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Rigging - BallMax

BallMax 1.01

by Bruce Lin

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4/4/2008
Update to 1.01
Bug fix: Fixed rotation script. Now rig is not name dependent.

Discription:

BallMax is a simple ball rig for 3ds max. As an animator, I want a rig to be flexible yet simple to use. Searching through the Internet, there doesn't seem to be a generic ball rig that fits my need. The closest ones I found were all for Maya and none for 3ds max. So, I decided to make one for myself and the community. BallMax 1.0 consists of following features:

  • Squash and stretch
  • Skewing
  • Bending
  • Weight shifting
  • Twisting
  • Auto-Rotation*

Usage:

The controls consist of three rings. 

  • The Green one at the base controls the movement of the ball. By turning on the Auto Key, the ball will roll automatically based on the distant.
  • The Red ring controls the bending, weight shifting, and twisting. Simply move and rotate it to see the effects. To be honest, the twisting is not quite ready yet. It loses volume way too much. I have to think a better method to implant this feature.
  • The Blue one at the top control the skewing, squash and stretch. Just move it around.

Basically, to have a crazy ball animation, all you are going to have are 3 sets of position keys. This is, I believe, as simple as it gets.

Requirements:

  • Autodesk 3ds max 9, 2008

Credits:

*Thanks to Cuneyt Ozdas' awesome quaternion rotation tutorial.

Download:

BallMax 1.0 for 3ds max 9

Feel free to download and use the rig. Please give credit if used in your animation. Thanks. :)