How to create a sequence of objects

[Anonymous]

Hi to everyone, I'm new in Maya and I can't use it so well.

I have modeled different object in order to compare theirs size. I would like to create an animation like these ones:

https://youtu.be/ALgXflLVLBw

https://youtu.be/i93Z7zljQ7I

However I'd need to know how to create that camera movement and also how to scale the objects so that thay have the right proportions.

Hope you can help me

Thank you so much

[jmreinhart]

To scale the objects you can use the scale attribute on the object in the attribute editor. Or you can press R and use the scale manipulator.

For animating he camera here is a basic keyframe animation tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTRBRq3WqQ

Be aware of near and far clipping plane of your camera. If the object is two big or too far away it won't show up in the viewport.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the answer, I'll try to create the animation. About the scale I wasn't clear enough. I know how to scale an object but if I know the real dimensions of two objects (for example I know the diameters of two planets) how can I keep the right proportion on Maya? 

[Anonymous]

Ok I found a tutorial which explain how to animate the camera. The work is amost finished but there is another problem. The objects I want to compare are very different dimensions. I'm using "measure tool" however if the object is too small I can't use the tool (It's impossible to use the grid too) instead if the object is too big it can't be visualized correctly. Is there a solution or can't this problem be solved? 

[mcw0]

You can scale your whole "world/universe" down to manageable size.  For example, 1 light year equals 10 units.

[Anonymous]

Exactly, but for example in this case an object is about 100(nm) and another one which is 10^7(nm). When I consider 1(nm) =1unit the second one becomes too big

[mcw0]

Yes, the vast difference in scale that you are trying to convey will be a problem.  You could try animating the scale.  Start with a world scale that allows you to frame a 100nm object.  Then as your camera moves to the 10^7nm object, scale the world so that you can frame that object the way you want.

P.S.  That was a very interesting video.  Thanks

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the aswer. Can you explain me how to scale the world? I didn't understand what I need to do sorry

[mcw0]

You can group all the objects in your scene together under one root node.  Then use that as your "world" control.  Then scale this to affect everything.  I would exclude the cameras from this group.  Scaling cameras had issues back in the day and was something to be avoided.  If you need to have your cameras as part of the "world", use constraints.   

[Anonymous]

Hi guys, I finally managed to create the animation making the most of the size range allowed. There is only one final step, can someone explain me how to record the animation so that I can export it as a file avi?

Thank you:) 

[mcw0]

Depends on the quality you want to have.  If all you want is to be able to show the animation as is, then "playblast" can save directly to an "avi" file.