub-object mode and manipulate the path through nodes dropped at keyframe creation points on the timeline.

[thatoneguy]

Haha! No need to apologize. That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the tip. After all these years I'm always unlearning and relearning features.

I think I 'rediscover' the align to normal tool about once every 2 years. :D


Now is there anyway to adjust the curves of those trajectory keys or do I stll need to go into the curve editor to do that?

[musashidan]

I think I 'rediscover' the align to normal tool about once every 2 years. :D


Now is there anyway to adjust the curves of those trajectory keys or do I stll need to go into the curve editor to do that?

What..........there's an align to normal tool!!........where? ;)

The trajectory curves are pretty great to edit actually.You can use it to visualise your slow ins/outs right in the viewport.(default linear keys)I use it alot to check and adjust my arcs and lines of action aswell.

I always animate with interpolation set to linear so i have full control over my inbetweening and the tracjectory curves can be a real timesaver.
The curves are a direct representation of your track view curves so it can also save alot of time jumping in and out of the curve editor.

[shockoshocko]

Thanks Bobo, a dummy attached to the object + convert trajectory to spline did the Job!

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