To start with, I want to express how amazing Away3D 4.1 is. I have succeeded in converting and importing a complex model. I have lit it, added shadows and am able to control it with mouse and keyboard and it runs fine on all the browsers and computers I have tested. It looks great… now for the next step. I need to translate a set of animations of said model from my 3D package into interactivity in Away3D.
Is there an overview of the Away3D approach to animation on loaded meshes available anywhere? I have searched and searched and looked at examples all over the place but they all seem to assume that everyone has some background information. I am reasonably well-versed in 3D using Cinema 4D etc. but that doesn’t seem to translate to controlling mesh animation with code.
Most loaded mesh animation examples seem to be bipeds. My need is to animate something like a hydraulic arm, only more complex.
My main questions include…
1) Is our goal to use skeleton or vertex animations? I see Prefab3D offers to convert skeleton animation to vertex animation - is one better?
2) My project involves an atypical rig with a lot of joints, some constraints and targets. Can these joints especially be directly controlled somehow in Away3D?
The skeleton animation examples I have seen assume that animations are mutually exclusive (excluding simply rotating or moving the entire model via angles and coordinates). However, I need to be able to animate parts of the animation that do not cancel out previous animations and are relative to other attached parts.
For example, if we take an car with doors and animate from all open to all closed, we only have two mutually exclusive states with a tween between. But if we allow the user to open and close each door individually, then we need to be able to modify individual parts of the mesh without cancelling out the others. In theory, we could do that by saving out separate meshes for each door as well as for the ‘doorless’ car frame, but keep reading.
Further to that, suppose we need to allow the driver’s car window to slide up and down interactively and the window can be partially open in ‘any’ position. This means we need to be able to move the ‘glass’ mesh up and down in steps in response to the user regardless of the mesh’s absolute position. That is, whether the car door is open or closed or somewhere in between, we need the glass to be able to be moved relative to the door, but also independently of the door’s position.
Can you point me in the right direction or offer a few tips?
(My model isn’t a vehicle, it is just too complex to describe succinctly and a vehicle is easier to relate to. My model does use IK to a certain extent, though it could probably also be re-rigged without it.)
