Animating a Pen

Animating a Pen

Animating the Pen on the Path

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Animation Tutorials > Animating a Pen > 

Drawing the Path on the Paper

We won't take you through the entire process of modeling a scene. Instead, you'll open a file that is already developed. The pieces are all ready, so you can focus on animation.

Setup:

• On the menu bar, choose File > Open and navigate to \tutorials\intro_to_animation\ write_on_start.max. Highlight the file name, then click Open.

  All the files necessary for this tutorial are provided on the program disc in the \tutorials\intro_to_animation directory. Before starting the tutorials, copy the \tutorials folder from the disc to your local program installation.

  

  The sample file, write_on_start.max.

  You see a piece of paper on a drawing board, and a pen and a bottle of ink on either side.

  Before you draw the path, you'll change the color of the paper to black. This will make it much easier to see the line as you draw.

Change the paper color:

1. On the toolbar, choose Select By Name.
2. In the Select Objects dialog, highlight paper in the list on the left, then click Select.

   The paper object is selected in the viewport, and its parameters are visible in the Modify panel on the right.

3. On the toolbar click the Material Editor button to open the Material Editor.

   The Material Editor displays the materials used in the scene.

4. Click the black material at the end of the first row. The material name Black Paper appears next to the eyedropper.
5. On the Material Editor toolbar, click Assign Material To Selection. The paper is now black.

   

   Black paper makes it easier to see the lines you draw.

   While you still have the paper selected, you'll make one more change.

Add segments to the paper:

1. Close the Material Editor, then right-click the viewport label, and choose Edged Faces.

   This shading mode displays shaded faces and edges.

2. On the Modify panel, in the Parameters rollout, increase the Length Segments and Width Segments of the paper object to 8.

   The black paper segments are now visible in the viewport.

   

   Increased box segments

   You will snap to the faces on the black paper when you draw the line.

Use snaps with lines:

1. On the Customize menu, choose Grid And Snap Settings. On the Snaps panel, click Clear All and turn on Face, then close the dialog using the X at the upper right.

   All the setting up is done; now it's time to draw the word yes.

2. On the toolbar, turn on 3D Snap.
   Tip You can also press S to turn snap on and off during creation operations.
3. Right-click the Top viewport to activate it, and then press ALT+W to maximize its size.
4. Right-click the label of the Top viewport. Choose Smooth+Highlights, then right-click the label again and choose Edged Faces.
6. On the Create panel click the Shapes button, then in the Object Type rollout, click Line.
7. Move your cursor over the black paper. As you move, you'll see the snap-face cursor showing you which face you are snapping to. Click to set the first point, then move your cursor to the right and up. You'll see the snap cursor again.

   

   Snap To Face cursor

8. Click and drag to create a rounded spline. Move the cursor, and click and drag again to create another rounded spline. Place points to create the letter Y. (In the Illustrations that follow, we've turned off the snap cursor so you can see the point placement better.)
   Tip Pressing the Backspace key while drawing will delete the last-placed vertex in the line. You can also adjust the vertices later.

   

   Click and drag to create rounded splines.

   You can see the flat line segments that are used to create the splines, particularly obvious in the tail of the Y. Don't worry about these, you can increase the segmentation later to create a smoother line.

Create sharp corners:

1. When you want to create a sharp corner, just click, rather than clicking and dragging. For example, when you come to the letter e, you might want a sharp corner, as well as in the letter s. To stop creating line segments, right-click.

   

   For a sharp corner, such as the upper-right angle of the letter Y, click once instead of dragging.

   

   Right-click to finish.

2. Right-click the viewport to turn off the Line Shape tool.
3. Save your work. On the menu bar, choose File > Save. Name your file my_write_on.max.