6 replies to this topic

[cowboy71]

Hey guys,
I just dove into Houdini a few month ago, and was wondering about a camera aim which could follow
an animated object.  Maya has a camera aim which I parented usually to the object I wanted to follow, just
wondering how this is achieved in Houdini.

Thanks

[anim]

each object in houdini has Look At parameter where you can drop any object you want it to aim at

[cowboy71]

anim, on 07 August 2012 - 05:19 PM, said:

each object in houdini has Look At parameter where you can drop any object you want it to aim at

I did see that, but does there need to be an expression on it for it to follow the animated object?
I have selected the sphere that is moving around and the camera stays static.

[anim]

no expression, it expects any Object node, then your camera should rotate towards the global position of that object
is your sphere animated at object level or in SOPs?

[cowboy71]

anim, on 07 August 2012 - 06:05 PM, said:

no expression, it expects any Object node, then your camera should rotate towards the global position of that object
is your sphere animated at object level or in SOPs?

it's within SOPs.  I have a null on the end which I call into the camera, but stays static.

[anim]

it should be at object level, since in sops all is just geometry

to extract position from moving geometry to object level, create Rivet Object
as a rivet geometry use your null from within sphere object
as a point group use either point group from that geometry or specify directly points which you would like to represent position of the rivet (it will be placed to their average position)
then use this rivet as cameras look at object

or if you can animate the sphere at object level and you save yourself some trouble

[cowboy71]

anim, on 07 August 2012 - 06:59 PM, said:

it should be at object level, since in sops all is just geometry

to extract position from moving geometry to object level, create Rivet Object
as a rivet geometry use your null from within sphere object
as a point group use either point group from that geometry or specify directly points which you would like to represent position of the rivet (it will be placed to their average position)
then use this rivet as cameras look at object

or if you can animate the sphere at object level and you save yourself some trouble

Got it. Thank you.