I want to make "Swinging" light bulb, cable actor?

Development World Creation
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Hey guys, I am wanting to make a lightbulb that swings back and forth…it seemed like cable actor would have worked for this, but it does not hold up and objects, they just fall to the floor. So not sure how…maybe a skeletal mesh than setup contrast and simulate phsyics? if any one has any suggestions that would be fantasic…

Aaron Tofani-Antisocial Games

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Hi Shepherd47,

Is this going to be out of the reach of the player or do you want it to be interact-able? I’m assuming the second option if you want a physics object.

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Intractable would be great…but if not, ether would be be acceptable…main reason is sort of a haunting vibe…and getting those sweet shadows from the light bouncing around.

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Hi Shepherd47,

Here is one way to do this.

  • Create a rope/cable Skeletal Mesh with a few bones inside.
  • When you create the physics asset you can set one of the bones (joints) to Kinematic so it will stay in place when simulating.

14108-ahub_swinginglight01.jpg
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  • Then create an actor blueprint off of the Skeletal Mesh.
  • Inside of the bp, add in whatever static meshes you need to and make sure you attach the shade or light bulb mesh to the bottom joint as a parent socket.
  • The cable will need to have Simulate Physics enabled.

14109-ahub_swinginglight02.jpg
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Here is the .fbx for the cable asset if you would like something to test with. link text

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The light in action.

14111-ahub_swinginglight03.jpg

I hope this gets you on the right track. If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks, TJ

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That is awesome…thanks a lot…definitely puts me on the right track, I appreciate it…

Aaron Tofani - Antisocial Games

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How did you connect the base cylinder to the top of the cable? Since the cable is not its parent.

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The Base is a child of the [ROOT]Scene component with Simulate Physics Disabled and then I just placed it where I wanted in the viewport.

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But then my cable and light just fall to the ground.

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If you are using a Physics Asset make sure to look at step #2 in my original post. You will need to set the top most bone to Kinematic. This will keep the top of the cable in place and allow the rest to swing correctly.

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I did make the top one kinematic, but when I hit simulate the mesh would just spaz out, and it would be static ingame. I tried to set the bottom one to kismatic instead, then simulation works, but upside down. So I rotated it in BP, which seems to work. But, since the cone is not physics enabled it wont react on collision. Tho, as soon as I touch the rope, it follows along nicely. Any advice?

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There are some limitations by creating it this way and this is definitely one.

Your other options are to either recreate it without the skeletal mesh and just use Static Meshes and Physics Constraints.

Or (to get the best results) create the entire model with 3D modeling software, rig it, and once you import the Skeletal Mesh create a Physics Assets for it.

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