Boat-on-water tutorial?

[JonasUssing]

Hey all, I seem to remember an old Max tutorial about setting up some dynamics to make a boat follow the wake of the water.

It involved a spring or damper or some other dymanics object, and I'm really curious about how to use that technique.

Can anyone find this tutorial? I seem to remember it as a tut that came with Max, but it's not with my Max 2008.

- Jonas

[Tim_Wilbers]

The tutorial is from Max 7, but it is about the "Boat Splashes" using PFlow.

The printed tutorial does not give any info for the setup of the boat, but all the pieces are there.

6690_jkct0TqhwpsSlpwXrju3.zip

[JonasUssing]

The tutorial is from Max 7, but it is about the "Boat Splashes" using PFlow.

The printed tutorial does not give any info for the setup of the boat, but all the pieces are there.

Thank you!

That's exactly the one I was thinking about!

Except I'm certain there also was a tutorial about the setup of the boat. I guess I'll just have to decipher that file.

Thanks a bunch,
- Jonas

[JonasUssing]

Got it!

Create a dummy with an "attach" constraint, attaching it to the ocean surface.
Link boat to dummy.
Make point in the air above boat, link point to dummy.
Give boat "lookat" controller, look at point.
Create gravity Force
Give point a "spring" controller (under "position constraints").
Add gravity as a force to the spring controller.

I think that's it. 🙂

Thanks for the help

- Jonas

[JonasUssing]

OK, I think I came up with something better:

Create two dummies, one for each end of the ship.
Use attachment controller to attach them to the water surface.
Create a third dummy, use Position Constraint to dynamically position it between the other two dummies.
Add a lookat constrant to the third dummy, have it point at one of the other two.
Link the boat to the middle dummy.

Voila. 🙂

It will keep the boat rocking with the waves, but controlled by the two ends, so it doesn't turn too fast, or dip in the water.

- jonas

[RobH2]

So what I'm taking away from this is that Max cannot solve a buoyant object floating in/on a fluid? I guess that's why there is Real Flow, it does that, correct?

I ask because I'm working on a boat model. I have very little fluids experience and I've begun to think about how I'm going to "float the boat." I guess I can't do it natively in Max without faking it.