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Hey guys here is my first bouncing ball...let me know what you think. I will be putting in some rotations soon.
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RonaiSanzer 23 posts
pretty good man, I don't know if you wanted it to get up on the other ledge but you could add more elasticity to it, or be a knuckle head like i did and try to by hand.
note:Poster does not reccomend the by hand method for this project.
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RonaiSanzer 23 posts
it should be in the reactor settings with mass and such.
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JayG 1,164 posts
Dude I'm pretty sure he didn't use reactor for that. The purpose of doing a ball bounce exercise is to practice timing and spacing for animation, so using a simulation isn't going to help unless you do it for reference.
It's a good start bro. What I would do personally is put this one aside for now and just do a ball falling from the sky. Have it fall straight down and bounce until it comes to a stop and maybe rolls a little. Go outside with a basketball and bounce it a few times and watch how it moves. (You might notice that a basketball will always bounce between 12-15 times before coming to a stop, EVERYTIME...at least in 100% of my tests.) For animation that would be boring as hell so you shorten it, however the timing should be similar. Although it seems silly to film video reference and plan a bouncing ball exercise, you REALLY need to grasp how it moves before touching the computer or you just end up stuck.
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Octave13 17 posts
Haha, Nice job J, you had Ronai thinking this was reactor! JayG offers good advice, but ultimately, you want to do alot of bouncing ball exercises, just to get the basics ingrained into your head.
As for this exercise, It looks pretty good, but it doesn't look like you've even bothered to open up the curves editor. It looks like the ball eases into the frames where it's touching the ground and you don't want that. In Max, go to "Help>tutorials>animation>bouncing a ball" It'll get you introduced to the curves editor and you'll be well on your way.
One more thing; I think the bounces should also be higher. Don't be afraid to slide your keys and play with the timing. Most of the time, sliding the keys only by one or two frames can make all the difference.
*EDIT - In fact, do ALL of those animation tutorials that come with MAX. They may be boring, but you learn fast doing those.
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RonaiSanzer 23 posts
actualy octave if you look i said i do not condone by hand ball animation but reactor, and then i recived a prviate message from said user asking wher ethe elastic option was.
i still loves ya though goober...also i will be a hypocrit(spelling?) cause i want to partake in the ball montage.
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Hey guys,
Thanks for all the help. I will do the tutorials...to let you know, I did open the curves editor and monkeyed around a little. I am still learning how that helps. It is tough in the curves editor..I noticed you cant do a bezier corner on the bounce. I want it to go down hit the ground and then bounce upward but the bezier doesnt allow for a 45 degree angle curve....What I have done in my second animation which I will post now is a tennis ball and I put three key frames in where the ball makes contact with the ground one key frame is directly before it makes contact one contacting the ground and one directly after it touches the ground so that it makes the transition in like a 10 degree angle...if that makes sense. This animation here is an 8 ball check out the update attached here with rotation and all. Thanks again,
You guys have been a great inspiration for me and a great help too.
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JayG 1,164 posts
If you aren't using the curve editor well yet than you'll probably want the ball animated on 2's through most of the exercise.
A good image to use for spacing:
As for practicing with the curve editor, it really is essential to be able to control the curves and control exactly what your animation is doing at all times.
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rrateme95 262 posts
Good start but I agree with JayG.... you reaally need to get your curves right and also I think you need to get the timing right.... I done a bouncing ball animations while ago and I got some advice from JayG which was really good..... your ball seemed to go at the same speed the whole time.... it's vital for a good ball animation to have the ball firstly as soon as it leaves the ground go a bit fast because of the bounce,. but when the ball reaches the top of the curve, it starts to slow down meaning you need more frames there, and then when the ball comes down it speeds up, and thats basically how it works. Also, the height needs to decrease in every bounce and you need to stretch the ball to show how fast its going.... a good reference is the pic JayG posted. Main thing is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and then alakazam... you'll be able to do it. Good luck
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rrateme95 262 posts
Oh and just a note.... you dont have to use the curve editor... you can hand animate it and for reference you can switch on trajectories in the motion panel for reference
