Subject: Re: Tank treads easier than Lightwave Pro
From: John Gross <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 08:54:46 -0500

> The November issue of LightWave Pro (just got mine today) has a tutorial on
> making tank treads and animating them.  I read it with great interest, but
> felt the method left something to be desired. The author takes a straight
> tread and wraps it around the wheels using 18 Bones. And when you're done
> wrapping, the ends had better line up or you'll have a gap. I'm an obsessive
> perfectionist, and felt there had to be a method that was both easier and
> would provide cleaner results. The one I came up requires no math, much less
> time and and not a single bone, unless you want them for aesthetic reasons.
> Its primary advantage is in providing a very clean endless loop of any kind,
> but the method will work for open-ended conveyor belts and other such stuff
> as well. I don't have much free time, so I need to see what kind of interest
> there is before I sit down and write a tutorial. Let me know!

The thing that is appealing about the morph/bones method is that you can
adjust the speed of the tank treads by enveloping the morph and make them
go over rocks/uneven terrain by adjusting bones here and there. I'd be 
interested in hearing your method tho......

JG