3DS Max "trampoline" animation on a plane with 1 bone .. help? :)

Hi guys.. Maybe someone will point out a tip before I figure it out on my own.. I'm in 3DS max 2014, using a simple plane with 1 big bone in the middle, with a skin modifier. Made an animation (bouncy trampoline style anim on my plane) looks great, exported FBX (including Animation, smoothing groups & embedded media)

..loaded into Unity 4.6, but the bone doesn't show as attached to the animation in the previewer, so the middle of the plane mesh doesn't deform.. settings: Legacy, store in root, read/write-enabled..

Any thoughts or suggestions on how to make a simple plane animate like a trampoline ? Thanks in advance!

Jenni

 

Several ways to get this working right. Easiest way listed below.

Create two bones. one for the inner trampoline section (the big bone) and one for the outer section. The bone for the outer section that you don't want to move will be the root. Skin as before but skin the outer part of the mesh that doesn't move to the root bone. Export.
I'd probably do this with just a dummy or point helper parented to the root bone instead of a bone, and convert the dummy on export to a bone. That way you won't have to perform any bone scaling.

Happy trampolining!

 

theANMATOR2b: aw man thanks so much for your response! I had to take a break and was hoping to get a response... your tips made my trampoline possible!!! We were starting to wonder if life was worth living anymore but then you came and saved the day!

An extra tip to others that may encounter this: it is important that the stationary root bone's envelope property is set to absolute(A) and that the dynamic bone is set to relative(R).

 

For more detailed mesh, bypassing envelopes altogether is preferred.
Working at the vertex level with the weight tool and paint weights results in a more controlled skin, without having to mess with them silly envelopes and cross sections and property settings.
Glad I was able help. Are you making a Yoga game?

 

Ah, good point! I had been working with the vertex-by-vertex Abs method entirely but had an epiphany about the Relative method because I was tripping up on why/how the envelopes weren't affecting the weights - Glad to remember the A/R toggle.

& ooh a yoga game would be amazing, if I got good enough at animating characters to pull that one off :-D Actually, trying my hand at an endless runner (testing it on the Nexus pad, and eventually for Google Play store).. it's a meld between 2D sprites (the character) but in a 3D world.. I'm still pretty new to game dev but my partner is helping me a lot, as are online tuts & forums.. thanks again!