Welcome to Group One's Plug-in Description Page

The producer of this Plug-in are:

Jacob Kretz

Gang Luo

Plug-in Characteristics

General Description:    The plug-in lets the bunny move along a path specified by the user while the bunny jumps in a parabolic way. During the jumping, the legs and arms of the bunny swing back and forth in a sine curve way. When the bunny reaches the end of the path, it doesn't move any more. In a word, the plug-in lets the bunny jump along the user-specified path happily.

Ease of Use:    The user can change the path the bunny follows by changing the control points of the path. The user can also change the height that the bunny jumps and the speed the bunny moves along the path by changing the corresponding height and speed channels. By changing the length of the path, the user can control how many frames the bunny jumps in total. Also, the plug-in will let the bunny head along the direction of the path at any point automatically.

Workability:    Using the speed given by the user and the current time, the plug-in first figures out the distance the bunny has moved along the path, then it determines the corresponding point on the curve. The bunny's position on the x-z plane is a projection of a point on the x-z plane. The bunny's y-coordinate value is determined by the product of a "normalized" parabola value and the height specified by the user at that point. The tangent of the path is used to let the bunny head along the path. For each arm and leg of the bunny, its swing is controlled by the corresponding maximum amplitude in a sine curve way.

Files and Executables

• Plug-in: Source Code

• Plug-in: Executable

• Plug-in: MEL Script

Group Two's Plug-In

Ease of Use:  Group Two's plug-in was very easy to use.  The MEL script created the overall path that the snake would take.  This path was editable, and curvature could be added anywhere, within reason.  The amplitude of the snakes slithering, and the speed at which the snake moved were a little more difficult to use.  They had to be key framed, and then adjusting in the graph editor of Maya in order to create the correct motion.  Overall, the animation of the snake went well.

Effects on Animation:    We were able to animate the snake with a large amount of reality.  We especially liked the ability to change the amplitude of the snakes motion, as well as, the speed of the snake.  This gave us the ability to create effects like anticipation, and follow through.  We were also pleased with the results of the snake's movement along the path, as the snake followed this path very closely.   

Attributes that could have been added:    It would have been nice to have been able to create vertical movement in the snake's motion.  The addition of greater amounts of flexibility in the spline curve would have also allowed for more exciting paths for the snake.  The snake also had a hard time pointing in the right direction when the path had a sharp turns, but this was not used in the final animation.