The only way I can see how to do this is to make each frame individually
in Illustrator and just make an image sequence from them, hence I need
something that will let me do it properly in Illustrator




Just as you can use Blends and Release To Layers to create frame-by-frame animations for 2D objects:

AIOrbitShapes <http://www.illustrationetc.com/AIbuds/AIOrbitShapes/AIOrbitShapes.html>

HideSpin <http://www.illustrationetc.com/AIbuds/HideSpin/Spin.html>

....you can also Blend (and release to layers) between instances of objects to which 3D Effect has been applied:

LeapfrogDoughnuts <http://www.illustrationetc.com/AIbuds/LeapFrogDoughnuts/LeapFrogDoughnuts.html>

SpinKnight <http://www.illustrationetc.com/AIbuds/SpinKnight/SpinKnight.html>

(Not that I would acutally recommend building the 2D transforms as frame-by-frames--I would do it in ActionScript; those were done just to demonstrate orbit spacing in early conversations.)

JET