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this is my first post and I am relatively new to Blender so bare with me..

I'm designing a tank track for a 3D game in the Unity engine - And I'm trying to configure the armature and bones of the tank track + wheels so that I can rotate the wheels and apply suspension to the wheels AND track in Unity using the WheelColliders. I am currently using the texture offset to TRANSLATE the IMAGE that is applied to the tracks for animation - therefore I don't have a bunch of chain-linked tread objects connected together that I am ANIMATING - and instead am just adjusting the image to give the illusion that the tread is moving - the 3D object that said texture is applied to is stationary and does NOT rotate.

My plan from the beginning was to add bones and simply weight-paint the track so that when I move the wheel bone up and down on the Z-Axis, it would deform the track underneath so that it moves STRONGEST directly underneath the wheel, but was weighted less and less the further it gets from the wheel - that way when suspension is applied in Unity, the bone would move up and down with the wheel and deform the track. What's happening is that (despite the weight paint) the track all moves up and down at the same rate.. so I get a very undesired effect when the suspension moves in the game-engine (it looks the same when I move the bone around in pose mode as well).

I feel like there's simply a checkbox I have to check/uncheck to get this to work properly - because I feel like weight-painting is specifically designed to apply WEIGHT to the amount the bone deforms the skinned mesh.. however I am open to the idea that I might have a fundamental error in my approach to the concept.. either way - any help here would be THOROUGHLY appreciated! I'm really stuck on this and I've spent way too much time on it. I will include in this post an image of the desired effect, and a visualization of the effect I'm getting currently (sorry about the crappy image - I really hope it get's the point). PLEASE FEEL FREE to ask me for more info - I have no problems exporting my .blend, making another image, making a screen capture video, etc etc

Thanks in advance!

Track and Bogie Concept

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  • $\begingroup$ make sure you have a decent amount of subdivisions and you have applied the group( weight paint) to the curve modifier. $\endgroup$
    – A.D.
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:07
  • $\begingroup$ Hey Igor - thanks so much for your reply! I currently have NO curve modifier going on this project. The tank track is completely stationary and solid.. I could have used a long 3D cube for this example - the animation on the track itself will only occur in the game engine when the IMAGE on the tank track is offset on 1 axis to give the illusion that it is moving - However I'll still check around and play with subdivisions etc as you suggested :) $\endgroup$
    – Zachary L
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:13

1 Answer 1

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weight is 100% if more than 0 and no other weight. To limit the effect, you have to use another bone (static or another wheel) with the resulting weight on it to counter the no-other-weight effect.
enter image description here
enter image description here
enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Hey Bithur, thank you for the answer! I'm afraid I'm not super clear on this solution - Is there a video tutorial out there that would bring me through this process? I've watched a ton of rigging tutorials on youtube but I've never seen this covered.. I wouldn't want to bother you to fully explain this concept and I'm certain you're correct. $\endgroup$
    – Zachary L
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:18
  • $\begingroup$ I see now! Thank you so much for that image upload - I will implement that and post the results! :) $\endgroup$
    – Zachary L
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:23
  • $\begingroup$ sorry, i didn't find how to explain with words, but screenshots came to save the day :) $\endgroup$
    – Bithur
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:24
  • $\begingroup$ Absolutely - I just played around with it and it's already getting a better result than what I had (not 100% but I think I just need to play around with the actual weight-painting more) - You're explanation was great but as stated in the post I'm relatively new! Thank you SO much - I knew it would be a pretty simple solution. $\endgroup$
    – Zachary L
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:36
  • $\begingroup$ for better control, you can assign weights manually to vertex groups $\endgroup$
    – Bithur
    Aug 1, 2015 at 20:48

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