I was encouraged to add a new topic in this forum. (Thank you, Holmes ). 

I just added some bones and two basic rotation actions to the balloon_agep.mdl and uploaded to svn. In speed_set.act the rotation speed of the cyclogyro (can't find the word in my dictionary, maybe its a StarTrek device? ) is controlled by a slider. The degree of rotation is based on an expression. This works fine for a constant rotation speed during a choreography. Keyframing the slider during animation produces weird results.

Here are some examples with different speed settings:

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For accelerating/decc the rotation speed you can use cyclogyro_rot.act. The acceleration can be controlled in the ease- channel.

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Any review and suggestion for improvement is welcome.

Next I want to add the missing basic actions to the Balloon_Xtaz.mdl.

That's really nice. I like!

wonderful. thank you so much for adding that action.

As announced, I just added the basic flying action for Balloon_Xtaz1.mdl to svn (gears, propeller, transmission ropes). The rotating speed is controlled by a pose slider again (ranging from -100to+100). I've setup the bones and dynamic constrains of the dangling ropes. The cogwheels rotations are very prone to stroboscopic effect, so I've altered the gear models to avoid this to some degree. As some of the original maps had been very coarse, I replaced them with Darktree materials for the drive.

This 10 sec animation shows the rig in full action, at a SpeedSet of 50%, almost the maximum, after my fancy. The dangling ropes are a wee bit hard to see against the dark background.


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That's great carnivore.

OK Carnivore. I finally got around to updating the project status. I gave you credit for all the things you did. If you notice something you did and your name is not associated with it in the status report, please let me know.

An outstanding balloon!

Just saw this ,wonderful spinning rotation of all them gears and great propeller, very nice.