Animating the Solar System
In this lesson, you animate the rotation of the Earth over the course of a year by making the Earth spin on its axis 365 times. Then you animate the Moon going around the Earth and the Earth going around the Sun. By using the default playback speed of 30 frames per second, and setting the number of frames to 1825, the animation will last just over 60 seconds (1825 f ÷ 30 fps = 60.83 s). Why use 1825 instead of 1800? Because it causes the Earth to rotate exactly 5 frames per day (365 x 5 = 1825). This regular division of 5 frames per day will later help you visualize the sun's apparent movement in the sky from a location on the Earth. |
Open Seasons02.max. Click
Time Configuration.
The Earth:Rotation dialog box appears for key 1. Click the right
arrow to advance to key 2. Set the Angle to 131,400:
Select
the Earth and open the Motion panel.
In
the Path Parameters rollout, click Pick Path. Then click the Earth's
orbit.
Select
the Moon's Orbit.
Select
the Moon.
Select
the Moon's Orbit and activate the Front View.
Save your work as Seasons03.max. Next: Visualizing the Days and the Seasons
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© 2000 Michele Matossian