Cineversity

I have made a model of a planetary gear mechanism that is driven with Xpresso and complicated nesting nulls (I would attach a sample model but the website won’t allow .c4d files?). However, I would like to simplify it so all the elements truly “interact” so they can be driven by a motor. I want to be able to change the speed and duration of rotation at will. I have tried to build mechanical devices like this before using collision tags, but the models blew apart or vibrated so much they came apart. I have a hunch it could be done with connectors, but what I have read so far still involves commands, not direct physical interactions.

Hi mford610,

Most advice with cogwheels is diameter (or radius) of the teeth medium high, etc, etc. Way too complex for animation. Typically, if the teeth of a cogwheel are fitting, the count of the teeth is the key. With the ratio of the amount to each cogwheel pair, the math becomes really simple, just a ratio. In the scene: Placing the cogwheels under a null will allow for the adjustments to have the teeth not intersect.

To set up, as you say, a complicated cogwheel mechanism, and have it all driven by dynamics with a single motor, will show very fast the limitations of dynamics, or the values need to be set very high (in terms of calculation) to get anything.

So far I haven’t seen something that works very precisely without slowing down the preview, with say ten cogwheels while staying precise. If you want to do it anyway, set the mesh to Moving Mesh in the Shape section of the Dynamic Tag and give it a Connector Axis.

My advice, if the XPresso is set up as simple as possible (just ratio based), it will allow for any speed while it is simple to build.

All the best