Changsoo Eun

This MCG shape allows you generate smoothly connected spline between two objects with sagging option.  You can animate start/end object. Tubo will dynamically connect two objects while trying to keep the overall length of spline.

The core engine of this MCG is hermite interpolation. This is an way to interpolate between two point using the position and vector of each point. MCG provide Hermite node by default. So I just needed to make an way to defined those 4 numbers.

Using this MCG is very easy. Just create this MCG(Create panel > Shapes > Max Creation Graph > Tubo). Then assign start and end object. Num of Vertices will determine how many verts will be created.

This MCG will try to keep overall length same. But, it doesn’t have any mathematical function to ensure the same length. Most of time, it will look OK. But, if you are seeing too much of length change, you can animate Length value to compensate.

You can choose which axis would be the direction of tube. Check Flip checkbox if you want flip the axis. You can also offset the start/end point with Start Offset/End Offset. If you check Create Offset Segment. the segment between original point and offset point will be created.

If you increase Start Tension/End Tension value, the spline from the point will look more rigid. This value is actually the multiplier for incoming/outgoing vector for hermite interpolation.

If you want to add sagging effect, increase Sag Amount value. I originally tried to use caterary curve. But, it didn’t look good since our spline is not free hang. So I used built-in affect region function which you use for soft selection control. That’s why there are Bubble/Pinch values. Even though I expose this parameters, I don’t recommend to change

By default, the sagging direction is set to world -Z. But, you can use any direction by using Gravity Ref. Object.

This MCG modifier allow you scatter object on quad polygons.

“Quad polygon” is determined by QuadThreshold value. For each polygon, this MCG will remove the vertex if the angle between two edges of the vertex is small than QuadThreshold value(degree). After that, if a polygon has 4 vertices, that is “quad polygon” to use.

As you can see in UI, this MCG has 3 set of the same controls. You can use 3 different source objects for each  Material ID. IF you need more, you can apply this MCG multiple times. OR.. you can modify this MCG and add more sets which is actually not that hard to do.

When you assign object, if the object has any descendants, this MCG will choose the one of them randomly. If you want to change the randomness, change the Seed number.

Delete Original Faces will decide what to do with quad polygon. If your scattered object is cover quad entirely, you can use this checkbox to delete the original faces.

Rotate allow you rotate the scattered object. You can only rotate 90x degree. 1 = 90, 2 = 180, 3 = 270. If you check Random, this MCG will rotate scattered object randomly.

You can also adjust height with Height spinner. 1.0 means original height. If you want to randomize height, use Var. spinner. This is an offset value. So… if your Height is 3 and Var. is 1, you will get height between 2(3-1) ~ 4(3+1).

By default, the height/width ratio of scattered object is preserved. This means the height of each scattered object will be different. If you want to make all scattered object’s height. Turn on Constant Height.

The last option, Dir.Guide UV is the UV channel ID which is used for determining scttered object direction. IF you turn on this option, U direction will be used to guide X axis of the scattered object.

This MCG is still WIP. I haven’t done any optimization, and I have a few more features to add.

I hope you enjoy it!

For the scatter source, check this Greeble Packs from Wayne Joes (jedilaw)

In the video, I used pacl2.

scifi3d.com/details.asp?intGenreID=11&intCatID=52&key=644

Trajectory Constraint causes an object’s orientation to follow the trajectory(velocity vector) of a target object. For example. when you animate a car, the rotation of car would be defined my the direction of car movement.

Many of you probably know how to rig this with Script Controller and Look At Constraint. I just took the idea and implemented as MCG.

How to use this constraint is simple. Just assign as an rotation controller and pick Motion Target object.

When you assign Motion Target, this MCG will ask you if you want also constraint position to the Motion Target. You will probably need to say yes unless somehow you only need to have orientation.

This MCG also shows a good example of a benefit/advantage of MCG. This MCG is actually just a modified version of the new MCG_LookAt Constraint. I just replaced multi target list with a pick button and added a simple velocity calculation from Motion Target nodes. I did not need to reinvent all the parameter for upload. MCG allows you to easily modify/enhance someone’s MCG for your need. This is a big benefit.

One thing you need to know is that when you assign Motion Target node MCG will do the following things.
1) Assign Motion Target node as upnode
2) Turn off World from Upnode Settings
3) Set Upload Control as Axis Alignment.
4) Source Axis and Axis Aligned to Upnode as Z

What is does is letting you define up axis with the Z axis of Motion Target node.
Usually users uses just World Z as up axis. But, this can cause problem(flipping) when your object is moving vertically very close to World Z axis. To prevent flipping, you need to manage up ax, and I think this option is the best for that.

But, if you need to use other setting, then you can always change later.