vehicle rigger : features videos download
Features
* Body alignment to wheels
* Automatic wheel rotation.
* Automatic tread animation.
* Up to eight extra wheels for cars and trailers.
* Spinn and brake override with sliders for wheels and treads.
* Weight controller for car, tank and trailer.
* Multiple rigs in one scene.
* Auto steering to target nulls(only simple throttle).

The rigs

"Master null" rig
Position and rotation are animated by the user. W_Slide can be applied for automatic sliding and wheel heading.

"Simple throttle" rig
Throttle and steering are controlled inside a LightWave slider panel.
Position and rotation are calculated, sliding can be keyframed by rotating the rotation controller.
Auto steering can be enabled with nulls as targets. The targets can be animated.

"Throttle n' slide" rig
Throttle, steering and sliding amount are controlled inside a LightWave slider panel.
Position, rotation and sliding are calculated.

Ground interaction

Ground needs to be a textured displaced mesh, procedural or image map.
If using a sculpted terrain, a greyscaled heightmap using a gradient can be rendered from LightWave and used for displacing the ground mesh. This method is not suited for all terrains and situations.
If changes are made to the ground after rigs have been created, Vehicle Rigger's displacement updater can be used to update the rigs in the scene.
Animated procedurals are supported.

Vehicle Rigger copies the textured displaced layers information. You can therefore replace or delete your ground mesh after rigging.

If you do not wish to use a displaced ground, instead manually animate the wheels position it's possible.

 

Required steps before using Vehicle Rigger

This is basic information what needs to be done before using Vehicle Rigger.
Vehicle must currently be modeled +Z.

Cars and trailers
Body and each wheel needs to be in its own layer.
Set the wheels pivot in modeler or layout.

Tanks
The tank rig requires a morph for the right and left tread. A tutorial on this can be found here.
Body, tread and each wheel needs to be in its own layer.
Set the wheels pivot in modeler or layout.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the rigs work with network rendering?
You need to use Vehicle Rigger baker before rendering. Baking a scene is a one-click operation.

Can the throttle rigs go backwards?
Not in Vehicle Rigger 1.1. In version 1.2 beta it's possible for the simple throttle rig.

Can I drive/flip the rigs upside down?
No.