Description
There are more than a few scripts and rigging tools available for rigging automobiles in 3ds Max. Some offer an easy way to get wheels rotating based on the movement of the car, others will add in steering, and even others will incorporate a suspension system.
A new offering however seems to roll all of those features into one car rigging script. DriverMaster is a tool that will automatically create a 4-wheeled car rig in 3ds Max.
You can easily animate the motion for the vehicle manually or by using a curve in the scene. The script will also make the wheels stick to the ground, even if the ground is a terrain.
DriverMaster gives you a fast set up, dynamic suspension, automatic wheel ground contact, automatic wheel rotation and offset attributes for adjusting/animating your car on top off the generated animation.
Features
- Floater dialog with pick-buttons for wheels, chassis, brakes
- Few clicks rig creation
- Uneven ground surface support
- Chassis alignment to wheels
- Automatic wheel rotation system based on traveled distance
- Manual suspension system
- Wheels spin override for burnout animations and sliding
- Manual chassis reaction to acceleration
- Automatic chassis reaction to turns
- Wheels auto steering
- Speedometer (km/h and mph)
- Viewport speedometer
- Multiple ground objects
- Body spring dynamics
- Manual wheels offset
- Bake animation (keys and PointCache)
Changelog
DriverMaster 1.1
- New installer dialog added
- Chassis orientation bug fixed
- Vehicle dimension limit increased
- Chassis link bug fixed
- Inertia control added
- Mph Speedometer added
- Viewport speedometer added
- Bake Animation dialog added
- Select Rig button added
- Delete Rig button added
- Request Code button added
- Deactivate License button added
- Check Updates button added
DriverMaster 1.2
- Scripted Plugin error bug fixed
- Automatic Setup right click error bug fixed
- Bake Animation of all vehicle parts bug fixed
- NEW Bake Animation of all rigs in the scene
- NEW Bake Animation grouping option added
DriverMaster 1.3
- Change/remove spline path bug fixed
DriverMaster 1.4
- New licensing system added
- Check for new version and update
- Bake animation to keys now supports VRayProxy, CoronaProxy etc, also groups
Installation
To install DriverMaster drag and drop downloaded MZP file into 3ds max viewport.
Once you run DriverMaster an activation dialog will pop up. Paste your license key and press “Check License Status” button, then “Activate”. Close License dialog and run DriverMaster again, you are ready to go!
Should you have any questions please send me an email to efim.armand@gmail.com.
Instructions
- Works best with real world scale
- Car front must point in negative Y direction
- Car should have no transformations
- Works best with “Reset XForm” applied to the wheels
- Adjust wheels and chassis position, so that they align perfectly with the ground
Videos
Screenshots
FAQ
Yes, it is based on standard 3ds max tools and maxscript so it will work on any computer.
However you may bake your model using baker scripts.
Yes, in theory it can. You can animate it manually or by using a spline. In this case you have to switch Path Constraint keys so the rig follows spline backwards.
