How to create multi-part Props

richardandtracy

I would appreciate it someone could help me. I want to create a pen prop. It has three main parts, the cap, barrel and section where the nib is. They can be used in a number of different configurations.

1) Filling the pen. Section in the ink bottle, cap and barrel loose. 2) Writing with the pen, section and barrel together, cap loose. 3) Writing with the pen, cap posted on top of barrel. 4) Pen capped.

I found with one of my earring props that only one part can be saved as a single prop.

So.. how can it be done? I don't think it's sensible to create a complete prop for each situation (6 props total), but will do if it's thought to be the most efficient.

My initial thoughts are that I should save the three parts as separate props and have the four options as scene subsets for users to drop in. Does this seem a sensible approach?

Regards,

Richard

margrave

That's the simpliest approach. Other approaches would be to rig the prop and save pose presets that move the child pieces to position, or use ERC links to create properties that procedurally control the coordinates of the child pieces.

richardandtracy

That was my thought, and as the cap and body are not always going to move together, it all gets a bit difficult if rigged. It might be interesting to do a wearable preset to pose the hand at the same time though.. We shall see. Thanks for your help. Regards, Richard.

margrave

richardandtracy said:

That was my thought, and as the cap and body are not always going to move together, it all gets a bit difficult if rigged. It might be interesting to do a wearable preset to pose the hand at the same time though.. We shall see. Thanks for your help. Regards, Richard.

If you create ERC links to control the position of the child pieces, you can also create a toggle property to determine if the pieces should follow the main body. Just plug it into ERC Multiply and it'll work as a boolean value.

richardandtracy

Looks like I have a fair bit of research/learning to do on ERC thingy's. The biggest difficulty is finding the right names to search for. Followed by the unrivalled documentation.