Week 2

This week focused on what are referred to as Constraints. There were two lab exercises that I did that covered three of these constraints: The Path Constraint, the Look-at Constraint, and the Link Constraint.

The Path Constraint, and the Look-at Constraint

The first exercise covered two of the three constraints. In it we follow a roller coaster (and if I do say so myself, it looks to be a rather dull ride indeed!). 

So the first thing I had to do was to put the car on the track. Fortunately nearly everything was already pre-constructed, including a path around the tracks, so placing the car on the tracks was a fairly simple task.

Constraining the car to the path causes it to be placed on the tracks and follow the path. This is Path Constraint.

After using the Path Constraint for the car, next I had to do a Look-at Constraint with the scene's camera. What the Look-at Constraint does is allows the camera to follow the car as it moves around the track while keeping it centered onscreen.

Keep in mind that these exercises were only concerned with getting us familiar with Constraints not the physics of roller coasters.

The Link Constraint

For the second exercise I had to animate a crane with a claw moving a teapot.

By connecting the teapot and the claw with a Link Constraint, both are in sync as I rotate the claw.