Object Properties

This guide continues where the Bongo: Video Encoder and Formats guide ended.

Bongo Object Properties dialog

Overview

The Bongo object properties panel manages the animation data for each animated object.

Bongo Object Properties Animated Selected Icon Animate selected objects

Allows the object to be animated. Adds the object to the Animation Manager.

See also: Bongo Basics 1: Simple Object Animation.

Bongo Object Properties Remove animation Icon Remove animation

Removes the object from the Animation Manager.

Bongo Object Properties Remove all keyframes Icon Remove all keyframes

Removes all keyframes from the object. The pivot and IK data are not removed.

Bongo Object Properties Match animation data Icon Match animation data

Matches the animation properties of one object to another.

Bongo Object Properties Move pivot Icon Move pivot

Moves the object’s pivot.

Bongo Object Properties Rotate pivot Icon Rotate pivot

Rotates the object’s pivot.

Bongo Object Properties Set parent Icon Set parent

Specifies a parent object for the selected object. See the Animation Manager guide.

Bongo Object Properties Advanced hierarchy settings Icon Advanced hierarchy settings

Opens the Advanced Hierarchy Settings dialog box for the object.

Bongo Object Properties Change constraint heading Icon Change constraint heading

When the object is constrained, the pivot displays a dotted constraints heading indicator. The constraint heading determines the direction the object will use to face an object to which it is constrained.

By default, the constraints heading is along the object pivot’s x-axis.

A dotted arrow shows the direction of the constraint heading direction.

Bongo Constraint Heading Indicator

To change an object’s constraint direction

  • At the Pick new heading vector prompt, pick a new direction on the screen, press Enter to use the current direction heading, or choose a command-line option.

Object Settings

Bongo Object Settings Dialog

Animation Enabled

Clearing the checkbox temporarily turns the object animation off.

Show pivot

Toggles the pivot display for the selected objects.

Animated objects display a pivot icon in the Rhino viewports. By default, the pivot is created at the center of the object’s bounding box. Bongo rotation is applied around the x, y, and z-axes of the object pivot. Bongo scaling is applied along the x, y, and z-axes of the object pivot.

Bongo Object Pivot Display

Show pivot path

Displays a curve showing the path of the object’s pivot over the entire course of the animation.

Draw points on pivot path

Displays points or dots at keyframes and specified intervals along the path of the object’s pivot. Set the style and interval on the Bongo Document Options page.

Bongo Pivot Path Display

Pivot path display.

To turn off the pivot path display

To change the point display for the view paths

  • The display can either be point objects or dots. The dots display the tick number.

On the Bongo Document Options page, under Show pivot/view path, for Show keyframes and frame marks as, choose Points or Dots.

To change the interval for the point display

  • On the Bongo Document Options page, under Show pivot/view path, set the value for Draw point/dot every _ticks.

Enable looping

Repeats the animation action between looping markers.

Looping markers appear for selected looping objects. This shows which tick is determining the properties of the object given the current looping values for that object.

Bongo Timeline Looping Markers

Looping Tutorial

To set the position and number of loops

  1. Double-click the looping markers to open the Bongo Looping dialog box.
  2. In the Bongo Looping dialog box, enter values to set the marker positions, and specify the number of loops.

Rotate in world space

Sets object rotation around world x, y, and z instead of rotating around its own pivot.

3D tweening

Rotation and scale are tweened componentwise as three separate numbers. Position can be tweened either componentwise or with 3D tweening.

When 3D tweening is not checked, componentwise tweening is used. This means that each component x, y, and z are tweened as numbers - each forming its own curve.

See the Tweening tutorial.

Rotation order

Sets the order of rotation when rotation in 3D occurs simultaneously in all axes. By default, objects apply the rotation transformations in the order X, Y, and then Z.

Constraints and Joints

Bongo Constraints and Joints dialog

Objects can be constrained to path curves or objects.

A constraint can be animated on or off or with varying weight over time. Keyframes also store the position of the object along a path constraint. This is called the constraint parameter and varies from 0.0 at the start of the path to 1.0 at the end.

Common uses for constraints include:

  • Moving a car along a path and keeping the car facing in the direction it is moving (a look-along constraint).
  • Forcing a view to look at a specific object in the scene (a look-at constraint).
  • Creating a walk-through animation (a look-along constraint).
  • Animating the view from within an object (constrain camera location to object).

To constrain an object to another object

  1. Select an object.
  2. In the Properties panel, click the Bongo button.

or

  • In the Animation Manager tree, right-click the object, and on the menu, select Constraints Manager.

None

All animated objects start with simple pivots and no constraints. Selecting the Simple Pivot option effectively disables any constraints that may have been applied to the object.

Simple constraints

Simple constraints force objects to attach themselves to other objects. Original object location:

Bongo Original Object Location indicator

Look Along Z Up

The object will move along the path curve tangent to the curve, while keeping the object’s z-axis pointed up (the world z-direction) as much as possible.

To add a Look Along Z Up constraint

  1. With an object selected, in the Simple Constraints section, click the Bongo Add Constraint button (Add constraint) button, and on the menu, select the Look Along Z Up constraint.
  2. At the Pick new heading vector prompt, pick a new direction on the screen, press Enter to use the current direction heading, or choose a command-line option.
  3. At the Select curve prompt, pick near starting end to select a curve.

Look Along Curve Normal

The object will move along the path curve while keeping the object’s constraint heading parallel to the curve tangent:

To add a Look Along Curve Normal constraint

  1. With an object selected, in the Simple Constraints section, click the Bongo Add Constraint button (Add constraint) button, and on the menu, select the Look Along Curve Normal constraint.
  2. At the Pick new heading vector prompt, pick a new direction on the screen, press Enter to use the current direction heading, or choose a command-line option.
  3. At the Select curve prompt, pick near starting end to select a curve.

Look At

The object’s constraint heading to face another object’s pivot.

Multiple constraints can be used. In the clip below, the object is constrained to path and to look at the center of the circle.

To add a Look At constraint

  1. With an object selected, in the Simple Constraints section, click the Bongo Add Constraint button (Add constraint) button, and on the menu, select Look At constraint.
  2. At the Pick new heading vector prompt, pick a new direction on the screen, press Enter to use the current direction heading, or choose a command-line option.
  3. At the Select curve prompt, pick near starting end to select a curve.

To Path

The To Path constraint forces the object along a curve without changing its orientation.

To add a To Path constraint

  1. With an object selected, in the Simple Constraints section, click the Bongo Add Constraint button (Add constraint) button, and on the menu, select To Path constraint.
  2. At the Select curve prompt, pick near starting end to select a curve.

Object to Pivot

The object’s pivot moves to the pivot of a target object. In the video below, the point is constrained to move along the circle, then the box’s is constrained to the point’s pivot. The box will then start to move along the circle following the point’s pivot.

To add a Object to Pivot constraint

  1. With an object selected, in the Simple Constraints section, click the Bongo Add Constraint button (Add constraint) button, and on the menu, select Object to Pivot constraint.
  2. At the Select target object prompt, pick an object.

Monitor

Bongo Monitor Panel

The Monitor section displays information about the object. The space, location, rotation, and scale of the object pivot are displayed and updated as the timeline slider is moved or the animation preview is played. The values shown in the monitor are especially useful when using expressions.

Next Steps

Please continue with the Bongo: View Animation guide.