The following example illustrates how to use
animation snapshot to create a model that resembles a staircase.
To use animation snapshot
- In the Modelling menu set, select
Create > NURBS Primitives > Plane.
A a simple planar surface
appears in your scene.
This will be the bottom
step of the staircase. If desired, scale the plane and move its
CVs to make the plane look more like a step.
- Select the Animation menu set from the
drop-down menu in the Maya tool bar or press F2.
Items in the Maya main
menu switch to the Animation menu set.
- Translate the step so that one of its
narrow edges touches the world origin.
- Press (Linux
and Windows) or (Mac
OS X) to display the step’s pivot point.
- Translate the pivot point to the world
origin.
- Press or again
to exit pivot point mode.
- Rewind the animation and select
Animate > Set Key to
set a key at the start time.
- Specify a short playback range for your
scene. For example, 24 frames.
- Drag the Current Time indicator
to the end of the playback range.
- Translate the step upwards along the
Y-axis about 10 units, then set a key.
This creates the end
position of the step’s vertical travel.
- Enter 720 for Rotate Y in
the Channel Box, and set a key
(press s).
This creates the end
position of the step’s rotation.
- Rewind and play the animation to observe
the step’s movement.
- Select the step.
- Select
Animate > Create Animation Snapshot > .
The Animation
Snapshot Options window opens.
- For Time Range,
turn on Time Slider, then set By
Time to 1.
These settings will create
snapshot copies of the animated geometry at a regular intervals
for the entire Time Slider range. The By Time value
sets the time interval when snapshots are taken.
If, instead, you turn
on Start/End for the Time
Range option, you can enter a Start Time and End
Time (time range) for the animated geometry.
- In the Animation Snapshot Options window,
click the Snapshot button to create the
staircase.
Wait several moments
for the operation to complete.
TipYou can escape out
of a long Snapshot computation by pressing the
key.
The original object and
animation is unchanged. In the Outliner,
the copies of the steps exist under a new group, snapshotGroup.