Real tanktreads (tanktracks)in lightwave
 

Hi everybody


My first submission on this forum, think it's a good one ;)

After long thinking on how to solve the circular parenting question ( it has a name but it slips my mind right now ).
I finally found the solution > just don't use parenting !

The chain in this movie isn't parented to anything ( the chain itself is 1 part, treated like a cloth ! )
Altough it's not that easy & requires some tricks to & serious tweaking to "hack" cloth dynamics.

But once you know the "system", it's quite easy to setup - less than 1/2 hour - ;)

To give you an idea on how much time I spend figuring out how to do it

Modelling tracks
+ vehicle < 2 h
scene surface < 5 min. ( procedural displacement )
texturing < less then 10 min, quickly threw my favorite rusty textures on the model, rusty because then it's easier to follow the wheel movements
motion capturing < 2 min. (realtime, but that's another story )
tread system < 3h to get a working tread ( flat surface only Z-axis )

some exotic expressions & IK

& an additional 35 ! h to make the treads work in a "real world" environment ( sharp corners, quick acceleration etc.... )
( jeez though work :bored: until..... I found the trick .. )

So I guess i'll have to write a fancy tutorial on this one

I'm about to finish this movie with - smoke, dust & trails -

still have to write a custom Lscript, could use some help on that one
- I need a script that accumulates the result of an expression, something like > B=expression, A=A+B, A goes to channel, A=0 on frame 0
Don't know if it's even possible in Lscript - certainly not as an expression, or am I wrong ?

so stay tuned and Enjoy

O did I mention I didn't use any 3rd party plugins ?

you can download the movie >
http://3d.uk.to/content/movies/tanktrack_d_divx.avi

WoW!!! That's amazing!

Nice Work, yeah you may have to do a little tutorial on that. Thats one hell of a test!!! There are some minor problems in there near the end where it looks as if the tread is a little loose. I know tanks are pretty darn heavy so for the tread to seperate from the wheel seems like it could use some tweaking, but other then that its Great!!
heres a link
http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/Land_Fo...ks_800x600.jpg
see how the tread doesnt drop from the wheels? maybe that will help

:p

thanks

fusion > your right BUT in the picture you've send the tank is jumping, that means that the tracks & wheels have the same speed ( gravitional ) so they won't come of.
The situation you talk about is quite different, the tank ( mine ) is hanging between the rocks ( or whatever :) ) and as in real life the tracks will come of, if you ever get the chance of viewing a tank crossing a trench, you'll see what i mean. ( these are the occasions where tanks can loose their tracks )

At the end of the movie the moment the tank is riding on the concrete block you'll see that the track @ the end loosing > that's where I need the Lscript for - the chain is really driven by the front sprocket ( I'm not joking ) but because of an error in the expression i've used the front sprocket slows down as soon 1 or more wheels are loosing ground & hence looses the tension on the tread - if you watch carefullly this happens a few times ( it's still a WIP )

also the first & last wheel can't stop turning when comming of ground because of the chain running over it

maybe good to know that I used only 1 motionpath ( the body ) all the rest are expressions & dynamics

Yes plz make a video tutorial and I shall worship you......

totally awsome