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particles flow
Hello.
I am not very familiar with advanced use of Motion, since I use it almost only for titles and leaders. I am trying to build, for a work I need to deliver fast, a graphic representing the tidal current flow at the Trafalgar Strait. I’d like some arrows to form on the Ocean area, and then flow through the strait. I was able so far to create an uninterrupted flow of arrows left to right using a replicator and an emitter, but I don’t know how to force them to stay in the water area. I’d also like them to rotate according to their direction, and not stay horizontal, like I can do in 3DSMax with the “follow” command. I tried the “Motion path”, but it seems the emitter changes it position, while the arrows do not follow the path. How can I accomplish this?
Thank youFabrizio D’Agnano
Rome, Italy
early 2008 MacPro, BM Intensity Pro, early 2008 iMac, 2011 MacBook Pro, FCP7, FCPX, OSX 10.8.3 -
8 Replies
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First of all you want to be using a replicator not an emitter to create this effect.
First draw a path that you want the arrows to follow using the bezier line tool.
Then select your arrow and press L to make a replicator.
Select Geometry from the Replicator Shape menu and drag your bezier path into the image well.
Under Cell Controls select Align Angle and then set the angle to 90 degrees – this will get your arrows following along in the direction of the line.
Use the Offset control to animate your arrows along the path.
If you want a stream of parallel arrows then duplicate your replicator. Use a new bezier path so that the new set of arrows narrows in towards the strait.
Simon Ubsdell
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Just what I was looking for, you were really helpful!
Thank you Simon.Fabrizio D’Agnano
Rome, Italy
early 2008 MacPro, BM Intensity Pro, early 2008 iMac, 2011 MacBook Pro, FCP7, FCPX, OSX 10.8.3 -
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Thanks for the quick answer, I was doing something similar.
greg
Greg West
Crew member TVCogeco (local cable)
Interested in: AF & Motion 5 -
One last question, if you don’t mind: why the arrows do not follow the bezier path, but have some variable offset on the vertical axis?
Thank you again.Fabrizio D’Agnano
Rome, Italy
early 2008 MacPro, BM Intensity Pro, early 2008 iMac, 2011 MacBook Pro, FCP7, FCPX, OSX 10.8.3 -
[Fabrizio D'Agnano] “One last question, if you don’t mind: why the arrows do not follow the bezier path, but have some variable offset on the vertical axis?”
If you followed all the instructions you should have something that looks like this:
It is important that you use Align Angle and then set the angle to 90 degrees – or minus 90 degrees if you want them going in the opposite direction.
If you want to offset them from the path then you can use the anchor point of the source shape to do so.
If you are finding that your shape is offset from the movement of the arrows this is because you need to reset its transform properties to zero. Edit the shape points, not the shape transforms.
Also the path doesn’t instantly update when you change the shape after the event. You need to move around the timeline to “wake it up”.
Hope that makes sense.
Simon Ubsdell
http://www.tokyo-uk.com -
Solved, thank you. Following your instruction I tried drawing the bezier line, then change the position to origin in the transform pane, and then adjusting the control points to fit the line were I wanted it to be. Before I was just drawing the line in place without caring for the position shown in the transform pane, so when I used the line as a source geometry for the arrow the actual path was offset. Everything works great now.
Fabrizio D’Agnano
Rome, Italy
early 2008 MacPro, BM Intensity Pro, early 2008 iMac, 2011 MacBook Pro, FCP7, FCPX, OSX 10.8.3 -
Glad you’ve got it working, Fabrizio. It can be a bit confusing until you understand about the transform issue.
Simon Ubsdell
http://www.tokyo-uk.com
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