The plugin animates the wheels, but the rods are not animated correctly. (They rotate 360 degrees, rather that remain horizontal.) Using the same model in 7.1.2, the rods are animated correctly. I don’t believe this plugin has worked correctly in any of the ver. 8 builds.
This is something I’m not very familiar with. Is it possible for you to send me a model with instructions on how it "should" work, and what actually happens (<!– e –><a href="mailto:support2@amabilis.com">support2@amabilis.com</a><!– e –>)?
I’ll send you a model later on today. Thanks
Hey Guys,
We had some nice weather here in NY for a change – so I haven’t had a chance to play with the Rod Aninmator yet myself… Ill try and do some testing tonight – as this plug-in is essential in my book…
Hi Mike,
Did you download and install Paul’s latest plug-in he posted last week ??? It’s a separate download from the 3DC827 package…
Hi Richard,
I have a detailed tutorial posted here on what Rod Animator is supposed to do – towards the bottom of the page…
<!– m –><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread.php?298900-Big-Dog-Birth-of-a-Steam-Locomotive/page2">http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/showthread … tive/page2</a><!– m –>
[b:1kz5bsrk]Rod Animator will do the following – reference image below:[/b:1kz5bsrk]
-Set the number of key frames used for the animation sequence…
-Animate the wheels – with no input…
-Animate the "Connecting Rod" [RED] that is connected to one of the wheels…
-Animate the "Driver Rod" [YELLOW] connect to "Wheel Bearing" [RED] and "Piston Crosshead" [Blue]…
-Animate the "Piston Crosshead" [Blue] back and forth motion…
-Animate the "Eccentric Crank" [Cyan] – really just attached to wheel animation…
-Animate the "Eccentric Rod" [Green] – which connects to the "Expansion Link"…
The remainder of the rods need to be animated by hand… Usually I run it once on each wheel set to set the animation to the key frames I am using… In this example "Wheels4" needs to have the "Connecting Rods" option set and the proper rod group selected… The "Wheels3" group need to have the "Driver Rod" selected as well as the "Piston Object"… Then the "Wheels3" group needs to run Rod Animator a second time to annimate the "Eccentric Rod"…
[b:1kz5bsrk]The parts Rod Animator will animate – bright colors[/b:1kz5bsrk]
[img:1kz5bsrk]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v304/scottb613/LHR%20Consolidation/ScreenShot011-1.jpg[/img:1kz5bsrk]
Regards,
Scott
Hi Richard,
I loaded 3DC827 B118 on WIN7x64 after removing all 3DC first… I then installed Paul’s most recent plug-in pack for 3DC327… I can’t even get to the point Mike made it to… Even the simplest task such as animating the wheels causes the plug-in to crash… I get an error window stating "9 – Subscript Out of Range – TDCScripting" error then the plug-in terminates…
Regards,
Scott
I have the error "9" fixed and certainly this plug-in now at least "partially" works. It animates a wheel and the link correctly.
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