Spline Creator

[Clara Zellinger]

For example, I created a 3D model from an old 2D drawing that has all the spline information on the print and could not find a match for the spline in the spline generator. I needed a 78 tooth spline and a 79 tooth was the closest match.

I would also like the ability to modify dimensions and have the other ratios automatically update. For instance, machining a part before heat-treat expansion to set the appropriate major/minor/tooth/space parameters.

First premise is UE4 supports baked keyframe animations so since I use 3ds I would first proxy the track using spline shapes and link constraint a dolly to it. Easy to make the dolly follow the track and one could link any they wish to the dolly. This gets the animation you want using scripting and the spline can be converted to a mesh .

When using the involute spline generator, where a spline has a shoulder further down the shaft/part, given the "wrong" parameters, it will wipe the shoulder out, or in some cases just push it back. Obviously this is not ideal. We make the part with the shoulder for a reason and why the spline generator is destroying it is beyond me.

Any thots/input? Any ideas on how to avoid destroying shoulders? Just for the sake of say so, we cut said splines on a daily basis and up to shoulders. So long as the rad of the cutter will clear the shoulder, obviously it wont hit it... just doesnt make sense.

we have discussion here in Autodesk Decin office, so far, we are not sure what your situation is. Paste please an image here showing where (what cylindrical face) you are applying involute spline on, what is wrong, simply what you are trying to achieve and not working for you.

The problem is "cutting" a spline that is in the direction of a shoulder. See the attached PDFs. Spline Stub #1 shows the part complete, accurate except for the length of the right hand spline. The right hand spline length should be 2" long.

Spline Stub #2 shows the right hand spline at full length, 2" long, plus the 1" radius of the cutter runout. You will notice it has moved the shoulder back substantially of the left spline (larger diameter).

This problem with the generator wiping out shoulders is constant on this and many many other parts I have made forcing me to make substandard drawings. For the example, PDF Spline Stub #1 is how it was distributed into the shop for manufacture with the dimension of the right hand spline over ridden to show 2" and the text "FULL SPLINE", which was obviously met by comments about the softwares ability to generate proper drawings.

This is obviously not a slam on you or your team, Jan. That is not the intention. The intention is get to the bottom of why this happens. I am honestly surprised that I am the first one to bring this up.

See please video and image, where I want to demonstrate this "fix" = current behavior. Simply said, if groove on left element is too long and cutting tool (milling cutter) would make groove also on right shaft element, then right element gets shorter = its left side moves right to make space for milling cutter. So current implementation of Involute Spline satisfies condition of groove length, even it is necessary to influence next shaft element. Always there has to be space for milling tool along entire groove length.

We cut gears and splines day in and day out. If, in your example, the cutter were to roll far enough that it would contact the shoulder, it would not effectively destroy/wipe out the shoulder as it feels like you are implying it might. It would merely cut the spline thru the shoulder leaving parts of the shoulder in tact where the hob had not contacted it, and likewise leave cutouts where the hob has contacted it. I can have a part manufactured to show you if you'd like as an example part.

That said, it still doesnt explain Inventors behavior. If the cutter were "solid" like an endmill used in a milling machine it would not wipe out the should as you have shown, nor would it do anything to the shoulder if I merely moved the length of cut 1/8" further than the initial length (from 1/4" long + radius to 3/8" long + radius). But as I show you in spline stub #3, by adding the 1/8" length to the initial length, it pushes that shoulder back in a huge way, which is impossible.

now terminology is clear, what I call neighbor/next_segment, you call "shoulder" ... Me and my colleagues are from Czech Republic, where next week is school holiday and most of us are taking 1 week vacation. So sorry I am not saying something relevant to your question, let's continue discussion in March. Anyway, see please video I recorded, it shows there is something wrong - InvoluteSplineShorter.mp4

I'm having an identical issue with the spline generator removing material that it should. The weird part of the issue is that it was working fine up until the end of the day yesterday. Before that I was able to generate splines and it would only cut where the splines were on other surfaces. Now it thinks it needs to completely change the surface. Would this be a bug that is causing the improper generation of splines? I've attached some photos showing before and after, I don't have any examples of the what the spline looked like before the issue started. As you can see in the before surface picture the bushing surface is where it needs to be and then after has almost 0.700" removed.

Sorry for all the replies as this is starting to make no sense. I was just able to generate the following on the other end of the shaft and it cuts exactly like it is supposed to be. The other surfaces that are slightly a larger OD do not get affected by the spline generation.

I am very curious what you changed to get it to display your spline correctly. That is basically the identical case that I am seeing, but havent been able to figure a fix, and so far, the comments that have been provided have not helped.

I literally have not changed a thing since I last worked on it yesterday. The side that it worked on this morning didn't work yesterday. A couple weeks ago when I originally had drawn the part up they generated with no issue and visually showed how I wanted. Then I made some changes to the OD and updated my spline data accordingly in the design data and then it removes excess material. I've also tried changing it back to what everything was set before with no luck either, so the settings I have aren't what's causing the issue from what I can tell.

For example, typically when I'm making charts manually, I have to first create X-Y graph, then select legend, then click on Automatic recalc, Unselected faded, group by, and put splines. This turns out to be very tedious.

Clarification: Obviously I know how to script this for a given data table, where I know the columns names and the charts I want to create. What I want here is to enable the user to select the columns he wants in ANY given data table he is working on. I suppose the solution would require loops and variables.

Find an example (data set), set up the plot exactly the way you want, save the script to a script window, then remove the Y() and X() role arguments. Run the script. It should present the default launch dialog where the user can enter the current variables into the appropriate role. Click OK and the other features should be active.

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This simple editor demonstrates the various methods of spline interpolation supported by Protovis. Drag the control points to see how the shape of the spline changes. Click to add new points, and use the DELETE key to delete the selected control point.

Hello everyone! I've used Adventure Creator to make two 2D games, but the next one is using 3D, so I'm moving into uncharted territory. However, the game is 2D'ish: Although there's some movement in depth, the majority of exploration limits only to walking left or right. The setting is an island which the player would be able to circle around, so there would be this looping track, a rim around a cylinder, so to speak.
My question is, how can I lock the camera to a side view of the character? The idea is that the game is a side-scroller where the camera follows the player in a similar manner as in a 2D game. The closest reference to the idea about the camera is Housemarque's Resogun:
This is the way the camera should follow the player. How can I achieve similar camera functionality using Adventure Creator?

Here's an example. Create a new C# script named SpinCamera, and attach it to a new Unity Camera in your scene. Fill in the fields and remove the Audio Listener component, and you can then assign it as your scene's default Camera, or switch to it using Actions.

Thanks Chris for a super speedy reply! Having some issues with this, though: I can't figure out what to insert Centre Point in the inspector. Should I have a game object located somewhere, and the camera anchors itself there, or what should I do?

The first image is of the camera in runtime and where it's pointing. The second image is the location of the player character and third one the spincamera's inspector. In hierarchy, the Spin Camera is located under _camers, and it's defined as the default camera in the scene.

Okay, the script @ChrisIceBox you provided works perfectly, but the design for camera behavior changed a bit, as we realized that navigating a round island is a bit boring. I noticed a thread where @Temmy asked about moving a gameobject on Spline (with Unity Bezier Solution: -design/bezier-solution-113074), which seems to be the perfect solution on this project. We'd like to have a spline to be created on the edge of the island, and the player would move on this spline.
So, we're creating a game, that is on 3D, but functions as a side-scroller in a very 2D'ish manner. Basically the player would move only left or right, so moving along the spline would be the best way to achieve this.

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