Won't fix Unsolicited random small movements on parented atoms

[ZRSX]

Ok, I know this won't be fixed, but I still want to log this.

I've noticed that when playing with VAM shapes, they sometimes can get off their assigned position.
It pretty random, really. And it's only little by little (we're talking of a range of 0.001) but it accumulates. Leading to a complete mess after a while when you're making props with them.
It's been mind-boggling when trying to make precise positioning.

I still don't know exactly what's causing this. After experiencing it a number of times, here are my observations:

• It happens to atoms that are "grand-child" of another atom. So, parented to at least 2 others (using "Parent atom", not "Parent link").
  I mean, it can happen to Atom A if it is parented to parent B, which in turn is parented to Atom C.
  It may seem unlikely at first, but it happens quickly if you're making a subscene as it's already 1 parent! And if you're using animation patterns as well. Subscene + Animation pattern is the deadly combination... and I used quite a lot of those ><
• It is not systematic at all. Most of grand-child atoms won't be affected at all. Even in an exact same situation, it's not consistent.
• It can not happen for a while, and then go wild for no particular reason. I selected an atom subject to this, and I could see the position moving by itself on the "Move" tab...
• Interestingly, such unwanted movement of an atom doesn't affect its child. Which accentuate the issue, because when you move it back, the child in an incorrect position moves as well (keeping an undesired position).

How to reproduce:
As I said I cannot guarantee that it will happen for all atoms meeting the criteria explained above.
But it happens to the BDSM device subscene. Just load one of them and leave VAM open. Then come back after a while and look at it.


Example:

Some atoms are not affected at all. With the exact same delay, some other atoms in the scene have moved, but not as much:

You can see that when I reload the subscene, it comes back to its original position.

Happens to a simple crate (having grand-parents atoms just because I built it using duplicated subscenes).

The crate is based on 4 times the same group of atoms, but only one atom is affected...


How to fix:
It's quite hard as it's random.
But un-parenting, repositioning properly all affected atoms and then re-parenting sometimes works. It may continue after, or it may be completely fixed. Don't know why.


Workaround:
Based on this, I found a workaround: use "Parent link". To use in combination with the "Parent atom" to the Subscene atom, if you want to include it into a subscene.

But it has some limitations compared to the "Parent atom" parenting. If you lock an axis on the "Move" tab, it won't follow properly.
That's why I still used "Parent atom" for the door lock in this environment.

 

[TToby]

I want to second this. Sometimes stuff and links are "wandering around" with time, as I call this.
In addition to this, I want to take the chance and would like to add an other nasty issue: Persons with added "person-animations" (that new build-in stuff), are wandering around, too, or turning, despite having those relevant slider at "zero". Do I have missed something obvious, again?

 

[Voithe]

And i want to third this! This is exactly what i was trying to explain in my topic.

If the problem only occurs when more than two Atoms are concatenated ... in my case, maybe I can solve unparenting the UI container Atom from the SubScene Atom.

@ZRSX I like your props made this way and i tried to do these things too, but i gave up when i saw this happen.

 

[ZRSX]

@ZRSX I like your props made this way and i tried to do these things too, but i gave up when i saw this happen.

Thanks! Yeah, it is a real annoying point - I share the feeling!

 

[SlimerJSpud]

Sorry for the thread necro, but I may have found a partial solution to this problem. Select each of the atoms that wander and dial the Drag up to 10. I took the BDSM Spreader and used it to fix this. It works most of the time.

I tried a more drastic fix, but it's not working yet. I deleted all the APs. I set up the dub.force plugin as the adjusters. I got all the adjusters working, but when the parts that are supposed to collide with the person atom (shackles) actually do collide, the shackles and adjusters launch themselves into orbit.

 

[Voithe]

Sorry for the thread necro, but I may have found a partial solution to this problem. Select each of the atoms that wander and dial the Drag up to 10. I took the BDSM Spreader and used it to fix this. It works most of the time.

I tried a more drastic fix, but it's not working yet. I deleted all the APs. I set up the dub.force plugin as the adjusters. I got all the adjusters working, but when the parts that are supposed to collide with the person atom (shackles) actually do collide, the shackles and adjusters launch themselves into orbit.

Well, i should try this.

Btw, I want to confirm that the workaround suggested by ZRSX seems to work:

Workaround:
Based on this, I found a workaround: use "Parent link". To use in combination with the "Parent atom" to the Subscene atom, if you want to include it into a subscene.

Just use the Parent Atom only to link atoms to Subscenes...

 

[SlimerJSpud]

The dub.force plugin approach seems to be a dead end. Parts go ballistic, or just oscillate in place like mad, even after disabling physics. I really think this is a Vam bug. Even with Drag cranked up, the original AP version still drifts. I think it was a bad idea to have the girl parented to the subscene, because reloading the subscene is the only way to correct the drift. That means you lose the appearance and clothing of whoever you put in that fiendish device. Also, the AP resets to 0 whenever you save the scene. If you touch the slider, the adjusters pop back to where they were, though, so it is usable.

 

[ZRSX]

I think it was a bad idea to have the girl parented to the subscene, because reloading the subscene is the only way to correct the drift. That means you lose the appearance and clothing of whoever you put in that fiendish device. Also, the AP resets to 0 whenever you save the scene. If you touch the slider, the adjusters pop back to where they were, though, so it is usable.

Yep, those devices were made before discovering this bug. I'd have to redo them with "Parent atom" (and Timeline for the saving issue), but I have no time for this at the moment... Maybe one day!

 

[SlimerJSpud]

I took another crack at the BDSM Spreader using the Linear Animation logic brick from @MacGruber. No luck. Even with all the correct parenting, pieces jump out of place when two or three sliders are moved. I think this is a serious bug @meshedvr should look at.

 

[SlimerJSpud]

I made an update to the spreader and put it in a scene. All the adjustments are manual, but they're labeled. No more wandering!

Scenes - BDSM sex scene

N.B. there is no version 1, it needed a fix before publishing. This is a 'hands-free' sex scene. The action is similar to the couch sex scene posted earlier. This scene includes a fix to the BDSM Spreader by @ZRSX which has issues. We discussed...

hub.virtamate.com