FXWars! Catapult! (Trebuchet): Big Jay

Saw the Trebuchet challange and thought I would give it a try to learn dynamics.

Little did I realize how hard that is.

I made 3 objects to start this off.

1. the arm
2. the base
3. the weight

The manual is not very helpful so far.

So I am going to just break this down into several tasks.

1. figure out how collision detection works in Lightwave.

2. figure out how to get the arm to pivot

3. use cloth dynamics to sling an object.

4. build a wall

5. fire at will

here is the model so far

Cool I'll be following this one. How are these things released? If it involves a rope cut you could use the new lightwave 8 cloth cutting method couldn't you? Anyway good luck, can't wait to see your progress

In a sudden burst of inspiration I decided to make a throwing arm out of 2 point polys and 2 cubes. It turns out that weight is measured per point so the more points the more that area weighs. With this in mind I can get a little further in the animation.


Here is an example: 400k

http://www.byjason.com/log/archive/trebuchet-003.mov

Hmmm... my previous post never made it.

Well dynamics have not been kind. After alot of tinkering I couldn't get the weight to pull the arm down. I did the previous test in hope of figuring it out. with the knowledge about the point to mass ratio figured out I can go back and see if a point dencer weight will pull the arm down correctly.

wow, cool, how did you solve the problem of the axe falling through the piles?

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