Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
work on the
children
of dynamic objects,
allowing them to inherit the properties of
their parent. They are applied from the Add
Displacement pop-up menu in the Deform
tab of the Object Properties panel.
chain, you might think of adding HardFX
since chains are hard. But HardFX would
only see the object in one of two ways: as
an entire (solid) chain or as individual links.
It would not understand that the links are
actually connected to one another. There-
fore, HardFX would not work for this
simulation. ClothFX would keep the links
together and allow the chain to dangle, but
it would deform every point in the mesh,
causing your links to stretch like rubber.
What you need is a way to get the motion of
ClothFX with the properties of HardFX.
HardLink allows you to do this.
MetaLink
MetaLink functions similarly to HardLink,
but rather than applying rigid body qualities
to your child object, it applies soft body
qualities. MetaLink is useful for those
instances where you want to maintain the
volume (or shape) of an object but still give
it a degree of flexibility. For example, if you
wanted to animate a rope rather than a
chain, you could use ClothFX on a simple
object (such as a two-point polygon chain)
and apply MetaLink to the rope object.
ClothFX will give you the motion you want,
and MetaLink will help the rope to keep its
basic shape.
Figure 19-2: Effect Links can be added from
the Deform tab of the Object Properties
panel.
While not true Dynamics in and of them-
selves, Effect Links are often used to apply
the dynamic properties of a simple object to
a higher resolution mesh. This not only
speeds up the calculation of complicated
simulations, but it also opens the door for
effects that would otherwise be difficult to
achieve.
The Dynamics Community
When you add a dynamic property to an
object, you are telling it what behavioral
tendencies it will have. In essence, you are
giving it a personality. Taken this way, the
process of building a Dynamics simulation
can be seen as a form of social engineering.
You begin by building a community — a
Dynamics Community — where each
object is given a personality and told how it
should react to the other objects within the
community.
HardLink
HardLink applies the dynamic properties of
a parent object to its child using rigid body
qualities. The obvious question to ask is,
“Why would you want to do this?” Here's
an example: If you wanted to animate a
