TUT – Range-Mapper Fun
Xpresso – by: base80
August 15th, 2005
Page 1
The range mapper node is the simplest way to get relatively complex repetitive animations done. Here are 3 examples of such set-ups.
Follow up:
1 – Yess-Noo
I usually start with a User-Data “slider” in %. I connect the slider to the range-mapper node and the range-mapper to the object I want to move / rotate.
Now click on the range-mapper and go to the attribute manager. Draw a spline with a funny shape and watch what happens when you move the User-Data slider.
In this example I made one range-mapper for rotation P and one for rotation H.
The splines in the range mappers define the “Yes” and “No” movement.
When I move the slider the object’s rotation follows both splines. And this is the result on the left.
I use this method for movements that are quite subtle and that I don’t want to make using the time-line. It is very flexible and adaptable.
Page 2
2 – Car Door
The doors can be animated this way, so once you have made the set-up, just slide away.
Alter the spline at will to accelerate or decelerate the movement.
With a little fiddling you can make a spline that differs for the opening and the closing of the door.
Page 3
3 – Sliding Door
These doors have a double movement as seen in the first example. One is a movement X and the other is a small movement Z.
As you can see the door moves forward before sliding. So one of the splines has to be flat so that the other can operate the forward motion. After this is done the spline defines the motion. The slow curve of the spline makes the door ease in and out.
In the second animation I removed the User-Data slider and replaced it by a collision detection node. So when the man walks on the carpet the door opens. And after a while it automatically closes again. This set-up is more complex and I will explain it in another tutorial about the mono-flop node.
*The Upper and lower output is in this case the length of the movement in mm/cm/m or whatever unit you prefer to use. In example 1 and 2 they are the range of the rotation.