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This had always been something that bothered me, ever since I started modeling aircraft in Max/Gmax. Especially with control surfaces, getting their pivots properly aligned and duplicating the animation on the other side always occupied way too much of my time.
But now, there's LIFE HACKS!
Say, for example, you have animated your flaps for the left wing and are ready to mirror them to the right side. Go ahead and make a copy of one flap and move it to the right side, then apply a Mirror modifier and use snaps (or the conjugate of your x-coordinate) to align it correctly.
*Now, many wise people on this forum over the years have warned to keep clear of the Mirror tool, but it is actually vital to this technique.
Go back to the original flap that you already copied and use the "Mirror" tool in Max's top toolbar, and make sure that the options are set to "Copy". It should copy the flap over its own pivot and remain in the same position.
Then, go back to the right flap that you applied a mirror MODIFIER to, open the Hierarchy tab and select "Affect Pivot Only". In that mode, click on "Align" right next to Mirror tool and choose the flap that had the Mirror tool applied to it. Check only the orientation boxes, otherwise it will move your pivot as well.
Delete the Mirror tool flap, as its normals will be flipped anyway...The Mirror tool applies a negative scaling matrix at the object level, which FS doesn't like. This is useful though because the pivot is flipped in the process, and those correctly-oriented axes are what preserves your animation. Otherwise, the mesh is only mirrored on its sub-object level.
Now your keyframes will be perfectly symmetrical! (Given that they are all linear rotation and position keys.)
Just thought I would share this in case anyone finds it useful. I may upload an illustrated guide on the wiki eventually if a text-only guide is hard to follow.
But now, there's LIFE HACKS!
Say, for example, you have animated your flaps for the left wing and are ready to mirror them to the right side. Go ahead and make a copy of one flap and move it to the right side, then apply a Mirror modifier and use snaps (or the conjugate of your x-coordinate) to align it correctly.
*Now, many wise people on this forum over the years have warned to keep clear of the Mirror tool, but it is actually vital to this technique.
Go back to the original flap that you already copied and use the "Mirror" tool in Max's top toolbar, and make sure that the options are set to "Copy". It should copy the flap over its own pivot and remain in the same position.
Then, go back to the right flap that you applied a mirror MODIFIER to, open the Hierarchy tab and select "Affect Pivot Only". In that mode, click on "Align" right next to Mirror tool and choose the flap that had the Mirror tool applied to it. Check only the orientation boxes, otherwise it will move your pivot as well.
Delete the Mirror tool flap, as its normals will be flipped anyway...The Mirror tool applies a negative scaling matrix at the object level, which FS doesn't like. This is useful though because the pivot is flipped in the process, and those correctly-oriented axes are what preserves your animation. Otherwise, the mesh is only mirrored on its sub-object level.
Now your keyframes will be perfectly symmetrical! (Given that they are all linear rotation and position keys.)
Just thought I would share this in case anyone finds it useful. I may upload an illustrated guide on the wiki eventually if a text-only guide is hard to follow.