If you don't need animation, could you just model the belt around the object? Or do you need a series of stills showing the belt expanding?

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

Ya i do need to show stills of the belt at different positions of the box

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Would morph tagets work?

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Chris

It could probably be done using the displace space warp, depending on the shape of the object that is deforming the belt. Can you post an image of the setup you currently have so we can see exactly what needs to be done?

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

hello this is the link to the image:
[Link to img379.imageshack.us]

the red belt must wrap around the brown box and as the brown box moves in the next section should wrap around the box and the previous should change back to original.
I only need stills no animation required.

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I made this little tutorial that might help...
[Link to rapidshare.com]

Let me know if you have any questions.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

GREAT tutorial !!
Can I revisit this topic?

I have not worked in 3ds in some time..
I am also trying to build a very basic conveyor belt.
I need a basic black belt that has text on it.. as it rolls around the text will be "attached" to the belt and will rotate around like the belt.. was that even a little clear?
The basic issue is that I don't know how to make the belt so it will animate properly.
It would be a closed loop/oval that would have to act like the conveyor belt at the supermarket..

Anyone out there that can help? This has GOT to be an easy one!

Thanks guys... GREAT forum!!! I am looking forward to get back into 3ds...I love this app!

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Thanks.

If the belt animation is the problem it could be done with a path deform (WSM). The only problem is when I tried it there was some stretching on the curves. How much of the belt will be visible?

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

It will be a straight shot... you will see the top and the ends where the rollers would be, so you will see the sides as it rolls under.
the text has to roll around as well..

Here is a link to the basic file..

[Link to rapidshare.com]

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I got this result with the path deform modifier (not with your file), it looks ok, the only problem is it seems to stretch and speed up at the ends. Can anyone else shed some light as to why this might be?

[Link to www.fileden.com]

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

I can't even get what you built running...
Since I already have the whole belt built..
I built a line in the shape of the path..
Then I tried to use it with a path deform.. it did not work as I expected.. Again I am a newbeee... sorry .. working on getting better.. this app has SOOO much to offer...
The conveyor has to move slower than yours.. and I am not sure how to attach the text properly.. I guess i could use a material?
Thanks for the help.. you guys are very helpful,

-Ken

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Could you upload your example file.. I should be able to figure it out from there?

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I have been trying to learn from this tutorial
[Link to www.tbmax.net]
I can NOT seem to get the tread to deform around the path... Not sure what I am missing...
Does anyone have a tutorial to help me make the conveyor?

Sorry for being a neebie.

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I couldn't get your file open. Are you using Max 2009? I'm not sure what the problem might be, are you using the path deform(WSM) modifier or the path deform modifer? See if the images below help. The first one is the geometry I started with and the path I used.
The second one shows the settings I used for the pathdeform(WSM) modifier. Let me know if this helps.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

That is helpful. I was able to get a basic tread going..
I can NOT see to make the top and bottom of the tread close together? It seems to get much larger than the path? why is that .. in your example... lets say the total width was 100, I would want the total height to be 5.. in my samples the height was much larger... why would it not follow the path precisely and to scale?

Thanks for the help!
_ken

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Not really sure, it happened in mine too. The geometry's much bigger than the path it's supposed to following. I have to admit that I haven't used path deform too much so I don't really know a lot about it's intricacies.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

Does anyone know the difference between the standard path deform and Path Deform (WSM)???
I can't seem to get the belt to follow the actual path.. we must be doing something wrong..

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THANK U ITS AWESUM!!!!! U ROCK!!!! THANKS A TON!!!

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No worries. Looks like we can put this one in the solved basket.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

btw is there any nice book/tutorial to learn the in and out of 3ds max?

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There are some good tutorials that come with max, and the help file is very good. There are also plenty of good books on the subject, just do a search on amazon and see which ones get good customer reviews.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]