X3d won't animate an imported anim gif...

[simsmj]

... but I found a workaround [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

I tried to see if X3d would let me use an animated gif as a texture, but it won't animate. So I started thinking about other forms of animation, and eventually got this. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Mike

Michael J. Sims

[simsmj]

... but I found a workaround [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

I tried to see if X3d would let me use an animated gif as a texture, but it won't animate. So I started thinking about other forms of animation, and eventually got this. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Mike

Michael J. Sims

[simsmj]

is all it is, using the same principle as a zoetrope. I had started off trying a couple of complicated spinning cylinders with gaps around the edges, with graphics on the inside opposite face, but I couldn't get the gaps to show enough of the images, then I tried spinning discs with holes in the top, but eventually I realised that with suitable frame timing, a single spinning disc was all it needed.

I'm afraid I sometimes over-complicate things unnecessarily. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Michael J. Sims

[Egg Bramhill]

I'm still not fully sure how you achieved the end result. Could you go into a bit of a mini-tut?
5 Stars +

Egg

[simsmj]

but the end result was very simple.

The animation is not birds flying, but a simple disc spinning. The texture was built from an image on the XaraX CD, clipart\animals\flight.xar. I placed the birds equidistantly around a circle, in the correct sequence, and placed a large circle outside the birds, grouped the whole lot together, and exported the image as a jpeg. This was applied as a texture to simple circle in X3D, which doesn't even need an extrusion or bevel. The image merely needed resized, but because both image and disc were circular, the texture was correctly centred on the disc automatically.

There are nine birds in the texture, so I set the frame rate at 9 frames per cycle, and 9 frames per second. The rotation is around the z-axis. In each frame, the disc has moved round by one whole image, so there is no need to hide intermediate rotational positions, which is a problem a real zoetrope has to cope with using slits in a cylinder. You can reverse the action of the animation just by reversing the direction of spin of the disc.

Mike

Michael J. Sims

[»ÂRF«Oldman]

Nice and thank you very much!
Old

Was a lone wolf... Met the »ÂRF«. Now when
the game is done I stand alone no longer.
http://www.arf-platoon.org/Rayeimages/2.png

[weldorman]

You are one very creative person.Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us.

Mike

[Mike Aaron]

Interestingly, Mike's brilliant animation is a little easier to understand (and appreciate) if you watch it load on a rather slow dial-up connection.

[Egg Bramhill]

Thankyou for that explanation. I'm busy with web sites a present but I must give this a go. Thanks again
Egg

[simsmj]

just to make the rotation clear.

My first attempt at cogs. I can see there's more to them than you'd think. Clockwork could be fun. (Hhmmm, rubs chin thoughtfully...) [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Mike

Michael J. Sims