This came up as I was playing with physics. A breakable/explode object is a bit of a pain to set up. How could you decal a single large image over a whole bunch of the same block model stacked in a chor multiple times? Or similarlly (and easier) how could I use one curtain model for both sides with a single decal?

There are two ways:

1. Use multiple decals on the same model. Key the opacity of the images in the chor or an action.
2. The one I picked; Use an image sequence for one decal. Set the frame for each shortcut in the chor or action (I may streamline this with a text editor at some point).

So, you have one model stacked as a brick wall in a chor. You can do this anyway you choose just as long as you set it up in your image editor correctly. I chose for this example just a straight forward grid of stacked blocks. They aren't offset on alternating rows.

In photoshop, I turned on the grid for the image I planned to use. I put in guides on the grid for each block of my wall in AM. I then created slices for web export (I click the "make slices from guides). Each slice is automatically numbered so AM will see this as a sequence. I exported to web as 24 bit png files.

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In AM I loaded the image sequence and decaled the front of my single block model. In a chor I used the "brick" plugin. I had to fiddle with it a bit so I created a grid instead of the alternating brick pattern. Not a big deal. I then clicked the "show all properties" gizmo on each block shortcut in the chor and one by one set the frame of the decal to the appropriate image for that brick. I had some trouble with that at first. Apparently AM likes there to be a "00" image. Also I cropped the sequence for each decal image shortcut but also had to set the frame. If anyone has some advice for this let me know.

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-vern

that worked well. (But do we really want to be blowing up the A:M logo for this demo?)

Jut brainstorming for the offset bricks... if the image was applied as a "projection map" material to each brick you could alter the position of the material on each brick to expose the right portion of the image and not need to make image slices. The bricks could be offset in any arbitrary way and the projection material could always be positioned to show the right part of the image for each brick.

Maybe even automatically via an expression?

Yes, I am sure there are other alternatives. Each with their own needed tweaks. I like this one because it's fairly straight forward and doesn't require a lot of fiddling with image/material offsets or bunches of decals. Just one decal, select the "image". The technique you mention of using a projection map would require a lot more fiddling. I was able to change all the decals in the chor taking only seconds per shortcut. Click type, tab, type repeat. No muss no fuss. Speed is what I'm after.

I wonder... would there be a way to "apply" a material you describe in the choreography? Some how using the chor world space to make it easier? I tried stamping decals on the same model in the chor but... holy cow! I think I opened a hole in the space time continuum. AM had a bit of a conniption fit. Maybe if you placed a rotoscope of the decal image... then figured out what the offset was... then... see what happens? You still have to do... math... ick.

There is actually a big need for this. I've found newton works better using single dynamic objects in the chor rather than breakable/explode objects. Need a good fast easy way to "decal" one repeated object like this. So far this is my preferred technique for it.

-vern

Sub-divide the ball and hve it fly apart when it hits the wall with the decal (ball will have to come from the front yes?).

r

Your method obviously works. So I'm not sure why you're wanting a different method. However:

If it is such that you are wanting to be able to change the image, and are not wanting to have to slice different images in photoshop, and then have to create additional sequences, then perhaps use the uv editor.

For example (assume 4 blocks) - you could use the UV editor to 1) position the decal according to a gridded template image, ie block 1 is mapped to upper left quadrant of image, block 2 to upper right, block 3, lower left, block 4 to lower right. - Thus creating 4 separate block model files, instead of using 4 instances of 1 block.

Then it is an easy process to replace the gridded image file with the desired image that you want to show sliced on the blocks, without having to slice the image, nor create a sequence.

I am always looking for the solution requiring the least number of mouse clicks. Whenever you have to do something like this in AM, something that requires scads of the same thing repeated... and then... you add on top of that having to touch each of those things.. <sigh> I want to be able to either do it all from the key board without touching the mouse or at least something that won't take more than a few seconds per object. I've already had to adjust the positions of like... 26 letters by tabbing through each one and clicking a translation axis property and typing something a bunch of times.

My solution here is... okay. It's the least "steps" intensive so far. But if I went with a really dense number of bricks... yikes. My next test will be setting this up with the sequenced decal in a chor. Exporting the chor and opening it in a text editor and using an incremented regex search/replace to set all the frame values on the decals. That would require no repeated effort at all. I could eliminate 15 maybe 30 minutes, maybe an hour from the process depending on the number of objects.

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I am starting to like Robcat's idea of using expressions and the projection map material. This got in my head and started bouncing around. We know the shortcut in the chor will have an incremented number value associated with it. The set up of the chor could be modified so that number is in the order of the grid coordinates. We need to see if we can easily pull that out for use in an expression. The next thing will be to figure out the calculated offset (more math... gross, yuck, ptewy) for each section of the image. Use the shortcut number to "add" that offset to the material in an expression... maybe that expression could be in the one model and would not have to be modified for each shortcut? Hmmm... starting to like this!

This could get tricky but it might be worth it. It all depends on how "fast" it can be set up. How many "clicks" it takes.

I loath repetitive computer tasks. If anything, computers should eliminate everything that requires doing the same thing over and over with an incremented value. I have an actual job right now that started out involving a ton of repetitive steps to create karaoke sing along children's books using another application. There was a standard set of unique items that had to be done by hand but 70% to 80% was doing the exact same thing over and over to something with an incremented value.

Client came to me with a work flow that took hours per book, was tedious and mind numbing and very prone to user error (that ALWAYS happens with repetitive stuff). I wrote custom scripted solutions for it. Took me a bit of time to write those scripts, a couple of days actually, but at the end... instead of hours of tedious mind numbing carpal tunnel producing, padded cell inducing drudgery... it took a few clicks and 20-40 minutes to produce each book. All the repetitive stuff was removed from the process. Most of the potential for user error was eliminated. Multiply that times hundreds of books... yikes... I'd be in the psych ward of the local hospital by now. If I have to do the same thing 3 times in a row I get annoyed.

I wish I had the mad skills needed to create plugins for AM. Alas, it is beyond my skill set and available tool set required. I must find other alternatives. What would be really interesting wold be a sort of "blank" plugin for AM. A plugin with direct access to some basic functions of AM but uses plain text input, like a scripting language of some kind, java or javascript. So this plugin would allow for doing repetitive tasks in AM using the "SDK". It would be a plugin with a built in "script" language to create MORE plugins within AM without needing the skills or the tools to do that.

So if a plugin like "Brick" plugin can place a user defined number of bricks at a user defined position, expand that to include more. The user could change some value of each placed model. The plugin creator wouldn't need to know what this is just add that capability... a hook to access it...

Sorry... my brain is buzzing. Should stop taking so much meth.


p.s. I'm kidding about the meth. If I was going to abuse illegal drugs I'd go for ritalin or adderall. But I'm not of course. Drugs are bad.
To quote one of my favorite movies:






-vern