4th September 2012, 11:59 AM | #1 |
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Any Video Tutorials for Doing Translations?
Hi,
In my work on using AC3D to animate X-Plane models, I've used Mid7night's excellent video on Introduction to Rotations to learn how to do a rotation. Now, I need to learn how to use similar principles to make a straight-line translation; i.e., a sliding canopy for an aircraft. I tried applying what I learned in the video, but when I clicked on X-Plane --> Make Translation in AC3D, I wasn't sure what to do next. Are there an tutorials, preferably video but text if video not available, for doing what I want? Thanks, Bill
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4th September 2012, 12:45 PM | #2 |
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Re: Any Video Tutorials for Doing Translations?
There is one:
X-Plane Animation Plug-In Tutorial ...but for some reason, the author details how to animate a gravel-dumping dump truck instead of something aircraft-centric and useful, like, say, a landing gear sequence with multiple doors, ground-reactive gear strut oleos and complex rotations. That, I think would have covered just about every contingency for aircraft kit. If I can figure out how to do the animations properly one day, I might have to create said tutorial myself. But, I digress... I think the tutorial at least introduces the subject at a reasonable level of detail. One thing you'll have to add to this is to look through the VERY long list of X-Plane functions you can attach to each animation, in order to find the correct ones for each of the parts you're animating. I believe the file is in a ReadMe within the plug-in, but don't quote me on it. You'll be able to quickly find that data somewhere in the plug-in or on the web with a few Google searches.
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4th September 2012, 01:04 PM | #3 |
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Re: Any Video Tutorials for Doing Translations?
Re: One thing you'll have to add to this is to look through the VERY long list of X-Plane functions you can attach to each animation
Yes, that part I've gotten pretty familiar with. As Mid7night mentions in his video, you can type in a key word to see only the datarefs that have that word. I've seen the tutorial you mention. For some reason, even though I have the Quicktime plugin, I cannot access the videos where there are Quicktime icons. Besides, that tutorial seems to focus mostly on rotations, unless I missed something. I've gotten a handle on rotations; it's translations I need help with. Anyone know of any other videos, or what about translations is different from rotations? I discovered how to stretch out a line that would seem to be for a straight-line translation, but I can't make it work with the animation slider the way I was able to preview a rotation. Bill
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4th September 2012, 01:47 PM | #4 |
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Re: Any Video Tutorials for Doing Translations?
Happy to report that after clicking on everything I could think of in the AC3D window, I figured out how to make the translation of the cockpit. Tried it out, and it works great in X-Plane.
Hope I can replicate what I did and figure it out for future use! Bill
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