Softimage Blog

// get the transform of the control object
var inXf = Inlocal1.value.transform;
 
// get the control object's rotation
var inRot = XSIMath.CreateRotation();
inXf.GetRotation(inRot);
 
// get the value of the operator's roll parameter
var roll = In_UpdateContext.parameters("roll").value;
 
// get the value of the operator's distance parameter
var distance = In_UpdateContext.parameters("distance").value;
 
// set a vector which is going to start out as the y axis
var yAxis = XSIMath.CreateVector3();
yAxis.Set(0,1,0);
 
// multiply y by the rotation, so it points along the
// control object's y axis
yAxis.MulByRotationInPlace(inRot);
 
// create the output transform of the curve
var xf = XSIMath.CreateTransform();
 
// if there is any rotation (if y doesn't point straight up)
if(yAxis.x!=0||yAxis.z!=0)
{
	// store the height of y temporarily
	var yAxisHeight = yAxis.y;
 
	// remove the y part of yAxis
	yAxis.y = 0;
 
	// normalize it (puts its length to 1)
	yAxis.NormalizeInPlace();
 
	// multiply the length of y by the distance param
	yAxis.ScaleInPlace(distance );
 
	// get the curve's geometry
	var geo = Incrvlist.value.Geometry;
 
	// get the closest curve position to the resulting
	// position of the yAxis (on the ground plane)
	var vbArgs = new VBArray(geo.GetClosestCurvePosition2(yAxis));
	var args = vbArgs.toArray();
 
	// change the length of y relatively to the distance
	// of the closest point on the curve
	// this removes the unwanted jittery behaviour
	yAxis.NormalizeInPlace();
	yAxis.ScaleInPlace(args[3].length());
 
	// now get the closest position again
	var vbArgs = new VBArray(geo.GetClosestCurvePosition2(yAxis));
	var args = vbArgs.toArray();
 
	// get the U value of the curve for the closest point
	var curveU = args[2];
 
	// now evaluate the curve for the given U
	// note: this is using the hard coded subcurve index
	// 0, so it never works for multi-curve-curvelists
	var vbArgs = new VBArray(geo.curves(0).EvaluatePosition(curveU));
	var args = vbArgs.toArray();
 
	// get the position and tangent
	var curvePos = args[0];
	var curveTan = args[1];
 
	// calculate the angle between the former Y axis and
	// the ground plane
	var angle = Math.acos(yAxisHeight)/2;
 
	// negate (turn around) the yAxis
	// as we want to move the object position
	// relatively to the position on the curve
	curvePos.NegateInPlace();
 
	// define a quaternion for the rotation
	var quat = XSIMath.CreateQuaternion();
 
	// the rotation for the tilt is a rotation around
	// the tangent of the curve on the given position
	// with an angle defined by the overall rotation
	// of the control object
	quat.Set(
		Math.cos(angle),
		Math.sin(angle) * curveTan.x,
		Math.sin(angle) * curveTan.y,
		Math.sin(angle) * curveTan.z
	);
 
	// create a rotation for the tilt
	var rotTilt = XSIMath.CreateRotation();
	rotTilt .SetFromQuaternion(quat);
 
	// now we rotation the position of the curveobject
	// around the tangent of the curve, by using
	// our rotTilt rotation
	var centerPos = XSIMath.CreateVector3();
	centerPos.MulByRotation(curvePos,rotTilt);
 
	// define an additional rotation for the roll	
	var rotRoll = XSIMath.CreateRotation();
	// define an eulerangles vector for the rotation
	var rotAngles = XSIMath.CreateVector3();
	// set the y rotation by the given roll param
	rotAngles.y = XSIMath.DegreesToRadians(roll);
	// set the rotations euler angles by the vector
	rotRoll .SetFromXYZAngles(rotAngles);
	// rotate the position of the curveobject again
	// by the rotRoll rotation
	centerPos.MulByRotationInPlace(rotRoll);
 
	// for the output transform, create a new rotation
	// and multiply both rotations together
	var rot = XSIMath.CreateRotation();
	rot.Mul(rotTilt,rotRoll);
 
	// now substract the curvePosition off the center
	// position, to put it back in its own space
	centerPos.SubInPlace(curvePos);
 
	// for the output transform, set the
	// translation and rotation
	xf.SetTranslation(centerPos);
	xf.SetRotation(rot);
}
 
// output the transform
Out.value.transform = xf;