Ferris wheel animation (useable by player)

[JessieG]

I want to incorporate a ferris wheel into my current carnival-themed level. Im trying to think of the best way to do this.

I want the ferris wheel to do a looping animation where it will be stationary for a bit, allowing the player to get into the seat. After a few seconds I want it to start spinning for maybe a minute then stop in the same place it was in to allow the player to get off. I want it to continuously loop this animation.

My question is, should I just create a skeleton for the ferris wheel and animate it in Maya then import it into UDK as a looping skeletal mesh? Would this be possible to do and still let me be able to create collision to allow the player to get into the seat? (the same seat will stop everytime)

[jamiet]

No need to animate it in Maya or whatever.. just setup a matinee and trigger the rotation... One bone for the wheel.. and a bone for each of the carts.. setup a animation Tree in UDK and plugin a look at / aim constraint for each cart to point down all the time..

I'm not sure of the exact setup... but that would be the way i'd go about it..

J

[JessieG]

That sounds much easier! So have the root bone in the middle of the ferris wheel, with bones extending from that to the top of each cart, then a bone down from each of those to constrain the cart itself to?

[shuriken88]

Cool! Its about time someone created a fairground in UDK, where you can go on all the rides! hope it works out man!

[JessieG]

I have the entry way done. I'll post some pics soon. I'm going for an old, run down sort of creepy carnival level. I don't plan on having enemies or anything. Just an explorable/interactive environment.

[JessieG]

No need to animate it in Maya or whatever.. just setup a matinee and trigger the rotation... One bone for the wheel.. and a bone for each of the carts.. setup a animation Tree in UDK and plugin a look at / aim constraint for each cart to point down all the time..

I'm not sure of the exact setup... but that would be the way i'd go about it..

J

So I've imported the skeletal mesh into UDK but I've never messed with the different nodes in the animTree aside from setting up an animation on a character that was pre-made in Maya. Could you possibly have any advice or documentation on how to set this up in the AnimTree?

I essentially want the ferris wheel to spin for about a minute or two, stop for a minute, then repeat. This will loop the entire time.

[JessieG]

Well I have the Ferris Wheel spinning now (I animated the stop and go in Maya and it works great) But I'm having a problem using the LookAt node in the animTree. Is there a way to make it just always point straight down in the Z axis instead of focusing on a single point in space? When the cart focuses on the origin if turns a lot on big angles an kind of snaps into place when it gets close. I just want the carts to always look straight down.

[TheAgent]

You can do all this using interp actors just import the wheel of the Ferris wheel as a separate mesh and set its physics to rotating.

[JessieG]

You can do all this using interp actors just import the wheel of the Ferris wheel as a separate mesh and set its physics to rotating.

How would using an interp actor allow the carts/seats to not rotate though. Wouldnt they just go upside at the top?

If there is a way to allow the bones of the carts to always face down in Z as the wheel rotates, that would be all I need.

[TheAgent]

some type of constraint would work. make them physics objects and use the RB constraint actor to hinge them on the Ferris wheel and it should be all set.

[JessieG]

Hmmm I'll give it a try. Is there any way to make collision for the carts so the player can stand in them? Even though what I have now flips the carts near the top, it was ridable halfway so I used per poly collision on one of the carts, and got in it but as soon as it starts moving I just fall through it. =[

[TheAgent]

Im not too sure about that one. if you are using a kactor make sure u have "pawn can base on" set to true. The rest i guess is trvial ( make sure block all is chosen in the collision properties) . I didn't know you would be riding it so i'm not sure of the consequences.

[JessieG]

Yeah, riding it is looking less and less likely. I just can't figure out the collision properly for it.

[juneat4]

That sounds much easier! So have the root bone in the middle of the ferris wheel, with bones extending from that to the top of each cart, then a bone down from each of those to constrain the cart itself to?

Were u successful getting your Ferris Wheel to animate? If so, any chance you could do a screen shot of how you placed the bones? Would be so grateful. I've been trying to get my wheen to animate for days now without success.