With the Paths tools in the Populate panel, you can create open or closed animated paths that automatically fill with moving characters, vehicles, and bikes, and create custom paths with objects and animated files that you import into Twinmotion or select from the Twinmotion Library.
You can customize the Character, Bicycle, Vehicle, and Custom paths, for example by adjusting their size and width, modifying their height relative to the Starting Ground, choosing the placement of the objects on the paths, selecting their density and speed, and setting a forward or reverse direction.
The Random seed option in the Character, Bicycle, and Vehicles paths randomizes the types, positions, and distribution of characters, bikes, and vehicles on the paths, and generates deterministic animated paths: the same random seed value always produces the same animated path sequence, whether you are viewing the path in the viewport or in the media you create.
When you create Custom paths, in Sequence mode you can create cinematic sequences and precisely control the movement and behavior of the animation. In Collision mode, various collision triggers—such as the viewport camera, or the objects on other animated paths—drive the animation, triggering it based on the proximity of the path to the triggers.
The tools to create animated paths are located in the Paths tab of the Populate panel.
Types of Animated Paths
You can create the following types of animated paths:
Character Paths
Character paths feature pedestrians that you can style according to the context of your scene by choosing a variety of clothing styles such as street wear, office, or travel.
Bicycle Paths
Bicycle paths automatically fill with characters on bicycles that cycle along either one or two-lane bike paths.
Vehicle Paths
Vehicle paths automatically populate with a variety of cars that travel along the paths. You can choose the number of traffic lanes, the traffic rule (right-hand or left-hand traffic), select one-way or two-way traffic, and adjust the lane offset.
Custom Paths
Custom paths can be populated with any type of static or animated object you import into Twinmotion or that you select from the Twinmotion Library. They work a bit differently than Character, Bicycle, and Vehicle paths. You can control more aspects of the animation, such as the placement and anchor points of the objects, the height of the objects relative to the path, the speed and timing, and the start and interloop delays.
You can also create collision-based Custom paths that are triggered by their proximity to collision triggers, or sequenced Custom paths where you control the timing, and behavior along a timeline using the Sequence tool. For more information about Custom paths, see Custom Paths.
For more information about the Sequence tool and sequences, see the Sequences documentation.
Splines
Like the Spacing and Area Tools, the Animated path tools are spline-based. Using the Pen tool, you draw open-ended or closed splines that represent the paths.
Spines are comprised of the following elements:
1-Spline points: Determines where the segments of a spline starts and ends. When you click in the scene with the Pen tool, a spline point is created.
2-Plus signs: Click on the Plus sign to create a new spline point.
3-Segments: Splines can be composed of only one segment, or several segments. Spline segments are separated by spline points.
Drawing Splines
The following table contains instructions on how to draw and edit splines with the Pen tool.
| To... | Do... |
|---|---|
Draw a spline. | Click the Pen tool, click in the scene to create the first spline point, drag the mouse to draw the segment, then click again to create another spline point. Continue to click in the scene and drag the mouse to create other spline points and path segments. |
Edit the shape of a spline. | With the Translate tool, click on a spline point and drag in the viewport to move it, or select the gizmo on the spline point and move it up or down. |
Add a spline point. | Click one of the Plus signs on the spline. |
Create an endpoint for a spline. |
|
Add a segment to an open-ended spline. | Select the spline, click the Pen tool, then click in the scene and drag. |
Delete a spline point on an open-ended spline. | Select the spline point and press Delete on the keyboard. |