My cheesy Lego assembly animation system for POV-Ray
V0.63 Beta!
I had seen some animations of Lego models being put together, such as in the commercial for the Honda Element
or this other video I once saw where a castle is put together by bricks falling from the sky. I thought a while
about how they accomplished that and wondered if I could come up with my own version. Here's what I have come
up with so far, in case anyone is interested.
I wanted the system to be configurable so that I could easily plug in different models and watch them assemble.
I decided to put the pieces into arrays, defining what each piece was (organized by steps just like in the building
instructions) and where it was positioned. I loop through each step, and through each piece in a step. As time
progresses I move each piece closer to its destination position. I offset the timing of each piece (and step) so
that they fall into place in order rather than all at once.
(By sequencing them in this way I don't have to worry as much about the pieces going through each other. Furthermore,
with each piece definition I give a starting point; I can help keep pieces from colliding by giving them a clear
path from their starting points to their destinations. Taking into consideration which pieces precede others in the
construction process makes this task easier.)
I use Chris Colefax' ClockMod macro
for Pov-Ray to accomplish the smooth movement of pieces. I couldn't have done
much without it. (I tried.) The ClockMod system also does rotation so I threw that in for each piece as well.
Spinning parts look cool.
My first test model had to be something small and simple so I went with the standard Classic Space buggy.
Here are some bits of POV-Ray code used to set up the
Space Buggy model and create the animation.
Things I want to improve:
- make movement paths less linear, maybe automatically-generated splines
- define more interesting rotations
- bigger models!
- option to assemble by all pieces sequentially rather than divided by step
- make the wheels on the buggy turn forward!
V0.64.7.3!
I fixed a few issues and added some new features to the process. I tested out the process with a
slightly bigger model, set #442 - Space Shuttle.
The scene is more cluttered and there may still be
some pieces passing through one another, but it's interesting to watch. The shadows are annoying too.
V0.64.7.9!
A couple more of the wanted improvements listed above are now covered.
I chose to animate this one with all the pieces placed sequentially rather than by step. I did this by running
through the piece array and copying each piece to a new array where all the pieces are listed in just one step.
Then I copy it back as the original array. Pretty sneaky, sis.
You get a bigger spaceship this time. Can you tell which one from the thumbnails?
No, not that one, but maybe next time.
V0.64.8.3
I experimented with some changes to the script so that the pieces would rise from below instead of falling
from the sky.
I thought that this could represent the model growing from the ground piece by piece. I started each piece
very small and then scale it to normal size as it is moved into place. Sometimes a piece looks as if it
is sprouting from other pieces. Better than my real-life lawn, that's for sure...
I liked the 'growing' effect produced with this technique so I made it the centerpiece of a full-length
(well, 30 seconds) video. Have a look here!
V0.75.9.4
Yup.