How to Animate Tank Treads Using Maya
Maya is a powerful 3-D rendering and animation software. Users can create 3-D models and then apply motion and animation to them. Creating a tank tread requires that you have a single tread link, copied over and over again, that is placed on a repeating path loop. Once complete, you will be able to press "Play" and see your tank tread in full motion.
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Instructions
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1
Create a single tread link with the 3d Model editor. The link should be repeatable with itself, meaning the same tread can be linked with a duplicate copy of itself.
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2
Click "Create," select "NURBs Primitives" and choose "Circle." Draw the nurbs circle so that it is almost like a tire. Hold down "Shift" and select the circle to bring up the options menu for it, change the "Segments" option to about 20.
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3
Select the tread link from step 1 and then "Shift" select the circle. In the toolbar select "Animate," select "Motion Paths" and choose "Attach to Motion Path." Rotate the tread link to the top of the circle. You can press play now to see that the tread will rotate around the circle.
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4
Select the circle and then "Shift" click the tread link. Click "Edit" from the top toolbar and select "Duplicate." Type in the number of tread links you will need to go completely around the circle. Click the check box for the option "Duplicate Upstream Graph" and then select "Apply" to save the changes.
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5
Select the tread and press "Ctrl" plus "A" to open the attribute editor. Divide one by the total number of tread links you have. For example, If you have 93 tread links then divide one by 93. Take that number and place it in the field "U Value" in the "Motion Path Attributes" tab in the tread link's attribute editor. Repeat this process for every tread link you have on the nurbs circle.
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6
Select the entire tread and click "Deform" in the toolbar and select "Create Lattice." Select the lattice so you can change the shape of the tread, making it fit the shape you need for your tank.
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7
Click "Display" from the toolbar, choose "Component display" and select "Selection handles" to easily control the tread. Animate the tread by selecting the handles and rotate it.
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