How can I make a simple Pendulum movement

You can create a pendulum movement easily with a parameter behavior:
1) On the object you want to swing, switch to the anchor point tool and move the anchor point to the point where you want the object to swing from - the point that won't move, probably the top of the object.
2) In the Properties tab of the Inspector, right-click on Rotation and select Ocillate.
3) In the Behaviors tab of the Inspector, set the Ocillate behavior parameters to values that work for you

That'll work great, but it will need to be more elaborate (possibly with Stop behaviors) to do what the OP is suggesting - one of those Desk pendulum/steel ball doo-hickies - you know, one of these:



I think you could do it by taking splitting the pendulum and pasting it on the other side of the rack...

It can be done, but will require some elaborate or clever work...

Patrick

Yeah, I agree - may need to convert the behavior to keyframes and then adjust to get the impacts looking correct.

Hi Guys,
It's called variously, Newton's Pendulum or Newton's Cradle.

I'd approach this with simple keyframes but that's just me. The left ball starts on a keyframe, swings and stops on a keyframe. A frame or two later, the right ball swings out and up, pauses and accelerates down. Copy, paste.

(I've had Motion for a couple of years and still don't understand how Behaviors work.)

bogiesan

I actually just did an animation based on that desk decor thing... it was easy once i figured out what to do...

Now, i tought myself motion, so my way may not be the "best" or quickest but it worked. First...import the object/make the object or whatever. second, go to behaviors and take basic motion path. After that, take the bezier curve adjustment and arc the line. That will get you the object going up in a swing or down...depending on where you put the start point on the curve. After that, copy the actual motion curve, but put the new end point to where the old start point was...basically invert the motion (if there is a simpler way to do this please tell me). that will get the object to go up/down then down/up.

So that gets the basic motion of a half swing.

If your object hits another object (like in the desk thing) make sure your snap lines are on because youll need them to line up the motion. Do the same thing to the second object as you did to the first, but going the oposite way. The snap lines will help guide you to make sure the second object goes as high as the first. To make it look correct i pretty much eyeballed the connection of one object to the next going frame by frame. I also added the "ease at end" motion to the rising motion path to add a realistic touch.

If this is confusing i'm sorry...

Okay - I tried doing this and it came out okay:

Newton.mov

But the project illustrates a bug in Motion with the Stop behavior. It doesn't save properly... If you save the project and reload, it forgets what to apply the Stop to. So after you load the project, you have to set all the stop behaviors back to Properties/Rotation. Then it plays properly...

Here's the project anyway: newton.motn

Patrick

i think there might be an easier way just using the regular rotation and the keyframe editor.

here's a clip

newton.mov

and here's the project file

newton.motn

you just want to create one keyframe then click over into the keyframe editor and create one arch from 0 to whatever rise you want and back to zero, and just make a bezier curve at the apex and it will give you that gravity-esque feel then just select the 3 points, copy and paste them one segment down, then on the object on the other end just do the same thing but flip the rotation.

2.66 macPro Mac OS X (10.4.8)