FlightPath2 question to RickW

Edson

hi rick,

i got a number of scripts by you from smustards and have a question about flight path2.

i understand everything about its usage but the first step. before anything else, do i have do draw a curve which will the be the path to be followed? can it be on the ground or does it have to be raised to height of the observer's eyes?

i'd appreciate any help you could give me.

RickW

Edson,

Yes, FlightPath and FlightPath2 require a path to follow. That path must be a curve - either an arc, circle, polygon, or "welded" curve (a set of edges that have been joined together into a polyline using the weld plugin).

That path should be at the desired eye level. I usually create the path at ground level, then move it up 5' (~ 1.5m) to a person's eye height. Sometimes I draw a circle and move it very high above a building to do a flyaround from the air.

Once you have created the path and have it at the desired eye height, select it and right-click to get the FlightPath menu. You will have four options for the target view:

Camera path nodes - the camera will look towards the next vertex/node in the selected path. This is the same behavior as FlightPath (free).
Single Point - as the camera moves along the path, it will look at a single point that you select.
Two Points - as the camera moves along the path, it will look along a line starting at one selected point and transitioning to a second selected point.
Target Path - as the camera moves along the path, it will look at a point that is moving along a second selected path. That path must be created in the same way as the camera path.

Edson

thanks, rick. this is exactly the info i needed to make the best of your script.

regards.

edson

sketchydog

@rickw said:

Edson,

Yes, FlightPath and FlightPath2 require a path to follow. That path must be a curve - either an arc, circle, polygon, or "welded" curve (a set of edges that have been joined together into a polyline using the weld plugin).

That path should be at the desired eye level. I usually create the path at ground level, then move it up 5' (~ 1.5m) to a person's eye height. Sometimes I draw a circle and move it very high above a building to do a flyaround from the air.

Once you have created the path and have it at the desired eye height, select it and right-click to get the FlightPath menu. You will have four options for the target view:

Camera path nodes - the camera will look towards the next vertex/node in the selected path. This is the same behavior as FlightPath (free).

Single Point - as the camera moves along the path, it will look at a single point that you select.

Two Points - as the camera moves along the path, it will look along a line starting at one selected point and transitioning to a second selected point.

Target Path - as the camera moves along the path, it will look at a point that is moving along a second selected path. That path must be created in the same way as the camera path.

Rick-
Just DL'd fp2. Question regarding the final option "target path". I'm a bit unclear about the sentence "That path must be created in the same way as the camera path". Can you expand on this? What if I want to follow a path thru a building...I want to mainly look straight ahead, but as I pass by interesting nodes/rooms, I wish to change the viewpoint to somewhere along the side of the path. Then resume looking straight ahead. Typical walk-thru. What does that secondary path look like? Doe the "straight ahead" segments lay directly on top of the primary path?
Thanks