Rubix Cube style animation in AE – How to do?

[Mylenium]

[Baptised] “Hi Has anyone ever attemped or acheived this before? Or if you think you can do it ….. how? I guess that it could be done using expressions but I have no idea where to start”

No, definitely expressions and other complex techniques like trying to work up elaborate parenting hierarchies are the wrong way to go (my experience is from trying such things in 3D, but the problems are the same in AE – it’s a simple problem of logik where the simplicity of real-life mechanics beats the computer). The simplest and most efficient technique is to have separate compositions for each move where layers are replaced as needed to maintain the illusion of the sides moving and then simply cut them together.

Mylenium

[Pour Myl

[Steve Roberts]

I tried a Rubik’s cube once with Lightwave 3D, using dynamic parenting. Even with that, I eventually had to fake it as Mylenium suggested. What a pain.

Steve

[Thehardmenpath]

Put the center of the 9×6 layers in the very centre of the cube. Parent the 9+3×5 layers of one side for a rotation, rotate the one that will move all others. When you make next change SPLIT them and reparent the new ones as they have to be for that other rotation.

That’s my first thought. Tiring and boring? of course.

[Joel Hooton]

Here is a file. A 3×3 cube. I set up the file so that each side has a picture or video could be changed at any time. So each side is its own precomp. Then I numbered each square on each side of the cube. Based on what I wanted to rotate I moved, over a specific period of time, all of those layers. I was very time consuming but it works. And it is all in 3d so you can animate the camera around it too.

https://jmhooton.iweb.bsu.edu/joel/rubix_cube_3x3x3.zip

I know I did not explain it perfectly but if you need some more answers drop me a line.

Joel

[Thehardmenpath]

Great work! I believe it could be possible to create 9 expression controls to make the whole thing work.

[Baptised]

thanks so much for the responses I have just retreeved all of them from my junk mail folder! (you are all now in my safe mail box now so hopefully that will no longer happen) I will explore the 3×3 file with great interest meanwhile if anyone has any expressions that can animate this beast rather than doing it manually I would love to see them ….. more feed back later when I have had a chance to play.
Thanks Again

media and multimedia from concept to completion

[Thehardmenpath]

Yeah, I’ve played with it as well. And as I see it now, I believe it’s handy enough right now. There’s actually no need for additional scripts, you just have to choose the right cubes each time.