by Didik Wijaya

A lot of people asked me about how to create tank caterpillar track animation. Actually the answer is very simple. You should see in the following tutorial. This tutorial will show you how to create tank caterpillar track animation in minutes

1. First, you need 3D tank model. You can download here. It's a low poly M1 Abrams tank Use File>Import to open this model

2. Select tank body object, go to Modify tab. Activate Element selection. Select two track element like image below. (To select more than one element, hold Ctrl while selecting). In Edit Geometry rollout, click Detach button. In opened window, click OK to detach elements as a separate object. Let's call this object as an original track object.

3. You can hide other objects except original track object if you want. In Left viewport, create closed spline like image below. Use Initial Type=Corner and Drag Type=Corner. To create just click from 1 to 8 and back to 1 again.

4. Leave spline for a while. Next, we are going to create different track object. Create box in Top viewport. Use parameters like image below. We will create simple track using series of boxes

5. In Top viewport, create another box by Shift drag the box to other side. Make sure one box is selected. Go to Modify tab. In Edit Geometry rollout, click Attach button. Then click other box to combine them into one object.

6. Next, you need to create more boxes. Make sure box is selected and Left viewport is active. To make Left viewport active, just right click in that viewport. From top menu choose Tools>Array. In opened window, use parameters like image below and click OK. You will get a series of 50 boxes

7. You need to combine all boxes into one single object. Select one box and go to Modify tab. In Edit Geometry rollout, click Settings button right next to Attach. In opened window, you can select all boxes and click OK.

8. Next step is shaping boxes to form track object. Apply Path Deform modifier. In Parameters rollout click Pick Path and click shape you've created earlier. There's still gap like shown in image below. Use Axis=Y with Flip active. Adjust Stretch value to fill the gap.

Next, animate the track. Click Auto Key button. Move slider to frame 100. And increase or decrease Percent value (forward or backward). The Percent amount will define the tank speed. When finished, de-activate Auto Key.

9. Move newly created track object under the tank. Now, you can delete original track object. Link tank top object and new track object to the tank body. Next you are ready to animate tank movement by moving the body. The rest is up to you. Video below show sample of caterpillar track animation

Any question or comments regarding this tutorial should be sent to:
Didik Wijaya, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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