I am deciding between Maya 2010 and 3ds max 2010 and, based on what I need, several details are important.  One of them is using Space Warp to control objects in 3ds max.  What does Maya have that is similar to this?

For example, let’s say I created some debris with Blast Code, and then wanted to control it similar to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qslD29O_1A

At about 1:02, the Space Warp is used, and I would like to do something similar to this.

How would Maya accomplish that?

Thank you very much for any insight!

	Video

No answer from me, just a comment -Brilliant Work.

The short answer to your question is yes, Maya definitely has tools to do this.

An animated Newton Field would get you started off on the right foot.
Add some Turbulence, Radial, and/or Damp fields and season to taste.
Maya also has n-cloth...which is really great for rigid bodies as well.
You have tons of control over material attributes and a robust simulation core.

But now I’m just starting to sound like a Maya fan boy.

The list is probably pretty long on both sides, why you should use one over the other.
The methods will most likely be different, but either will give you great results if you have the time and knowledge.

The best person to ask would be someone who has simulation experience with both Maya and Max.
Maybe they are here on the AREA...we shall see.

Good luck with the project.
~Ben

I guess you mean by ‘spacewarp’ is something that can remap time over a range of frames? i.e. slow down time, ping-pong or even reverse an animation with a control curve?

Yup, this can be done in a number of ways in Maya. Off the top of my head, bake the sim into keyframes and use a script like the excellent ajrTimeWarp.mel, although you could probably do it out of the box with Trax or with other more convoluted methods that involve connecting another animation curve into your exisiting ones.

Hope this helps :-)

Cheers,

Andy Mc..

Andy McNamara
Senior 3D Animator / CG Supervisor / TD
Prime Focus London

Yes, this is all do-able straight out the box, but it all comes down to experience with using the tools at your disposal. ;-)

Generally, there are a few routes but the reverse method works well in most cases and is fairly straightforward to setup - i.e. have all your debris in the position you want them to be to form the person, run the dynamics sim, bake the curves and ‘timewarp’ them in reverse.

Anything more complicated than this would probably require some degree of scripting or technical nous to achieve.  :-)

Hope this helps,

Andy Mc..

Andy McNamara
Senior 3D Animator / CG Supervisor / TD
Prime Focus London

Another option for making a debris person would be to create and rig a simple joint skeleton the size of person you want to make. Then parent/constrain a combination of Dynamics Fields to the skeleton to attract you debris to where you need it to form the person.

You could also use the skeleton to attatch key peices of debris that you want to have more control over.
Because, while dynamics and fields will give you a lot to work with...you should defnitely plan on creating a good chunk of this effect with some keyframed animation of certain debris pieces.
This will help limit the amount of trial and Sim time that would be needed...and ensure that your final result looks the way that you want it to.

Be sure to post your final result...it sounds like it will be pretty cool!
~Ben