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Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 - 3DS MAX 9 COM LEGACY SLM, Help File, Page: 350 / 2577

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Autodesk 12812-051462-9011 - 3DS MAX 9 COM LEGACY SLM Help File Download Page 350

Procedures

To create a blizzard particle system:

1

 On the Create panel, make sure the Geometry button is

active and Particle Systems is chosen in the object category list, then click
Blizzard.

2

Drag in a viewport to create the Blizzard emitter; see 

Creating a Particle

Emitter

 on page 3006.

The icon appears as a plane with a perpendicular line pointing in the
direction of emission.

3

Adjust the various parameters on the command panel.

Interface

This section describes the Display Icon group in the Basic Parameters rollout,
the Particle Motion group in the Particle Generation rollout, and the Material
Mapping and Source group in the Particle Type rollout. These are the only
controls unique to Blizzard. The other Blizzard rollouts and their contents are
identical with those in Particle Array, except that Object Fragments and
associated settings are not available on the Particle Type rollout. See 

PArray

on page 3042 for details or choose from the following list for rollout information.

Particle Generation Rollout

 on page 3049

Particle Type Rollout

 on page 3053

Rotation and Collision Rollout

 on page 3063

Object Motion Inheritance Rollout

 on page 3066

Particle Spawn Rollout

 on page 3069

Load/Save Presets Rollout

 on page 3075

Non-Event-Driven Particle Systems | 3031

Summary of Contents for 12812-051462-9011 - 3DS MAX 9 COM LEGACY SLM

Page 1: ...Help Volume 2 Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 ...

Page 2: ...al source or if binaries compiled from the original source Such altered versions also must not be misrepresented as being Info ZIP releases including but not limited to labeling of the altered versions with the names Info ZIP or any variation thereof including but not limited to different capitalizations Pocket UnZip WiZ or MacZip without the explicit permission of Info ZIP Such altered versions a...

Page 3: ...e Content Explorer Create what s Next design logo Dancing Baby image DesignCenter Design Doctor Designer s Toolkit DesignKids DesignProf DesignServer DesignStudio Design Studio design logo Design Your World Design Your World design logo DWF DWG DWG logo DWG TrueConvert DWG TrueView DXF EditDV Education by Design Exposure Extending the Design Team FBX Filmbox FMDesktop Freewheel GDX Driver Gmax Hea...

Page 4: ...ven Particle Systems on page 3002 Space Warp Objects Create panel Space Warps Space warps are nonrenderable objects that affect the appearance of other objects Space warps create force fields that deform other objects creating the effect of ripples waves blowing wind and so on Space warps behave somewhat like modifiers except that space warps influence world space rather than object space as geome...

Page 5: ... equally However each object s distance from the space warp or spatial orientation to the warp can change the warp s effect Because of this spatial effect simply moving an object through warped space can change the warp s effect You can also use multiple space warps on one or more objects Multiple space warps appear in an object s stack in the order you apply them NOTE You can take advantage of th...

Page 6: ...space warp Click Bind To Space Warp on the main toolbar available from the Select And Link flyout and then drag between the space warp and the object The space warp has no visible effect on your scene until you bind an object system or selection set to it 3 Adjust the space warp s parameters 4 Transform the space warp with Move Rotate or Scale The transforms often directly affect the bound object ...

Page 7: ... leakage by changing the particle system s Subframe Sampling setting or the particle speed Other times you must reposition the deflector farther away from the emitter In addition particles imbued with bubble motion on page 3067 can leak through deflectors particularly when set to high amplitudes To avoid this use alternative methods of implementing bubble like motion such as varying speed see Part...

Page 8: ... These space warps are used to deflect particles or to affect dynamics systems All of them can be used with particles and with dynamics The Supports Objects of Type rollout indicates which systems each space warp supports PDynaFlect Space Warp on page 2738 POmniFlect Space Warp on page 2732 SDynaFlect Space Warp on page 2745 SOmniFlect Space Warp on page 2743 UDynaFlect Space Warp on page 2748 UOm...

Page 9: ...hese are space warp versions of object modifiers see Modify Panel on page 7633 Read more about these in Modifier Based Space Warps on page 2793 Bend Modifier on page 1208 Noise Modifier on page 1573 Skew Modifier on page 1668 Taper Modifier on page 1811 Twist Modifier on page 1837 Stretch Modifier on page 1752 Procedures To create a space warp 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps The Space Warp...

Page 10: ...to Space Warp button to attach the current selection to a space warp on page 8132 or vice versa Procedures To bind the current selection to a space warp 1 Select an object 2 Click Bind to Space Warp 3 Drag a line from the selected object to the space warp object You can also press H to select the space warp by name The space warp object flashes for a moment to show that the bind was successful For...

Page 11: ...tive direction A positive force moves in the direction of the pad on the hydraulic jack The breadth of the force is infinite perpendicular to the direction you can limit it using the Range option Dynamics Provides a point force also called a point load away from the pad of the hydraulic jack icon A negative force pulls in the opposite direction In dynamics applying a force is the same as pushing s...

Page 12: ...eate a Push space warp 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Forces from the list and then on the Object Type rollout click Push 2 Drag in a viewport to define the size The Push warp appears as a hydraulic jack icon Forces 2693 ...

Page 13: ...Interface 2694 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 14: ...emains constant regardless of the speed of the affected particles Reversible When on if the particle s speed exceeds the Target Speed setting the force is reversed Available only if you turn on Feedback On Target Speed Specifies the maximum speed in units per frame before the Feedback takes effect Available only if you turn on Feedback On Gain Specifies how quickly the force adjusts to approaching...

Page 15: ...ge group Lets you restrict the Push effect s range to a specific volume This affects particle systems only it has no effect on dynamics Enable When on limits the range of the effect to a sphere displayed as a tri hooped sphere The effect falls off increasingly as the particles near the boundary of the sphere Range Specifies the radius of the range of the effect in units Display Icon group Icon Siz...

Page 16: ...ue to the affected particles or objects rather than a directional force Both the position and orientation of the Motor icon affect particles which swirl around the Motor icon When used in dynamics the position of the icon relative to the affected object has no effect but the orientation of the icon does Forces 2697 ...

Page 17: ...te panel click Space Warps Forces Motor Choose Forces from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Motor 2 Click and drag in a viewport to define the size The Motor warp appears as a box shaped icon with an arrow indicating the direction of the torque 2698 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 18: ...for Newton meters Lb ft stands for pound force feet and Lb in stands for pound force inches Feedback On When on the force varies depending on the speed of the affected objects relative to the specified Target Speed When off the force remains constant regardless of the speed of the affected objects Reversible When on if the object s speed exceeds the Target Speed setting the force is reversed Avail...

Page 19: ...r and looser response occurs Available only if you turn on Feedback On NOTE Setting Gain above 100 can result in over correction but is sometimes necessary to overcome damping from other system settings such as IK damping PeriodicVariation group These settings introduce variations into the force by affecting the Basic Torque value randomly You can set two waveforms to produce a noise effect Enable...

Page 20: ...hen on limits the range of the effect to a sphere displayed as a tri hooped sphere The effect falls off increasingly as the particles near the boundary of the sphere Range Specifies the radius of the range of the effect in units Display Icon group Icon Size Sets the size of the Motor icon This is for display purposes only and does not alter the Motor effect Vortex Space Warp Create panel Space War...

Page 21: ...which world axis you want the vortex to spiral around and then drag in the appropriate viewport to create the space warp For example if you want the vortex to spin around the vertical world axis create the space warp in the Top viewport You can rotate the warp later to change the vortex direction and animate the warp orientation 2702 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 22: ...e direction of the well This second axis is called the drop axis NOTE The position of the space warp plays an important role in the results The vertical position affects the shape of the vortex and the horizontal position determines its location If you want the particles to spiral around the particle emitter place both at the same location Forces 2703 ...

Page 23: ...Interface Timing group Time On Time Off The frame numbers at which the space warp becomes active and becomes inactive 2704 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 24: ...ge is turned off Falloff Specifies the distance beyond the Axial Range within which Axial Damping is applied Axial Damping is strongest at the Range distance decreases linearly out to the limit of the Axial Falloff and has no effect beyond that Takes effect only when Unlimited Range is turned off Damping Controls the degree to which particle motion parallel to the drop axis is restrained per frame...

Page 25: ...s the degree to which Radial Pull is restrained per frame Default 5 0 Range 0 to 100 CW CCW Determines whether particles rotate clockwise or counterclockwise Display group Icon Size Specifies the size of the icon Drag Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Forces Object Type rollout Drag Create menu Space Warps Forces Drag The Drag space warp is a particle motion damper that reduces particle velocity...

Page 26: ...es from the list and then click Drag 2 Drag in a viewport to create the space warp The space warp appears initially as a box within a box indicating that it s using the default Linear Damping mode 3 To apply the damping spherically or cylindrically choose Spherical Damping or Cylindrical Damping in the command panel Forces 2707 ...

Page 27: ...e position and orientation of the space warp plays an important role for all three damping types 4 Change the settings for the current damping type as necessary 2708 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 28: ...Interface Forces 2709 ...

Page 29: ...fied axis Takes effect only when Unlimited Range is turned off Falloff Specifies the distance beyond the X Y or Z Range within which Linear Damping is applied Damping is strongest at the Range distance decreases linearly out to the limit of the Falloff and has no effect beyond that While Falloff takes effect only beyond the Range it is measured from the center of the icon and always has a minimum ...

Page 30: ...the axial vector Radial Tangential Axial Damping controls the percentage of particle motion toward or away from the center of the circular portion of the icon Radial across the radial vector Tangential or along the length of the icon s long axis Axial that s affected by the damping on a per frame basis Range Specifies the distance from the center of the Drag icon in system units within which Radia...

Page 31: ...also applies an impulse as a dynamics effect The general usage is as follows Create a particle system recommended a PArray system on page 3042 set to Object Fragments Create a PBomb and use Bind to Space Warp on page 2691 to bind it to a non event driven particle system Be sure to bind the PBomb to the particle system and not to the distribution object Or if using Particle Flow use a Force operato...

Page 32: ...ow an object into fragments The following steps demonstrate the basic setup Begin by binding a particle array to an object and setting parameters 1 Create the object you want to blow up 2 Create a PArray and use Pick Object to assign the object to blow up as the PArray object based emitter 3 In the Basic Parameters rollout Viewport Display group choose Mesh to display the fragments as mesh objects...

Page 33: ... Warp to bind the PArray icon to the PBomb icon Don t bind the distribution object by mistake 3 Select the PBomb icon and move to the Modify panel 4 In the Explosion Parameters group set Blast Symmetry to Spherical Start Time to 10 Duration to 1 and Strength to 1 0 Choose Linear if it s not already chosen 5 Drag the time slider between frames 9 and 20 to see the effect 6 Go to frame 12 and try out...

Page 34: ...and normal to the central axis or core of the cylindrical icon The icon looks like a stick of dynamite with a fuse Planar The blast force radiates both up and down perpendicular to the plane of the planar icon The icon looks like a plane with arrows pointing up and down along the direction of the blast force Chaos The blast forces vary for each particle or each frame an effect similar to Brownian ...

Page 35: ...es decay linearly between the full Strength setting to a value of 0 at the specified Range setting Exponential The impulse forces decay exponentially between the full Strength setting to a value of 0 at the specified Range setting Range The maximum distance in units over which the PBomb icon affects the bound particle system If the Range is large enough to reach only a portion of the particle syst...

Page 36: ... Warps Choose Forces from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Path Follow 2 Click and drag in a viewport to define the size The Path Follow warp appears as a box shaped icon containing curved lines that indicate hypothetical paths To set up and use Path Follow 1 Create a shape consisting of a single spline You can use shapes with multiple splines but the software uses only one spline fo...

Page 37: ...6 Adjust the Path Follow parameters to create the particle movement you want NOTE You can further animate the particle effect by animating the spline vertices TIP To adjust the position of the path or particle system while maintaining access to the Path Follow parameters turn on Modifier Stack rollout Pin Stack while the Path Follow space warp is selected If the particles don t follow the emitter ...

Page 38: ...Interface Forces 2719 ...

Page 39: ... These controls affect how long particles are influenced by Path Follow Start Frame The frame at which Path Follow begins to influence the particles Travel Time The time each particle takes to traverse the path Variation The amount by which each particle s travel time can vary Last Frame The frame at which Path Follow releases the particles and no longer influences them Particle Motion group The c...

Page 40: ...onverge and others to diverge Stream Swirl Specifies the number of turns by which particles spiral about the path In conjunction with Stream Taper alters the diameter of the spiral Stream Swirl is generally more effective when you choose Along Offset Splines Variation The amount by which each particle can vary from the Spiral value Clockwise Particles spiral in a clockwise direction Counterclockwi...

Page 41: ...y arrow accelerate Particles moving against the arrow decelerate In the case of spherical gravity motion is toward the icon Gravity can also be used as an effect in dynamics simulations See Dynamics Utility on page 3852 Gravity effect on snow Procedures To create gravity 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Forces from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Gravity 2 Drag in a vi...

Page 42: ...vity that is how objects move in relation to the Gravity icon s direction arrow Strength less than 0 0 creates negative gravity which repels particles moving in the same direction and attracts particles moving in the opposite direction When Strength is set to 0 0 the Gravity space warp has no effect Decay When Decay is set to 0 0 the Gravity space warp has the same strength throughout world space ...

Page 43: ...imum value For the Planar option the indicators are two planes for use the Spherical option the indicator is a double hooped sphere Icon Size Size of the Gravity warp object icon in active units You set the initial size when you drag to create the Gravity object This value does not change the gravity effect Wind Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Forces Object Type rollout Wind Create menu Space ...

Page 44: ... can also be used as an effect in dynamics simulations See Dynamics Utility on page 3852 Wind effect on snow and spray Procedures To create wind 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Forces from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Wind 2 Drag in a viewport The wind icon appears For planar wind the default the icon is a wireframe square with a direction arrow coming out of one s...

Page 45: ...oving in the opposite direction When Strength is 0 0 the Wind warp has no effect Decay When Decay is set to 0 0 the Wind warp has the same strength throughout world space Increasing the Decay value causes wind strength to diminish as distance increases from the position of the Wind warp object Default 0 0 Planar Wind effect is perpendicular to the plane of the Wind warp object throughout the scene...

Page 46: ...ther and more regular As Scale increases turbulence grows more irregular and wild Display group Range Indicators When the Decay value is greater than zero icons appear in the viewports that represent the range at which the force of wind is half the maximum value When you use the Planar option the indicators are two planes when you use the Spherical option the indicator is a double hooped sphere Ic...

Page 47: ...irectly by setting displacement Strength and Decay values The Displace space warp works similarly to the Displace modifier except that like all space warps it affects world space rather than object space Use the Displace modifier when you need to create detailed displacement of a small number of objects Use the Displace space warp to displace particle systems a large number of geometric objects at...

Page 48: ...rame Its shape depends on the active mapping parameter settings Regardless of the mapping a single drag creates the space warp 3 Bind the space warp to an appropriate object To assign a bitmap to a displace space warp 1 Select the Displace warp object 2 In the Parameters rollout Displacement group click the Bitmap button labeled None by default Use the selection dialog to choose a bitmap 3 Set the...

Page 49: ...Interface Displacement group These are the basic controls for Displace space warps 2730 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 50: ...lt 0 5 Range 0 to 1 0 Image group These options let you choose a bitmap and map to use for displacement Bitmap Labeled None by default Click to assign a bitmap or map from a selection dialog After you choose a bitmap or map this button displays the bitmap s name Remove Bitmap Click to remove the bitmap or map assignment Blur Increase this value to blur or soften the effect of the bitmapped displac...

Page 51: ...the bitmap in addition to copies of the whole map For example a value of 2 5 maps the bitmap two and one half times Flip Reverses the orientation of the map along the corresponding U V or W axis Deflectors POmniFlect Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout POmniFlect POmniFlect is a planar version of the omniflector type of space warp It provides enhanced functionality o...

Page 52: ...NOTE Because particles bounce off the icon the size of the icon affects particle deflection 3 Apply the deflector to the particle system using the appropriate method If using Particle Flow on page 2795 specify the deflector in the Collision test on page 2960 or Collision Spawn test on page 2964 parameters If using a non event driven particle system on page 3002 bind on page 2691 the particle syste...

Page 53: ...4 Position the POmniFlect icon to interrupt the particle stream 5 Adjust the POmniFlect parameters as necessary 2734 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 54: ...Interface Deflectors 2735 ...

Page 55: ...ample a Variation of 50 applied to a Bounce setting of 1 0 would result in randomly applied Bounce values ranging from 0 5 to 1 5 Chaos Applies a random variation to the bounce angle When set to 0 0 no chaos all particles bounce off the POmniFlect surface perfectly like banking pool balls A non zero setting causes the deflected particles to scatter Refraction group These settings are similar to th...

Page 56: ...ve Distortion settings cause a scattering of particles while negative values have no effect Variation Specifies a range of variation of the Distortion effect Diffusion Applies a diffusion effect to the refraction by randomly modifying each particle s Distortion angle by the Diffusion angle This effectively scatters the particles into a hollow cone Variation Specifies a range of variation of the Di...

Page 57: ... the POmniFlect Variation Specifies the variation of the Pass Velocity setting applied to the range of particles Display Icon group Width Height Specify the width and height of the POmniFlect icon This is for display purposes only and does not influence the deflector effect PDynaFlect Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout PDynaFlect PDynaFlect planar dynamics deflector...

Page 58: ...stem 1 Create or load a scene containing a non event driven particle system on page 3002 and an object to be affected by the particles hereafter called the object Position and orient the two as desired so that the particles strike the object The icon for the particle system must be visible in at least one non disabled viewport On the Basic Parameters rollout of the particle system set Percentage o...

Page 59: ...t go to the Modify panel Parameters rollout click the Pick Object button and then select the object The position of the space warp icon doesn t matter and it s not necessary to link the two 4 Bind the particle system to the dynaflector using the toolbar Bind to Space Warp button on page 2691 5 Go to the Utilities panel and open the Dynamics utility 6 On the Dynamics rollout click New to create a n...

Page 60: ...Interface Timing group The two spinners specify the start frame and end frame of the deflection effect Deflectors 2741 ...

Page 61: ...ng of 50 applied to a Bounce setting of 1 0 would result in randomly applied Bounce values ranging from 0 5 to 1 5 Chaos Applies a random variation to the bounce angle When you set Chaos to 0 0 no chaos all particles bounce off the PDynaFlect surface perfectly like banking pool balls A non zero setting causes the deflected particles to scatter Friction The amount by which particles are slowed as t...

Page 62: ...ravity factor Display Icon group Width Height Specify the width and height of the PDynaFlect icon This is for display purposes only and does not influence the deflector effect SOmniFlect Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout SOmniFlect SOmniFlect is the spherical version of the omniflector type of space warp It provides more options than the original SDeflector Most se...

Page 63: ...pass through the inside surface the same positive Distortion value warps them toward the parallel SOmniFlect viewport icon Procedures To create an SOmniFlect space warp 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Deflectors from the list then on the Object Type rollout click SOmniFlect 2 Drag in a viewport to create the spherical icon NOTE Because particles bounce off the icon the size of the i...

Page 64: ...ge 2691 the particle system to the deflector icon 4 Position the SOmniFlect icon to interrupt the particle stream 5 Adjust the SOmniFlect parameters as necessary SDynaFlect Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout SDynaFlect The SDynaFlect space warp is a spherical dynamics deflector It s like the PDynaFlect on page 2738 warp except that it s spherical and its Display Ico...

Page 65: ... deflector The deflections are face accurate so the geometry can be static animated or even morphing or otherwise deforming over time NOTE Some particle leakage can occur with this deflector particularly when you use many particles and a complex deflector object To avoid this perform a test render to check for leaking particles and then add POmniFlects to catch the strays UOmniFlect viewport icon ...

Page 66: ...t to place the space warp icon NOTE The size and position of the UOmniFlect icon do not alter the effect 8 Apply the deflector to the particle system using the appropriate method If using Particle Flow on page 2795 specify the deflector in the Collision test on page 2960 or Collision Spawn test on page 2964 parameters If using a non event driven particle system on page 3002 bind on page 2691 the p...

Page 67: ...lay Icon group Icon Size Specifies the size of one side of the square UOmniFlect icon UDynaFlect Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout UDynaFlect The UDynaFlect space warp is a universal dynamics deflector that lets you use the surface of any object as both the particles deflector and the surface that reacts dynamically to the particle impact The procedures and options...

Page 68: ...UDynaFlect viewport icon NOTE When you use UDynaFlect you must indicate the object to be affected with the Pick Object button Linking is not necessary Deflectors 2749 ...

Page 69: ...Interface 2750 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 70: ... object to use as a deflector Display Icon group Icon Size Specifies the size of the UDynaFlect icon SDeflector Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Deflectors Object Type rollout SDeflector Create menu Space Warps Deflectors SDeflector The SDeflector space warp serves as a spherical deflector of particles SDeflector viewport icon with particle system on the left Deflectors 2751 ...

Page 71: ...al icon the size of the icon affects particle deflection 3 Apply the deflector to the particle system using the appropriate method If using Particle Flow on page 2795 specify the deflector in the Collision test on page 2960 or Collision Spawn test on page 2964 parameters If using a non event driven particle system on page 3002 bind on page 2691 the particle system to the deflector icon 4 Position ...

Page 72: ... amount by which each particle can vary from the Bounce setting Chaos The amount of variation from the perfect angle of reflection found when Chaos is set to 0 0 100 induces a variation in reflection angle of up to 90 degrees Friction The amount by which particles are slowed as they move along the deflector surface A value of 0 means they re not slowed at all A value of 50 means they re slowed to ...

Page 73: ... animate the SDeflector passing through a passive array of particles turn up this value to affect the particles Display Icon group This option affects the display of the icon Diameter Specifies the diameter of the SDeflector icon This setting also alters the effect of the deflection because particles bounce off the perimeter of the icon The scale of the icon also affects the particles UDeflector S...

Page 74: ...r Procedures To create a UDeflector 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Deflectors from the list then on the Object Type rollout click UDeflector 2 In a viewport drag out a rectangle to add a UDeflector warp to the scene 3 On the command panel click the Pick Object button and select an object to be a particle deflector Deflectors 2755 ...

Page 75: ...test on page 2964 parameters If using a non event driven particle system on page 3002 bind on page 2691 the particle system to the deflector icon 5 Position the UDeflector icon to interrupt the particle stream 6 Adjust the UDeflector parameters as necessary Interface Object Based Deflector group Specifies the object to use as a deflector 2756 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 76: ...e not slowed at all A value of 50 means they re slowed to half their original speed A value of 100 means they stop moving when they strike the surface Default 0 Range 0 to 100 TIP To have particles slide along a deflector surface set Bounce to 0 Also unless influenced by a force such as Wind or Gravity particles meant to slide should strike the surface at an angle other than 90 degrees Inherit Vel...

Page 77: ...can combine a Deflector space warp with a Gravity space warp to produce waterfall and fountain effects See also SDeflector Space Warp on page 2751 UDeflector Space Warp on page 2754 Procedures To create a deflector 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Deflectors from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Deflector 2 Drag in a viewport to define the deflection area 2758 Chapter 1...

Page 78: ... controlled mainly by its size and orientation in the scene relative to the particle system that is bound to it You can also adjust how strongly the deflector deflects particles Bounce Controls the speed at which particles bounce off the deflector At a setting of 1 0 particles bounce off the deflector at the same speed they struck it At 0 0 particles do not bounce at all At values between 0 0 and ...

Page 79: ...s greater than 0 the motion of the deflector affects particles as well as the other settings For example if you want an animated SDeflector passing through an array of particles to affect the particles turn up this value Width Sets the deflector s width Length Sets the deflector s length Geometric Deformable FFD Box Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Geometric Deformable Object Type rollout FFD B...

Page 80: ...ier is fitted to the geometry it s assigned to in the stack This might be a whole object or a sub object selection of faces or vertices Because FFD space warps are separate objects they carry their own adjustable dimension parameters among the creation parameters You can apply object modifiers to space warp objects For example you can use the Linked XForm modifier with a space warp FFD Geometric D...

Page 81: ...Object and object surrounded by an FFD lattice 2762 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 82: ... create the base Release the mouse button and then move the mouse to define the height of the FFD lattice Click to finish the lattice 3 Bind the lattice to the object you want to deform 4 Determine the relative placement of the lattice to the object If the lattice is to be outside of the object turn on All Vertices To affect only those vertices inside the lattice choose Only In Volume and position...

Page 83: ...f the FFD If you re using the Deform group All Vertices option once you ve distorted the object you can set the Falloff value to adjust how much the lattice affects the object based on distance This is particularly useful if the lattice is animated to approach or move away from the target object When Falloff is set to 0 all the vertices are affected regardless of distance NOTE When you re at the b...

Page 84: ...Interface Geometric Deformable 2765 ...

Page 85: ... to make the change NOTE Make changes to the dimensions before you adjust the positions of the lattice control points When you change the number of control points with this dialog any adjustments you ve already made to the control points are lost however you can undo this use of the dialog Display group These options affect the display of the FFD in the viewports Lattice When turned on lines are d...

Page 86: ...u can t see the splines in an FFD the lattice and control points represent the structure that controls the splines As you adjust the control points you alter the splines which move through each point The splines in turn deform the geometry of the object By altering the tension and continuity of the splines you alter their effect on the object Selection group These options provide additional method...

Page 87: ...ing the mouse in the viewport The result is a lattice of control points The source lattice of an FFD modifier is fitted to the geometry it s assigned to in the stack This might be a whole object or a sub object selection of faces or vertices Because FFD space warps are separate objects they carry their own adjustable dimension parameters among the creation parameters You can apply object modifiers...

Page 88: ...100 units to the left of the table edge as seen from the Top view 4 Apply a nice wood grain to the table and a checker to the tablecloth Set the checker tiling to about 15x15 and choose any color for the checkers Now set up a cylindrical FFD space warp that will form the drape of the tablecloth over the table 1 From the Create panel Space Warps Geometric Deformable choose FFD Cyl 2 In the Top view...

Page 89: ...ool on page 959 and region select the two visible control points of the two outer rings of control points at the nine o clock position This is easier shown than described You can actually region select any number of vertices in the two outer concentric rings of vertices Because All X is on all control points for the two rings will be selected 5 On the status bar click the Selection Lock Toggle but...

Page 90: ...e outer ring of points and scale them so their radius is slightly larger than the inner ring If necessary move the points as seen from the Front viewport down to touch the floor again You now have a lattice of control points draped over the table In this next series of steps you ll bind the tablecloth to the FFD lattice and then animate it to move over the table 1 In the stack display click the FF...

Page 91: ...blecloth returns to its square shape 6 Turn on Auto Key and go to frame 100 7 In the Top viewport select the tablecloth and move it until it s centered over the table 8 As the tablecloth nears the table it droops down to the floor sweeps up and over the table and finally drapes itself over the table 9 As you move the time slider back and forth and examine the animation you might find that the bott...

Page 92: ...ust the position of the other control points to create drapes and so on 10 On the Display command panel Hide by Category rollout turn on Space Warps to hide the FFD space warp 11 Set up appropriate lights and a camera and play your animation Geometric Deformable 2773 ...

Page 93: ...Interface 2774 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 94: ...lick OK to make the change Side The number of control points around the perimeter of the lattice Radial The number of control points radially from the center to the outer perimeter of the lattice Height The number of control points along the height of the lattice NOTE Make changes to the dimensions before you adjust the positions of the lattice control points When you change the number of control ...

Page 95: ... the size of the lattice A falloff of 1 means that the effect will go to 0 for points that are a lattice width length height away from the lattice depending on which side they are on Tension Continuity Lets you adjust the tension and continuity of the deformation splines Although you can t see the splines in an FFD the lattice and control points represent the structure that controls the splines As...

Page 96: ...eformable Wave The Wave space warp creates a linear wave through world space It affects geometry and behaves the same as the Wave modifier on page 2000 Use the Wave space warp when you want the wave to affect a large number of objects or to affect an object relative to its position in world space Geometric Deformable 2777 ...

Page 97: ...ble from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Wave 2 Drag in a viewport to define the initial size of the wave object icon The icon is displayed as a flat mesh wireframe 3 Release the mouse button to set the icon size then move the mouse to define the initial amplitude of the wave 4 Click to set the wave amplitude 2778 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 98: ...is Amplitude 2 Sets wave amplitude along the wave warp object s local Y axis Amplitude is expressed in units The wave is a sine wave along its Y axis and parabolic along its X axis Another way to think of the difference between the amplitudes is that Amplitude 1 is at the center of the wave gizmo and Amplitude 2 is at the edge of the gizmo Wave Length Sets the length of each wave along the wave s ...

Page 99: ...f the Wave warp gizmo In some cases such as when the two Amplitude values differ they change the effect of the wave Sides Sets the number of side segments along the wave object s local X dimension Segments Sets the number of segments along the wave object s local Y dimension Divisions Adjusts the size of the wave icon without altering the wave effect as scaling would Flexibility parameter Modify p...

Page 100: ...or less responsive to the wave by multiplying the amplitude by this value Ripple Space Warp Create panel Space Warps Geometric Deformable Object Type rollout Ripple Create menu Space Warps Geometric Deformable Ripple Geometric Deformable 2781 ...

Page 101: ...mber of objects or to affect an object relative to its position in world space See also Wave Space Warp on page 2777 Procedures To create a Ripple space warp 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Geometric Deformable from the list then on the Object Type rollout click Ripple 2 Drag in a viewport to define the initial size of the ripple object icon The icon is displayed as a wireframe spid...

Page 102: ...de 1 and Amplitude 2 parameters are initially equal Set these parameters to unequal values to create a ripple whose amplitude varies relative to the local X and Y axes of the space warp Ripple group Amplitude 1 Sets ripple amplitude along the ripple warp object s local X axis Amplitude is expressed in active units Amplitude 2 Sets ripple amplitude along the ripple warp object s local Y axis Amplit...

Page 103: ...p object Default 0 0 Display group The options control display of the Ripple warp object s icon They don t change the effect of the ripple Circles Sets the number of circles in the ripple icon Segments Sets the number of segments pie slices in the ripple icon Divisions Adjusts the size of the ripple icon without altering the ripple effect as scaling would Flexibility parameter Modify panel The Rip...

Page 104: ...ing its vertices in the direction indicated by the space warp icon until they hit a specified target object or until the vertices move a specified distance from their original position After creating a Conform space warp you specify a target object in the Conform parameters and then bind the Conform to the object you want to deform You rotate the Conform icon to specify the travel direction toward...

Page 105: ...rain not mountainous but low and irregular 2 Create a short wide cylinder whose radius is about one eighth the area of the box like a coin You ll animate the cylinder to float diagonally over the surface of the terrain 3 Set Cap Segments in the cylinder to 4 and position the cylinder to float over the terrain 4 Set the object color of the cylinder to contrast with the color of the terrain 5 Move t...

Page 106: ... the space warp to the cylinder The cylinder becomes a disk that seems to be painted on the surface of the terrain 6 Drag the time slider to see the cylinder disk move across the box following the terrain Because the vertices are pushed almost to the level of the terrain the faces of the two object might intersect In the following steps you ll fix this by adjusting the standoff distance between th...

Page 107: ...e viewport select the Conform icon 10 In the Modify panel turn on Use Selected Vertices Now that only the bottom cap vertices are selected the rest of the cylinder is restored If you adjust the viewing angle and play the animation you ll see that the bottom face of the cylinder follows the terrain while the rest of the cylinder retains its shape Interface 2788 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle S...

Page 108: ...e target object Standoff Distance The distance maintained between the vertex and the surface of the target object For example if set to 5 the vertices can be pushed no closer than 5 units from the surface of the target object Use Selected Vertices When on only the sub object selection of vertices on the Stack are pushed When off all vertices in the object are pushed regardless of the Stack selecti...

Page 109: ... torus knot Procedures To create a Bomb space warp 1 On the Create panel click Space Warps Choose Geometric Deformable from the list and then on the Object Type rollout click Bomb 2 Create mesh objects to be exploded 2790 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 110: ...ject and the Bomb space warp 5 Adjust Bomb parameters to achieve different effects Interface Explosion group Strength Sets the power of the bomb Larger values make the particles fly farther The closer an object is to the bomb the greater the effect of the bomb Geometric Deformable 2791 ...

Page 111: ... per fragment Any given fragment will have a number of faces randomly determined between the Min and Max values Min Specifies the minimum number of faces per fragment to be randomly generated by the explosion Max Specifies the maximum number of faces per fragment to be randomly generated by the explosion General group Gravity Specifies the acceleration due to gravity Note that gravity is always in...

Page 112: ...ce They are useful when you want to apply effects such as Twist or Bend to a widely scattered group of objects Creating Modifier Based Space Warps You create modifier based space warps the same way that you create other space warps Modifier based space warps are listed on the Create panel as a separate category under Space Warps All the modifier based space warps use a box shaped nonrenderable obj...

Page 113: ...the decay the effect on the bound object falls off exponentially See the topics on the individual modifiers for more information Parameter rollout The parameters for a modifier based space warp are identical to those of the modifier on which the space warp is based Bend Modifier on page 1208 Taper Modifier on page 1811 Noise Modifier on page 1573 Twist Modifier on page 1837 Skew Modifier on page 1...

Page 114: ...rts Even so it s still easy to overburden the system if you encounter loss of responsiveness wait for the particle system to finish its calculations and then reduce the number of particles in the system implement a cache or use other methods to optimize performance Which Particle System to Use Having access to a wealth of particle systems in 3ds Max leads to the need to decide which system to use ...

Page 115: ... How Particle Flow Works Particle View on page 2811 is the primary interface for building and modifying Particle Flow systems The first event in the system is always a global event whose contents affect all particles in the system It has the same name as the Particle Flow source icon By default the global event contains a single Render operator that specifies rendering properties for all particles...

Page 116: ...le in that event The default particle system provides a basic global event and birth event that serve as a useful starting point for creating your own system If you like you can instead start with an empty system that lets you build a particle system from scratch 1 Event display 2 Particle diagram 3 Global event Particle Flow 2797 ...

Page 117: ...mes during the animation you can cache particle motion in memory Using these tools plus the ability to create custom actions with scripting you can create particle systems of a level of sophistication previously unachievable The Life of a Particle Another way of looking at Particle Flow is from the perspective of an individual particle Each particle first comes into existence or is born via the Bi...

Page 118: ...ent During a particle s residence in an event Particle Flow evaluates each of the event s actions from top to bottom once per integration step and makes any applicable changes to the particle If the event contains a test Particle Flow determines whether the particle tests True for the test s parameters such as whether it has collided with an object in the scene If it does and if the test is wired ...

Page 119: ...kill a particle As a particle moves through the system it s accompanied by a number of channels For example each particle has a speed channel that defines how fast it moves and a material ID channel that lets Particle Flow know which sub material to apply to it However the material itself is not defined by a channel but by a Material operator that acts locally or globally Properties that are defin...

Page 120: ...ow simulation on page 2804 Can I use MAXScript to affect particles on page 2804 Can I use more than one object as instanced geometry on page 2805 How can I exclude particles from certain light sources on page 2805 How do I open Particle View without clicking Particle View button on the command panel on page 2805 Do I need multiple Particle Views to manage more than one particle system on page 2805...

Page 121: ... on page 2810 Can I have an event receive input from multiple events on page 2810 I changed an operator setting but it doesn t seem to have any effect on the particle system on page 2810 Can an event be isolated in Particle View and not connected to anything on page 2811 General How does Particle Flow handle time Parameters that measure time in Particle Flow such as Birth on page 2844 Emit Start S...

Page 122: ... key Particle Flow displays an alert with the message Click OK to turn off PF Source 01 If you click OK the recalculation stops giving you the opportunity to optimize the animation For example you could reduce the number of particles for testing purposes You must turn the source back on to continue If you click Cancel the calculation continues TIP An easy way to speed up recalculation and renderin...

Page 123: ...ally when you use the By Travel Distance option in the Spawn test on page 2991 How do I use Particle Flow to make an object explode Particle Flow doesn t have a fragmentation operator but by utilizing PArray in a Birth Script operator you can implement fragmentation in Particle Flow You can find an example scene with a commented script operator in the file scriptfragmentationwithcache max on the i...

Page 124: ...affected by a light source use the light s Exclude function found on the General Parameters rollout Modify panel to specify any events containing particles to be excluded Specifying the PF Source XX object default name has no effect you must specify all objects listed as PF Source XX Event XX ParticleView How do I open ParticleView without clicking ParticleView button on the command panel Press th...

Page 125: ...ith Shift right click Also to see animation keys for actions in the track bar make sure the Particle Flow source icon is selected How can I synchronize an animated bitmap texture to particle age Use the Material Dynamic operator on page 2925 in conjunction with the Bitmap 2D map on page 5795 You ll find a procedure that describes the method in detail here on page Do I still need to bind my Particl...

Page 126: ...ts right click menu Properties or Edit menu Object Properties NOTE When using Object Motion Blur if an event contains a Material Dynamic operator that uses a material with a Particle Age Particle MBlur or Bitmap map the event should not also contain a Delete operator or a Spawn or Collision Spawn test Also the event should not contain any tests that are wired to another event The only exception to...

Page 127: ...get a particle age spread of 30 frames set Emit Start to 29 and Emit Stop to 0 How can I specify the time frame in which animated parameters are applied to particles You can animate many of the Particle Flow parameter values with keyframing In most actions you can choose the time frame by which to apply this animation to the particles from a drop down list labeled Sync By You can apply this animat...

Page 128: ... to redirect the remaining particles to another event Keep in mind that any tests subsequent to the first can work only with particles remaining in the event not necessarily all particles that begin in the event Does it matter which order I put actions in an event It depends If an event contains two or more operators of the same type such as Shape the last one overrides the rest If an event contai...

Page 129: ...tinguish them Another way is to select all particles in a certain event Select the Particle Flow source icon and then go to the Modify panel Selection rollout and click the Event icon You can then click an event in the Select By Event list to highlight all of its particles in the viewports Why do my particles lose their material when they move to another event A material is a static property of an...

Page 130: ...erators on page 2841 and tests on page 2956 Operators and tests are known collectively as actions The first event is called the global event because any operators it contains can affect the entire particle system The global event always has the same name as the Particle Flow icon by default this is PF Source starting with 01 and counting upward Following this is the birth event which must contain ...

Page 131: ... depot containing all actions available for use in the particle system as well as a selection of default particle systems TIP The easiest way to open Particle View is by pressing the 6 key It s not necessary to first select a Particle Flow icon 1 Menu bar 2 Event display 3 Parameters panel 4 Depot 5 Description panel 6 Display tools 2812 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 132: ...y in the depot To use an item drag it into the event display on page 2822 The contents of the depot fall into three categories operators on page 2841 tests on page 2956 and flows on page 2954 To toggle display of the depot choose Display menu Depot The Description panel displays a brief description of the highlighted depot item To toggle display of the description panel choose Display menu Descrip...

Page 133: ...esignate only a particular flow you might highlight its global event and then choose Select menu Select Downstreams 2 Choose Select menu Save Selected and use the file dialog to specify a file to save NOTE Any scene objects on which Particle Flow depends are also saved For instance if a Shape Instance operator on page 2904 in one of the highlighted events refers to a certain object that object is ...

Page 134: ...nt containing the chosen action to the event display Insert Before Inserts the chosen item above each highlighted action Available only when one or more actions are highlighted Append To Inserts the chosen item at then end of each highlighted event Available only when one or more events are highlighted Turn On All Turns on all actions and events Turn Off All Turns off all actions and events Turn O...

Page 135: ...ied multiple actions pasting adds them all to a single new event even if they originally came from different events Copying multiple events or wires pastes them exactly as copied If you copied a combination of actions and events pasting creates a new event for each group of actions from a single event For example if you highlight event A some actions from event B and some actions from event C copy...

Page 136: ...enders only events that are selected in the viewports You can use the last three commands on this menu to manage and coordinate selection of events and flows between Particle View and the viewports This also applies to use of the Views menu Shade Selected command Select Tool Activates the Select tool Choose this to return to the Select tool after using interactive tools for panning and zooming the...

Page 137: ... well as any birth events associated with it if you want to save only parts of a Particle Flow setup first unselect everything in the scene Also if an action references an object for example a Shape Instance operator on page 2904 uses a geometry object and the action or its parent event is highlighted when you use Save Selected then the reference object is saved as well Get Selection From Viewport...

Page 138: ...e command again Zoom Tool Drag in the event display to zoom the view The mouse cursor changes to a magnifying glass icon Drag upward to zoom in or downward to zoom out To exit this mode right click in the event view or choose the command again Zoom Region Tool Drag in the event display to define a zoom rectangle The mouse cursor changes to the image of a magnifying glass inside a zoom region When ...

Page 139: ...en you create a new particle system Particle Flow adds a single Display operator to the global event It does not add a Display operator to each new event Local Particle Flow adds a Display operator to each new event This lets you easily distinguish particles in different events in the viewports Action Order For predictable results don t use similar actions in the global and local events However if...

Page 140: ...e Complete option can provide a more accurate depiction of the result of the change at a cost in speed it takes more time to recalculate the entire system starting at the first frame Default Complete Complete When you change a setting during playback Particle Flow updates the entire system starting at the first frame Forward When you change a setting during playback Particle Flow updates the syste...

Page 141: ... following General To add an action to the particle system drag it from the depot to the event display If you drop it in an empty area of the event display it creates a new event If you drag it to an existing event the result depends on whether a red line or a blue line appears when you drop it If a red line the new action replaces the underlying action If a blue line the action is inserted in the...

Page 142: ...wever its parameters are still available for editing Toggling an instanced operator doesn t affect its other instances To toggle an event that is turn it off and on click the light bulb icon next to its name in the title bar Turning off an event is equivalent to turning off all of its operators and tests although you cannot turn the operators and tests back on individually The event s items do not...

Page 143: ...tem containing clones of the original s actions Any instanced actions have identical properties Changing one instance s values changes them all On the other hand copied actions can have different values To clone multiple items highlight them all before Shift dragging If you attempt to clone a combination of actions and events or actions from different events the result depends on where you start d...

Page 144: ...doesn t let you perform illegal operations For instance a Birth operator must always be the first item in a birth event on page 7924 the system doesn t let you position it elsewhere You can place a Birth operator in an isolated event but you can t then wire that event into a particle system except in parallel with another birth event For more information see the Birth operator topic on page 2844 T...

Page 145: ...e position Append Displays a submenu of all actions and when you choose a new action inserts it at the end of the event Available only when you right click over an event or action Turn On Turns on the event or action under the mouse cursor Available only when the item under the mouse cursor is turned on To affect an event the mouse cursor must be over its title bar Turning on a highlighted item af...

Page 146: ...d or wires pastes them exactly as copied but in this case Paste is available only when the mouse cursor is over an empty area If you copied a combination of actions and events you can paste them only when the mouse cursor is over an empty area Pasting creates a new event for each group of actions from a single event For example if you highlight event A some actions from event B and some actions fr...

Page 147: ...icon in the viewports using the right click menu Properties or Edit menu Object Properties Use Script Wiring Lets you use a script to specify certain parameters in the Force operator on page 2946 and Keep Apart operator on page 2894 This command appears only when you right click either of the specified highlighted operators in an event Comments Lets you add comments to each action and event and vi...

Page 148: ... out right click to exit Available only when you click over an empty area of the event display Zoom Region Switches to the Zoom Region tool Drag a rectangle in the event display to specify the area to zoom into right click to exit Available only when you click over an empty area of the event display Particle Flow Source Add a Particle Flow system to the scene Create panel Select a PF Source icon M...

Page 149: ...wiring However if you delete a global event the software also removes any local events used exclusively by that system as well as the corresponding particle source icon To retain the local events first delete the wire from the global event and then delete the global event If you clone a particle source in a viewport with Shift transform or Edit menu Clone an equal number of copies of the global ev...

Page 150: ...stem on and off Default on You can also turn off all particle flows in Particle View with Edit menu Turn Off All or a specific particle flow by right clicking its global event s title bar and choosing Turn Off Particle View Click to open the Particle View dialog on page 2811 Emission rollout Sets the physical characteristics of the emitter particle source icon and the percentage of particles produ...

Page 151: ...setting Length Diameter Sets the length of the Rectangle and Box icon types and the diameter of the Circle and Sphere icon types Width Sets the width of the Rectangle and Box icon types Unavailable with the Circle and Sphere icon types Height Sets the height of the Box icon type Available only with the Box icon type Show Logo Icon Turns display of the logo with arrow and icon on and off respective...

Page 152: ...e total number of particles in the system produced at render time Default 100 0 Range 0 0 to 10000 0 Selection rollout Use these controls for selecting particles on a per particle or event basis Selection of particles at the Event level is for debugging and tracking purposes Particles selected at the Particle level can be acted upon by the Delete operator on page 2848 and the Split Selected test o...

Page 153: ...ly at the Particle selection level TIP You can display particle IDs in the viewports by turning on Display operator Show Particle IDs ID Use this to set the ID number of the particle you want to select You can set only one number at a time Add After setting the ID number of a particle to select click Add to add it to the selection By default selecting a particle doesn t deselect any others Remove ...

Page 154: ...n to particles in its event A smaller integration step can improve accuracy at the cost of calculation time These settings let you apply different integration steps to the particle animation in the viewports and at render time In most cases the default Integration Step settings work fine One instance in which increasing the integration step frequency might help is when fast moving particles that s...

Page 155: ...r event When you set up history dependent properties such as speed it is important to do that at every integration step because otherwise the final position would be quite different Enable Script Turn on to cause a script in memory to be executed at each integration step You can modify this script by clicking the Edit button or load and use a script file with the remaining controls in this group T...

Page 156: ...aterial index In this case there s no need to set those indices in every intermediate integration step Also you can set up a position channel in the Final Step Update script if you know the analytical expression for the position Enable Script Turn on to cause a script in memory to be executed after the final integration step You can modify this script by clicking the Edit button or load and use a ...

Page 157: ...ew dialog 6 Particle View Toggle Ctrl V Paste In Particle View Selects all events actions and wires Ctrl A Select All In Particle View Toggles active status only of particle sy tems whose icons are selected in the viewports Shift Selected Particle Emission Toggle These functions are specific to Particle View It is recommended that you use Customize User Interface to change their keyboard shortcuts...

Page 158: ...actions can work only in one time frame while others can work on an instantaneous or continuous basis depending on their settings The tables below list each action with its time frame Operators Time Frame Operator n a Birth n a Birth Script n a Delete Continuous Force Continuous Keep Apart Continuous Mapping Continuous Material Dynamic Once Material Frequency Once Material Static Once except conti...

Page 159: ...e except continuous with Animated Shape Shape Instance Once except continuous with Align To Surface Animation Shape Mark Once Speed Continuous Speed By Icon Depends on setting Speed By Surface Once except continuous with Speed Space Follow Spin n a not applicable Tests Most tests in Particle Flow function only as tests At each integration step they check each particle for the specified conditions ...

Page 160: ...sts also function as operators in that they directly affect particle behavior These are the ones listed here and the specified time frame is related to the operator functionality not the test Time Frame Test Continuous Collision Spawn Continuous Find Target Continuous Go To Rotation Depends on script Script Test Continuous except once with Once Spawn Operators The operator is the basic element of ...

Page 161: ...ender for specifying render time characteristics The Particle Flow operators in the Particle View depot The primary operators in Particle Flow are Birth Operator on page 2844 Birth Script Operator on page 2847 Delete Operator on page 2848 Force Operator on page 2946 Keep Apart Operator on page 2894 Mapping Operator on page 2932 Material Dynamic Operator on page 2925 Material Frequency Operator on ...

Page 162: ...n page 2953 Shape Operator on page 2900 Shape Facing Operator on page 2901 Shape Instance Operator on page 2904 Shape Mark Operator on page 2911 Speed Operator on page 2871 Speed By Icon Operator on page 2876 Speed By Surface Operator on page 2886 The utility operators are Cache Operator on page 2935 Display Operator on page 2943 Notes Operator on page 2950 Render Operator on page 2951 See also Fl...

Page 163: ... an isolated event but you can t then wire that event in series with a stream that already uses a Birth operator However you can wire multiple Birth operators each in its own event into a particle stream with an existing Birth operator in parallel The following procedure illustrates this If you need to create particles midstream use the Spawn Test on page 2991 or Collision Spawn Test on page 2964 ...

Page 164: ...01 Particle Flow doesn t let you because this would result in two Birth operators in series 9 Try to wire the test output of Event 01 to the event input of Event 02 Again Particle Flow doesn t let you because this would result in two Birth operators in series 10 Drag a Speed operator to an empty area of the event display Particle Flow creates a new event Event 03 11 Wire the test output of Event 0...

Page 165: ...e of 250 This allows the particle system to retain the timing you specify no matter which frame rate you use NOTE With Subframe Sampling off such adjustments are rounded off to the nearest integer frame number With Subframe Sampling on fractional frame values that result from such adjustments will be used but not displayed Amount To specify the total number of particles emitted by the operator cho...

Page 166: ...using the relatively coarse frame resolution Default on Puffing is the effect of emitting separate puffs or clusters of particles rather than a continuous stream This effect is especially noticeable when the emitter is animated Turn off Subframe Sampling to cause particles to be emitted exactly at frame times This makes it easier to sort particles by their age later TIP If when using the Collision...

Page 167: ...mula Delete Operator Particle View on page 2811 Click Delete in an event or add a Delete operator to the particle system and then select it Use the Delete operator to remove particles from the particle system By default particles live forever that is for the duration of the animation The Delete operator lets you give them a finite life span This is useful for eliminating particles once they ve ser...

Page 168: ...ediately Selected Particles Only Deletes particles selected at the Particle sub object level in the event immediately See Selection rollout on page 2833 By Particle Age Deletes particles in the event after they ve existed for a specific length of time with an optional random variation Choosing this makes the Life Span and Variation settings available Life Span The number of frames of life allowed ...

Page 169: ...d then select it By default particles are born or emitted from the Particle Flow icon This topic uses the term emitter to refer to this icon Use the Position Icon operator to control the initial placement of particles on the emitter You can set the emitter to emit particles from its surface volume edges vertices or center And if you animate the emitter you can cause its motion to be imparted to th...

Page 170: ...itter at the time of birth When off the emitter movement doesn t affect that of the particles Available only when Lock On Emitter is off Default off NOTE If a Speed operator exists later in the event it overrides any motion imparted by Inherit Emitter Movement Multiplier Determines as a percentage the extent to which particles inherit the emitter s motion Available only when Inherit Emitter Moveme...

Page 171: ...e of the icon Volume Emits particles from random points within the volume of the icon Distinct Points Only Limits emission to a specific number of points see Total below on the specified Location type Emission points are still randomized change the Uniqueness setting to alter these Total Sets the number of emission points Available only when Distinct Points Only is on Default 10 Subframe Sampling ...

Page 172: ... NOTE Typically you would use Position Object in a birth event so the particles appear initially at the emitter object s If you use it in a non birth event the particles jump to the designated emitter s upon entering the event This could be useful for a teleportation effect TIP The default speed operator Speed on page 2871 typically uses the Particle Flow icon to control the direction of the parti...

Page 173: ...e the Location drop down list to choose where the particles should appear on the emitter surface vertices and so forth 5 Set other options as necessary For example if you want the particles to use the same motion as the emitter at the time of emission turn on Inherit Emitter Movement Or if you re using an emitter object whose shape is animated turn on Animated Shape 2854 Chapter 14 Space Warps and...

Page 174: ...Interface Particle Flow 2855 ...

Page 175: ...0 Variation Determines as a percentage the extent to which inherited emitter motion can vary per particle To determine the final multiplier for each particle the Variation value is multiplied by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then added to the Multiplier value Default 0 Emitter Objects group Use these controls to assign objects to be used as particle emitters The list in this group shows ...

Page 176: ...Location drop down list lets you specify where on each emitter the particles appear This choice applies to all emitter objects Default Surface The Selected Vertices Edges Faces options in this list let you emit particles from a specific part of the emitter object by using an existing sub object selection To create this selection first convert the object to an editable mesh or poly or apply a Mesh ...

Page 177: ...vice versa If you try to raise Min above Max or lower Max below Min both values change equally Density by Material Varies emission over the emitter surface based on properties of the material applied to the emitter For example if the object is assigned a black and white checkered diffuse map and you choose the Grayscale option particles are emitted only from the white checks IMPORTANT For material...

Page 178: ...les appear on light opaque areas than on dark transparent areas Red Green Blue Considers only the specified color channel The higher its value at any given pixel the more likely particles are to appear there Use Sub Material When on uses a sub material from the Multi Sub Object material assigned to the emitter to define density values This option allows usage of invisible materials for particle pl...

Page 179: ...ission points Available only when Distinct Points Only is on Default 10 If Location Is Invalid group Delete Particles When on if the software cannot place a particle according to the current option it deletes the particle When off particle placement is undefined that is it depends on other variables Default off If the number of particles is more important than the position on the object leave this...

Page 180: ...ntation To cause particles to spin use the Spin operator on page 2863 Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog Orientation Matrix group The Orientation Matrix setting includes options that give particles random orientations or let you specify orientation in any of three different ways Default Random 3D Random 3D Gives each particle ...

Page 181: ...axes Unavailable with the Random 3D and Random Horizontal options Divergence Defines the range of variation in degrees for particle orientation The actual deviation is calculated at random within this range Unavailable with the Random 3D or Speed Space Follow option Default 0 0 Restrict Diverg ence To Axis When on lets you use the Divergence Axis controls to set the axis to which divergence will b...

Page 182: ...erator to the particle system and then select it The Spin operator gives an angular velocity to particles in an event with optional random variation Spin is applied once per event per particle except when using the Speed Space Follow option however the settings can be animated To simply specify particle orientation use the Rotation operator on page 2861 Interface The user interface appears in the ...

Page 183: ...for all particles Speed Space Follow The coordinate space for particle orientation is determined by the particles direction throughout the event Use this option to allow particles that change direction during the event to keep the spin axis aligned with their direction The X axis is aligned with the particle direction while the Z axis is perpendicular to the X axis and is pointed upward with respe...

Page 184: ...r lets you set and animate particle size during an event with optional random variation Options for how scaling and animation are applied give this operator a great deal of flexibility Procedures Example To animate particle scale This procedure gives an overview of animating particles to grow for 30 frames remain at full size for the next 30 frames and then shrink for 30 frames It also gives an op...

Page 185: ...e the Age Test as an instance from Event 02 to Event 03 Particles in Event 03 remain at full scale for 30 frames and then move on to the next event 11 Use a new Scale operator to create a new event Event 04 Set the new event s Display operator to Geometry and make sure it s a different color than the others 12 Wire the Age Test in Event 03 to Event 04 13 In the Event 04 Scale operator set Type to ...

Page 186: ...trength to 200 and to the right of Strength turn on the 0 check box 21 Copy this controller and then paste it as instances to Y Scale Factor and Z Scale Factor Although the Scale operator defaults to constraining all scale factors to the same value thus scaling particles uniformly changing controllers in Track View works on a per parameter basis 22 Play the animation This time the particles grow i...

Page 187: ...or Default Overwrite Once Overwrite Once Sets the scale one time only as an absolute percentage value disregarding any previous scaling To produce a range of different birth sizes and specify the scaling explicitly use Overwrite Once with animated scale factors Inherit Once Sets the scale one time only as a percentage of existing scaling The existing scaling should be specified with a previous Sca...

Page 188: ... to scaling set earlier in the same event NOTE Always precede Relative Successive in the same event with an operator that modifies the scale channel all the time such as a Scale operator set to Absolute or Relative First or a Shape Instance operator with the Scale check box turned on it s on by default Scale Factor group The operator performs scaling on each particle s local axes It can scale part...

Page 189: ...urrent event or to each particle based on its age For instance if you set Sync By to Particle Age and set Scale Factor keys at frames 0 and 30 then the software will animate the scaling factor for each particle between its birth and its 30th frame of existence if the particle is in the scaling event or a prior event Following this example any particle that has already reached its 30th frame of exi...

Page 190: ...meters Absolute Time Any keys set for parameters are applied at the actual frames for which they re set Particle Age Any keys set for parameters are applied at the corresponding frames of each particle s existence Event Duration Any keys set for parameters are applied to each particle starting when it first enters the event Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting affects the randomization of scale...

Page 191: ... looping ability 1 Create a default particle system and position it at the top of the Perspective viewport 2 Play the animation The particles fall downward at the default rate 300 units per second 3 Add a Send Out test at the bottom of Event 01 4 Add a Speed operator to an empty area of the event display This creates a new event 5 Turn on Auto Key and move the time slider to frame 30 6 In Particle...

Page 192: ... Flow then sends the particle immediately to Event 03 where it sits for one frame Event 03 then returns the particle to Event 02 whose Speed value is now lower Particle Flow perceives the returned particle as newly entering the event so it changes its speed to the current Speed value Thus the particles continually return to Event 02 one frame later than before and are assigned a progressively lowe...

Page 193: ...iven a constant speed equal to the current Speed value when it enters the event Variation The amount by which particle speed can vary in system units per second Default 0 0 To obtain each particle s speed the system multiplies the Variation value by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Speed value For example if Speed 300 and Variation 100 then each particle s speed ...

Page 194: ...con types Rectangle and Circle this results in all the particles moving in one plane unless you increase Divergence above 0 0 With icons that have height Box and Sphere the particles move outward in a cylindrical formation Random 3D Particles move in all directions This option is affected by the Uniqueness setting Random Horizontal Each particle moves in a random horizontal direction that is paral...

Page 195: ...ion formula Speed By Icon Operator Particle View on page 2811 Click Speed By Icon in an event or add a Speed By Icon operator to the particle system and then select it Click a Speed By Icon operator icon in the viewport Modify panel Create panel Helpers Particle Flow SpeedByIcon The Speed By Icon operator lets you use a special non rendering icon to control particle speed and direction Speed By Ic...

Page 196: ...existing Speed operators in the event Alternatively delete or turn off any existing Speed operators The Speed By Icon operator icon appears at the world origin 0 0 0 2 Animate the icon as you would any object You can do this manually or with a controller such as Path Constraint See the following procedure for an example of this The particles motion is now under the influence of the animated icon 3...

Page 197: ...following Radius 1 100 Radius 2 20 Height 20 Turns 3 Bias 0 This will serve as the particle path 3 Move and rotate the Particle Flow source icon so that it s at the start of the helical path and aimed along the path as shown Get the base of the arrow as close as possible to the start of the path 4 Open Particle View press 6 2878 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 198: ...witches to the Motion tab and the controls indicate that the software has applied a Position List controller to the icon with the listed controllers being a Position XYZ and a Path Constraint You can delete the former if you like but it doesn t make any difference for the purposes of this procedure 9 Close Particle View and then drag the time slider back and forth between its extents a few times T...

Page 199: ...arameters appear on the Modify panel This is the case with any action that uses a unique icon and lets you adjust the parameters without using Particle View 12 On the Parameters rollout use the Accel Limit spinner to slowly increase the value as you observe the changes to the particle path As you approach a value of 150 the end of the particle path comes closer and closer to the Helix You shouldn ...

Page 200: ...perator with the Speed By Icon operator To see why not try this 14 Go to frame 100 open Particle View and click the Speed 01 operator s icon to turn it off Play the animation The entire particle path is offset from the Helix so it s difficult to tell how closely it follows the latter s curves 15 Try adjusting the Speed By Icon s Accel Limit and Influence setting to get the particles to follow the ...

Page 201: ...on and then right click the icon and choose Rotate from the menu Go to frame 20 turn on Auto Key and rotate the icon 180 degrees about the X axis 6 Turn off Auto Key 7 Drag the time slider The particles aren t affected by the icon animation Because the Speed By Icon operator icon is selected the operator s parameters appear on the Modify panel 8 On the Modify panel turn on Use Icon Orientation Dra...

Page 202: ...ce The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog When the icon is selected the parameters also appear on the Modify panel Accel eration Limit The maximum amount in system units per second per second by which the particles speed can change in order to match the speed of the operator icon Default 100 0 If the operator icon changes speed or direction...

Page 203: ...ectively of particle speed variation Default 50 0 Min 100 0 Max For example if you set Min to 50 and Max to 200 the particles will vary in speed between half and two times the speed of the icon Use Icon Orientation Applies animation of the icon s orientation to the particles By default Speed By Icon controls particle motion only by animation of the icon s position If you turn on Use Icon Orientati...

Page 204: ...istence Event Duration Any keys set for parameters are applied to each particle relative to the frame at which it first enters the event Icon Animation group The software can begin applying animation of the Speed By Icon operator icon to all particles as of the start frame of the animation or the first frame of the current event or to each particle based on its age For an explanation see Animation...

Page 205: ...assign the same objects as emitters with Position Object and as Surface Geometry objects with Speed By Surface TIP For greater control over particle motion on the surface apply a Speed operator on page 2871 before the Speed By Surface operator in the same event Use the Speed operator to specify particle direction on the surface and the Speed By Surface operator to adjust the vertical component of ...

Page 206: ...er rather than the bottom at which point they move perpendicular to the vertical sides When the top becomes the closest side the particles again move vertically but upward instead of downward 8 Move the cylinder back up until the emitter is at its vertical center Then on the Modify panel click the lower part of the Sides spinner to decrease the number of sides one at a time Each time you click the...

Page 207: ...frame view 13 In Particle View click the Speed 01 operator and set Direction to Random 3D 14 Click the Speed By Surface operator Set Speed to 300 if necessary In the Direction group choose Out Of Surface and then drag the time slider After exiting the emitter the particles always move away from the nearest surface with the result that they end up milling about in the center of the cylinder 15 Grad...

Page 208: ...Interface Particle Flow 2889 ...

Page 209: ...s speed the system multiplies the Variation value by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Speed value For example if Speed 300 and Variation 100 then each particle s speed would be between 200 and 400 Surface Geometry group Use these controls to assign objects to affect particle speed and direction The list in this group shows the objects or reference geometry that t...

Page 210: ...d you choose the Grayscale Multiplier option particles near the white checked areas move faster than those from the black checked areas NOTE For material influenced speed to appear properly in the viewports two conditions are required at least one viewport must be set to a shaded display mode and the material or map must have Show Map In Viewport turned on in the Material Editor The options are as...

Page 211: ...to define speed This option allows usage of invisible materials for controlling particle speed If the emitter uses a Multi Sub Object material but its geometry doesn t use the ID that corresponds one of the sub materials the sub material doesn t appear However the operator can use it to calculate the density of particle placement The software assumes the material to be applied to the entire object...

Page 212: ... chosen TIP For a fountain like spray set Position Location to Pivot set Direction to Along Icon Arrow set Divergence to the desired angle and rotate the icon so its arrow points upward Continuous Speed Control group When you choose the Control Speed Continuously option these controls become available Basically these controls let the particles move about within the region of the Surface Geometry o...

Page 213: ...ting enables randomization of speed variation and randomization of direction with the Random 3D and Random Horizontal options Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Keep Apart Operator Particle View on page 2811 Click Keep Apart in an event or add a Keep Apart operator to the particle system and then select it The Keep Apart operator a member o...

Page 214: ...ipt wiring lets you use a script to control the Force and Range parameters which you normally specify in the operator s parameters Place a Script operator on page 2953 before the Keep Apart operator in the event and then use it to define values in the particleFloat and particleVector channels For an example of a script that sets particleFloat values see particleFloat Sample Script on page 2947 On ...

Page 215: ...alue is used for the core radius and the Y component for the falloff radius Relative Size Range Particle Flow applies the script particleVector values to the Relative Size Range values The X component of the vector value is used for the core percent and the Y component for the falloff percent 2896 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 216: ...Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog Particle Flow 2897 ...

Page 217: ... units Core Radius The distance from each particle s pivot point in system units within which the force is applied at full strength Default 10 0 Falloff Zone The distance beyond the core radius in system units over which the force diminishes from full strength to 0 Default 10 0 Relative to Particle Size Choose this to set the core radius and falloff zone as percentages relative to the radius of ea...

Page 218: ... not in the current event are not influenced by the Keep Apart operator When used globally keeps apart and influences all particles in the current flow Selected Events Keeps particles in the current event away from all particles in the events highlighted in the list below this choice Particles not in the current event are not influenced by the Keep Apart operator When used globally keeps all parti...

Page 219: ...pyramids cubes spheres or vertices as well as particle size NOTE All primitive particles created with Shape have pivot points in their geometric centers See also Shape Instance Operator on page 2904 Shape Facing Operator on page 2901 Shape Mark Operator on page 2911 Interface Shape Sets the shape of the particles to Vertex or one of three geometric primitives Default Pyramid Vertex Use this option...

Page 220: ...further on in the flow can work with Shape Facing Operator Particle View on page 2811 Click Shape Facing in an event or add a Shape Facing operator to the particle system and then select it The Shape Facing operator creates each particle as a rectangle that always faces a particular object camera or direction For effects like smoke fire water bubbles or snowflakes use Shape Facing with a material ...

Page 221: ...Z axis pointed at the Look At object or when Use Parallel Direction is on aligned with the vector between the Particle Source icon and the Look At object Name After picking a Look At object its name appears here Pick Camera or Object Click this button and then select a camera or object in the scene to use as the Look At object The mouse cursor changes to a cross shape when positioned over a valid ...

Page 222: ...size Range 0 to 100 Default 100 In Screen Space Sets the facing particles size as a percentage of the screen width The actual size of each particle changes as necessary throughout the animation depending its distance from the camera to maintain a constant size from the camera s point of view This option is available only when the Look At object is a camera and Use Parallel Direction is off Proport...

Page 223: ...rticle Space and use the default axis values X 0 Y 0 Z 1 Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting enables changing the randomization of the size width variation Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Shape Instance Operator Particle View on page 2811 Click Shape Instance in an event or add a Shape Instance operator to the particle system and the...

Page 224: ...icles For example if you want particles to use rotational transforms applied to the reference object use the Reset XForm function on the reference object Reset XForm is available from the Utilities panel TIP Particle Flow can however use rotational and positional animation applied to descendant objects in a hierarchy when you use the entire hierarchy as a single particle To do this create a hierar...

Page 225: ...ll instanced particles visible in the final animation 5 Create a default Particle Flow system 6 In Particle View delete the Rotation operator 7 Replace the Shape operator with a Shape Instance operator 8 In the Shape operator parameters designate the dummy as the Particle Geometry Object 9 Turn on Animated Shape 10 For sequential animation which can be more interesting visually in Animation Offset...

Page 226: ...ometry This object is known as the reference object button Click this button and then select a geometry object in the scene to be used as the particle shape The mouse cursor changes to a cross shape when positioned over an object that s valid for use as a reference object Valid objects Particle Flow 2907 ...

Page 227: ...h and without materials applied and Acquire Material is on Particle Flow will apply the first available material to any objects without materials applied NOTE You can use a NURBS surface as a reference object but not a NURBS curve To use a NURBS curve as particle geometry first convert it to a surface using a method such as the Cap function TIP For best results when using an animated reference obj...

Page 228: ...nd the appropriate check boxes in the Separate Particles For group are on in which case this displays the number of resulting different shapes Scale Specifies a uniform scaling factor for all particles Range 0 to 100000 Default on 100 The center of scaling for multi shape object members treated individually depends on how the objects are combined For grouped and linked objects the scaling is done ...

Page 229: ...or Group Elements but leave Multi Shape Random Order off Animated Shape When on particles use any animation in the reference object including cyclic animation applied with the Parameter Curve Out of Range Types controls When off the particles are not animated With this option you can use the Animation Offset Keying controls to specify how to synchronize the reference object animation with the part...

Page 230: ...after changing an object in a hierarchical reference object In most cases Particle Flow automatically updates instanced particles when changes are made to the reference object However in some cases when you change an object deep in a hierarchy the particle instances might not be updated In such a case click Update Particle Shape to refresh the instances Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting enab...

Page 231: ...default settings the Shape Mark operator can generate coplanar faces which the mental ray renderer cannot render well If you want to use mental ray rendering with Shape Mark adjust the operator s settings as follows In the Shape group choose Box Intersection Set Surface Offset to 0 01 Set Offset Variation to 0 005 Set Vertex Jitter to 0 002 With these settings faces are no longer coplanar and the ...

Page 232: ...as necessary Now when the particles strike the contact object they disappear leaving marks on the object If you want the particles to bounce after leaving marks rather than disappearing use a Collision Spawn test on page 2964 instead and turn off its Delete Parent check box The spawned particles become the marks and the original particles remain in the first event 7 Optionally add a Material opera...

Page 233: ...Interface 2914 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 234: ...tact point such as with an animated water surface WARNING This option requires significant CPU and memory resources Orientation group Align To Depending on the setting for Shape on page 2916 Shape Mark creates either a rectangle or a box cutout on the contact geometry The Orientation setting specifies how the shape is oriented In the mark s local coordinate system the X axis is Length the Y axis i...

Page 235: ...pproach This effectively stretches the mark shape if particle approaches the contact geometry at a low angle Available only when Align To is set to Speed Default off For example if a drop of paint hits a surface perpendicularly it creates a circular mark but if it hits the surface at a lower angle the resulting shape is an ellipse Distor tion Max Sets the maximum percentage by which the software m...

Page 236: ... Available only with Box Intersection Generate Mapping Coords Allows correct application of the shape mark when using a mapped material Default on If you re not using a mapped material you can save memory by turning this off Pivot Offset Shifts the position of the shape mark along its length dimension with respect to the pivot of the impacting particle Default 0 0 Range 50 0 to 50 0 By default the...

Page 237: ... in ParticleView Particle Flow provides three operators for applying materials to particles To give the same appearance to all particles throughout an event use Material Static Operator on page 2920 If you re using a compound material such as Multi Sub Object on page 5720 you can assign different sub materials to different particles with the Material Frequency operator on page 2923 And to assign m...

Page 238: ... or Unwrap UVW modifier on page 1841 If you don t apply mapping coordinates the system generates a Missing Map Coordinates warning when you render the scene If you use an object with a material already applied as a reference object on page 8107 for instanced particles you don t need a Material operator in the same event However the material appears only in the event containing the Shape Instance o...

Page 239: ...o each particle based on its material ID The operator can assign the same material ID to all particles or different IDs to successive particles on a cyclical or random basis The most common usage of this latter capability is with a Multi Sub Object material for applying a different material to each particle See also Materials and Mapping in Particle View on page 2918 Material Frequency Operator on...

Page 240: ... Material ID Assigns the same material ID to all particles Use the numeric field to set the ID value Cycle Assigns each particle a material ID in the range 1 to N where N Sub Materials in increasing sequential order The first ID assigned is 1 then 2 then then N then 1 again and so on Random Assigns each particle a random material ID in the range 1 to N where N Sub Materials Sub Materials The highe...

Page 241: ...material list more rapidly than one or more particle per ID That is the software divides this value into 1 0 and adds the result to the current material ID to obtain the next one For example with eight sub materials if you set Per Particle 0 33 and use the Cycle option the following series of IDs will result 1 4 7 2 5 8 3 6 1 In general this option is useful only with the Cycle option Loop When on...

Page 242: ...material appears on the particles Typically the material is a Multi Sub Object or other compound material and you specify the frequency by setting a percentage for each of up to 10 different sub materials or material ID The software assigns IDs to particles in a random sequence based on these percentages You can also use other materials that use sub materials such as Double Sided and Top Bottom Se...

Page 243: ... to choose the material Alternatively drag the material from a Material Editor sample slot to the button After you assign a material to the operator its name appears on the button Assign Material ID When on the operator defines a material ID number for each particle and enables the remaining parameters Default on In general this should remain on Particle Flow uses the material ID with compound mat...

Page 244: ...erial ID 1 as it would material ID 3 and one tenth as likely to be assigned ID 5 as it would ID 1 The actual sequence of material ID assignments is random and can be varied by changing the Uniqueness Seed setting Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting varies the random sequence of assigned IDs Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Material Dy...

Page 245: ...aterial Frequency Operator on page 2923 Procedures Example To assign animation frames to particles based on age 1 Prepare a file to be used as the animated bitmap This can be a multiple frame format such as AVI or an image file list IFL file that points to a sequence of still images With the latter you can use images in a format such as Targa that contain predefined alpha channels to specify parti...

Page 246: ...n and turn on Reset Particle Age Always choose Same As Particle ID with an animated texture and one of the Sub Material Rotoscoping options when using a compound material Turning on Reset Particle Age causes the software to set particles to age 0 as they enter the event In this example the particles are born in the event so technically it s not necessary to turn on Reset Particle Age However it s ...

Page 247: ...Click the Delete operator and in the parameters panel choose By Particle Age and set Life Span 100 and Variation 0 This gives each particle a life span of 3 1 3 seconds 5 Click the Material Dynamic operator 6 In the Material Editor assign a Particle Age map as the Diffuse map On the Particle Age Parameters rollout set three different colors such as red green and blue Also change the Age percentage...

Page 248: ...the Age 2 and Age 3 settings Or if you re using a local Delete operator you could use an Age test on page 2958 to move the particles into another event just before they re scheduled to be deleted In that case to avoid an abrupt color change you might want to add to subsequent events a Material Static operator on page 2920 with a material that uses the same final color or map as the Particle Age ma...

Page 249: ... the viewports when the particles are displayed as geometry Assignment Method The Material Dynamic operator lets you assign Material IDs to particles in several different ways depending on whether you re using an animated texture or a compound material Default Same As Particle ID AnimatedTexture group Same As Particle ID Assigns the same material ID to a particle as its particle ID Choose this whe...

Page 250: ...ption In general set this to the same number of sub materials in the Multi Sub Object material If you set it to a smaller number the operator will use only that many sub materials starting with the first and counting upward NOTE The software automatically sets this value to the number of sub materials in the material once only the first time you apply the material to the operator Any subsequent ch...

Page 251: ...Age Any keys set for parameters are applied at the corresponding frames of each particle s existence Event Duration Any keys set for parameters are applied to each particle starting when it first enters the event Rand Offset When on the software varies the difference between the particle age and the assigned material ID at random The maximum difference is determined by the numeric parameter Availa...

Page 252: ... material that uses Gradient Ramp as the Diffuse map 2 On the map s Gradient Ramp Parameters rollout make sure Gradient Type is set to Linear 3 Create a colorful gradient The Mapping operator uses the colors in left to right order as the U value increases from 0 0 to 1 0 4 Add a Particle Flow Source object to the scene 5 Open Particle View 6 In Event 01 click the Speed operator and set Speed to 10...

Page 253: ...ss the Gradient Ramp map To vary the effect try changing the Gradient Type setting and animate the V and W values as well Or for more sophisticated effects assign animation controllers such as Noise Float to the Mapping coordinate values or wire them to other changing parameters in the scene Animation menu Wire Parameters Parameter Wire Dialog TIP In the Material Editor it s easier to see the resu...

Page 254: ...nt Duration Any keys set for parameters are applied to each particle starting when it first enters the event Channel group The Channel setting determines whether the mapping is applied to a map channel or to a vertex color channel Map Channel The mapping is applied to the specified map channel Vertex Color Channel The mapping is applied to the particles vertex color channel Show Map In Viewport Th...

Page 255: ... use global and local Cache operators in the same flow unless one is set up for viewports and the other for rendering TIP When using real time playback if playback isn t fast enough you can use the Cache operator to speed it up For best results set the Viewport integration step to the same value as the real time playback speed and set cache sampling to Integration Step For example if the real time...

Page 256: ...ach action highlights briefly at each frame 8 Go to frame 20 or so The only operators that highlight are Cache very fast and Display there is no delay for calculation All frames between 0 and 50 have been cached 9 Go to frame 100 The delay this time is a result of caching particle motion for frames 50 to 100 10 Jump to different frames and drag the time slider All particle motion is now cached so ...

Page 257: ...w updates the cache for the active segment and then reopens Particle View The cached data is now accurate Other manual update options let you update the cache for the entire animation or a custom frame range As you can see the Cache operator is quite powerful When present and active by default it overrides recalculation of the particle system except when you change any action parameters whereupon ...

Page 258: ... particle motion when playing back in the viewports or at render time or both Default Viewport IMPORTANT Choose the Viewport Render option only when using the same number of particles in the viewports and for rendering see Quantity Multiplier group on page 2832 Otherwise unpredictable results can occur Particle Flow 2939 ...

Page 259: ...ouse button Custom The software caches only frames in the custom range as defined by the Cache operator s Start Time and End Time settings see following NOTE If you cache only part of the animation Particle Flow calculates particle behavior in subsequent non cached frames using the cached data For example if you cache frames 0 to 50 and then jump to frame 60 Particle flow will calculate frame 51 b...

Page 260: ...che the test results This is because the system has cache data for every event and is able to jump to an arbitrary frame without the need for test results Save Cache with File When on the software Includes the cached data with scenes that you save to disk This can significantly increase the size of saved files but saves the time of recalculating the particle motion upon reloading the file Default ...

Page 261: ...k Update Active Segment The software updates the cache only for frames in the active segment as defined by the Start Time and End Time settings on the Time Configuration dialog This is the frame range shown on the track bar You can also change the active segment by holding down Alt Ctrl and dragging the track bar with the left middle or right mouse button Custom The software updates the cache only...

Page 262: ...ct it The Display operator lets you specify how particles appear in the viewports The default display mode is Ticks which is the simplest and thus the fastest to display It s useful for animations that use a large number of particles At the opposite end of the complexity spectrum is the Geometry option which lets the software depict particles as their actual shapes In addition the Display operator...

Page 263: ...s speed and direction of motion and Bounding Boxes reflects scale and orientation In the following list each choice s description is preceded by the number of dimensions used by each particle representation None Particles do not appear in the viewports Dots 0D Each particle appears as a single pixel Ticks 2D Each particle appears as a sign Circles 2D Each particle appears as a small circle Lines 1...

Page 264: ...ts This option lets you speed up viewport redrawing by reducing the number of visible particles Show Particle IDs When on each particle s unique index number is visible in the viewports Particles are numbered in the order of their birth starting with 1 for the first particle born color swatch Shows the color for particles displayed using options other than Geometry as well as for the particle IDs ...

Page 265: ...th the Force operator Displace on page 2727 Drag on page 2706 Gravity on page 2721 Motor on page 2696 PBomb on page 2712 Push on page 2691 Vortex on page 2701 Wind on page 2724 NOTE By default the influence of these space warps on Particle Flow particles is equivalent to their influence on the 3ds Max 2 particle systems PArray Super Spray Blizzard and PCloud To obtain an influence on Particle Flow...

Page 266: ...loat channel You ll find an example script below Use Script Float As Choose either of the following Not Used Particle Flow uses the Influence setting on page 2949 specified in the Parameters rollout Influence Particle Flow applies the script to the Influence setting particleFloat Sample Script NOTE See this topic in the online User Reference for the particleFloat sample MAXScript code Procedures T...

Page 267: ... warp from the scene its name is replaced in the list by the entry deleted NOTE Particle Flow applies the forces to particle motion in the order in which the space warps appear in the list the effect is cumulative in top to bottom order First the topmost space warp is applied to particle motion then the second space warp is applied to the result of the first space warp and so on Changing the order...

Page 268: ...the particles than the Gravity space warp But if you choose Maximum only the Wind space warp will affect the particles Influence Specifies the strength with which the force or forces are applied to the particles as a percentage Default 1000 0 A negative Influence value reverses the force effects NOTE By default the influence of the Force space warps on Particle Flow particles is equivalent to thei...

Page 269: ...ect on the particle system but it helps you keep track of the overall function of each event NOTE You can also add a comment directly to an event or action by right clicking it and choosing Comments Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog The interface is a simple text box Click in the box and enter your text 2950 Chapter 14 Space ...

Page 270: ... render time or enable the particle system but prevent it from sending renderable particles to the 3ds Max renderer Default Geometry None The particle system or event if used locally is considered non renderable and therefore is never evaluated during render BoundingBox Particles render as boxes whose sizes represent the particle geometry extents Use this option with complex particle systems to sp...

Page 271: ... setting for Render Result Consult the renderer documentation for further information NOTE The number of particles Particle Flow can handle per frame is limited only by system resources but each single mesh is allowed a maximum of 5 000 000 faces or vertices If the total number of faces or vertices in a mesh exceeds 5 000 000 Particle Flow ignores particles beyond this limit Single Mesh Sends the ...

Page 272: ... and then when they are slow enough splits off the first 50 particles into a stream traveling in a negative direction on the world X axis and the remainder traveling in the opposite direction TIP You can use MAXScript to align particle scale with the underlying bitmap thus providing a scale bitmap function This requires a sandwich with three operators two Script operators and a Speed By Surface op...

Page 273: ...perators for creating initial particle system setups These are Empty Flow on page 2954 Standard Flow on page 2955 See also Operators on page 2841 Tests on page 2956 Empty Flow Particle View on page 2811 depot Empty Flow provides a starting point for a particle system consisting of a single global event containing a Render operator This lets you build a system completely from scratch without having...

Page 274: ...a Rotation a Shape and a Display operator with all parameters set to default values This is the same system that the software creates automatically when you add a Particle Flow icon to the viewport To use Standard Flow drag it from the depot to the event display In Particle View this creates the particle system described above If the Global default display option is active in the Particle View Opt...

Page 275: ...but simply creates new particles from existing ones and sets the new particles test result to True so they re automatically eligible for redirection to another event And the Send Out test simply sends all particles to the next event by default Some tests can also serve as operators in that they contain parameters that modify particle behavior If you don t wire a test to another event it functions ...

Page 276: ...e 2960 Collision Spawn Test on page 2964 Find Target Test on page 2970 Go To Rotation Test on page 2981 Scale Test on page 2987 Script Test on page 2990 Send Out Test on page 2990 Spawn Test on page 2991 Speed Test on page 2995 Split Amount Test on page 2998 Split Selected Test on page 3000 Particle Flow 2957 ...

Page 277: ...passed since the start of the animation or how long a particle has existed or how long a particle has been in the current event and branch accordingly Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog The first interface element is a drop down list that lets you choose the type of age to test Default Particle Age Absolute Age Tests the curre...

Page 278: ... cannot be animated Variation The number of frames by which the value tested for can vary randomly Default 5 This value cannot be animated To obtain the actual test value for each particle the system multiplies the Variation value by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Test Value setting For example if Test Value 300 and Variation 10 then tested value for each parti...

Page 279: ...UDeflector on page 2754 Deflector on page 2757 TIP When testing for collisions with multiple deflectors for best results place all the deflectors in a single Collision test This tests for collisions with all the deflectors simultaneously and helps avoid possible missed collisions See also Collision Spawn Test on page 2964 Procedures Example To test for particles slowing down after one or more coll...

Page 280: ...re seeing the expected behavior After several bounces the particles change in appearance and move steadily away from the deflector indicating that they ve entered the second event Of course you can set any behavior you like in this event In the next step you ll see what happens when actions in an event are not in the right order 9 In Event 01 move the Collision test above the Force operator and th...

Page 281: ...tors currently in effect and let you add and remove deflectors list Shows the deflectors that apply to this operator If more than three deflectors apply a scroll bar appears at the right side of the list If you delete a listed space warp from the scene its name is replaced in the list by the entry deleted 2962 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 282: ...ned by the deflector properties Continue Particle speed and direction are unaffected by the collision Stop Particle speed is set to 0 after the collision Random Particles bounce off the deflector in random directions Is Slow After Collision s The test succeeds if after collision particle speed is less than the Speed Min value With this choice particle behavior with respect to the deflector s is th...

Page 283: ... down lists Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Collision SpawnTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Collision Spawn in an event or add Collision Spawn to the particle system and then select it Collision Spawn creates new particles from existing ones that collide with one or more Deflector space warps You can specify different post collision...

Page 284: ...n page 2751 UDeflector on page 2754 Deflector on page 2757 TIP When testing for collisions with multiple deflectors for best results place all the deflectors in a single Collision Spawn test This tests for collisions with all the deflectors simultaneously and helps avoid possible missed collisions See also Collision Test on page 2960 Spawn Test on page 2991 Particle Flow 2965 ...

Page 285: ...Interface 2966 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 286: ... Particles is available only when Delete Parent is off This option is also available when using the Spawn On Each Collision option on page 2968 In this case parent particles test True only after colliding the number of times specified by the Until value Spawn Particles When on spawned particles qualify for redirection when the test conditions are met Default on Deflectors group This group displays...

Page 287: ... the Until value Spawnable The percentage of particles in the current event that will spawn new particles This is determined once for each particle when it enters the event However the parameter is animatable Default 100 0 For values other than 100 0 Spawnable uses a randomized selection process which is affected by the Uniqueness Seed value For example with five parent particles Offspring 1 and S...

Page 288: ...ergence so they eventually spread out Default Inherited Parent Specify the parent s behavior Available only when Delete Parent is off Bounce The speed and direction after collision is determined by the deflector properties Continue Particle speed and direction are unaffected by the collision Offspring Specify the behavior of the newly spawned particles Bounce The speed and direction of offspring a...

Page 289: ...lies the Variation value by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Scale Factor value For example if Scale Factor 100 and Variation 20 then each spawned particle would be between 80 and 120 percent of its parent s size Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of the Spawnable result when less than 100 0 as well as of the Variation values Seed Speci...

Page 290: ...te the icon the software also deletes the test NOTE If you add Find Target from the Create panel Particle Flow creates a separate event for the test in the particle diagram TIP In a particle loop all particles end up at their respective starting positions enabling seamless repetition of the resulting animation You can make particle loops with Particle Flow using a Script operator and a Find Target...

Page 291: ...Script Operator Example NOTE See this topic in the online User Reference to view the script operator sample MAXScript code 2972 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 292: ...Interface Particle Flow 2973 ...

Page 293: ...choose No Control the Find Target test does not affect particle speed or direction TestTrue If DistanceTo group These settings let you choose which distance the Find Target test measures and specify the measured distance You can choose Target Pivot or Target Point and specify a distance with the Is Less Than setting Target Pivot Measures the distance between the particle and the target pivot If th...

Page 294: ...Default 1000 0 The default acceleration limit value is based on the default Speed value of 300 0 If you change the Speed value it is recommended that you also change the Accel Limit value proportionately TIP Use a lower Accel Limit value for smooth motion and a higher value when greater accuracy is needed such as when the particles should hit a small target You can animate this setting use Sync By...

Page 295: ... Timing Determines how the software applies the specified timing defined by the Time and Variation values The possible options are Absolute Time Time refers to the overall time of the system Each particle will reach its target at the frame number specified by Time Particle Age Time refers to the time elapsed since the birth of the particle Each particle will reach its target when its age reaches t...

Page 296: ...tes a path for particles to reach the target in the shortest distance with the least acceleration along the path When Use Docking Speed is on the software calculates particles final speed when they reach the target using the Speed and Variation parameters Therefore if you want a smooth landing set Speed to 0 0 Default off Speed The speed of particles when they reach the target in scene units per s...

Page 297: ... frames of each particle s existence Event Duration Animation derived from the target is applied to particles is applied to each particle starting when it first enters the event Animated Shape Turn on to allow particles to target the surface of an object whose form is animated by scaling by morphing or with modifiers This requires more computation because the destination must be updated at every i...

Page 298: ...geted object is defined by a script operator that sets an index This index corresponds to a target object entry position in the target list See Script Operator Example on page 2972 Lock On Target Object When on the software calculates each particle s target object once when the particle enters the event Thereafter the particle is locked on to its target object When off the software can continually...

Page 299: ...n when using mesh objects as targets Icon Spherical The final direction points toward the center of the operator icon NOTE When using this option arrows appear on the Find Target icon to indicate the directions particles will use for docking You can change the docking directions by reorienting the icon This applies even when using mesh objects as targets Icon Cylindrical The final direction points...

Page 300: ...lt on Turn on Color Coordinated to make it easier to spot the Find Target icon because the particles in the event use the same color as the icon Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of the Random options and the Variation options Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula GoTo RotationTest Particle View on page 2811 Click G...

Page 301: ...he axis of spinning when a particle comes to the final rotation Procedures Example To make falling particles land smoothly face up This procedure assumes a basic knowledge of Particle Flow usage 1 In the Perspective viewport add a Particle Flow system and raise its icon about 80 units on the Z axis 2 In Event 01 make the following changes Birth Amount 50 Speed 100 Shape Cube or use Shape Instance ...

Page 302: ... Go To Rotation test will use this as the final orientation for the particles 7 Use a Speed event to create a third event Set Speed 0 0 This stops the particles at the end of the animation 8 In both new events set Display Type Geometry 9 Wire the Age Test in Event 01 to Event 02 and then wire the Go To Rotation test in Event 02 to Event 03 10 Play the animation The particles tumble chaotically as ...

Page 303: ... specified transition period and become eligible for redirection to the next event When off particles will not go to the next event even if wired Turn off to disable the test aspect of Go To Rotation Default on Transition By group Determines how the software applies the specified timing defined by the Time and Variation values Default Event Duration 2984 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems...

Page 304: ...umber between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Duration value For example if Duration 60 and Variation 20 then the time to target orientation for each particle would be between 40 and 80 frames Target Rotation group When you use an orientation type operator with Go To Rotation this setting lets you determine whether the test sets the target orientation on a one time or ongoing basis Def...

Page 305: ... between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Spin Rate value For example if Spin Rate 6 0 and Variation 1 0 then the final angular velocity for each particle would be between 5 0 and 7 0 degrees per second Ease In Defines a curve in achieving the final spin rate Default 0 0 When set to 0 0 the test produces a linear interpolation between the initial and final spin rate and when set to 100 ...

Page 306: ...anch accordingly The test provides a variety of axis options for measuring scale or size You can use this test to cause a change in behavior based on size For example a bubble could grow to a certain size and then pop Or an object could shrink in size until it falls under the influence of a force like wind Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel on the right side of the Partic...

Page 307: ... by adding the sizes on all three axes and then dividing by three Minimum Uses the smallest dimension Median Uses the middle dimension in order of size For example if the particle dimensions are X 5 Y 6 Z 12 then the number compared to Test Value would be 6 Maximum Uses the largest dimension X Y Z Uses the specified dimension Test True if Particle Value Lets you specify whether the test passes par...

Page 308: ...es the Variation value by a random number between 1 0 and 1 0 and then adds the result to the Test Value setting For example if Test Value 100 and Variation 10 then the tested value for each particle would be between 90 and 110 TestValue Offset Keying group Sync By Choose the time frame to use when animating Test Value and Variation Absolute Time Any keys set for parameters are applied at the actu...

Page 309: ...s panel on the right side of the Particle View dialog Edit Script Click this button to open the current script in a MAXScript Editor window For detailed information about the MAXScript utility open the MAXScript Reference available from Help menu MAXScript Reference Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting provides a randomization seed that the script can use or ignore Seed Specifies a randomizatio...

Page 310: ...r the test passes all particles on to the next event or keeps them in the current event Default All Particles All Particles All particles are passed on to the next event No Particles All particles are retained in the current event SpawnTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Spawn in an event or add Spawn to the particle system and then select it Spawn creates new particles from existing ones Each s...

Page 311: ...pawned particles to yet another event or the particles will continually respawn Alternatively to spawn particles after a collision use Collision Spawn Test on page 2964 See also Collision Spawn Test on page 2964 Interface 2992 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 312: ... intervals over the path of a moving parent particle Step Size The system spawns a new particle every time the parent moves this distance in system units Spawnable The percentage of particles in the current event that will spawn new particles This is determined once for each particle when it enters the event However the parameter is animatable Default 100 0 For values other than 100 0 Spawnable us...

Page 313: ...t a Divergence so they eventually spread out Default Inherited In Units Choose this to specify the speed of spawned particles in system units per second Default 100 0 A positive value inherits the parent s direction a negative value reverses it Inherited Choose this to specify each spawned particle s speed as a percentage of its parent s speed Default 100 0 A positive value inherits the parent s d...

Page 314: ...en 80 and 120 percent of its parent s size Uniqueness group The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of the Spawnable result when less than 100 0 as well as of the Variation values Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula SpeedTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Speed Test in an event or add Speed Test to the particle system and then select...

Page 315: ...sitive When the reach the top of their trajectory and begin to move downward their velocity on the world Z axis slows to 0 and then becomes negative If you choose Velocity Z and Is Less Than Test Value and set Test Value to 0 0 you can send particles to another event at the moment they begin to move downward Acceleration Magnitude Tests the particle acceleration change in velocity in system units ...

Page 316: ...hether the test passes particles on to the next event if the speed test succeeds or fails Available for all tests except True When Accelerates Decelerates Default Is Greater Than Test Value By default Speed Test returns True if the value tested for exceeds the Test Value quantity but you can choose Is Less Than Test Value as well For example if you use the Velocity Magnitude test type and set Test...

Page 317: ...ion of the test value variation Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Split AmountTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Split Amount in an event or add Split Amount to the particle system and then select it The Split Amount test lets you send a specific number of particles to the next event keeping all remaining particles in the current event ...

Page 318: ...zation factor change this with the Uniqueness Seed value Ratio Specify the percentage of particles that will test True Animatable Default 50 0 Available only with the Fraction Of Particles option Every Nth Particle Splits off a regular sample of particles N Specify how often to split off a particle Animatable Default 3 For example enter 8 to split off every eighth particle Available only with the ...

Page 319: ...ueness group The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of particle retention with the Fraction Of Particles option Seed Specifies a randomization value New Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula Split SelectedTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Split Selected in an event or add Split Selected to the particle system and then select it The Split Selected test lets you split the par...

Page 320: ...ble for redirection to another event Split SourceTest Particle View on page 2811 Click Split Source in an event or add Split Source to the particle system and then select it The Split Source test lets you split the particle stream based on particles origin You can specify that particles from one or more specific Particle Flow sources should or should not be eligible for redirection to the next eve...

Page 321: ... Not From Sel ected Source All particles from sources not highlighted in the Selected Emission Sources list are eligible for redirection to another event Selected Emission Sources Lists all emission sources in the system Highlight the sources to be considered by the test Non Event Driven Particle Systems Create panel Geometry Particle Systems Create menu Particles Fountain spray created as a parti...

Page 322: ...ticle System on page 3020 Super Spray Particle System on page 3025 Blizzard Particle System on page 3029 PArray Particle System on page 3042 PCloud Particle System on page 3034 NOTE You can take advantage of the AutoGrid feature to orient and position new particle systems with respect to existing objects For details see AutoGrid on page 2597 See also Particle System Usage on page 3004 Creating a P...

Page 323: ...les in viewports and rendering them in scenes and animations Particles do not necessarily appear the same in renderings as they do in viewports You can modify and animate particle system parameters You can also affect particle system behavior with space warps on page 2685 In addition you can deform particle systems with the Mesher compound object on page 837 NOTE Particles can participate in dynam...

Page 324: ...e the emitter by binding the particle system to a space warp in the Forces group such as Path Follow or make them bounce off a deflector in the Deflectors space warp group such as UDeflector IMPORTANT When you use forces and deflectors together always bind the forces before the deflectors TIP If the particles don t follow the emitter after it s moved then change any Path Follow parameter on page 2...

Page 325: ...042 and Particle Cloud on page 3034 can use instanced geometry as their particle type You can create a stream of ants a flock of birds or a cloud of dandelion seeds using instanced geometry particles Creating a Particle Emitter After you choose a particle system type to add you create the particle system icon in the scene The icon serves different purposes depending on the type of particle system ...

Page 326: ...te placeholder icons 1 Drag in a viewport to set the size of the placeholder icon for Particle Array and Particle Cloud The size and location of the particle system icon has no effect on the particles 2 After placing the particle system icon click Pick Object on the Basic Parameters rollout to select the object to use as the particle emitter Using Materials with Particle Array The material that ap...

Page 327: ...3008 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 328: ...ject but you can t get the material from it In these cases a radio button lets you use the material from the instanced geometry Only PArray lets you get the material from the distribution object IMPORTANT A particle system object like any other object can carry only a single material at any time Thus if you choose either Picked Emitter or Instanced Geometry an instance of the chosen material is ac...

Page 329: ...loud and Super Spray or Spray supports the Particle MBlur map Choose Rotation and Collision rollout Spin Axis Controls group Direction of Travel Mblur option In this same group set the Stretch spinner greater than 0 to stretch the particles as a percent of their length based on the particle Speed setting Use the correct type of particle MBlur works on all particle types except Constant and Facing ...

Page 330: ...top edge of the map at frame 15 The Distance spinner specifies the distance in units from birth that it takes to complete one mapping of a particle Thus if set to 50 as the particle moves along the normal vector it displays the bottom edge of the map at birth and the top edge at 50 units along the normal vector The one exception to this is when you use the Tetra particle type In this case each par...

Page 331: ...Fragment Materials group The thickness edges use the Edge ID number and the inner faces use Backside ID Thus by assigning a multi sub object material to the object based emitter you can specify a different material for the outer fragment surfaces the edges and the inner surfaces Note that the Outside ID spinner defaults to a value of 0 which means use whatever material is currently assigned Change...

Page 332: ...les are assigned sub materials in the same way as when Icon is chosen Instanced Geometry When used with Instanced Geometry particles each particle is assigned a sub material in exactly the same way as the source object so each particle looks just like the source object When used with other particle types the particles are assigned sub materials in the same way as when Icon is chosen NOTE Instanced...

Page 333: ...wns spinner at 1 and set the Multiplier to 2 3 Set the Direction Chaos spinner to 50 4 Drag the time slider slowly over frames 8 to 25 approximately At frame 10 two pyramids appear at the death of the original particle because of the Multiplier setting and move off in different directions because of the Direction Chaos setting All particles die after frame 20 because only one generation of spawned...

Page 334: ...icles to detect collisions with each other This can be useful when the particles are meant to model solid objects such as marbles Procedures Example To create particles that collide with each other 1 Create a Super Spray particle emitter and place a Deflector space warp on page 2757 a short distance from it with the surface of the deflector perpendicular to the stream of the particles Bind the def...

Page 335: ...ain This time the particles bounce off each other TIP InterParticle Collisions Deflector Binding and Bubble Noise do not get along well together Particles may leak through the deflector when these three are used together Instead of bubble motion use animated mapping Use facing particles with an animated map of a bubble where the bubble is smaller than the map size The bubble is animated moving aro...

Page 336: ... On the Create panel make sure the Geometry button is active and Particle Systems is chosen in the object category list then click Spray 2 Drag in a viewport to create the Spray emitter see Creating a Particle Emitter on page 3006 The emitter s direction vector points in the negative Z direction of the active construction plane For example if you create the emitter in the Top viewport the particle...

Page 337: ...p Viewport Count Maximum number of particles displayed in viewports at any given frame TIP Setting the viewport count less than the render count can improve viewport performance 3018 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 338: ...ts ticks are small plus signs Render group Tetrahedron Particles are rendered as long tetrahedrons with the length you specify in the Drop Size parameter Tetrahedron is the default setting for rendering It provides a basic simulation of water drops Facing Particles are rendered as square faces whose width and height equals the Drop Size Facing particles always face the camera or the user s perspec...

Page 339: ...The emitter specifies the area where particles appear in the scene It has a geometry you can display in viewports but it isn t renderable The emitter is displayed as a rectangle with a vector pointing out of one side The vector shows the direction in which the system emits particles Width and Length You implicitly set the initial value of these parameters when you drag in a viewport to create the ...

Page 340: ...tional features TIP To animate particles following a path through space use the Path Follow space warp on page 2717 Procedures To create snow 1 In the Create panel make sure the Geometry button is active and Particle Systems is selected from the object category drop down list then click Snow 2 Drag in a viewport to create the Snow emitter see Creating a Particle Emitter on page 3006 The emitter s ...

Page 341: ...Interface Particles group Viewport Count Maximum number of particles displayed in viewports at any given frame 3022 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 342: ...o not rotate at 1 they rotate the most The axis of rotation is generated randomly for each particle Tumble Rate Speed at which snowflakes rotate The greater the Tumble Rate the faster the rotation Flakes Dots or Ticks Select how particles are displayed in viewports The display setting does not affect how particles are rendered Flakes are star shaped snowflakes dots are points ticks are small plus ...

Page 343: ...h Rate parameter Constant When on Birth Rate is unavailable and the birth rate used equals the maximum sustainable rate When off Birth Rate is available Default on Turning Constant off does not mean that the birth rate varies automatically the birth rate remains constant unless you animate the Birth Rate parameter Emitter Group The emitter specifies the area where particles appear in the scene It ...

Page 344: ...tem Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop down list Object Type rollout Super Spray Create menu Particles Super Spray Super Spray emits a controlled spray of particles This particle system is like the simple Spray particle system with the added power provided by all the newer particle systems Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3025 ...

Page 345: ...e particles following a path through space use the Path Follow space warp on page 2717 Super Spray viewport icon emitter Particles emerging from a super spray system 3026 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 346: ...the various parameters to alter the spray effect Interface NOTE This section describes the Particle Formation group in the Basic Parameters rollout and the Particle Motion group in the Particle Generation rollout These are the only controls unique to Super Spray The other Super Spray rollouts and their contents are identical with those in Particle Array except that Object Fragments and associated ...

Page 347: ...he angle of the particle stream off the Z axis along the plane of the X axis Spread Affects the spread of the particles away from the emission vector along the plane of the X axis Off Plane Affects the angle of emission about the Z axis This has no effect if Off Axis is set to 0 3028 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 348: ...rticle at birth in units per frame Variation Applies a percentage of variation to the speed of emission for each particle Blizzard Particle System Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop down list Object Type rollout Blizzard Create menu Particles Blizzard This is an advanced version of the original Snow particle system Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3029 ...

Page 349: ... animate particles following a path through space use the Path Follow space warp on page 2717 Blizzard viewport icon emitter Snowflake particles in a blizzard 3030 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 350: ...e Motion group in the Particle Generation rollout and the Material Mapping and Source group in the Particle Type rollout These are the only controls unique to Blizzard The other Blizzard rollouts and their contents are identical with those in Particle Array except that Object Fragments and associated settings are not available on the Particle Type rollout See PArray on page 3042 for details or cho...

Page 351: ...s rollout in the Display Icon group Width and Length You implicitly set the initial value of these parameters when you drag in a viewport to create the emitter You can adjust the values on the rollout The space occupied by the particle system at any given time is the result of a combination of its initial parameters such as size of the emitter and speed and variation of emission and any space warp...

Page 352: ...Particle Generation rollout Particle Motion group Specifies the number size and motion of particles Speed The speed of the particle at birth in units per frame Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3033 ...

Page 353: ...Mapping and Source group Emitter Fit Planar Maps particles at birth based on their point of emission from the rectangular Blizzard emitter icon The UV range of the mapped material runs from 0 to 1 over the width and length of the emitter PCloud Particle System Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop down list Object Type rollout PCloud 3034 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Par...

Page 354: ... provide a flock of birds a starfield or a troupe of soldiers marching over terrain You can confine the particles using basic supplied volumes of a box sphere or cylinder or you can use any renderable object in the scene as a volume as long as that object has depth Two dimensional objects do not work with PCloud Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3035 ...

Page 355: ...osen as the object based emitter Hide it by using Hide Selected on the Display panel or by applying a Hide key in Track View PCloud viewport icon default emitter PCloud viewport icon object based emitter 3036 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 356: ...way as creating a box primitive First drag out the length and width then release the mouse button and move the mouse vertically to set the height and then click to finish The emitter appears with a letter C representing the particle cloud 3 Adjust the various parameters on the command panel Interface This section describes the Object Based Emitter Particle Formation and Display Icon groups in the ...

Page 357: ...age 3042 for details or choose from the following list for rollout information Particle Generation Rollout on page 3049 Particle Type Rollout on page 3053 Rotation and Collision Rollout on page 3063 Object Motion Inheritance Rollout on page 3066 Bubble Motion Rollout on page 3067 Particle Spawn Rollout on page 3069 Load Save Presets Rollout on page 3075 3038 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Sys...

Page 358: ...use as a particle emitter This object is used only when the Object Based Emitter option is chosen in the Particle Formation group Pick Object Click this and then select a renderable mesh object to be used as a custom emitter Object Displays the name of the picked object Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3039 ...

Page 359: ...an t stay with the emitter while it s moving If the emitter moves in a straight line this can give the appearance of the cloud moving with the emitter Display Icon group These options let you adjust the dimensions of the emitter icon when a custom object is not used as an emitter When a custom object is used you can still resize the Fill icon using these options Rad Len Adjusts the radius of a sph...

Page 360: ...rticle Random Direction One of three options that affect the direction of the particles This option emits particles in random directions Direction Vector Specifies the direction of the particles by a vector defined by the three X Y and Z spinners X Y Z Displays the particle direction vectors Reference Object Emits particles in the direction of the local Z axis of a specified object Object Displays...

Page 361: ...dom Direction PArray Particle System Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop down list Object Type rollout PArray Create menu Particles PArray Basket used as a distribution object for random particles over its surface The PArray Particle Array particle system provides two types of particle effects You can use it to emit particles using a selected geometric object as the ...

Page 362: ...t the particle type to Object Fragments and then apply a PBomb space warp on page 2712 See also Particle System Usage on page 3004 Using Materials with Particle Array on page 3007 Achieving Particle Motion Blur on page 3010 Using Mapped Materials with Particle Systems on page 3010 Using Multi Sub Object Materials with Particle Systems on page 3012 Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3043 ...

Page 363: ...s The particle system object does not appear in the rendered scene Its placement orientation or size in the scene has no influence on the particle effect To access the Particle Array parameters after creation open the Modify panel and select the particle system object or click any visible particles in the viewport To transform or otherwise modify the distribution object select the distribution obj...

Page 364: ...object with a more complex object of the same name Interface Basic Parameters Rollout PArray on page 3045 Particle Generation Rollout on page 3049 Particle Type Rollout on page 3053 Rotation and Collision Rollout on page 3063 Object Motion Inheritance Rollout on page 3066 Bubble Motion Rollout on page 3067 Particle Spawn Rollout on page 3069 Load Save Presets Rollout on page 3075 Basic Parameters ...

Page 365: ...ct Based Emitter group Pick Object After you create the particle system object the Pick Object button becomes available Click this button and then click to select an object in your scene The selected object becomes the object based emitter and is used either 3046 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 366: ...ices of the object At Distinct Points Places a specified number of emitter points randomly over the surface of the object Total Specifies the number of emitter points used when At Distinct Points is chosen At Face Centers Emits particles from the center of each triangular face Use Selected SubObjects With mesh based emitters and to a limited extent with patch based emitters limits the source of th...

Page 367: ...e however it doesn t actually emit particles so we re avoiding the term Icon Size Sets the overall size of the icon in units Icon Hidden When on the PArray icon is hidden in the viewports Note that the icon does not render in any case Default off Viewport Display group Specifies how the particles are displayed in the viewports Dots Displays the particles as dots Ticks Displays the particles as cro...

Page 368: ...lout SuperSpray Blizzard Parray PCloud Particle Generation rollout Select a SuperSpray Blizzard Parray PCloud emitter Modify panel Particle Generation rollout Items on this rollout control when and how quickly particles form how particles move and the size of the particles over time Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3049 ...

Page 369: ...can choose one of two methods by which the number of particles is determined over time These settings are unavailable if you set Particle Type in the Particle Type rollout on page 3053 to Object Fragments 3050 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 370: ...a percentage of variation to the speed of emission for each particle Divergence Applies an angular degree of variation by which each particle s velocity can vary from the emitter normal NOTE The initial direction for a fragment cluster is the normal of the cluster s seed face Clusters are created by choosing a single face the seed face and then creating a cluster outward from that face depending o...

Page 371: ...his prevents puffing in space This setting has no effect if Object Fragment particle type is on Default on Emitter Rotation If the emitter is rotating turn this on to avoid puffing and produce smooth spiral effects Default off IMPORTANT Each additional subframe sampling check box that you turn on progressively increases the necessary computation In addition the methods are listed in order of least...

Page 372: ... also applied after Variation Use this parameter to simulate natural effects such as sparks fading to ash Uniqueness group By changing the Seed value in this spinner you achieve different results using otherwise identical particle settings New Randomly generates a new seed value Seed Sets a specific seed value ParticleType Rollout Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop ...

Page 373: ...ain Right The same stream with various types of particles The controls on this rollout let you specify the type of particle used and the type of mapping performed on the particles 3054 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 374: ...Interface Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3055 ...

Page 375: ...nces of either an object a linked hierarchy of objects or a group The object is selected in the Instancing Parameters group on the Particle Type rollout Choose Instanced Geometry when you want particles to be identical instances of another object in your scene Instanced geometry particles are extremely effective for creating crowds flocks or flows of very detailed objects Here are a few examples I...

Page 376: ...regardless of its distance from the camera IMPORTANT You must render either a camera or a perspective view for Constant particles to render correctly Tetra Renders each particle as a mapped tetrahedron Use Tetra particles for raindrops or sparks The default alignment of the tetra particles depends on the particle system type and emitter setup To specify an alignment use controls in the Rotation an...

Page 377: ...isplays only those particles that are adjoining or contiguous to each other NOTE One Connected Blob mode speeds particle calculations but you should use it only when your metaparticles form one connected blob as the label indicates That is all particles blobs must be touching For example if you were to use One Connected Blob on a stream of particles containing a mass of 10 contiguous particles fol...

Page 378: ...the object based emitter The edges of the fragments are not smoothed The three options that follow specify how the object fragments All Faces Each face of the object becomes a particle This results in triangular particles Number of Chunks The object breaks into irregular fragments The Minimum spinner below specifies the minimum number of fragments that will appear The method of calculating the chu...

Page 379: ...Instancing Parameters group 3060 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 380: ...ect and its children become a particle If you pick a group all objects in the group are used as a particle Use Subtree Also Turn this on when you want to include the linked children of the picked object in the particle If the picked object is a group all children of the group are included Note that you can turn this on or off at any time to alter the particles Animation Offset Keying Because the i...

Page 381: ...ibed in the following section Get Material From Updates the material carried by the particle system using the source specified by the option buttons below this button IMPORTANT Remember to click Get Material From whenever you choose a different source option button or whenever you assign a new material to the specified source Only a single material or multi sub object material is carried by the pa...

Page 382: ...he fragments This spinner defaults to 0 which is not a valid ID number forcing the outside of the particle fragments to use whatever material is currently assigned to the associated faces Thus if your distribution object already has several submaterials assigned to its outer faces these materials are retained by using ID 0 If you want a single specific submaterial you can assign it by changing the...

Page 383: ...ur effects and control inter particle collisions Interface Spin Speed Controls group Spin Time The number of frames for one rotation of a particle If set to 0 no rotation takes place Variation The percent of variation of the Spin Time 3064 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 384: ...n group Thus if you set Stretch to 2 while Speed is set at 10 the particles are stretched 20 percent longer than their original size along the axis of their travel This spinner is available only when you choose Direction of Travel Mblur NOTE For best results when using Stretch you should also assign the Particle MBlur map as an opacity map of the material assigned to the particle system User Defin...

Page 385: ...ement are determined by the position and orientation of the emitter at the time the particle is created If the emitter is moving through the scene particles are scattered along the emitter s path Use these options to affect the motion of the particles by the motion of the emitter Procedures Example To observe object motion inheritance 1 Create a Super Spray particle system 2 Animate the emitter mo...

Page 386: ...ion This can be a positive or negative number Variation Provides a percentage of variation of the Multiplier value Bubble Motion Rollout Create panel Geometry button Choose Particle Systems from the drop down list Object Type rollout SuperSpray Parray PCloud Bubble Motion rollout Select a SuperSpray Parray PCloud emitter Modify panel Bubble Motion rollout Bubble motion provides the wobbling effect...

Page 387: ...riation The percent of Amplitude variation applied to each particle Period The cycle time for one complete oscillation of a particle through the bubble wave A recommended value might be 20 to 30 intervals NOTE Bubble motion is measured in time not in rate so a very large Period value means the motion takes a long time to complete Thus there is no motion effectively Period is therefore set to a ver...

Page 388: ...SuperSpray Blizzard Parray PCloud emitter Modify panel Particle Spawn rollout The options on the Particle Spawn rollout let you specify what happens to particles when they die or when they collide with a particle deflector Using the options on this rollout you can have particles generate additional generations of particles upon collision or death Non Event Driven Particle Systems 3069 ...

Page 389: ...Interface Particle Spawning Effects group Choose one of these options to determine what happens to the particles at either collision or death 3070 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 390: ...he number of particles that are spawned from each particle The base direction of the spawned particles is opposite that of the parent s velocity The Scale Direction and Speed Chaos factors are applied to that base direction NOTE If the Multiplier is greater than 1 at least one of the three Chaos factors must be greater than 0 in order to see the additional spawned particles Otherwise the multiples...

Page 391: ...ir parents speed Factor This is the range of a percentage of change in the speed of the spawned particle relative to its parent A value of 0 means no change Slow Applies the speed factor randomly to slow the speed of the spawned particles Fast Randomly speeds up particles based on the speed factor Both Some particles speed up while others slow down based on the speed factor Inherit Parent Velocity...

Page 392: ... parents based on the Factor value Up Randomly scales up spawned particles to be larger than their parents Both Scales spawned particles both larger and smaller than their parents Use Fixed Value Uses the Factor value as a fixed value rather than a range of values LifespanValue Queue group These options let you specify a list of alternative lifespan values for each spawned generation of particles ...

Page 393: ...n instanced object particles with each spawning as set with the Spawns spinner These options are available only if Instanced Geometry is the current particle type List window Displays a list of objects to be instanced as particles The first object on the list is used for the first spawning the second for the second spawning and so on If there are fewer objects on the list than there are spawnings ...

Page 394: ...ct another PArray system and load the preset values into the new system Interface Preset Name An editable field in which you can define a name for your settings Click the Save button to save the preset name Saved Presets Contains all the saved preset names A number of presets are included with 3ds Max to see what they do create a particle system load a preset and play back the animation Some of th...

Page 395: ...Preset Name field and places it in the Saved Presets window Delete Deletes the selected items in the Save Presets window NOTE Animated parameter values subsequent to frame 0 are not stored 3076 Chapter 14 Space Warps and Particle Systems ...

Page 396: ...A powerful method for creating sophisticated procedural animation is covered in Wire Parameters on page 3322 For animating characters both humanoid and other as well as complex mechanical assemblies it s important to know about Hierarchies and Kinematics on page 3330 Track View on page 3503 gives you access to powerful tools for analyzing and editing animation Animation Utilities on page 3795 can ...

Page 397: ...tion for the selected objects in the viewport Animation is used throughout 3ds Max You can animate the position rotation and scale of an object and almost any parameter setting that affects an object s shape and surface You can link objects for hierarchical animation using both forward and inverse kinematics and you can edit your animation in Track View on page 3503 This section discusses the basi...

Page 398: ...One minute of animation might require between 720 and 1800 separate images depending on the quality of the animation Creating images by hand is a big job That s where the technique of keyframing comes in Most of the frames in an animation are routine incremental changes from the previous frame directed toward some goal Traditional animation studios realized they could increase the productivity of ...

Page 399: ... keyframes that record the beginning and end of each animated sequence The values at these keyframes are called keys The software calculates the interpolated values between each key to produce the completed animation 3ds Max can animate just about any parameter in your scene You can animate modifier parameters such as a Bend angle or a Taper amount material parameters such as the color or transpar...

Page 400: ...tion frame by frame This is okay if you always work in a single format or do not need to specify an animated effect at a precise time Unfortunately animation comes in many formats Two of the more common formats are film at 24 frames per second FPS and NTSC video on page 8059 at 30 FPS Also the need for accurate time based animation versus frame based animation is critical as animation becomes more...

Page 401: ...g traditional frames format See Time Configuration on page 7565 Many of the examples in the following sections describe time using the frames method for the sake of tradition and familiarity Keep in mind that you are really animating using a very precise time based method and frames aren t created until you instruct the software to render your animation Identifying AnimationTools You can locate th...

Page 402: ...e and play animations in the viewports The time controls documented in Animation and Time Controls on page 7548 include Time slider on page 7528 Auto Key button on page 7549 Set Key buttons on page 7552 Animation playback buttons on page 7561 Current frame field on page 7563 Key Mode toggle on page 7564 Time Configuration button on page 7565 To get started with animation see Using Auto Key Mode on...

Page 403: ...animatable parameter For example if you have a cylinder that has not been animated yet it has no keys If you turn on Auto Key and at frame 20 you rotate the cylinder 90 degrees about its Y axis rotation keys are created at frames 0 and 20 The key at frame 0 stores the original orientation of the cylinder while the key at frame 20 stores the animated orientation of 90 degrees When you play the anim...

Page 404: ... amount of change is applied equally across all the animation keys For example you might animate a sphere s radius to be 15 at frame 0 30 at frame 10 and 50 at frame 20 If you drag the time slider to frame 10 turn Auto Key off and increase the sphere s radius from 30 to 40 the change in the radius is applied to the other two keys as well Because you increased the radius by 10 units with Auto Key o...

Page 405: ...ng straight ahead in time Pose to pose animation is created by drawing the important frames first extremes and breakdowns and then the intervening frames are filled in later Once a character has been correctly drawn for a specific frame pose to pose animation requires that all the keyable tracks needs to be keyframed This creates a pose of the character that will not be affected if animation for t...

Page 406: ...imation For example if you find that you have a posed character but at the wrong frame in time you can hold down Shift and the right mouse button and drag the time slider to the correct frame without losing your pose Using Set Key with Inverse Kinematics Choosing IK Parameters in Key Filters allows you to use Set Key to keyframe inverse kinematics This lets you set keys for IK goals and end effect...

Page 407: ...n set keyboard shortcuts to clear the Set Key buffer as well as create keys on just a single axis for a transform Using Set Key with Sub Object Animation When using Set Key with sub object animation you must first assign a controller before creating a key Sub objects do not have a default controller assigned upon creation The controller is assigned by animating at the sub object level Other Method...

Page 408: ...e Key Filters button to work on individual tracks selectively For example if you are in Track View and the Rotation and Position tracks of a character s arm are keyable you can use the key filters to turn off the Position filter and only work on the Rotation tracks 6 Move the time slider to another point in time transform your objects or adjust parameters in the command panels to create animation ...

Page 409: ...or which you need to set keys 2 On the Key Filters dialog click All 3 Click the Set Keys button or press K on the keyboard Spinner Right Click Menu To open the spinner right click menu right click the editable field of an animatable parameter This menu provides options for cutting copying and pasting values wires and animation tracks between various object parameters It also allows you to show the...

Page 410: ...r best results first click in the field and then right click the field and choose Select All Copy Animation Copies the animation controller including all animation keys to a buffer which you can then assign elsewhere by pasting Paste Animation Copy Assigns a copy of animation controller in the buffer to the right clicked field Paste Animation Instance Assigns an instance on page 8014 of the copied...

Page 411: ...ed to show the selected parameter Viewing and CopyingTransform Keys The viewports display white brackets around objects that have transform keys at the current time These key brackets only appear in viewports using the wireframe shading method Use the Track View to view all key types You can also see all keys for the current selection in the track bar on page 7531 For example suppose you animate a...

Page 412: ...ation panel on page 7772 CreatingTransform Keys with theTime Slider You can use the time slider on page 7528 to create transform keys by copying transform values from one time to another To specify the type of key to create and the source and destination time for the key values right click the time slider to display the Create Key dialog Viewing and Copying Transform Keys 3093 ...

Page 413: ... Source time uses the frame number that you were on when you pressed the mouse button and the Destination time accepts the frame number that you move the time slider to When Set Key mode is on you can right click and drag the time slider to move to another frame in time without losing your character pose If you find you have posed your character on the wrong frame simply right click and drag the t...

Page 414: ...the dialog 5 Optional Select a key 6 Alt right click the object you re animating NOTE The Auto Key button need not be on 7 From the quad menu that appears choose Create Position Lock Key You can also create keyboard shortcuts for these two commands Create Position Lock Key and Create Rotation Lock Key are main user interface shortcuts See Keyboard Shortcuts on page 7857 ControllingTime You create ...

Page 415: ...n seconds and minutes You can specify different time display formats using the Time Configuration dialog on page 7565 Time Display group settings When you change the time display format you not only change the way that time is shown in all parts of the software but you also change the method with which you access time You can use these time display formats 3096 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 416: ...plays time in minutes MM seconds SS and ticks delineated by colons For example 2 16 2240 represents 2 minutes 16 seconds and 2 240 ticks SettingTime Segments The active time segment specifies a block of working time You might think of it as a window in time that you use to focus on a specific part of your animation Specifying an ActiveTime Segment You specify the active time segment by setting the...

Page 417: ...ive time segment boundaries For example say you have an animation from frame 0 to frame 300 and an active time segment starting at frame 100 and ending at frame 200 Use Re scale Time to set the new Start Time to frame 200 and the new End Time to frame 250 Clicking OK gives you the following result Animation in the active time segment moves forward 100 frames and shrinks to a length of 50 frames Th...

Page 418: ...100 frames The current time also appears in the current time field If your scene has been animated it s played back in all viewports as you drag the time slider You can use the and keys on the keyboard to advance the time slider a frame at a time When Key mode is on this will advance to the next keyframe Moving to an ExactTime The Current Time field always displays the current time You can also en...

Page 419: ...at frame rate and your animation is now set to 75 frames of output No change in the timing of your animation has occurred Only the number of frames that 3ds Max will display and render has changed Setting the Frame Rate You use the settings in the Time Configuration dialog on page 7565 Frame Rate group to switch back and forth between frame rates at any time NTSC U S and Japanese video standard of...

Page 420: ...gs including the complexity of the scene the number of objects moving in the scene the geometry display mode and so on The worst case is a camera move in shaded mode in which the viewport is filled with detailed geometry In such cases it s best to simplify the viewport display using either wireframe display or in extreme cases box display mode Naturally it takes more computing power to display you...

Page 421: ...e differently than TCB rotations If you are used to using TCB controllers you can reassign TCB Rotation as the controller and you will get the same behavior you are used to 3ds Max has a specialized type of controller called a constraint that is commonly used to help automate the animation process A constraint can be used to control an object s position rotation or scale through a binding relation...

Page 422: ...Sheet mode you can view and work with the controllers for all objects and all parameters See Track View on page 3503 Motion panel Contains special tools for working with transform controllers The Motion panel contains many of the same controller functions as the Curve Editor plus controls necessary for working with special controllers such as IK Solvers Using the Motion panel you can view and work...

Page 423: ...gnable from the Animation Constraints submenu For more information see Animation Constraints on page 3287 NOTE If you assign a controller using the Animation Controller submenu a list controller is automatically applied to the object with the selected controller applied beneath the list controller This is different than controllers that are applied via the Motion panel Viewing ControllerTypes You ...

Page 424: ...yframes For this type of controller you can analyze and change your animation by editing controller parameters by means of a Properties dialog The controller type determines whether or not the controller displays a properties dialog and the type of information displayed Using Curve Editor you can view controller properties dialogs for multiple tracks simultaneously The following rules govern viewi...

Page 425: ...are always single parameter controllers such as a Bezier Float controller for Height or TCB for Rotation These controllers use a Key Info dialog that contains settings for one of more selected keys To view key information in the Curve Editor Right click a key to display the Key Info dialog If more than one key is highlighted Key Info displays common information for all of the selected keys Setting...

Page 426: ...se from multiple controller types for any parameter and change controllers after the parameter is animated Assigning Controllers inTrackView You can assign controllers to any animatable parameter in the Curve Editor by selecting controller items and then choosing Assign Controller on the Controller menu You can also assign controllers to any animatable parameter in the Track View Curve Editor by s...

Page 427: ...y going to the menu bar and choosing Animation and then selecting the type of Controller you want and picking the controller from the submenu that displays When you assign a controller in this method a list controller is automatically assigned and the controller you have selected appears as the first entry in the list This automatic list controller assignment does not occur if you assign controlle...

Page 428: ...aste a copied controller into one or more controllers using the same data type You can choose to make an instance or a copy of the pasted controller You can choose to convert other controller instances in the scene automatically Clicking Paste displays the Paste dialog with three controls for determining how the Paste operation is carried out Copy Pastes the controller as a copy Instance Pastes th...

Page 429: ...different parameters might share the same data type For example selecting the Length parameter of a Box and specifying Linear Float as the default sets the default controller for all parameters that use the Float data type This includes Width Camera FOV and Scale Deformation Curves Default controller choices are written to the 3dsmax ini file and become the default for all new scenes Previously as...

Page 430: ... can also revert to the original program defaults for all controllers by clicking Preference Settings dialog Animation panel Controller Defaults group Restore To Factory Settings General Purpose Controllers The following controllers are general purpose in that you can apply them to parameters of different data types yet they behave in essentially the same way for those different parameters Within ...

Page 431: ...al based animation over a range of frames Noise controllers are parametric they do not use keys Noise controllers have many possible uses as in the following examples Use Noise whenever you need completely random animation around a given value For example use a Noise Rotation controller when you want an object to wobble in place A common use for a noise controller is the creation of camera shake U...

Page 432: ... page 3194 combines multiple controllers into a single effect It is a compound controller with tools for managing the order in which its internal controllers are calculated List controllers are weighted by animating the weights of the different layers you can create an effective non linear animation system Use List controllers to combine controllers as in the following examples Combine Noise Rotat...

Page 433: ...ion capture controller open the controller Properties dialog and bind the type of peripheral device and set device parameters Use the Motion Capture utility on page 3798 to test and record captured motion Explicit Axis Keys The XYZ controllers assign an individual track to the X Y and Z components of the position rotation or scale of an object However the controllers always assign three keys one f...

Page 434: ...u want to use them Key Position X Y or Z Creates an explicit key on the designated position axis Key Rotation X Y or Z Creates an explicit key on the designated rotation axis Key Scale X Y or Z Creates an explicit key on the designated scale axis Float Controllers The following controllers are available only for parameters that use the Float data type On Off Controller An On Off controller on page...

Page 435: ... and behavior of the controllers used for Position Rotation and Scale You assign Transform controllers using either Track View Curve Editor or the Motion panel Compound Transform controllers do not display properties in Track View You can access the parameters of Transform controllers only in the Motion panel Position Rotation Scale Controller The Position Rotation Scale PRS controller on page 322...

Page 436: ...hen you assign this controller to your object it nests the source controller making it only accessible for playback You can use the XRef controller either on its own or combine it with an XRef Object on page 6936 Controlling Position Below the Transform controller on page 7908 is the Position controller Position is a data type that can use most of the standard controllers such as Bezier TCB and No...

Page 437: ...mation can be difficult to understand Quaternion rotation controllers do not display function curves in Track View Curve Editor For this reason Euler XYZ is now the default rotation controller assigned to all objects You can use the following controllers only as rotation controllers Smooth Rotation Use Smooth Rotation on page 3253 when you want rotation to have a smooth and natural look Smooth rot...

Page 438: ...he reason Reassign TCB rotation as the default rotation controller and you will be able to regain your customary workflow Controlling Colors You can animate colors in 3ds Max just like most other parameters Two data types are available for controlling colors Point3 A general purpose three component data type that works with RGB color values It uses most of the standard controllers Color A special ...

Page 439: ...n a Color RGB controller on page 3149 to break a Color controller into three separate Bezier Float controllers Each of the R G and B components of color uses its own track Use the Color RGB controller when you want to have separate key patterns or controller types for each color component Morph Controllers You can choose from two morph controllers Cubic and Barycentric they manage how morph target...

Page 440: ... Morph key represents a new object which is a blending of all targets You can adjust each morph key to percentages of the available morph targets creating subtle adjustments in the animation You can also click Add Keys in Track View to create new Barycentric Morph keys The added keys contain interpolated values for all targets Motion Panel Commands Trajectories Select an object Motion panel Trajec...

Page 441: ... on the path Convert the path to a spline object Derive a new path from a spline object Collapse transforms Values under Sample Range are used in the Spline Conversion and Collapse Transform functions NOTE You can assign the four principal Trajectories functions to keyboard shortcuts and other custom UI items The following actions are available via Customize User Interface on page 7697 Trajectory ...

Page 442: ...llowing the previous steps 3 In the Motion panel click Trajectories 4 Click Sub Object to activate Keys and enable editing 5 Click Add Key The button highlights 6 Click the trajectory Wherever you click the trajectory a key will be added 7 Right click the key and select Key Info from the right click menu In the Key Info dialog you can change the In and Out values for the in betweens on either side...

Page 443: ...tate or scale the selected keys Interface Sub Object Enables key editing Use the Move Rotate and Scale transforms to change the location of a key s displayed on a trajectory Trajectories rollout Delete Key Deletes the selected key s from the trajectory Add Key Adds key s to the trajectory This is a modeless tool When you click this button once you can then add any number of keys by clicking the tr...

Page 444: ... from spline objects This enables you to create a spline trajectory for an object and then convert that spline to keyframes for that object s position track in order to do various keyframe specific functions such as applying constant velocity to the keys and normalizing the time Or you can convert an object s position keyframes into a spline object TIP Convert To and Convert From can be used to mo...

Page 445: ...cale Procedures To create a PRS transform key 1 Select an object in the viewports 2 Drag the time slider to the frame where you want to place a key 3 On the Motion panel choose Parameters PRS Parameters rollout 4 Click one of the following buttons under Create Key PRS Parameters rollout Click Position to create a Position key Click Rotation to create a Rotation key Click Scale to create a Scale ke...

Page 446: ...outs that appear below the PRS Parameters rollout on the Motion panel Key Info Basic Rollout Dialog Select an animated object Motion panel Parameters Key Info Basic rollout Select an animated object Right click a key on the track bar Choose a controller track Make a selection Hierarchy panel IK button Key Info Basic rollout Curve Editor Right click a key Parameter Collector on page 347 Click a Pro...

Page 447: ...e dialog to select a key 3 Choose a tangent type from the In or Out tangent flyouts Interface Key number Shows the current key number Click the right or left arrows to go to the next or previous key Time Specifies at what time the key occurs Time Lock Prevents horizontal key movement in Track View Edit modes Value Adjusts the position of the selected object at the current key 3128 Chapter 15 Anima...

Page 448: ...current key or between the tangents of the previous and next key The left arrow of the In tangent copies to the Out tangent of the previous key The right arrow of the In tangent copies to the Out tangent of the current key The left arrow of the Out tangent copies to the In tangent of the current key The right arrow of the Out tangent copies to the In tangent of the next key TangentTypes Key Info B...

Page 449: ...r the In tangent of the current key also sets the Out tangent of the previous key to Step Likewise choosing Step for the Out tangent of the current key also changes the In tangent of the next key to Step Using Step tangents the outgoing value of a key is held constant until the time of the next key is reached The value then abruptly jumps to the value of the next key Use this tangent when you want...

Page 450: ...key in track bar Choose the name of the controller track such as Sphere01 Z Position Key Info dialog Click Advanced Parameter Collector on page 347 Click a Properties button Key Info dialog Click Advanced The Key Info Advanced rollout or dialog lets you control velocity in three ways You can specify the absolute velocity at a key using the In Out fields You can average velocity over a time period ...

Page 451: ...nly for keys using the Custom tangent type on page 3129 The number in the field is the rate of change expressed as parameter units per tick By changing the two values for X Y and Z you are changing the length and angle of the tangent handle Lock button Changes one Custom tangent by changing the other an equal but opposite amount For example if you click the Lock button and the In value is 0 85 the...

Page 452: ...ontroller Select an object Motion panel Assign Controller rollout Select a track Assign Controller Choose a controller in the dialog Controllers like constraints on page 3287 handle the animation tasks in a scene including Storing animation key values Storing procedural animation settings Interpolating between animation key values An object or parameter doesn t receive a controller until you anima...

Page 453: ...rs on page 3138 Barycentric Morph Controller on page 3137 Block Controller on page 3142 Boolean Controller on page 3147 Color RGB Controller Point3 XYZ Controller on page 3149 Euler XYZ Rotation Controller on page 3151 Expression Controller on page 3154 Inverse Kinematics IK on page 3374 Layer Controller on page 3162 Limit Controller on page 3181 Linear Controller on page 3193 List Controller on p...

Page 454: ... page 3101 Animation Constraints on page 3287 Audio Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Audio Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Audio Use the Audio controller to drive the animation of almost any parameter in the softw...

Page 455: ...Scale controller The Audio Controller dialog appears 4 Select Choose Sound and select a wav file 5 In the Base Scale group set the Z field to 0 6 In the Target Scale group set the Z field to 600 7 Close the Audio Controller dialog and play the animation The box scale is animated along the Z axis TIP If you want to hear the sound as the animation plays include the same audio file in the Sound Track...

Page 456: ...s a series of weights for all targets One barycentric key represents a new object which is a blending of all targets You can adjust each morph key to various percentages of the available morph targets This lets you create subtle adjustments in the animation You can add keys between existing morph keys The added keys contain interpolated values for all targets To access the key properties dialog se...

Page 457: ...hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Bezier The Bezier controller is the most versatile controller available in the program Bezier controllers interpolate between keys using an adjustable spline curve They are the default controller for most parameters Use Bezier controllers whenever you want fully adjustable interpolation between keys Bezier is the only controller that supports th...

Page 458: ...out is available by right clicking a key in Track View or the track bar Key number Shows the current key number Click the right or left arrows to go to the next or previous key Time Specifies when in time the key occurs Time Lock Controls dragging the key horizontally in Track View edit modes X Y Z Adjusts the position of the selected object at the current key Key Tangent Two flyouts set the inter...

Page 459: ...nt of the current key The right arrow of the Out tangent copies to the In tangent of the next key Choosing Bezier Tangent Types Sets the tangent types for one or more keys in the same track using the In and Out tangent flyouts Bezier Scale Controller Lock X Causes the X value to affect all three axes of scale The Y and Z values are ignored and their function curves are not displayed When X is lock...

Page 460: ...consecutive blocks of selected keys Useful if you want to smooth out the motion and have an object that speeds up slows down speeds up and slows down Constant Velocity Interpolates values between a key and the next one in a way that makes the object move at a constant velocity across that curve segment Free Handle Used for automatically updating the length of the tangent handle When this is turned...

Page 461: ...otations of the fingers and hand can be saved as a block This block can then be used to recreate the hand and finger position rotation and animation whenever the chord is played in an animation Essentially block controllers allow you to build up libraries of animations and apply them to objects as you choose TIP Euler Rotations will give you better results than TCB Rotation controllers when you ar...

Page 462: ...acks in blocks saved previously can be mapped to tracks in the current scene Slave Parameters Dialog Slave Controller Every time a block is created all tracks within the block are assigned a slave controller which allows the MasterBlock to transfer key data The slave controller tracks appear with the original tracks you used to create the block See Slave Parameters dialog on page 3284 MasterBlock ...

Page 463: ...obal Tracks expand Block Control and then select Available Available is the track below the Block Control track 4 From the Track View toolbar choose Controller menu Assign select Master Block in the dialog and then click OK The Master Block Parameters dialog automatically displays 5 Click Add on the Master Block Parameters dialog 6 On the Track View Pick dialog expand the tracks for the two animat...

Page 464: ...sted under the block name This allows you to adjust the data for a particular block Example continued To use a block 1 In the Dope Sheet Key window right click the MasterBlock track A pop up menu displays the name of blocks already created 2 Select the name of the block you created earlier The Block is displayed in the Key window 3 Drag the Block to start at frame 20 and click Play The animation r...

Page 465: ...le track You can right click the track in the Key window This displays a pop up menu that shows the name of blocks that have been created Choosing a block inserts the block into the MasterBlock track The dialog also has an entry Properties that displays the Master Block Parameters dialog In the MasterBlock track inserted blocks display as colored rectangles The name of the block appears at the cen...

Page 466: ...r to the On Off controller on page 3217 By default it is assigned to tracks such as an object s Visibility track that provide only binary on and off control NOTE The Boolean controller is useful for controlling the Enabled state in the History Independent HI IK system on page 3407 It differs from the On Off controller in two ways first each key has its own float value either 1 0 or 0 0 signifying ...

Page 467: ...s 1 Open Track View s Dope Sheet editor and select any track that would normally be assigned a float or boolean class controller 2 Right click and select Assign Controller Pick the Boolean controller from the Assign Controller dialog and click OK 3 From the main Track View toolbar select the Add Keys button and click anywhere on the selected track New keys with a value of 0 0 are added To change B...

Page 468: ...ck View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Color RGB Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a material color track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Color RGB The Color RGB controller splits the R G and B components into three separate tracks You can use this controller with color tracks By default each track is assigned a Bezier Float c...

Page 469: ...he red track at frames 0 50 100 7 Right click one of the keys to display the Bezier Float dialog Change the key values to 0 400 and 0 respectively To see the background color change move the time slider to the same frame as the key that is being adjusted and render the scene To see the color change in an animated fashion you must render the animation Although you can set values over 255 in the val...

Page 470: ...omponents of position rotation and scale transforms However the controller assigns three keys one for each axis by default To avoid this you can use Customize User Interface on page 7697 actions to create explicit axis keys These are available in the Main UI group Set Key Tools category The Gimbal reference coordinate system on page 973 is intended for use with this controller With other coordinat...

Page 471: ...s This sets the Amplitude setting to 5729 598 the number of degrees in 100 radians Euler Rotation and the Noise Float Controller When a Noise Float controller is applied to an Euler axis the default Strength setting is 286 479 or 50 percent of 10 radians in degrees maximum deflection Euler Rotation and the MIDI Motion Capture Controller When a MIDI Motion Capture controller is applied the Paramete...

Page 472: ...ware by combining a list controller with an Euler XYZ rotation controller 1 Select the object for which you want to have local rotational control For example create a teapot and a dummy 2 Animate the dummy 3 Open the Motion Panel 4 In the Assign Controller rollout select the Rotation transform then assign a LookAt controller to teapot with the dummy assigned as the LookAt Target You now have an ob...

Page 473: ...Y Z order where the X axis is rotated first X Displays controller properties for X axis rotation angle Y Displays controller properties for Y axis rotation angle Z Displays controller properties for Z axis rotation angle Each axis uses its own independent controller using the float data type For example the X and Y Rotation axes could use Bezier Float controllers while the Z rotation axis uses a N...

Page 474: ...returns a value 3ds Max evaluates the expression once for each frame of an animation generating values that can change from frame to frame You can create and manage Expression controllers in Track View on page 3503 and on the Motion panel on page 7663 You can assign expressions to the following kinds of scene elements Controller Scene element Any numeric creation parameter Creation parameters Posi...

Page 475: ...3 On the dialog enter the new value or in the case of a vector values for the constant and then click OK To assign a controller to a variable 1 Highlight the variable name in the Scalars or Vectors list 2 Click Assign To Controller The Track View Pick subdialog is displayed showing the track hierarchy The dialog display is similar to the Track View hierarchy 3 Highlight the track for the variable ...

Page 476: ...rmalized time Movement based on NT happens exactly once per the active time segment regardless of how many frames are in the animation 7 Click Evaluate 8 Play the animation The sphere moves in a circle about the world origin 0 0 0 The radius of the circular path is 100 units Example continued To change the radius of the circle The two 100s in the position expression from the previous procedure spe...

Page 477: ...ct the sphere 3 In the Name field of the Expression Controller dialog enter boxposn Choose Vector and then click Create The name boxposn is displayed in the Vectors list in the lower left area of the dialog Variable names are case sensitive the variable name should be lower case 4 Click Assign to Controller The Track View Pick dialog is displayed It shows the object hierarchy as it appears in the ...

Page 478: ...es the highlighted variable in the Scalar or Vector list Rename Renames the highlighted variable in the Scalar or Vector list First highlight the variable in the list this places the name in the Name field Edit the name in the Name field and then click Rename the new name replaces the previous one in the list Variable Parameters group Tick Offset Contains an offset value A tick is 1 4800 of a seco...

Page 479: ... Debug window This window shows the values of all variables and the value of the expression When you change the variables or move the time slider the Debug window automatically updates so you can interactively view what s happening with the expression The values for frames F normalized time NT secs S and ticks T are also displayed Evaluate Evaluate the expression for each frame in the animation Th...

Page 480: ...s NT or S If you make the two Radius values unequal you get an elliptical path If you specify a nonzero Z component the path is no longer planar Following Another Object X Y Z Position where Position is the Position controller of the second object The vector X Y Z can be an offset from the second object If it s 0 0 0 the two objects occupy the same position It can also be a vector expression that ...

Page 481: ... of segments When the camera is closer more segments make the cylinder smoother when the camera is distant the smoothing is less important and fewer segments render more quickly The if function returns its second argument if the first argument is true otherwise it returns its third argument In this example if the camera is more than 35 units away from the cylinder the expression calculates the num...

Page 482: ...94 dialog You can refer to it for complementary informations on some of the options Animation Layers and AutodeskVIZ Although the Animation Layers feature is not available in Autodesk VIZ VIZ can load and save objects that use this feature without any data loss The Layer controllers continue to exist in VIZ and can even be viewed and edited in Track View although editing of the animation layer dat...

Page 483: ...ose Enables blending among controllers in the list Available only when you assign a Layer controller to a rotation track Default off Refer to the List controller on page 3194 for more information on this option Blend Euler As Quat When on exposes the rotation axis order for blending the Euler controllers which can prove useful for controlling gimbal on page 967 Available only when you assign a Lay...

Page 484: ...tem on page 4403 while it is more flexible and simpler for the animators to use Enabling Animation Layers When you enable animation layers on page 3176 for a selected object by turning them on in the Enable Anim Layers dialog 3ds Max assigns a Layer controller on page 3162 to the animation tracks When 3ds Max adds a Layer controller it copies the original controller into its first layer called Bas...

Page 485: ...ers toolbar However if your object contains more than one animation layer you first need to either delete or collapse them before you can disable the Base Layer TIP You can also disable a Layer controller through the Layer Controller dialog on page 3162 NOTE Turning off a track in the Enable Anim Layers dialog does not disable it You can assign a Layer controller either at the leaf level of a cont...

Page 486: ...ollows Refer to the procedure section below on page 3170 for common workflow examples The list displays all existing layers for the selected object If the object isn t layer enabled Enable Layers appears instead By default the Base Layer is the active layer when you first layer enable an object This means that it stores all future animation keys Every subsequent layer you create becomes the new ac...

Page 487: ...ble on the drop down list You can turn on or off any layer in the expanded list by clicking its light bulb icon Turning off a layer hides its animation without deleting it To toggle a layer click its light bulb icon You can include or exclude any layer from the output track by clicking its plus minus sign icon The output track contains the sum of all included layers You can use this track to contr...

Page 488: ...oller on page 3194 you can animate a layer s weight and toggle the visibility of the resulting keys in the Track Bar using the Track Bar Filter menu on page 7538 When you add a new animation layer on page 3180 you can pick a name already in use by an existing layer this links both layers weight track which is now instanced Using Merged or XRef Scenes Containing Layers When you merge on page 7058 o...

Page 489: ...on every frame If one controller type is TCB Quaternion and the other is Bezier Euler If the Blend Euler As Quat option of the Layer Controller dialog on page 3162 is turned on and both rotation controllers are Euler driven If the Blend Euler As Quat option of the Layer controller is turned off and both rotation controllers are Euler driven but both have different tangent types If either controlle...

Page 490: ...he previous procedure in which you enabled layers for an animated object 1 Click Add Anim Layer on the Animation Layers toolbar 2 On the Create New Animation Layer dialog enter Noise Layer as name and click OK This adds the new animation layer under the Base Layer in the hierarchy list 3 In the hierarchy window of the Curve Editor on page 3518 Highlight Noise Layer and right click it 4 From the co...

Page 491: ...3 Drag the time slider and notice how the teapot does not shake anymore 4 Try turning on and off both layers in the list to see the results Example To link two objects with wire parameters using the Layer Controller s output track This procedure refers to a simple way to use the output track to control a cube s position through wire parameters It continues from the previous procedure 1 Make sure b...

Page 492: ...ose the X Output Track from the pop up menu 6 The Parameter Wiring dialog on page 3324 opens with the two highlighted parameters Click the left directional arrow button to control the cube s position using the teapot s animation Layer Controller 3173 ...

Page 493: ...ect the teapot and expand the layer list from the Animation Layers toolbar 9 Click the plus sign icon next to the Noise Layer This excludes the layer from the output track 10 Drag the time slider again The cube doesn t move erratically like the teapot Try including and excluding both layers in the list to see the results 3174 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 494: ...anges on Z axis as name and click OK This new layer becomes the active layer 4 While Auto Key is on move the teapot on the Z axis at frames 5 and 20 This animation update only affects the position tracks of the active layer Example To collapse a layer This procedure continues from the previous procedure 1 In the animation layers list turn off Noise Layer Then choose Changes on Z axis to make it ac...

Page 495: ...ialog which similar to the Set Key Filters dialog on page 3086 lets you turn on tracks you want to assign a Layer controller to The Position Rotation and Scale tracks are on by default NOTE Once you turn on a track you can turn it off only by disabling the respective Layer controller If you enable animation layers for an object that has animation loaded in the Motion Mixer on page 3698 the followi...

Page 496: ...loaded automatically and no additional mapping is required However if you turn off Automatically Create The New Map Files before clicking OK no map files are generated and the next time you open the scene file you re prompted to create map files Without map files the animation doesn t appear correctly Select Active Layer Objects Selects all objects in your scene containing the active layer animati...

Page 497: ...e copied data NOTE You cannot paste a copied layer from one object onto another Paste New Layer Creates a new layer with the copied layer s controller type and animation keys Opens the Rename Anim Layer dialog in which you can use the default layer name or enter your own Collapse Anim Layer Collapses the active layer to the one below it as long as it is not turned off If it is the collapsed layer ...

Page 498: ...Euler XYZ controller for a Rotation track Linear or TCB On collapse the resulting track is assigned either a Linear controller for Position and Scale tracks or a TCB controller for a Rotation track Default On collapse the resulting track is assigned a default controller based on the original controller track Refer to Specifying Default Controllers on page 3110 for more details Per Frame Collapse R...

Page 499: ...w Animation Layer Dialog Right click unused area of any toolbar Animation Layers Create New Animation Layer This dialog lets you choose both the name and controller type of the new layer Interface Layer Name Lists all available layers in your scene You can use the default name enter a custom name or pick one from the list If you choose an existing layer from the list it inherits that layer s name ...

Page 500: ...an t bend backward Basically once a track is limited and the limit is active you can t set a value for the track beyond the limit You can apply a Limit controller to any other type of controller the limited controller that is the original controller then appears as a child of the Limit controller in the Track View hierarchy The Limit controller lets you specify upper and lower limits to available ...

Page 501: ... rotation of the hand but limit the rotation of the wrist twist or hand to stop short of any flipping that might occur Prevent unnatural translation of a spline IK helper by causing limit values for its local position tracks to react to the angle or distance of the helper from surrounding helpers React to when IK is disabled and match the limits of the solver in FK Limit the position of the IK cha...

Page 502: ...ent past frame 100 Limitations of the Limit Controller It s important to be aware of the following limitations of Limit controllers Limit controllers do not limit IK joints All IK solvers use their own limits and ignore Limit controllers Interactive IK uses the current controllers but it also has its own limits so using Limit controllers with interactive IK will produce unpredictable results The L...

Page 503: ...ccept the defaults by closing the dialog The track retains its original name X Position in this example but the icon has changed to indicate that it s now a Limit controller and is expandable see illustration in following step 3 Expand the track The hierarchy contains a child track named Limited Controller and a new expandable child branch named Limits 4 Click the X Position track and then the Lim...

Page 504: ... 5 Scrub the animation until the X axis position is where you want to set a limit In this example the position is about 20 where we ll set a lower limit 6 Highlight the X Position track and then right click and from the right click menu choose Limit Controller Set Lower Limit Limit Controller 3185 ...

Page 505: ...mit When you scrub the animation the object doesn t move beyond that position 7 Again scrub the animation stop where you want to set the upper limit right click the X Position track and choose Limit Controller Set Upper Limit 3186 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 506: ... the Limited Controller track shows the original motion The original motion still exists as the Limited Controller track you can restore it temporarily by toggling the Limit controller 10 Highlight the X Position track and then right click and choose Limit Controller Toggle Limit Now when you scrub the animation the object moves as before 11 Choose Limit Controller Toggle Limit again to restore th...

Page 507: ...oose Copy 16 Highlight the Z Position track and then right click and choose Paste Compare the X and Z Position tracks and both their child Limited Controller tracks Each corresponding pair of curves is identical The motion appears as though the object is hitting the inside edge of a box Finally we ll cover the Smoothing Buffer settings By default sharp corners are created wherever a curve is limit...

Page 508: ...ower Limit group Smoothing Buffer It s not possible with the upper smoothing value at its maximum 20 Decrease the upper smoothing value and then increase the lower smoothing value Now you get smoothing at both the upper and lower limits Interface The Limit Controller interface comprises the Float Limit Controller dialog and several right click menu items Limit Controller 3189 ...

Page 509: ...e Limits command available from the 3ds Max Animation menu If some Limit controllers are on and the rest are off Toggle Limits turns them all on Upper Limit Group Enable Toggles the upper limit set by the controller When off no upper limit is imposed Default on Upper Limit value The highest value permitted by the Limit controller Any values above this value in the original controller are clipped t...

Page 510: ...by the Limit controller Any values below this value in the original controller are clipped that is they re set to this value unless smoothing is in effect Default 1000 0 You can animate this value via keyframing and other standard methods and manipulate this animation in Track View via the Lower Limit track in the controller s Limits branch Smoothing Buffer Specifies a smoothing value so that clip...

Page 511: ... controller track you can apply a new Limit controller with the same limits to any track by invoking Paste Limit Only Toggle Limit Turns the Limit controller on and off This is the same as the Enable check box on page 3190 on the Float Limit Controller dialog Set Upper Limit Sets a value key in the Upper Limit track at the current frame equal to the value at the current frame of the limited track ...

Page 512: ... instances of the paste target Linear Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Linear Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View toolbar Controller menu Assign Linear Animation menu Position Rotation or Scale controllers Linear The Linear controller interpolates b...

Page 513: ...ve keys horizontally in Track View Edit Keys or Function Curves mode Value Change linear animation values by moving keys vertically in Track View Function Curves mode change the parameter value in the viewport with Auto Key on List Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign List Graph Editors Track View Curve Edit...

Page 514: ...increase or decrease the effect the controller has on an object When you assign a controller using the Animation menu a list controller is automatically assigned as a default with the chosen controller placed first in the list This behavior differs from when you assign a controller in the Motion Panel or Track View where only the specified controller is assigned You can animate List controller wei...

Page 515: ...ontroller dialog and then click OK The Noise Controller dialog opens 9 Play the animation The box follows the original animated path but vibrates randomly Experiment with different Weight settings for each controller and see the results Interface Motion panel Parameters List rollout List Window Displays all the controllers in a list with evaluation order from top to bottom The controller at the to...

Page 516: ...of a controller by increasing or decreasing its weight value Default 100 0 Average Weights When on the weight values of all the controllers in the list are averaged Available only for the Position List and Scale List controllers Default off Pose to Pose Enables blending among controllers in the list Available only for the Rotation List controller Default off When off the List controller weights ea...

Page 517: ...roller are displayed in the Motion panel The Local Euler XYZ Rotation controller has three rotation tracks to control rotation on the X Y and Z axes Setting an X axis rotation key will not create keys in the Y and Z tracks on the same frame each track can be keyed independently The rotation order of the axes is set in the Motion panel Interface The Local Euler parameters are displayed in the Motio...

Page 518: ...eading are adjusted by moving the target so the only orientation setting that can be controlled directly by the user is Roll or bank Example To prevent flipping of targeted objects during rotation 1 Add a Target Camera object on page 5205 2 Activate the Move tool and use the coordinate display on page 7541 to position the camera and target at 0 0 0 and 80 0 0 respectively 3 Add a Dummy object on p...

Page 519: ...ientation or scale key at the current frame depending on which button you click Delete Key Deletes a position roll orientation or scale key at the current frame depending on which button you click Pick Target Lets you set a target other than the default Target object Click this button and then select the new object to use as a target Thereafter the new target controls the object s orientation The ...

Page 520: ...lies TIP In some cases the object will flip 90 or 180 degrees even when the Use Target As Up Node option is turned on This behavior occurs due to the fact that the axis alignment is automatic To resolve this apply a roll angle to the object with the coordinate display Position Roll Scale These three buttons let you specify the other rollouts that appear for this controller In all three cases the K...

Page 521: ...create a sphere 2 Right click the sphere and select Convert to Editable Mesh in the dialog 3 On the Editable Mesh Selection rollout click Vertex 4 On the Editable Mesh Soft Selection rollout click Use Soft Selection 5 Turn on Auto Key and move the time slider to frame 10 6 In the viewports select and move some vertices on the sphere A key appears on the track bar at frame 10 7 Right click the sphe...

Page 522: ...master key in Track View to display the Master Track Key Info dialog on page 3282 Motion Capture Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View toolbar Controller menu Assign Motion Capture Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Motion Capture You can control an obj...

Page 523: ...rtion of the Track Properties dialog These controls vary depending on the type of device 4 In the Utilities panel access the Motion Capture utility You can test and record your motion for any combination of tracks over any range of frames 5 When you assign a Motion Capture controller the previously assigned controller is maintained as a child of the Rotation controller You can continue to adjust t...

Page 524: ...ay the animation to view the recorded movement By default a key is generated at every frame Interface Right click the transform track in the Track View Dope Sheet hierarchy to display the Motion Capture Properties dialog Position Motion Capture rollout X Y Z Position Click an axis s button to display a Choose Device dialog which lets you pick a motion capture device from a list of alternatives key...

Page 525: ... animation Scale Scales the relative effect of the mouse movement to the animation response Spinner Value float 0 to 999 999 Flip Flips the direction of the response relative to the mouse movement For example if moving the mouse horizontally to the right produces a clockwise effect on a Rotation controller activating Flip will reverse the rotation to counterclockwise Keyboard Input Device rollout ...

Page 526: ...These options specify the time the envelope of the action takes effect This relates to the duration of pressing and releasing the key Attack Specifies the time after pressing the key for the value to reach its maximum level Decay Specifies the time after having reached maximum for the value to fall to that specified by the Sustain spinner Sustain After the Attack and Decay specifies the value sust...

Page 527: ...device driver for standard joysticks as well X Y Z Specifies which joystick direction drives the animation Standard joysticks provide X and Y axes only The Sidewinder provides the Z axis when you twist the joystick Throttle On the Sidewinder this is a slider next to the stick Scale Scales the relative effect of the joystick action to the animation response Spinner Value float 0 to 999 999 Flip Fli...

Page 528: ...that the value is incremented when the button is down and decremented when the button is up Inc When on the value increments when the button is down and stays at that value when the button is released Absolute When on the assigned parameters jumps to the value set in the Speed spinner when the button is down and then jumps back to zero when the button is released Use this for on off animations suc...

Page 529: ... this would be the Rotation controller of the camera you re moving NOTE You can only use a Rotation Motion Capture controller here Clear Removes the assigned controller Direction X Y Z Specifies the local axis that will be used as the direction For a Free Camera for example this would be Z because the camera points in the Z direction However if you had a car that pointed along its Y axis you d use...

Page 530: ...ntains 16 buttons You can assign a channel to your MIDI device MIDITrigger group Here you define the type of MIDI event message that will drive the motion There are four options Note Velocity Pitch Bend and MIDI controller Motion Capture Controller 3211 ...

Page 531: ...lue approaches the Max value based on how hard the key was pressed The value actually travels along a parabola toward the Max value Sustain Defines how long it takes the value to move through the parabola Variable Sustain duration is scaled by how hard the key is pressed Pitch Bend Value is defined by the MIDI instrument s pitch bend knob The Note Range doesn t apply in this case and is not availa...

Page 532: ...events and which notes are being triggered MidiViewer Dialog MIDI Channel group Provides a column of 16 buttons and progress bars representing the 16 MIDI channels Select the channel where you want to view note activity The channel progress bars light up when any channel has an event Motion Capture Controller 3213 ...

Page 533: ...event being sent For example Note On 9 Note Off 8 Pitch Bend 14 MIDI Controller 11 Velocity Displays the velocity which has a different meaning depending on the event For the most common event a note being pressed this value represents the velocity at which the key was struck Other events however might generate a continuous value For example a pitch bend event transmits the position of the pitch b...

Page 534: ...se variations to the result of another controller For example use a List controller to combine Noise Position with Bezier Position The Bezier controller moves the object through your scene while the Noise controller makes the object shake and stray a little from the path Procedures Example To apply a Noise controller to a rotation track 1 Create a box in any viewport 2 In the Motion panel Paramete...

Page 535: ...ength fields Sets the value range for noise output These values can be animated The number and meaning of the fields vary with different parameter data types Some typical field arrangements are XYZ fields for Position and Point3 keys XYZ percentage fields for Scale keys A single value field for Float keys 0 Value constraint Forces Noise values to stay positive Each strength field has its own 0 con...

Page 536: ...l Noise Generates noise using a fractal Brownian motion The main value of using Fractal Noise is that it activates the Roughness field Roughness Changes the roughness of the Noise curve when Fractal Noise is turned on Where Frequency sets the smoothness of the overall Noise effect Roughness changes the smoothness of the Noise curve itself On Off Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a t...

Page 537: ...m track are now added 3 Select the track named Visibility 4 From the Track View toolbar Controller menu Assign and select On Off in the Assign Controller dialog Click OK If you change modes to Dope Sheet note that the entire track region is filled by a blue bar 5 Click the Add Keys button in Track View Dope Sheet and add a key at frame 20 The blue bar stops at frame 20 6 Add another key at frame 6...

Page 538: ...e Euler XYZ Rotation controller on page 3151 This provides separate control of the three tracks when referenced from Expression controllers The Position XYZ controller assigns three keys one for each axis by default In earlier versions of 3ds Max you had to edit the keys manually in order to create explicit axis keys However there are now actions available from the Customize User Interface dialog ...

Page 539: ...n panel Parameters Position XYZ Parameters rollout X Displays controller properties for X axis transformation Y Displays controller properties for Y axis transformation Z Displays controller properties for Z axis transformation When you select an axis a Key Info Basic and Key Info Advanced rollout is available to change values A Bezier Float Controller is assigned to each track by default Use Key ...

Page 540: ...t an object 2 Click Motion panel Parameters 3 Drag the time slider to the frame where you want to place a key 4 On the PRS Parameters rollout in the Create Key group click one of the following Click Position to create a Position key Click Rotation to create a Rotation key Click Scale to create a Scale key If a particular Position Rotation or Scale controller does not use keys then that button is n...

Page 541: ...already exists At the same time the Position and Rotation buttons are inactive in the Delete column because there are no keys of that type to delete Position Rotation Scale Determines the contents of the Key Info rollouts that appear below the PRS Parameters rollout in the Motion panel Reaction Controllers Track View Highlight a track in the Track View hierarchy Assign a Reaction type controller e...

Page 542: ...d Float Reaction You can assign a Reaction controller to any animatable track in the scene Reaction is not based on time but rather on other variables in your scene such as position or rotation You can use a Reaction controller to turn on a light as an object nears a given point Muscles can bulge as an arm bone rotates A ball can squash automatically as the ball s Z position nears the ground plane...

Page 543: ...frame 0 to position 100 0 0 frame 100 3 In the Front viewport create a sphere slightly above the box Position the sphere at 100 0 50 4 Go to the Motion panel and on the Assign Controller rollout click the Position track to highlight it 5 On the Assign Controller rollout click the Assign Controller button 6 On the Assign Position Controller dialog click Position Reaction to highlight it and then cl...

Page 544: ... used by the Reaction controller For each master slave combination you can specify any number of states defined by values for the master and slave tracks The first state created automatically when you added the master specifies that when the box is at 100 on the X axis the sphere should be at 100 0 50 In this case you re controlling three parameters the sphere position on all three axes with one t...

Page 545: ...e full control of its master the box Similarly you can t change its position using the Coordinate Display fields on the status bar However you can change the sphere s position using the Reaction Manager s editing tools 13 On the Reaction Manager dialog click the Sphere01 Position entry to highlight it if necessary and then click the Edit Mode button 14 Position the sphere at 0 0 100 The position u...

Page 546: ...s slave track to highlight it 18 Turn on Edit Mode Position the sphere at 0 100 100 and then turn off Edit Mode 19 Scrub the time slider between frames 0 and 100 Over the first 50 frames the sphere moves between the first two states and over the second half of the animation the sphere moves between the second and third states To conclude the procedure you ll demonstrate that the sphere is respondi...

Page 547: ...or choose Animation Reaction Manager to open the Reaction Manager dialog on page 3228 Reaction Manager Dialog Animation menu Reaction Manager Track View Highlight a track in the Track View hierarchy Assign a Reaction type controller e g Position Reaction Select an object Motion panel Assign Controller rollout Highlight a track Click Assign Controller Choose a Reaction type controller e g Position ...

Page 548: ...e Perspective viewport add a box and a sphere object Also add a Slider manipulator on page 2643 and give it the label Slider The viewport should resemble the following illustration You ll use the slider to control two slaves separately Negative values for the box X position and positive values for the sphere s Hemisphere parameter 3 On the Create panel Parameters rollout set Minimum to 100 0 The s...

Page 549: ...ntly However a reaction needs at least two states to be meaningful You ll learn how to accomplish this shortly Next you ll discover a different way to add a slave track 9 In the Perspective viewport select the sphere 10 On the upper toolbar click Add Selected This causes the pop up menu to appear at the mouse cursor 11 From the pop up menu choose Object Sphere Hemisphere The sphere s Hemisphere tr...

Page 550: ...es list click the Delete State button State02 goes away Currently the box is where you created it but you might want it to start out at a different location However because the box is a slave of the slider you can t move it freely on the X axis You ll use Reaction Manager to set the X position of the box to a specific value 15 In the States list position the click and hold the mouse cursor over th...

Page 551: ...editable field 18 Enter 50 and press Enter or Tab The value now displays as 50 000 You can use the same mouse and keyboard methods to change state master values as well Next you ll learn how to use Create Mode to create new states freely First you ll set a new state to move the box leftward for negative slider values 19 Try moving the box on the X axis You can t do it because it s slaved to the sl...

Page 552: ...aster instead you can manipulate all slaves freely but then clicking Create State creates a new state for all slaves Reaction Manager is a complex tool so in general it s best to keep the data as simple as possible 23 Click Create State Reaction Manager adds a new state State02 with the state slider value at 100 0 and the box at its new X position 24 Turn off Create Mode and move the slider left a...

Page 553: ...he graph showing the slider value on the horizontal axis and the two reactions on the vertical axis The scale between the two differs greatly so the Hemisphere reaction on the right side of the graph looks like a straight line but if you click the Sphere01 Hemisphere slave entry in the Reactions list the graph shows a steady rise from 0 0 to 0 75 30 Turn off Create Mode and then drag the slider in...

Page 554: ... a new state in the States list 33 Click the Move button and then drag the new point upward so it s above the right hand endpoint 34 Drag the slider again As the slider moves from 0 to 100 the Hemisphere value increases so much that the sphere disappears and then decreases so you can see the upper fourth of the sphere This has been a brief tour of some of the capabilities of the Reaction Manager d...

Page 555: ...ws and columns the column headings employ standard Windows functionality To resize a column drag the divider to the right of its heading or auto size a column to fit its widest entry by double clicking the right side heading divider To change the vertical size of a list section drag the horizontal divider at the bottom of the list and to scale all three 3236 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 556: ...an also modify a one value field by double clicking it and then editing it with the keyboard If a field contains multiple numeric values you must manipulate the object directly in the viewports or the appropriate dialog The dialog also has a right click menu on page 3243 for managing reactions and states available by right clicking anywhere on the dialog except in the graph section NOTE A master i...

Page 557: ... Add Slave Places you in Add Slave mode letting you assign a slave track to the currently highlighted master in the Reactions list Highlight a master and then click Add Slave Click an object in a viewport and then use the pop up menu to choose an animation track to use as slave Alternatively choose a track in Track View or from the Motion panel Assign Controller rollout list Available only when a ...

Page 558: ...reaction setups to objects of immediate interest without having to scroll through long lists of parameters When off shows all objects and states regardless of viewport selection status If the master is selected in the viewport Show Selected shows all slaves in the Reaction list whether or not they re selected Update Selection Refreshes the list contents based on the current selection Available onl...

Page 559: ...he state name already highlighted just click it once The text highlights and a box appears around it to show that you can now edit it You can rename only state names not the indented slave tracks You can change values for single numeric value slaves in this list by dragging vertically on the value The following reference describes changing values interactively in the viewports using the States lis...

Page 560: ...ewports or by editing their values on a rollout Available only when at least one item in the States list is highlighted If you highlight a slave name you can edit its value for the current state If you highlight a state name and then click Edit Mode you can edit any of its slave tracks To exit this mode and test the new values click Edit Mode again As you manipulate the object the value is updated...

Page 561: ...rom the master state s value to the maximum extent of its range of influence Falloff The rate of change in the slave state its speed as the master goes from a state to the maximum extent of its range of influence Graph Reaction Manager s graph displays curves that graph the master values on the horizontal axis and slave values on the vertical axis It shows data of all states for items highlighted ...

Page 562: ... from the Motion panel Assign Controller rollout list For more information see Add Master on page 3237 Replace Master Lets you replace the current master Use the standard method to choose another master as described in Add Master on page 3237 Use this function to specify a master when you open Reaction Manager by assigning a Reaction controller to a slave NOTE If you replace a master with multiple...

Page 563: ...Reaction Controllers The Position Reaction and Rotation Reaction controllers on page 3222 let you perform certain functions via manipulators in the viewports Manipulators for Reactor Controllers Reaction controllers for position and rotation tracks have graphic manipulators to help you adjust their settings Other Reaction controllers such as point3 scale and float do not have manipulators Manipula...

Page 564: ...k is an XYZ location This manipulator is a light blue sphere that appears at the center of the Influence manipulator Object Pivot indicator Shows the pivot point location of the master object This indicator is a dark blue sphere You can t manipulate it Reaction State manipulator Drag to adjust the reaction state For position reactions the reaction state is an XYZ location that the slave object app...

Page 565: ...port See Viewport Right Click Menu on page 7576 Also for the Position Reaction controller you might have to change viewports to see a particular manipulator clearly The specific manipulators and their use are described below Scale XYZ Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a scale track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Scale XYZ Graph Editors Track V...

Page 566: ...op viewport create a sphere 2 Right click over the sphere and choose Curve Editor from the quad menu Track View Curve Editor opens with the sphere as the first item in the hierarchy 3 In the Track View hierarchy click the Scale track 4 From the Track View menus choose Controller Assign and select Scale XYZ from the Assign Controller dialog Three tracks are displayed and are available to control th...

Page 567: ...osition Script position Point3 controller Point3 Script Point3 controller Rotation Script rotation Quaternion controller Scale Script scale Point3 controller Transform Script on page 3261 matrix3 PRS controller The Script controllers work similarly to Expression controllers on page 3154 They provide a Script Controller dialog where a script can be entered for computing the controller value The pri...

Page 568: ...ting frame time if an animation is playing or a rendering is under way In the case of Script controllers the time being evaluated is used to establish an automatic at time context around the controller script so any properties you access outside of other explicit at time expressions yield the correct values for the current controller evaluation time This means you don t have to do anything special...

Page 569: ...hlighted click Assign Node The Track View Pick dialog opens listing the contents of your scene 4 Expand the Objects hierarchy until you locate foo Highlight it and click OK The foo node is assigned to your variable 5 Enter the following script in the Script Controller dialog s Expression window local pos 0 0 0 for o in objects where o foo do pos o pos pos objects count 1 This script computes the a...

Page 570: ...e Lets you enter and edit the name of user variables Create Creates a variable and adds it to the Variables list Delete Removes the highlighted variable from the Variables list You can also delete a variable by tying its name into the Name field and click Delete Rename Renames the highlighted variable Variable Parameters group Tick Offset Specifies a time offset in ticks for the current variable W...

Page 571: ...ression above Evaluate Analyzes your expression at the current time OK Assigns the value expression result to the current variable Cancel Disregards the current value expression result and closes the dialog Assign Track Lets you assign a controller to the highlighted variable The controller s value is taken at the current time plus the variable s Tick Offset Assign Controller Lets you assign a tra...

Page 572: ...iew hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Smooth Rotation Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a rotation track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Smooth Rotation Animation menu Rotation controllers Smooth Use Smooth Rotation when you want rotation to have a smooth and natural look Smooth rotation functions the same as Linear Rotation but ...

Page 573: ...u can adjust spring tension and dampening Increasing the tension creates a tighter spring while increasing the dampening smoothes out jitters in the motion You can add external forces like Gravity on page 2721 and Wind on page 2724 to affect the motion and also add additional objects whose motions act as springs NOTE You can also assign the Spring controller to animated vertices in Track View Open...

Page 574: ...bject using the Spring controller when you want the object to be affected by the motion of other objects in your scene This effectively creates virtual springs between objects Add Click this button and then select one or more objects whose motion relative to the spring controlled object will act as springs on that object To finish adding springs click Add again right click in a viewport or press E...

Page 575: ...led object and the highlighted spring object s Dampening Acts as a multiplier of an internal factor that determines how quickly the object comes to rest With the Self Influence spring changing Dampening has the same effect as changing Drag With other springs Dampening affects only the movement caused by that spring Internally the dampening value is proportional to the tension so as you increase th...

Page 576: ...es highlighted space warps from the list List Lists all spring space warps by name Calculation Parameters group Start Frame The frame at which the Spring controller first takes effect Default 0 Iterations The accuracy of the controller application If you get unexpected results try increasing this setting Default 2 Range 0 to 4 X Y Z Effect These settings let you control the percentage of the effec...

Page 577: ... Trajectories display of an object With sub object keys turned on and the Key Info dialog for a key displayed right click and select Key Info on the selected key to display Key Info properties you can change the parameters in the Key Info dialog and see the trajectory path change This allows for very precise control of an object s trajectory with visual feedback Euler XYZ is now the default rotati...

Page 578: ... Animation menu Interface TCB controllers display their properties in a Key Info dialog in Track View and a single Key Info rollout in the Motion panel Time field Specifies when in time the key occurs Time Lock Prevents horizontal key motion in Track View edit modes Key Value fields Stores the animation values for the key The number and meaning of the fields vary with different parameter data type...

Page 579: ...the velocity of the animation curve as it leaves the key Default 0 High Ease From causes the animation to start slow and accelerate as it leaves the key The default setting causes no change of the animation curve Tension Controls the amount of curvature in the animation curve High Tension produces a linear curve It also has a slight Ease To and Ease From effect Low Tension produces a very wide rou...

Page 580: ...n two previously created rotation keys you might get unexpected directional shifts Rotation Windup works best if you set keys using a straight ahead workflow Transform Script Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select a transform track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Transform Script Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a transform track in the ...

Page 581: ...aluated is used to establish an automatic at time context around the controller script so any properties you access outside of other explicit at time expressions yield the correct values for the current controller evaluation time This means you don t have to do anything special in your scripts to work at the correct time You can access the evaluation time with the standard MAXScript variable curre...

Page 582: ...et value NOTE The Time Offset has no effect on variables that are assigned a constant Variables List Lists all available variables in the controller The following pre defined constant variables are available in every script Controller and cannot be deleted or renamed F the current time in frames NT the normalized time S the current time in seconds T the current time in ticks Assign Constant Opens ...

Page 583: ...e value of all variables used in your script Evaluate Evaluates the script expression The evaluation is computed for the current position of the time slider Close Compiles and checks the controller script for errors If no errors are found the dialog is closed Any problems result in a query box asking whether you want to revert the expression to the original value of the current track and close the...

Page 584: ...ct a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign Waveform Float Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a track in the Track View hierarchy Track View toolbar Controller menu Assign Waveform Float The Waveform controller is a float controller that provides regular periodic waveforms Created originally to control blinking lights you can use it on any float valu...

Page 585: ...Controller Assign and select Waveform Float 5 Play the animation to see the effect To use the Waveform controller to animate the radius of a sphere 1 Create a sphere 2 Open Track View Dope Sheet and expand the Object Sphere track 3 Select the Radius track click Controller Assign and choose Waveform Float from the Assign Controller dialog 4 Play the animation to see the effect Interface After assig...

Page 586: ...veform up and down in the list allowing the waveform order to be altered Disable Disables the selected waveform Waveform group This group provides control parameters for the currently selected waveform TIP Using the Sphere example you can observe the waveform in the Function Curve displays of the Track View and watch changes in the waveform while testing the parameters described below Name Contain...

Page 587: ...m would range from 100 to 100 Auto 0 Shifts the waveform above the zero line Auto 0 Shifts the waveform below the zero line Manual Lets you set the waveform manually by adjusting the spinner Effect group Each waveform has an Effect parameter which can be one of the following Add Causes the current waveform s value to be added to the previous waveform s output This is the default Multiply Multiplie...

Page 588: ...u Assign XRef Controller Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Select a transform track in the Track View hierarchy Track View menu bar Controller menu Assign XRef Controller This controller lets you externally reference any type of Transform controller on page 3116 from another scene file The XRef controller follows the same concepts and principles as the XRef objects on page 6936 and XRef materi...

Page 589: ...f Entities list and choose Merge in Scene from the contextual menu or assign a new Transform controller to your object NOTE Replacing the XRef controller with another type removes any animation it contains Although XRef controllers are read only in your master scene you can add a local offset to the object s animation on page 3271 Procedures To assign an XRef controller using the Motion Panel 1 Se...

Page 590: ...rollout of the XRef controller Object s Transform Position XRefer enced Object s Transform Position highlighted To add and reset a Transform offset to an XRef Object s Animation 1 Create a sphere at 0 0 0 and animate it from 0 0 0 to 5 5 5 2 Save your scene then choose File Reset 3 Choose File XRef Objects 4 In the XRef Objects dialog make sure Merge Transforms is off then click the Create XRef Re...

Page 591: ...hose on the XRef Object rollout on page 6973 let you change the file path file name and object name of the source of the XRef controller Hightlight corresponding XRef Record in the XRef Object dialog Opens the XRef Objects dialog on page 6941 and highlights the corresponding XRef record within File Name controls File Name field Displays the path and file name of the scene containing the source con...

Page 592: ...ng the XRef controller Unresolved XRef File Not Found Cannot find the scene file containing the specified object name Unresolved XRef Object Not Found Cannot find the object in the specified scene XRef Resolved Both scene and object match Controller Subdialogs Audio Controller Dialog Track View or Motion panel Highlight a track using the Audio controller in the Track View hierarchy Right click the...

Page 593: ...ound file associated with a controller Absolute Value Controls the interpretation of sound amplitude The value returned by the Audio controller is sample amplitude divided by maximum amplitude Value sample amp maximum amp When Absolute Value is turned on the maximum amplitude equals the maximum sampled amplitude from the waveform This ensures that potential for the output value reaches the target ...

Page 594: ...cted device When off the controller uses the selected audio file Real Time device list Displays all available real time sound devices installed in your system Select the device you want to use for real time sound capture Sample group This group contains controls to filter out background noise smooth out the waveform and control display in Track View Threshold Sets the bottom cut out level as a per...

Page 595: ...r maximum amplitude Channel group With this group you select which channel drives the controller output value These options are only available if you have chosen a stereo sound file Left Uses the left channel amplitude Right Uses the right channel amplitude Mix Combines the two channels so that the returned amplitude is the greater value of either channel Attach Controls Dialog Block Controller Tr...

Page 596: ...space to be taken if you don t want to use a particular track Match by Node Select tracks on the left that you want to match Click Match By Node Then select a group of tracks that you want to match to The system attempts to match the controls based on their names Delete Deletes a track from the list Move Up Move Down Move tracks up and down to align them before attaching them OK Imports the tracks...

Page 597: ... morph target weighting using controls in the Barycentric Morph Controller Key Info dialog Interface Current Key Specifies the current key that you re adjusting Time Specifies where in time the current key is placed Tension Continuity Bias Adjusts the TCB parameters of the key spline interpolation TCB Spline Displays the key interpolation spline 3278 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 598: ...ht of each target without affecting the others and create a total that s greater or less than 100 percent Totals greater than 100 percent cause the morph object to scale up in size while totals less than 100 percent cause the morph object to scale down Note that this check box is global and not confined to a single key or track Block Parameters Dialog Block Controller Track View Global Tracks Bloc...

Page 599: ...ck Parameters Dialog Block Controller Track View Global Tracks Block Control Master Block Click and then right click the Master Block track Master Block Parameters dialog Track View Global Tracks Block Control Master Block Double click the Master Block track Master Block Parameters dialog After assigning a Master Block right click the Master Block track to open the Master Block Parameters dialog T...

Page 600: ...lid tracks are ignored Select the tracks include the Master Block track and then right click Master Block in the Track View hierarchy Replace Replaces the currently selected block Remove Remove the selected block from the list Load Loads a block from disk Displays the Attach Controls dialog Map incoming tracks to tracks in your scene using controls in the Attach Controls dialog Save Saves the curr...

Page 601: ...heet Right click a master track key in the Dope Sheet Key window Master Track Key Info dialog With Track View in Dope Sheet mode right click a green master key of a Master Point controller on page 3201 to display the Master Track Key Info dialog 3282 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 602: ...ferent frame or time Sub Keys list window Displays all the animated sub object keys at a particular frame or time Select Point Select a node in the List Window and the corresponding node in the viewports is selected if the corresponding sub object level is active Controller Subdialogs 3283 ...

Page 603: ... are assigned a Slave controller which allows the Master Block to transfer key data The Slave controller can be assigned without being connected to a Master Block controller Controls in the Slave Parameters dialog allow you to attach the slave to a master If the slave is not attached to a master a dialog is displayed listing the available master controls you can attach to The Track View Pick dialo...

Page 604: ...log with available tracks Click a track and then click OK Remove Link Removes the highlighted link Collapse Control Collapses the Slave controller to a standard controller Existing keys are copied to the new controller OK Closes the dialog Controller Subdialogs 3285 ...

Page 605: ...rack View Pick dialog This dialog is displayed when track selection is necessary by clicking Add in the Master Block Parameters dialog on page 3280 for example Select tracks in the dialog that you want to include in a Block Valid tracks are darker Interface Cancel Exits the Track View Pick dialog with no changes If tracks are highlighted in the Hierarchy list then the Block Parameters dialog on pa...

Page 606: ...ect to another over a period of time such as a character s hand picking up a baseball bat Linking an object s position or rotation to one or several objects Keeping an object s position between two or more objects Constraining an object along a path or between multiple paths Constraining an object to a surface Making an object point toward another object Keeping an object s orientation in relation...

Page 607: ...of another object TIP You can use Schematic View to see all the Constraint relationships in a scene Using Constraints with Bones Constraints can be applied to bones as long as an IK controller is not controlling the bones If the bones have an assigned IK controller you can only constrain the root of the hierarchy or chain Attachment Constraint Animation menu Constraints Attachment Constraint 3288 ...

Page 608: ...be a mesh but must be convertible to a mesh By keying different attachments over time you can animate the position of an object over the irregular surface of another object even if that surface is changing over time Procedures Example To attach a cone to a bending cylinder 1 In the Perspective viewport create a cylinder with a radius of 20 a height of 30 and 10 height segments Attachment Constrain...

Page 609: ... The name of the cylinder is displayed above the Pick Object button 4 Go to frame 0 Orbit the Perspective viewport so you can see the top surface of the cylinder 5 Click Set Position and click and drag over the faces on the top surface of the cylinder The cone jumps to the top of the cylinder As you drag the mouse it jumps to whichever face you drag over 6 Release the mouse when the cone is on the...

Page 610: ...er 5 Re enter the original value in the Face spinner to return the cone to the top of the cylinder 6 Play the animation The cylinder bends back and forth with a cone attached to its upper cap Interface Parameters for this constraint are available on the Motion panel after the controller has been assigned AttachTo group Object Name text Specifies the target object to which the source object is atta...

Page 611: ...another key Time Displays the current frame and lets you move the current key to a different frame Position group Face Provides the index of the face to which the object is attached Range 0 to 268435455 A B Contains the barycentric coordinates defining the position of the attached object on the face Range 999 999 to 999 999 3292 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 612: ...cify a face and a position within the face The source object moves accordingly over the target object TCB group All of the items in this group are the same as in other TCB controllers on page 3258 The orientation of the source object is also interpolated and affected by these settings Tension Range 0 to 50 Continuity Range 0 to 50 Bias Range 0 to 50 Ease To Range 0 to 50 Ease From Range 0 to 50 Su...

Page 613: ...n the globe The Surface constraint positions an object along the surface of another object The type of object that can be used as the surface object is limited to those whose surfaces can be represented parametrically Use the Surface constraint with the following types of objects Sphere Cone Cylinder Torus Quad Patches single quad patches Loft object NURBS object 3294 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 614: ... the Top viewport create a cylinder and a sphere 2 Select the sphere open the Motion panel expand the Assign Controller rollout and then expand the Transform heading in the list 3 In the list window click the Position item and then click Assign Controller 4 In the Assign Position Controller dialog choose Surface and then click OK The Surface Controller Parameters rollout replaces the Key Info roll...

Page 615: ...sed as a surface Surface Options group This group provides controls for adjusting the position and orientation of the object along the surface U Position Adjusts the position of the controlled object along the U coordinates of the surface object V Position Adjusts the position of the controlled object along the V coordinates of the surface object No Alignment When on the controlled object is not r...

Page 616: ...he alignment of the local Z axis of the controlled object This check box is not available if No Alignment is turned on Path Constraint Animation menu Constraints Path Constraint Path constraint positions the service platform along the side of the bridge A path constraint restricts an object s movement along a spline or at an averaged distance between multiple splines A path target can be any type ...

Page 617: ...with a Weight value of 80 will have twice the influence of a target with a Weight value of 40 Procedures To assign a Path constraint 1 Create a Sphere with a radius of 10 and a Circle with a radius of 60 2 With the Sphere selected choose Animation menu Constraints Path Constraint You are now in select target mode 3 In the viewport select the Circle shape To access the Path constraint s parameters ...

Page 618: ...s rollout 4 Click the Add Path button and select the line The Sphere is now affected equally by both paths since the path weighting defaults to 50 5 Adjust the Weight spinner or enter a numerical value for the weight value To animate weight values 1 Select the Sphere 2 On the Motion panel open the Path Parameters rollout 3 Turn on the Auto Key button 4 Select the Line01 from the Path list 5 Place ...

Page 619: ...the object is subject to unwanted flipping 1 Select the object that is flipping 2 On the Animation menu choose Constraints Orientation constraint then constrain the object to another object s orientation 3 Use the control object to adjust the flipping Animate the orientation of the control object while watching the flipped object at the problematic frames 3300 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 620: ...nimate each target s weight value NOTE When you assign a Path constraint via the Animation menu the software assigns a Position List controller to your object In the Position List rollout list you will find Path Constraint This is the actual path constraint controller To view the Path Parameters rollout with the constraint settings double click Path Constraint in the list Path Constraint 3301 ...

Page 621: ...one side or the other depending on whether the value is positive or negative Smoothness Controls how rapidly the roll angle changes as the object moves through bends in the trajectory Smaller values will make the object more responsive to subtle changes in the curve while larger values smooth out jerking The default value is a good value for general damping along the curve Values below 2 tend to m...

Page 622: ...tion with the From and To spinners Ease Causes a joint to resist motion as it approaches its From and To limits Simulates an organic joint or worn mechanical joint moving or rotating freely in the middle of its range of motion but moving less freely at the extremes of its range From and To Spinners Determine for path limits Use in conjunction with the Limited function Damping Applies resistance ov...

Page 623: ... equal to off Any value greater than 0 will cause the target to influence the constrained object Weight values can be animated to create effects such as a ball being picked up from a table MultipleTargets and Weighting A constrained object can be influenced by several target objects When using multiple targets each target has a weight value that defines the degree by which it influences the constr...

Page 624: ...ation menu Constraints Position Constraint 3 Select the target object To access the Position constraint s parameters through the Motion panel 1 Select the Position constrained object 2 On the Motion panel on the Position list double click Position Constraint The Position constraint parameters are located under the Position Constraint rollout To edit weight values 1 Select the constrained object 2 ...

Page 625: ... now position constrained between the two targets 4 In the Top viewport move the sphere around As the sphere moves the box maintains an equal distance between the sphere and the cylinder This is because the weight values for both targets are equal By default the values are 1 00 If the sphere had a higher weight value than the cylinder the sphere would influence the box more than the cylinder 5 To ...

Page 626: ... will find Position Constraint This is the actual Position Constraint controller To view the Position Constraint rollout double click Position Constraint in the list Add position target Adds new target objects that influence the position constrained object Delete position target Removes targets Once a target is removed it will no longer influence the constrained object Weight Assigns and animates ...

Page 627: ...s to pass a ball A Link constraint is used to animate an object linking from one target object to another The Link constraint causes an object to inherit the position rotation and scale of its target object An example of using a link constraint is to pass a ball from one hand to another Assume that at frame 0 the ball is in the right hand The hands are 3308 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 628: ...ects This will allow you to animate the object on its own before the first link to a target object takes place You can also assign Link Constraints through the Animation Constraints submenu To access the Link constraint s parameters through the Motion panel 1 Select the Link constrained object 2 Choose Motion panel Link Params rollout Example To assign the Link constraint and animate links 1 Move ...

Page 629: ...r a good distance away from where it is 14 Play back the animation The sphere follows the cylinder as it moves The sphere is link constrained 15 Select the sphere 16 Move the time slider to frame 25 17 On the Motion panel Link Param rollout click Add link and select the box You have now added another target that becomes active at frame 25 18 Turn off the Auto Key button and play back the animation...

Page 630: ...ss its properties on the Link Params rollout in the Motion panel In this rollout you can add and delete targets and animate the time at which each target becomes the active parent of the constrained object Add Link Adds a new link target Link Constraint 3311 ...

Page 631: ...ct you are constraining is already part of a hierarchy If you add objects to the hierarchy after you apply the Link constraint you have to reapply the Link constraint using the key options you desire No Key When used no keyframes are written to the constrained object or its targets The link control happens without inserting any keys Key Nodes When used keyframes are written to the specified option...

Page 632: ...eballs of a character to a point helper The eyes will then always be aimed at the point helper Animate the point helper and the eyes follow Even if you rotate the character s head the eyes maintain their lock on the point helper MultipleTargets and Weighting A constrained object can be influenced by several target objects When using multiple targets each target has a weight value that defines the ...

Page 633: ...ck LookAt Constraint The LookAt constraint parameters are located under the LookAt Constraint rollout To edit weight values 1 Select the constrained object 2 On the Motion panel Rotation list double click LookAt Constraint The LookAt constraint parameters are located under the LookAt Constraint rollout 3 Click a target from the list 4 Use the Weight spinner or enter a numerical value to adjust the...

Page 634: ...5 Use the Weight spinner or enter a numerical value to adjust the weight value LookAt Constraint 3315 ...

Page 635: ...Interface 3316 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 636: ...bject to the pivot of its target or the average in case of multiple targets A negative value draws the line from the constrained object in the opposite direction of the target or targets With a single target the length of the viewline is determined by the distance between the constrained object and the target as well as the Viewline Length setting However if Viewline Length Absolute is on the dist...

Page 637: ... World to manually select an object that defines the Upnode plane This plane is drawn from the constrained object to the Upnode object If the LookAt Axis and the Upnode axis coincide the constrained object will flip Animating the position of the upnode object will move the upnode plane Upnode Control group Lets you quickly flip between LookAt Upnode Control and Axis Alignment LookAt When selected ...

Page 638: ...object can be any rotatable object When constrained it will inherit its rotation from a target object Once constrained you can not rotate the object manually You may move or scale the object as long as its not constrained in a manner that effects the object s position or scale controller The target object can be any type of object The rotation of a target object drives the constrained object Targe...

Page 639: ...ign an Orientation constraint 1 Select the object you want to constrain 2 Choose Animation menu Constraints Orientation Constraint 3 Select target object To access the Orientation constraint s parameters through the Motion panel 1 Select the Orientation constrained object 2 On the Motion panel Rotation list double click Orientation Controller The Orientation constraint parameters are located on th...

Page 640: ...e Interface Once you assign an Orientation constraint you can access its properties on the Position Constraint rollout in the Motion panel In this rollout you can add or delete targets assign weighting assign and animate target weight values and adjust other related parameters Orientation Constraint 3321 ...

Page 641: ...turn off Keep Initial Offset the object adjusts itself to match the orientation of its target or targets Default off Transform Rule When an orientation constraint is applied to an object that is part of a hierarchy this determines whether the local node transform or the parent transform will be used for the orientation constraint Local Local When selected the local node transform is used for the o...

Page 642: ... the same as the originating node displays a hierarchical pop up menu for the destination object so you can choose the destination parameter After you choose a second parameter the Parameter Wiring dialog opens You can wire one way and two way connections between parameters For one way wires one parameter is effectively slaved to the other and its value changes as the controlling parameter changes...

Page 643: ... select the destination object A pop up menu displays the parameters to which you can link 5 Choose the parameter you want to link from the displayed menu The Parameter Wiring dialog on page 3324 opens with the two parameters you selected highlighted in yellow 6 If you like change the parameter highlighting in the dialog and then click the direction buttons between the two panels to determine the ...

Page 644: ... dialogs open at the same time Procedures Example To use an expression with wire parameters 1 Create a box and a sphere in your scene 2 Right click the box and from the quad menu choose Transform quadrant Wire Parameters 3 From the pop up menu choose Object Box Length A rubber band dashed line now connects the box and the mouse cursor 4 Click the sphere and choose Transform Position Z Position fro...

Page 645: ...n of parameter wires so that you can control all of the slave parameters at once as you change the master parameter To create a chain of wired parameters 1 Open the Parameter Wiring dialog 2 Choose the first controlling parameter in one tree view 3 Choose the first slave parameter in the other tree view 4 Click the arrow pointing toward the slave parameter 5 Enter the desired relationship expressi...

Page 646: ...gned to it either as the member of a two way pair or as the slave in a one way wire displays in red When a wire controlled parameter is selected all of the parameters wired directly to it are displayed in green text in the other Tree View In either case if the parameter is inside a track that is not expanded the enclosing track will display in red or green so you can expand the tracks to find the ...

Page 647: ...r Wiring dialog provides three direction control buttons between the tree views You can choose only one of these at a time These buttons determine the direction of control either one way or two way Two way connection two headed arrow Click this to link both parameters to each other so that changing either parameter affects the other One way connection right parameter controls left parameter left a...

Page 648: ...eyframable which is the default when a two way wiring is first established it can be keyframed by adjustments of either of the wired parameters This means that if you keyframe the wired pair by adjusting the non master parameter the values keyframed into the animation subcontroller are derived from the master parameter transfer expression Since the wired pair can be animated through either paramet...

Page 649: ...mber of objects or bones at once The term kinematics on page 8021 describes the movement or animation of the chain There are two types of kinematics With forward kinematics on page 7987 FK you transform a parent object to move its descendants its children their children etc With inverse kinematics on page 8016 IK you transform a child object to move its ancestors its parent and so on up the chain ...

Page 650: ...an find the commands to build and manipulate hierarchies in the following places in the interface The Select and Link on page 3343 and Unlink Selection on page 3344 buttons let you make and break links between objects in your scene The Bones system on page 901 in the Create panel Systems category lets you create a hierarchy of bones You can also create bones by choosing Bone Tools on page 915 from...

Page 651: ...s to simulate jointed structures to animate characters or mechanical assemblies Parts of a Hierarchy The relationship between objects linked together in a hierarchy is analogous to a family tree Parent Object that controls one or more children A parent object is often controlled by another superior parent object In the following figure objects 1 and 2 are parent objects Child Object controlled by ...

Page 652: ...re descendants of object 1 Hierarchy Collection of all parents and children linked together in a single structure Root Single parent object that is superior to all other objects in the hierarchy All other objects are descendants of the root object In the figures Object 1 is the root Subtree All the descendants of a selected parent In the figure below the Rotational Hub Ferris Wheel and Seats repre...

Page 653: ...the seats Leaf Child object that has no children The lowest object in a branch In the figure above the Seat objects are leaf objects Link Connection between a parent and its child A link transmits position rotation and scale information from parent to child Pivot Defines the local center and coordinate system for each object You can think of a link as the connection between the pivot of a child ob...

Page 654: ... should probably be linked as parent and child There is nothing to prevent you from linking a body in the order of Thigh Foot Shin Waist You would probably regret such a linking strategy later The effort to figure out how to transform objects linked in such a strange way would be quite difficult A more logical progression would be Foot Shin Thigh Waist Using Multiple Hierarchies Rather than build ...

Page 655: ...f a Hierarchy You can find the best candidate for the root of your hierarchy by asking the following question If I move this object should all of the other objects in the hierarchy move with it If the answer is almost always then you are looking at a likely candidate for the root object Examples of this type of object are a torso a lamp base and a tree trunk If the answer is not often then you are...

Page 656: ...ving force for the animation IK is less forgiving and is highly dependent on the linking strategy for performing calculations You need to consider two additional principles when linking hierarchies for use with inverse kinematics Links and pivot placement simulate real world joint locations Choose an object near the structure s center of mass or center of gravity as the root of the hierarchy The c...

Page 657: ...igure above shows two approaches to linking a skeletal structure Either structure is suitable for working with forward kinematics The structure on the right however is a better choice for working with inverse kinematics The root object is located near the body s center of mass The link order more closely simulates the connections of a real body 3338 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 658: ...the sub object level to avoid this problem Use Reset XForm if you have objects that exhibit this behavior Linking Objects After Animation When you link an object to another the link relationship between the child and its parent is determined by the position rotation and scale of the parent and child objects when the link is made Imagine linking a stationary sphere to an animated box At frame 0 the...

Page 659: ...rom the box as it moves Left Ball linked at frame 0 follows the box on the side Right Ball linked at frame 50 follows the box 20 units away Unlinking Objects After Animation When you unlink a child its frame 0 transforms are taken from the transforms of its parent at the frame when the link is removed Imagine a sphere linked to a box moving around the face of a clock The box starts at 12 o clock a...

Page 660: ...e sphere depends on its position rotation or scale at the frame on which the link is removed Unlinking the sphere on different frames has the following effects Unlink on frame 0 and the sphere stays at 12 o clock Unlink on frame 25 and the sphere stops at 3 o clock Unlink on frame 75 and the sphere stops at 9 o clock Hierarchies 3341 ...

Page 661: ...al process of creating links is to build the hierarchy from child to parent You click Select And Link on the toolbar select one or more objects as children and then drag the link cursor from the selection to a single parent object The selected objects become children of the parent object Once objects are linked any transformations applied to the parent are also applied to its children For example ...

Page 662: ... constraint on page 3308 to change the linkage at specific frames Displaying Links A complex mesh hierarchy can be displayed with the links visible or even with the links replacing the mesh objects To display links first select the linked objects On the Display panel Link Display rollout on page 188 turn on Display Links to see the links You can also turn on Link Replaces Object to see only the li...

Page 663: ... hierarchical linkages between nodes Procedures To link two objects 1 Click Select and Link 2 Drag a line from an object the child to any other object the parent NOTE You do not need to select the child object first Unlink Selection Main toolbar Unlink Selection Use the Unlink Selection button to remove the hierarchical relationship on page 8002 between two objects Unlink Selection detaches a chil...

Page 664: ...t pivot points by clicking Pivot on the Hierarchy panel and then using the Adjust Pivot rollout on page 3476 tools The functions on the Adjust Pivot rollout cannot be animated Adjusting an object s pivot on any frame changes it for the entire animation See also Working Pivot Rollout on page 3479 Affecting Pivot Only When Affect Pivot Only is on move and rotate transforms are applied only to the pi...

Page 665: ... moving the object Affecting Object Only When Affect Object Only is on transforms are applied only to selected objects Pivots are not affected Moving rotating or scaling the object does not affect the pivot or its children 3346 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 666: ...aling or rotating an object affects the link offsets of all its descendents without affecting the geometry of the object or its descendents The descendents shift position because of the scaled or rotated links Use this technique to adjust the offset relationship between linked objects Use this technique to adjust the offset relationship between linked objects and for adjusting bones to match geome...

Page 667: ...After a hierarchy is created you can scale the position of the children without changing the individual objects dimensions 3348 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 668: ...e pivot is at the center of the object Align to Object Pivot Rotates the object or pivot to align the pivot with the object s original local coordinate system Align to World Rotates the object or pivot to align with the world coordinate system Resetting the Pivot Click Reset Pivot to return the pivot point of a selected object to the position and orientation it held when the object was first creat...

Page 669: ...enu Select By Name by clicking Select By Name on the main toolbar or by pressing the H key To list objects hierarchically turn on Display Subtree on the dialog This indents children below their parent The Hierarchy list on page 3531 at the left side of the Track View window on page 3503 displays all objects using indentation to express hierarchy Child objects are displayed indented and below their...

Page 670: ...IP In complex scenes use Curve Editor to navigate quickly through the Track View Simply select the object in the viewport then right click and choose Curve Editor The Track View Curve Editor will appear with the selected object at the top of the window You can also use Schematic View on page 7411 to view hierarchies In addition to showing you the structure Schematic View contains tools for manipul...

Page 671: ...ecting Hierarchy Members Siblings Available in Customize User Interface on page 7697 are the actions Select Sibling Next and Select Sibling Previous which appear in the Main UI group and All Commands category You can assign them as hotkeys toolbar buttons etc We recommend assigning them to the cursor keys Right Arrow and Left Arrow respectively by default those keys are not assigned keyboard short...

Page 672: ...Dummy05 which has the same hierarchical level as Dummy03 Selecting Dummy06 and activating Select Sibling Next results in Dummy08 being selected Selecting Dummy06 and activating Select Sibling Previous results in Dummy02 being selected With Dummy02 selected activating either Select Sibling command results in Dummy08 being selected and the selection continues alternating for each subsequent invocati...

Page 673: ...isplays commands to select children or ancestors or both From the Customize menu choose Customize User Interface on page 7697 On the Quads on page 7704 tab drag Select Ancestor or Select Children from the list of all commands to the quad menu Then you can easily select children or parents with a right click and then a click Animating with Forward Kinematics The default method of manipulating a hie...

Page 674: ...ild For example consider the two boxes in the following figure The larger box is the parent of the smaller The pivots and link between the boxes are indicated to show how the link works The link extends from the pivot of the parent and connects to the pivot of the child You can think of the child s pivot as being the joint between the parent and child Parent and child objects linked by their pivot...

Page 675: ...Rotating the parent affects the position and orientation of the child object 3356 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 676: ...r scaling the child has no effect on its parent The end result is that transforms applied to a child object are applied in addition to any transforms inherited from the child s parent Animating a Parent Object Only transforms are passed from parent to child Animating a parent object using move rotate or scale animates the parent and the subtree attached to the parent Animating a parent s modifiers...

Page 677: ...Moving the root parent moves the whole hierarchy 3358 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 678: ...sed to all the child objects Animating a Child Object With forward kinematics a child is not constrained by its link to a parent You can move rotate and scale children independent of their parents Animating with Forward Kinematics 3359 ...

Page 679: ...Moving the last child object does not affect any of the previous objects in the hierarchy 3360 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 680: ...e inverse kinematics on page 3374 Manipulating the Hierarchy A child object inherits the transforms of its parent and the parent inherits the transforms of its ancestors all the way up the hierarchy to the root object Because forward kinematics employs this method of inheritance you must position and animate your hierarchies using a top down method Animating with Forward Kinematics 3361 ...

Page 681: ...op of the soccer ball beside it you perform the following steps 1 Rotate the right thigh so the entire leg is above the soccer ball 2 Rotate the right shin so the foot is near the top of the soccer ball 3 Rotate the right foot so it is parallel with the top 4 Repeat steps 1 through 3 until the foot is properly placed 3362 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 682: ...nts connectors between objects and handles for complex hierarchies Dummies and Points on page 2628 can act as null objects that function as controls for transforming parts of an IK chain Using a Dummy to Control Motion Breaking complex motions into simple components often makes it easier to go back and edit your animations Consider a bouncing ball that moves along a path You could animate the ball...

Page 683: ...gle object A good example of this is a camera on a tripod You want to adjust both the camera and its target individually but also want to move them together as a single unit Procedures To create a complex bounce motion using a dummy object 1 Start with a sphere then create a dummy object below the sphere and link the sphere as a child of the dummy 2 Animate the sphere bouncing up and down above th...

Page 684: ...f using a link constraint is to pass a ball from one hand to another Assume that at frame 0 the ball is in the first hand The hands are animated to meet at frame 50 and then spread apart until frame 100 To animate the links for the ball 1 On the Motion panel assign a Link constraint as the ball s Transform controller You can also put a Link constraint on the ball from the Animation menu by choosin...

Page 685: ...d click Add Link or Delete Link Click Add Link then click the object that you want to link to as a parent The frame at which you add the link is the frame at which control is passed You can change the link frame with the Start Time parameter Click the name of a parent object in the list and then click Delete Link to remove the link 3366 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 686: ...ted any of the objects involved No keys will be visible in the track bar Key Nodes Sets keys for some of the objects Child applies keys to the child object only Parents applies keys to both parents and the child object Key Entire Hierarchy This applies keyframes to the chosen nodes and their entire hierarchies Child keys the chosen object and the nodes in its hierarchy up to the world Parents keys...

Page 687: ...rent object without affecting its descendents by clicking Don t Affect Children on the Adjust Transform rollout of the Hierarchy panel Resetting an Object s Orientation and Scale Click the Transform button in the Reset group to rotate an object s pivot to match its parent s local coordinate system Descendents of the object are not affected Resetting an Object s Scale Only Click the Scale button in...

Page 688: ...ig The Scale Transform Type In reports an Absolute Local scale of 200 and Creation Parameters report a radius of 20 units The true radius of the sphere is 200 of 20 units or 40 units 2 Select the sphere and click Reset XForm The sphere remains the same size but its child reverts to its original size and position Here s what has happened The 200 scale has been placed in an XForm modifier on the sph...

Page 689: ...ect so that the source object acts as if it s glued to the target object no matter how the surface of the target object is deformed Animate the Attachment parameters so that the source object moves over the surface of the target object Unlike hierarchical linking which considers only object transforms an object using an Attachment constraint follows the deformations of another object based on that...

Page 690: ...onstraint rather than attachment Test your animation and either adjust the values of the keys or add intermediate keys to better match the target surface Too many keys can result in jittery movement of the source object while too few keys might result in the source object missing the surface of the target object over some frames Changing Link Inheritance Links can transmit transform information fr...

Page 691: ...as the Inherit rollout in the Link Info group on the Hierarchy panel except that you can set link inheritance for multiple objects in a selection set For example on a Ferris wheel you could select all of the cars and use the Link Inheritance utility to turn off Y axis rotation for all the cars at once Link Inheritance Selected Utility Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Utilities dialog ...

Page 692: ...revent inheritance When a box is turned on transform information from the parent is passed on to the selected objects for the selected axis When a box is turned off transform information on that axis is ignored by the selected objects Animating with Forward Kinematics 3373 ...

Page 693: ... from the leaves Let s take the example of an arm To animate an arm using forward kinematics you rotate the upper arm away from the shoulder then rotate the forearm the hand from the wrist and so on adding rotation keys for each child object To animate the arm using inverse kinematics you move a goal that positions the wrist The upper and lower arms are rotated by the IK solution which 3374 Chapte...

Page 694: ...ierarchy rather than just one You might also create several independent hierarchies rather than link everything together in one large hierarchy For simple inverse kinematic animation you can use interactive IK without applying any IK Solver Define joint behavior on page 3466 at the pivot points setting limits or preferred angles depending on the type of IK solvers you are using Here you can set up...

Page 695: ...thod where you begin by positioning and rotating parent objects and work down the hierarchy positioning and rotating each child object Basic principles of forward kinematics include Hierarchical linking from parent to child Pivot points defining joints between objects Children inheriting the transforms of their parents These principles are fairly forgiving As long as everything is linked together ...

Page 696: ...to simulate weight in an animation See also Inverse Kinematics Methods on page 3380 IK Solvers on page 3382 IK Terminology on page 3377 Linking Strategy on page 3335 Bones System on page 901 Using Objects as Bones on page 913 IKTerminology Using inverse kinematics requires that you set parameters for a number of IK components Brief definitions of these components follow details are provided in oth...

Page 697: ... of a start joint and an end joint The base of the chain is either the root of the entire hierarchy or an object that you specify as a terminator for the chain The kinematic chain is defined when you apply an IK solver to a chain or when you create a bone chain with an IK solver automatically applied Goal The goal is used by the HI Solver to manipulate the end of the chain When the goal is animate...

Page 698: ...n An object bound to a follow object will attempt to match the position and orientation of the follow object You can bind to a follow object when you use an HD Solver or when Applied IK is used If you want to bind to a follow object when using an HI or IK Limb Solver apply a position constraint between the goal and any follow object of your choice usually a point dummy spline or bone Enabled IK HI...

Page 699: ...Solver IK Limb Solver Spline IK Solver TIP In order to put an IK solver on a two bone chain a third bone is needed Choose the first bone then from the Create menu click IK solver then click the third bone in the viewport In general all IK solvers Work on any hierarchy Work on any hierarchy or bone structure Calculate IK solutions for all frames in real time as you make changes Allow you to create ...

Page 700: ...olutions are calculated only for the keyframes you set All other motion is interpolated as set by the object s controllers Moving the end of the chain simply adds rotational keys to the objects in the chain The objects can have joint limits assigned for additional control The chain can also be terminated using the tools in the Auto Termination rollout on page 3499 Applied IK on page 3462 With Appl...

Page 701: ...he children in a linkage You can apply an IK solver to any hierarchy of objects You apply an IK solver to a hierarchy or part of a hierarchy using commands on the Animation menu Select an object in the hierarchy choose an IK solver and then click another object in the hierarchy to define the end of the IK chain Bones system with HI IK solver applied Each type of IK solver has its own behavior and ...

Page 702: ...ed or animated over time in a variety of ways often using linkage parameter wiring or constraints on page 3287 No matter how the goal is moved the IK solver attempts to move the pivot of the last joint in the chain also called the end effector to meet the goal The IK solver rotates the parts of the chain to stretch out and reposition the end effector to coincide with the goal Using an IK solver to...

Page 703: ...mance problems on long sequences so ideally use it on short animation sequences It is good for animating machines especially ones with sliding parts Because this solver s algorithm is history dependent it works best for short animation sequences The later in the sequence it is solving the longer it takes to calculate a solution It allows you to bind the end effector to a follow object and it uses ...

Page 704: ...lly placed at each node when Spline IK is assigned Each node is linked to its corresponding helper so a node can be moved by moving the helper Unlike the HI Solver the Spline IK system does not use a goal The positions of nodes in 3D space is the only factor that determines the shape of the linked structure Rotating or scaling nodes has no effect on the spline or structure NOTE 3ds Max also provid...

Page 705: ...click any object and select Properties from the quad menu on page 7516 In the Bone group choose Bone On Off You can then choose Show Links Only to replace the display of the objects with the bones This can be useful if you have a geometrically intensive hierarchy to animate The interactive viewport response will be much quicker when the geometry is hidden and displayed only at links 3386 Chapter 1...

Page 706: ... and on the Link Display rollout turn on Display Links and Link Replaces Object which displays the bones instead of the object This can be useful if you have a geometrically intensive hierarchy to animate The interactive viewport response is faster when the geometry is hidden and displayed as links only Any object hierarchy can be displayed as bones Any object hierarchy can be displayed as bones I...

Page 707: ...gh forward kinematics rotating each limb into position from the shoulder to the fingers and the hips to the toes But it s a lot quicker and more realistic to use inverse kinematics to simulate the foot interacting with the ground And it is a lot easier to control when you need to make changes to the animation Rather than having keyframes on every bone in the chain you have to make changes to only ...

Page 708: ...en the goal of an IK chain is selected the motion panel displays the rollouts for the individual IK solver HI Solver Motion panel parameters adjust the swivel angle on page 3397 of the solver plane to point the knees and elbows Also the controls in the IK Solver rollout let you mix periods of IK with FK forward kinematics through the Enabled button and the IK button HD Solver Motion panel paramete...

Page 709: ...a goal is selected the IK panel is blank If you select a bone before applying an IK Solver a different set of sliding and rotational joint parameters will be displayed but these will be replaced once an IK Solver is applied Spline IK Solver Select the spline of an Spline IK chain In the Hierarchy panel click IK The controls that appear affect the Spline IK Solver You will also find the tools to bi...

Page 710: ...e IK solver already applied NOTE If you use the Spline IK Solver a Spline IK Solver dialog will open where you can make special settings for the spline and helpers used by the Spline IK solver To display a hierarchy of objects as bones 1 Select the hierarchy of objects in the viewport 2 From the Animation menu Character submenu choose Bone Tools This Opens the bone Tools dialog 3 Expand the Object...

Page 711: ...dditional controls By linking the goals to points splines bones or dummies you can create simple controls to animate complex chains or hierarchies You can also use constraints on these goals or control objects as another animation tool Applying an HI Solver To apply an HI Solver to any part of a hierarchy select the bone or object where you want to the solver to start Then choose Animation menu IK...

Page 712: ...and toe Use the IK goals to raise the heel bend the toe move and rotate the entire foot and maintain the foot s position in space Overlapping Chains The IK solver system allows you to create overlapping IK chains in a single hierarchy In a human leg for example you could create a chain running from the hip to the ankle then a second chain from the knee to the ball of the foot and a third from the ...

Page 713: ...Overlapping chains make the toe stick to the ground 3394 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 714: ...e You then create three splines under the foot one for the heel one for the ball and one for the toe Link each goal to each spline then you can animate the goals using these splines You could also link the splines together so that the rotation of the toe is controlled by the movement of the heel Besides hierarchical linkage you can now use the new Constraint system in conjunction with IK solvers Y...

Page 715: ... node for the hand chain yet that chain would remain disconnected hierarchically speaking from the arm chain You can create viewport sliders using the manipulator helper and then use the viewport sliders to control the transforms of the control objects Use wire parameters on page 3322 to hook up the sliders with the control objects You can also create Custom Attributes to add these sliders to the ...

Page 716: ...position the goal snapping it back to the end of the chain When AutoSnap is on the snap happens automatically when you touch the goal you don t have to click the IK FK snap button Controlling HI IK Precision When you are animating with HI Solvers if you find the animation of the limbs is not smooth you should try doubling the Iterations in the Solutions group of the HI Solver Properties rollout on...

Page 717: ...e degree of freedom of the Solver Plane and it constrains only the Start Joint Zero Plane Map In order to describe the solver plane in terms of a numerical quantity we have to agree to what 0 means Given the end effector position where is the Zero Solver Plane The Zero Plane Map takes as the argument EE Axis and produces the normal to the zero plane The IK system allows individual solver plug ins ...

Page 718: ...ne Flipping It is a mathematical fact that there does not exist a continuous vector field on a sphere No matter how hard you try there will always be a point on the sphere where neighboring vectors change dramatically This is where the solver plane will flip when the end effector axis approaches to it This is because on one hand the history independent requirement demands us to assign a fixed vect...

Page 719: ...Let s call it the preferred pose We use the solver plane at the preferred pose as the horizontal plane Since the swivel angle is used to control the start joint the preferred angles at the start joint are not so intrinsic It is also reasonable to define the horizontal plane with the solver plane that is derived by assigning zeroes to the start joint and preferred angles to the other joints The EE ...

Page 720: ...er the IK system will provide a default one This map is defined by the following rules A For each point on the equator the intersection of the horizontal plane and the sphere the normal vector is defined as the vertical vector pointing to the same direction as the normal of the solver plane at the preferred pose B For any point on the sphere other than the north or south poles there is a great cir...

Page 721: ...the plane if one moves the goal on the plane Rule B means that when you move the goal along the great circle vertical to the equator the chain will stay vertical except when it passes through the poles which are the singular points of this map Parent Space So far we have described things as if the whole world comprises only IK elements In practice the IK chain and goal might sit at points of separ...

Page 722: ...ovide two choices Start Joint The Swivel Angle Parent Space is the same as the parent space of the Start Joint IK Goal The Swivel Angle Parent Space is the parent space of the IK Goal Example 1 If both the start joint and the goal are rooted directly at the world the choice of Parent Space does not give rise to any difference In the following example the start joint is parented to object A The IK ...

Page 723: ... A too Therefore the whole chain appears to be rotated together with the parent object B Parent Space is IK Goal Suppose that the goal is parented to the world In this case the sphere is parented to the world and hence stays fixed Since the normal is fixed to the sphere the chain will appear stationary when A is rotated Example 2 In the following example we look at a case where there exists a rota...

Page 724: ...s and flip B Parent Space is IK Goal Again we assume that the parent space of the goal is the world The horizontal plane of the sphere becomes horizontal as shown in the right figure The singular points the poles are on the plane that joints are laid out Therefore when users move the goal end effector left to right or the other around the end effector will move across the singular point and flip A...

Page 725: ...e that is fixed to the right configuration is to be parented to Bone01 together This will be the same as the one based on Bone01 to Bone04 Therefore we get the same normal and chain stays stationary B Parent Space is IK Goal In this case the sphere stays in the world while Bone02 is parented to Bone01 When Bone04 is moved to where it is shown on the left due to the transformation of Bone01 the obs...

Page 726: ...e keeps stationary in the viewport HI IK Solver Rollouts Motion Panel IK Solver Rollout HI Solver Select an HI or IK Limb Solver IK Chain control the blue cross at the end of the chain Motion panel Parameters button IK Solver rollout The HI Solver is a history independent solver that doesn t rely on the calculations from previous frames for the IK solution so it is fast to use no matter the length...

Page 727: ...rent In this case the IK goal s parent is the world and therefore the solver plane will be computed in world space The swivel angle is animatable You can adjust it directly or with a manipulator Or you can target the swivel angle to a object and animate that to affect the swivel angle These parameters are on the IK Solver Properties rollout on page 3412 The HI Solver is designed to let the animato...

Page 728: ...t the goal of the IK Chain and open the Motion panel 4 Select and move the goal to animate the IK chain with Inverse Kinematics 5 Advance the time slider again 6 In the IK Solver Rollout turn off Enabled and IK for FK Pose 7 Select and rotate the root The entire hierarchy rotates freely You are now adding keyframes using forward kinematics To match the goal and the end effector positions 1 If the ...

Page 729: ...and end points of the selected HI IK solver chain There are also controls in this rollout that allow you to use IK manipulation to create forward kinematic rotational keyframes on the hierarchy objects and there are buttons to align the goal and the end effector 3410 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 730: ...mode IK Snap If the goal has moved away from the end of the chain clicking IK FK Snap moves the goal to coincide with the end link position FK Snap The values of FK subcontrollers are suppressed by the solution of IK when IK is on Enabled is on Their values don t always correspond to the current pose of the chain If you turn off Enabled the values of FK subcontrollers will suddenly take over This ...

Page 731: ...K Solver Properties Rollout HI Solver Select end effector of an HI IK chain Motion panel Parameters button IK Solver Properties rollout Here are the additional controls for the HI IK solver The IK Solver Plane is controlled here through the Swivel Angle which can be animated directly or using a target object In the Parent Space group you can choose to whether the IK goal or the start joint will be...

Page 732: ...orm before giving up If your IK animation seems to jitter try increasing the Iterations to 200 Increasing the Iterations will slow down the computational time but should produce better results Manipulator for the Swivel Angle You can adjust the swivel angle with the spinner in this rollout or you can adjust it with a manipulator To do so turn on Select and Manipulate on page 2613 The swivel angle ...

Page 733: ...the swivel angle The swivel angle manipulator is a standard plane angle manipulator on page 2640 The HI Solver has its own controls for displaying this manipulator These are on the IK Display Options rollout on page 3416 Procedures To increase the precision of an IK solution 1 Select the goal in an HI IK chain 2 In the IK Solver Properties rollout increase the Iterations to 200 in the solutions gr...

Page 734: ...rget Lets you select another object to use to animate the Swivel Angle Use Turns the use of the Target on and off Parent Space Defines what space the Swivel Angle is relative to Use this on chains with multiple solvers so the swivel angle manipulations on one chain will not affect the second For more information see White Paper Swivel Angle of the HI IK Solver on page 3397 IK Goal Defines the Swiv...

Page 735: ...ttered Iterations The number of attempts an IK solution will make to find the best match between the goal and the end effector positions Increase this number if you are seeing jumpy animation IK Display Options Rollout HI Solver Create a bone chain Add an HI Solver Motion panel Here are the controls to turn on and off a variety of gizmos in the viewport The Goal and End effectors the vector handle...

Page 736: ... group Controls the appearance of the goals in the IK chain On by default Enabled Turns the goals display on or off Size Controls the size of the goal gizmo in the viewport Swivel Angle Manipulator group Controls the display of the swivel angle manipulator in the IK chain Default on Turn this on then turn on Manipulate mode to see the swivel angle manipulator Enabled Turns the swivel angle manipul...

Page 737: ... angle is defined and adjusted The preferred angle defines the direction a chain will bend which angle a chain will tend to rotate toward NOTE Sliding joints are implemented in the HI Solver but they do not take part in an IK solution They do however take part during FK interactive manipulation Use the HD Solver if you need to animate sliding joints with inverse kinematics Procedures Example To se...

Page 738: ...e can redefine the direction of the rotation To set rotational joint limits on a hierarchy of objects or a bone chain 1 Create a bone chain or a hierarchy of objects 2 Select any object in the chain 3 On the Hierarchy panel IK panel open the Rotational Joint rollout 4 If you want to limit an axis turn on Active and Limited and set the values of From and To The hierarchy will rotate in the viewport...

Page 739: ...ction with the From and To spinners Most joints are limited in their range of motion along an active axis For example a piston slides only within the length of its cylinder From and To spinners Determine for position limits Use in conjunction with the Limited function Clicking the labels From and To moves the object to its limit position Use this to check the sliding limits on an object 3420 Chapt...

Page 740: ...long an active axis For example a wheel rotating around an axle could be limited to rotate around only one axis From and To Spinners Determine for rotation limits Use in conjunction with the Limited function Clicking the labels From and To rotates the object to its limit rotation Use this to check the rotation limits on an object Preferred Angle Used by the HI Solver to set the initial pose for in...

Page 741: ... The objects or bones in the chain then use IK to calculate the IK solution Animating these end effectors is much like animating with Interactive IK except interpolation between keyframes uses correct IK solutions Linking End Effectors to a Parent You can link HD IK end effectors to a parent to achieve results similar to using bound follow objects with Interactive and Applied IK To link a HD IK en...

Page 742: ...s HD Solver Use the binding functions on page 3487 in the HD Solver to cause an object to attempt to maintain its position and orientation relative to the world or to another object A bound object will resist motion in the kinematic chain until the chain is stretched near its limits and the bound object must move to complete the IK solution In the top row the ball is independent of the lamp In the...

Page 743: ...endency to slide around when you attempt to position a foot Binding both feet to the world ensures that the unselected foot stays in place while you position the other foot Binding an Object to a Follow Object You can bind a selected object in your hierarchy to any other object that is not a descendant of the selected object This other object is called the follow object The behavior of the bound o...

Page 744: ...e end effector is selected The threshold and iteration settings for the HD solver are also found on the Inverse Kinematics tab of the Customize Preferences dialog Position Threshold Sets how close the end effector has to get to the follow object or cursor position to be considered a valid solution The value expresses a distance in the current unit system Small values increase accuracy but take lon...

Page 745: ...u want the solution to match the follow objects very closely Your Applied IK preferences should be set for accuracy The default applied IK and interactive IK settings are shown in the following table Interactive IK Applied IK Thresholds 1 000 0 100 Position 1 000 0 100 Rotation 10 50 Iterations See also HD Solver Motion Panel Rollouts on page 3426 HD Solver Motion Panel Rollouts Select end effecto...

Page 746: ...ent IK solution Rotation Specifies the allowable number of degrees of rotational error between a rotational end effector and its associate object Solution group Iterations Specifies the maximum number of iterations allowed to solve the IK solution The actual number of iterations used depends on the difficulty of the problem This value simply puts a cap on it Start Time and End Time Species the ran...

Page 747: ...ions of the end effectors however are not affected Turn on Show Initial State to view the initial state or adjust the initial state of bones or objects using end effectors This is useful when you set joint limits using the IK controls in the Hierarchy panel the joints jump to their limits while you set them When Show Initial State is off the default you can select and alter the initial state of bo...

Page 748: ...on As a result when you release the mouse the objects in the chain might shift a bit Manual With this option the IK problem is not solved until you click Update Update With Manual on click to solve the IK solution Display Joints group The options here affect the display of the joint axes and limits When a rotational or sliding joint is active Active is selected in the Sliding or Rotational Joints ...

Page 749: ...hen you select a joint that carries either or both end effectors and perform a transformation matching the type of end effector only the end effector itself is transformed The objects in the chain then use IK to follow and create the IK solution When you transform a joint that does not have an end effector or perform a type of transform that doesn t match the assigned end effector you transform th...

Page 750: ...lected link Unlink Unlinks the currently selected end effector from its parent Remove IK group Delete Joint Deletes any selection of bones or hierarchical objects Doesn t delete the IK only the selected hierarchical members NOTE Using the DELETE key will delete the entire hierarchy Remove IK Chain Deletes the IK Solver from the hierarchy Doesn t delete the objects or bones only the IK controls Pos...

Page 751: ...might move freely in the middle of its range of motion but it resists movement when you try to squeeze it against your upper arm or extend it all the way out Ease simulates this effect Damping Joint Action As a joint corrodes dries out or is put under a heavy load it resists motion along its active axes Damping simulates the natural effect of joint friction or inertia Enter a value greater than ze...

Page 752: ... harder as the joint moves farther away from its rest position Very high settings can turn the joint into a limit because you can reach the point where the spring is too strong to allow the joint to move any farther See also Setting Joint Precedence HD Solver on page 3433 Using Default Joint Precedence HD Solver on page 3436 Choosing Child to Parent Precedence HD Solver on page 3436 Choosing Paren...

Page 753: ...The hoof a child has precedence over the leg its parent The hoof a child has precedence over the leg its parent 3434 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 754: ...joints contribute the least Joints with high precedence values are calculated first and contribute more motion to the HD IK solution Joints with low precedence values are calculated last and contribute the least motion to the HD IK solution Joints with equal precedence values are calculated by order in the hierarchy Joints closer to the end effector are calculated first and joints closer to the ro...

Page 755: ...the Hierarchy panel expand the Object Parameters rollout 3 Set Precedence to 0 NOTE Default joint precedence occurs whenever all joints in the kinematic chain have the same precedence value Assigning a value of 100 to all objects in the kinematic chain is exactly the same as assigning a value of 0 Choosing Child to Parent Precedence HD Solver Child Parent precedence causes joints closest to where ...

Page 756: ...rst figure shows values for child to parent precedence Assigning Child Parent Precedence Clicking Child Parent sets joint precedence based on a child having a higher precedence than its parent The values are calculated by setting the root of Inverse Kinematics IK 3437 ...

Page 757: ...oosing Parent to Child Precedence HD Solver Parent Child precedence causes joints closest to where a force is applied the end effector to move less than joints farther away from the force This is the opposite of Child Parent precedence Parent Child precedence assigns the highest precedence to the base object and the lowest precedence to the end effector You might use this type of precedence for a ...

Page 758: ...igure shows values for parent to child precedence Assigning Parent Child Precedence Clicking Parent Child sets joint precedence based on a child having a lower precedence than its parent The values are calculated by setting the root of Inverse Kinematics IK 3439 ...

Page 759: ... the IK chain on a joint by joint basis For example Animating models with a combination of light flexible joints and heavy resisting joints Imagine a model of heavy iron balls linked together with lengths of chain Setting the precedence values of the chains higher than the precedence values of the iron balls simulates the balls inertial resistance to motion Animating a motion where certain joints ...

Page 760: ...ain for the structure uses the body as the root object and the duck as the end effector The figures show precedence values that were assigned manually the chain for the structure uses the body as the root object and the duck as the end effector Inverse Kinematics IK 3441 ...

Page 761: ...n the Object Parameters rollout to stop calculation of the kinematic chain before it reaches the root object of the hierarchy A terminator object stops calculation at the terminator s child object the terminator itself is not affected by the IK solution This gives you very precise control over the behavior of the kinematic chain For example look at the bird in the figure The bird is linked with it...

Page 762: ...With a terminator in the neck the body of the bird is not affected With a terminator in the neck the body of the bird is not affected Inverse Kinematics IK 3443 ...

Page 763: ...tional requirements are The first joint is spherical That is it has three degrees of freedom The second joint is revolute a robotics term that means it is based on a pin and has one degree of freedom The IK Limb solver uses the same controls as the HI Solver so it allows for mixing periods of forward and inverse kinematics in the same animation period It does not use the HD Solver methods of dampi...

Page 764: ...K Limb solver to a two bone chain with joint limits as described above 2 Select the goal 3 Move or rotate the goal Interface The Interface for the IK Limb solver is identical to that of the HI Solver Select the goal at the end of the chain and open the Motion panel Here you will see the controls for the IK Limb solver The fourth is available from the Hierarchy IK panel when a bone is selected Spli...

Page 765: ...t a few nodes as opposed to animating each bone individually Spline IK provides a more flexible animation system than other IK solvers You can position vertices helpers anywhere in 3D space so the linked structure can assume any shape you want to give it A helper object is automatically placed at each vertex when Spline IK is assigned Each vertex is linked to its corresponding helper so a vertex c...

Page 766: ...an be applied at the time bones are created or after the bone structure has already been made To apply a spline IK solver when bones are created 1 Choose Create panel Systems Bones 2 On the IK Chain Assignment rollout set IK Solver to SplineIKSolver and turn on both check boxes Assign To Children and Assign To Root By default Assign To Root is on automatically when you turn on Assign To Children 3...

Page 767: ...3448 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 768: ...structure 1 Create a bone structure without an IK chain 2 Draw a spline or NURBS curve to be used by the bones The curve can have any length and shape and does not have to match the length or shape of the bone structure 3 Select the bone or object where you want to the solver to start 4 Choose Animation menu IK Solvers Spline IK Solver In the viewport move the cursor to the bone or object where yo...

Page 769: ...e spline and takes its shape and a helper is created on the spline at each vertex A Path constraint is automatically assigned to the root bone to constrain it to the helper vertex at that end of the spline 3450 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 770: ...sor to the bone or object where you want the chain to end and click that bone Then right click in the viewport to end the IK solver creation without choosing a spline 4 Create a spline or NURBS curve to be used with the Spline IK system It is recommended that you apply the Spline IK Control modifier on page 1741 to it and then click Create Helpers to place helpers at each vertex making the spline ...

Page 771: ...o moving the spline itself has no effect on the bone structure If the spline is moved it will snap back to the helpers the next time a helper is moved However it is recommended that you not move the spline at all Once you have finished setting up the spline IK solver it can be helpful to freeze the spline to avoid accidentally moving it Moving helpers changes the shape of the spline To twist the s...

Page 772: ...meters for the spline that will be created to control the bone structure The spline in turn is shaped by the positions of helper objects at each knot control point See also Spline IK on page 3445 Inverse Kinematics IK 3453 ...

Page 773: ... assigned to the spline IK solver in order to use the solver See Animating with the Spline IK Solver on page 3445 for a description of this procedure Default on Curve Type Choose the type of curve to serve as the Spline IK control Bezier Creates a Bezier spline similar to a spline created with the Create Shapes Line tool This is the default curve type NURBS Point Creates a NURBS Point Curve where ...

Page 774: ... animate the knots You can enable more than one type of helper When you move one helper the others at the same location also move as does the curve knot Center Marker Places a small X shaped Point helper at each knot Axis Tripod Places a small tripod axis shaped Point helper at each knot Cross Places a small cross shaped Point helper at each knot Box Places a small box shaped Point helper at each ...

Page 775: ...olver on page 3445 See also Animating with the Spline IK Solver on page 3445 Interface Spline IK Solver rollout The options on this rollout allow you to pick a new spline for the spline IK chain or pick new start and end joints for the chain Spline IK Solver group Spline IK Solver Displays the name of the solver The only available solver is Spline IK Solver Enabled Turns control of the solver on a...

Page 776: ...ng a gradual twist over the entire chain Pick Upnode When Spline IK is assigned to a bone chain the IK system attempts to determine the up direction for bones which is the direction in which the bones back fins should point The Spline IK Solver might interpret this direction incorrectly causing bones to flip to one side or the other Picking an upnode causes the up direction to point along the pick...

Page 777: ...t twist manipulator Default 1 0 Length Sets the length of the start twist manipulator Default 75 0 Twist End group Enabled Turns on the display of the end twist manipulator Default on Size Sets the size of the end twist manipulator Default 1 0 Length Sets the length of the end twist manipulator Default 75 0 Goal Display group Enabled Turns on the display of the IK goal Default on 3458 Chapter 15 A...

Page 778: ...ll not satisfy your needs Example of Interactive IK The following example demonstrates how an interactive IK animation works and how it might differ from what you expect The figure shows an IK structure with its end effector resting on top of a box The box moves in a straight line over 100 frames Turn the Auto Key button on and then in the Hierarchy panel IK tab turn on Interactive IK Move the end...

Page 779: ...For information about making the end effector precisely follow the motion of the box see Animating with Applied IK on page 3462 IK structure 3460 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 780: ...ll not move Behavior of Root Objects in IK Mode An option on the Inverse Kinematics panel on page 7776 of the Preference Settings dialog enables the special case of moving and rotating root objects when IK mode is on The name of this control is Always Transform Children Of The World While you are transforming an end effector using IK mode the settings for the root object s joint parameters are use...

Page 781: ... Apply IK Applied IK requires you bind one or more parts of your IK structure to animated follow objects Once bound you can select any object in your kinematic chain and click Apply IK This calculates the IK solution for each frame of the animation and places transform keys for every object in the IK chain The Apply IK method of animation works best when you want objects in the kinematic chain to ...

Page 782: ...Example of Applied IK IK structure Inverse Kinematics IK 3463 ...

Page 783: ...straight line over 100 frames To bind the end effector to the spider click Bind and then drag a line between the two Once the end effector is bound to the spider it will try to match the location of its pivot point with the pivot point of the spider Select the end effector and click Apply IK The software matches the end effector with the box and calculates the IK solution for every frame Playback ...

Page 784: ...d to calculate the applied IK solution Using these fields you can restrict IK solutions to specific frames and solve for different solutions in different time segments You can set the Start and End fields to include frames outside of the active time segment You can also constrain an IK solution to frames where a key exists for an end effector This is useful if you want to animate a hierarchy using...

Page 785: ...ts and turn on their bone or link display Select the bone or link and open the Hierarchy panel IK tab Scroll down to the Sliding and Rotational Joints There you can activate axes and set their individual limits NOTE Different IK solvers use different joint limits When using a bone system add the IK solvers first then set the joint limits second Common JointTypes The most common joint types are Rot...

Page 786: ...vidual child objects can influence this inheritance If three children in a row all have their rotational axes made inactive they will not be able to rotate and so a piece of the chain will appear stiff Or if only one axis is made active as a sliding joint the component can separate in space from the chain When you are using an object with a path constraint in an IK chain you might want the path to...

Page 787: ...1 Base 2 Post 3 Cap 4 Ring 5 Holder 6 Handle 3468 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 788: ...ain Copying and Pasting Joint Parameters You can copy and paste at the bottom of the Object Parameters rollout in the Hierarchy panel to copy and paste a complete set of joint parameters from one object to another There are separate copy and paste functions for sliding joints and rotational joints Each joint type saves copied parameters in separate clipboards Inverse Kinematics IK 3469 ...

Page 789: ...e independently The setting of IK joint axes overrides Inherit and Lock settings on the Link Info rollout Understanding Joint Axis Orientation IK joint axes for an object are defined by the Local axes of the object s parent That means if you activate the X axis of an object s rotational joint parameters the object rotates about its parent s X axis not its own X axis You might have a problem when y...

Page 790: ...t to move or rotate about the active axis and is a quick check that you chose the right axis Activating Rotational Joints 1 Rotational links When you turn on Active for one of the X Y Z axes of a rotational joint the object can rotate about that axis of its parent s coordinate system Joints that rotate about multiple axes are very common A ball joint like your shoulder is a rotational joint active...

Page 791: ...are active only along a single axis A telescope is an example of a sliding joint active on a single axis You rarely see a sliding joint active along all three axes If a sliding joint is active along all three axes it moves independently from its parent It s almost as if there is no joint connection at all TIP Use the HD IK Solver when you need to use sliding joints with IK 3472 Chapter 15 Animatio...

Page 792: ...nge of motion along an active axis For example a hinge might open only to 120 degrees a piston slides only within the length of its cylinder To limit the range of motion allowed on an active axis you turn on Limited and set values for the From and To fields on the joint rollouts You can also view joint limits in the viewport by pressing and holding the mouse button on the From or To label of a lim...

Page 793: ...ing joint on a piston moves the piston in and out of the cylinder In the figure the limits on Z axis movement are from 10 to 90 This prevents the piston from hitting the bottom or moving past the end of the cylinder Limiting Path and Surface Joints Limits for path and surface joints define how far along the path or surface an object can move The values in the From and To fields represent a percent...

Page 794: ...within the hierarchy See also Hierarchies and Kinematics on page 3330 Inverse Kinematics IK on page 3374 IK Terminology on page 3377 Animating with Interactive IK on page 3459 Animating with Applied IK on page 3462 History Dependent HD IK Solver on page 3422 History Independent HI IK Solver on page 3392 IK Limb Solver on page 3444 Spline IK on page 3445 Pivot Make a selection in the viewport Hiera...

Page 795: ...on Use caution when adjusting the pivot of an animated object Adjusting the pivot on one frame might produce unexpected results in another part of the animation You should adjust the pivot point to the location you want before you start to animate if possible TIP Use the Link constraint on page 3308 to simulate the effect of an animated pivot The Pivot panel has these rollouts Adjust Pivot Rollout...

Page 796: ...lign on page 1015 and Align to View on page 1021 on the toolbar to align the pivot See Adjust Transform Rollout on page 3483 for related information Interface Move Rotate Scale group Each of the buttons in the Move Rotate Scale group box highlights when active This determines which part of the object is affected by the three buttons in the Alignment area as well as the Transform and Align commands...

Page 797: ... t use it on Bones systems To reposition rotate or change the size of bones in a chain see Bones on page 901 NOTE It s important to remember that the Align Normal Align and Align to View functions are all affected by the state of Affect Pivot Only Affect Object Only and Affect Hierarchy Only Snap mode allows you to snap the pivot to its own object or to any other object in the scene Alignment grou...

Page 798: ...ons Working Pivot Rollout Make a selection Hierarchy panel Pivot button Working Pivot rollout As an alternative to the object s own pivot you can use the working pivot for applying transforms to any object in the scene This allows you for example to rotate an object about an arbitrary persistent point in the scene without interfering with the object s own pivot You position and orient the working ...

Page 799: ... you can use anywhere in the 3ds Max interface For example you could create a custom Working Pivot toolbar on page 7700 with buttons that give you access to the Working Pivot commands while editing meshes Procedure To use Working Pivot 1 Turn on Edit Working Pivot and use standard transform tools and or the Place Pivot To group on page 3482 commands to place and orient the working pivot Turn off E...

Page 800: ...shown in the above illustration Edit Working Pivot When on makes the working pivot visible in the scene and lets you transform it When you first enter Edit Working Pivot mode all transform tools use the Local reference coordinate system on page 967 by default You can change the coordinate system while working in this mode and the tool remembers the reference coordinate system for each transform Ch...

Page 801: ...ailable only in Edit Working Pivot and Use Working Pivot modes Reset Moves the working pivot to the pivot location of the selected object With multiple selected objects the working pivot moves to the pivot position of the last selected object With a sub object selection the working pivot moves to the geometric center of the selection the averaged position of the selected sub objects If the working...

Page 802: ... that object See also Adjust Pivot Rollout on page 3476 Procedures To scale a parent without scaling the children 1 Select the parent object in a hierarchy 2 On the Hierarchy panel click the Pivot button if it s not already on then on the Adjust Transform rollout click Don t Affect Children 3 Scale the parent object The children will remain unaffected TIP Never use non uniform scale at the object ...

Page 803: ...escendants When applied to closed groups it aligns the dummy node of the parent but keeps the children in the same place It reorients and resizes the dummy node to correctly bind the children of the group Scale Resets the scale values in the transformation matrix to reflect the new scale of the object There is no visual change in the object You can use the Scale to correct Non Uniform Scale inheri...

Page 804: ... skin pose to be refined Changes to the objects when Skin Pose Mode is on affect only the skin pose not the animation When Skin Pose Mode is off the structure returns to its pose at the current frame Available only after you ve used Set As Skin Pose on page 304 on an object Enabled group Toggle the Position Rotation and Scale check boxes to enable and disable recording of the corresponding transfo...

Page 805: ...5 NOTE The rollouts for the HI IK and IK Limb solvers are not available while IK is chosen in the Hierarchy panel Most controls for these solvers are found on the Motion panel HD IK Solver Rollouts Object Parameters Rollout HD Solver Make a selection Hierarchy panel IK Object Parameters rollout The Object Parameters rollout lets you set IK parameters for an entire hierarchical chain This topic cov...

Page 806: ...nator to stop calculation of the kinematic chain before it reaches the root object of the hierarchy A terminator object stops calculation at the terminator s child object the terminator itself is not affected by the IK solution This gives you very precise control over the behavior of the kinematic chain Position Orientation Bind to Follow Object HD Solver Make a selection with an HD Solver applied...

Page 807: ...e the object to attempt to maintain its current location Turn on Bind Orientation to cause the object to attempt to maintain its current orientation To bind an object to a follow object 1 Turn on Bind and select the object in a kinematic chain to be bound Moving your mouse over an acceptable target will change the cursor to a push pin icon 2 Drag to the follow object and release 3 Turn on Bind Ori...

Page 808: ...word None Interface Position group Bind Position Binds the selected object in the IK chain to the world attempts to maintain its location or to a follow object if one has been assigned If a follow object has been assigned then the translation of the follow object affects the IK solution NOTE This check box has no effect on the HD IK Solver Position end effectors which are always bound to their ass...

Page 809: ...the Y or Z axis has NOTE These do not constrain the movement of the follow object or end effector Weight Sets the influence of the follow object or end effector on its assigned object and on the rest of the chain A setting of 0 turns off the binding Using this value you can set the relative influence of multiple follow objects or end effectors and their priority in solving the IK solution The high...

Page 810: ...an joints farther from the force Child Parent values are calculated by assuming the root of the entire hierarchy has a precedence value of 0 and each child has a value equal to 10 times its depth from the root In a four object hierarchy starting with the root the values would be 0 10 20 and 30 Parent Child values are calculated by assuming the root of the entire hierarchy has a precedence value of...

Page 811: ...o all objects in a kinematic chain 1 Select all objects in the kinematic chain 2 Open the Object Parameters rollout in the Hierarchy panel 3 Click Parent Child To reset the default joint precedence 1 Select all objects in the kinematic chain 2 Open the Object Parameters rollout in the Hierarchy panel 3 Set the value in the Precedence field to 0 Interface Three controls set precedence Precedence Ma...

Page 812: ...lver Make a selection Hierarchy panel IK Object Parameters rollout Copying Pasting and Mirroring joint parameters Use the Copy and Paste buttons in the Object Parameters rollout to copy and paste the joint settings between IK controllers You can also copy joint settings from a non IK controller to an IK controller but you can t copy from an IK controller to a non IK controller With an HD IK solver...

Page 813: ...tational Joints maintain separate clipboards The copied joint parameters are saved in the clipboard until you replace them with new copied parameters Interface Sliding Joints group Use these buttons to copy sliding joint parameters from one object to another These buttons are not available for Path joints Rotational Joints group Use these buttons for copying rotational joint parameters from one ob...

Page 814: ...Select an object 2 On the Hierarchy panel click IK 3 Expand the rollout for a joint type 4 Turn on Active for any available axis When on the axis is active and the object can move or rotate about that axis When off the axis is inactive and the object cannot move or rotate about that axis To limit a joint 1 Select an object 2 Click IK in the Hierarchy panel 3 Turn on Limited for any active axis If ...

Page 815: ...s groups Active Activates an axis X Y Z Allows the selected object to slide on or rotate about the activated axis Limited Limits the range of motion or rotation allowed on an active axis Use in conjunction with the From and To spinners Most joints are limited in their range of motion along an active axis For example a piston slides only within the length of its cylinder Ease Causes a joint to resi...

Page 816: ...f 0 turns off the spring very high settings can turn the joint into a limit because you can reach the point where the spring is too strong to allow the joint to move past a certain point Damping Applies resistance over a joint s full range of motion or rotation Simulates the natural effect of joint friction or inertia As a joint corrodes dries out or is put under a heavy load it resists motion alo...

Page 817: ...interactive IK 1 Build a hierarchy of objects If you want to use Bones be sure Assign to Children is not active when you create the Bones 2 Select the end of the chain 3 Go to the Hierarchy panel IK button 4 Scroll up to the Inverse Kinematics Rollout 5 Click Interactive IK 6 Advance the time slider and move the end of the chain 7 Turn off Interactive IK when you want to do forward kinematics To u...

Page 818: ...he IK solution for keyframes that already exist for one of the end effectors Update Viewports Views the progress of Apply IK frame by frame in the viewports Clear Keys Removes all move and rotate keys from the selected IK chain before applying IK Start End Sets the range of frames to calculate the applied IK solution The default settings for Apply IK calculates the IK solution for every frame of t...

Page 819: ...nation is applied For example if you set this to 5 when you move any object in the hierarchy the object that s five links up the chain from the object you re adjusting acts as a terminator If you select a different object in the hierarchy termination is switched to whichever object is five links up the chain from the newly selected object A setting of 1 simply locks the hierarchy since it terminat...

Page 820: ... Make a selection Hierarchy panel Link Info button Locks rollout The Locks rollout contains controls that prevent transforms along particular axes See also Inherit Rollout on page 3502 Procedures To lock all move transforms 1 Select an object in the viewports 2 In the Locks rollout turn on Move group X Y and Z Only rotate and scale transforms will work The object does not need to be part of a hier...

Page 821: ...local coordinate system Inherit Rollout Make a selection Hierarchy panel Link Info button Inherit rollout The Inherit rollout constrains the links between a selected object and its parent for any axis of position rotation or scale See also Locks Rollout on page 3501 Procedures To prevent inheritance of X rotation in a hierarchy Select an object then turn off X in the Rotate group on the Inherit ro...

Page 822: ... information on that axis is ignored by the child TrackView Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Graph Editors menu New Track View Graph Editors menu Track View Curve Editor Graph Editors menu Track View Dope Sheet Graph Editors menu Saved Track View Choose a saved Track View Right click active viewport Transform quadrant Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Viewport right click menu Views Track Choose New or a s...

Page 823: ... of keys and ranges Keys are color coded for easy identification Some of the functions in Track View such as moving and deleting keys are also available on the track bar near the time slider which can be expanded to show curves as well You can dock the Curve Editor and Dope Sheet windows beneath the viewports at the bottom of the interface or use them as floating windows Track View layouts can be ...

Page 824: ...es about the scene Change the behavior of the animation outside the range of keys Change controllers for animated parameters Select objects vertices and hierarchies Navigate the modifier stack in the Modify panel by clicking the modifier items in the Track View Hierarchy NOTE Tracks are created for animated vertices in Track View A Bezier Point3 controller is the default vertex interpolation contr...

Page 825: ...es effect When you apply a controller or constraint to an object s motion the frame range over which controller takes effect is determined by the current active time segment on page 7898 If you then change the active time segment or the animation length the duration of the controller s influence doesn t change Sometimes applying a controller such as Path Constraint automatically sets keys that you...

Page 826: ...t keys on the curve or on the dope sheet 2 Press the Delete key on the keyboard to delete the selected keys To force Track View to always display on a second monitor If you are running a dual monitor setup you can force Track View to display on the right hand monitor by editing a script 1 Right click the Curve Editor Open icon in the main toolbar and then choose Edit Macro Script The MAXScript scr...

Page 827: ...etry driven views These views display the surfaces of your objects and show them changing over time Track View displays the values and timing that produce the geometry and motion you see in standard views Using Track View you have very precise control over every aspect of your scene Track View has two modes Curve Editor and Dope Sheet The Curve Editor displays your animation as keys on function cu...

Page 828: ...Track View Copying and Pasting Items on page 3645 Copying and Pasting Objects on page 3647 Making Instance and Reference Controllers and Objects Unique on page 3649 TrackView Workspace Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Graph Editors menu Track View Curve Editor Graph Editors menu New Track View The Track View Key window displays function curves and keys when in Curve Editor mode When in Dope Sheet mo...

Page 829: ...d determines which curves and tracks are available for display and editing Hierarchy items in the Controller window can be expanded and rearranged as necessary using the Hierarchy list right click menu The navigation tools can also be found in the Track View Options menu Default behavior is to only show selected object tracks Use Manual Navigation mode to collapse or expand tracks individually or ...

Page 830: ...Controller window Key window The Key window displays the keys as either curves or tracks The tracks can be displayed as a box graph of keys or range bars TrackView Workspace 3511 ...

Page 831: ...d Keys Finally keys can be created by turning on Set Key mode moving to a desired frame posing the object then clicking Set Key Key Display Keys are displayed as points on the function curves or as boxes on the Dope Sheet Keys on the Dope Sheet are color coded for easy identification When there are multiple tracks keyed at one frame the boxes appear with bands of color to indicate the shared key t...

Page 832: ...e tangency types The tangency buttons found on the Key Tangents toolbar can be used to change the function curve keys Use Custom tangency to show editable curve handles Use Step tangency to freeze motion or create classic storyboard pose to pose blocking Function curves can also be displayed below the track bar TrackView Workspace 3513 ...

Page 833: ... bars display to indicate the range of time the animation occurs Tools specific to working with ranges position ranges and recouple ranges can be found on the Ranges toolbar off by default Right click the toolbar choose Show Toolbars and then select Range Track View to access these tools 3514 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 834: ...nd the interpolated values between keys as a curve These curves express how a parameter varies over time Only animation tracks can display function curves You can edit the curves using tangency handles on the keys to change the shape of the curve Keys displayed as function curves Curve Editor TrackView Workspace 3515 ...

Page 835: ... settings in the Time Configuration dialog Move the time ruler up to the keys for more accurate key placement Time ruler TrackViewTime Slider The current time is indicated by the Track View time slider This is displayed as a set of blue vertical lines synchronized with the position of the viewport time slider You can move the Track View time slider by dragging it in the Key window Moving either ti...

Page 836: ...r than time a horizontal orange line appears at the 0 value on the vertical graph axis This orange line is a scale values origin indicator which you can move verticall to use as a reference point for scaling values Horizontal line at the top of the illustration is the moveable scale origin line TrackView Workspace 3517 ...

Page 837: ...rames You can easily see and control the motion and animation of the objects in the scene using tangent handles on the keys found on the curves The Curve Editor interface consists of a menu bar a toolbar a Controller window and a Key window There is also a time ruler and navigation and status tools at the bottom of the interface You can loop or cycle your animation beyond its range by adding Param...

Page 838: ...f adjusting animation timing because you can see all keys at once in a spreadsheet like format Classical animation technique included the use of an exposure sheet called an X sheet or a Dope Sheet The Dope Sheet was a vertical chart that served as instructions to the camera operator Dialogue and camera actions were indicated over a numbered list that represented each shot which became a single pho...

Page 839: ... the keys in a scene scale them move them copy and paste them or otherwise work directly rather than working with objects in viewports You can choose to select the keys for children or subtree or both so you can make simple changes that affect many objects and their keys at once Dope Sheet allows for soft selection of keys which is very useful when working with motion capture data that has keys on...

Page 840: ...ys keys that fall in between frames Keys that fill the boxes are on the frame keys that are small rectangles are sub frame Sub frame keys Dope Sheet just like the Curve Editor allows you to use soft selection on keys This is extremely useful when you are dealing with massive quantities of keys Dope Sheet 3521 ...

Page 841: ...n it starts and ends rather than when you need to manipulate particular keys within an action Edit Ranges mode Modify Subtree and Modify Child Keys When working in Dope Sheet you can turn on or off Modify Subtree and Modify Child Keys These let you automatically move the keys for the children and or the tracks for the subtree If you experience a slowdown while working with Dope Sheet try turning t...

Page 842: ...ness of the Dope Sheet editor Dope Sheet now temporarily retains the key caches so tracks that have already been computed as a result of the parent being computed needn t be recomputed The cache is used instead The default auto navigation settings for the Dope Sheet editor now only auto expand to the node track for the currently selected object This reduces the number of tracks whose keys need to ...

Page 843: ...rt description appears in the right column To use Track View keyboard shortcuts the Keyboard Shortcut Override toggle on page 7858 must be on See also Track View on page 3503 Keyboard Shortcuts on page 7857 Keyboard Panel on page 7698 Customize User Interface Dialog on page 7697 Description Default Keyboard Shortcut Track View Function Accesses the track selection field at the lower left of Track ...

Page 844: ...ndow Access Value Field A Add Keys Add Note Track Add Visibility Track Align Keys Ctrl E Apply Ease Curve Ctrl M Apply Multiplier Curve C Assign Controller Auto Expand Animated Auto Expand Keyable Auto Expand Limits Collapse All Collapse Objects Collapse Tracks Ctrl C Copy Controller Copy Time TrackView Shortcuts 3525 ...

Page 845: ... Curve Delete Note Track Delete Visibility Track Draw Curves Ease Curve Out of Range Types Ease Multiplier Curve En able Toggle Edit Keys Mode Edit Ranges Mode Edit Time Mode Edit Track Set Exclude Left End Point Toggle Exclude Right End Point Toggle O letter o Expand Object Toggle 3526 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 846: ...ters Freeze Nonselected Curves Function Curves Mode Ignore Animation Range Insert Time Keyable Properties Toggle Spacebar Lock Selection L Lock Tangents Toggle U Make Controller Unique Modify Subtree Toggle Down Arrow Move Highlight Down Up Arrow Move Highlight Up M Move Keys Move Keys Horizontal TrackView Shortcuts 3527 ...

Page 847: ...s an object up in the hierarchy display Move Object Up Multiplier Curve Out of Range Types Left Arrow Nudge Keys Left Right Arrow Nudge Keys Right P Pan Parameter Curve Out of Range Types Ctrl V Paste Controller Paste Limit Only Paste Time Position Ranges Mode Properties Reduce Keys Remove Limit Respect Animation Range 3528 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 848: ... Time Scale Values Ctrl Down Arrow Scroll Down Ctrl Up Arrow Scroll Up Select All Select Children Select Invert Select None Select Time Select Lower Limit Set Tangents to Auto Set Tangents to Custom Set Tangents to Fast Set Tangents to Linear Set Tangents to Slow TrackView Shortcuts 3529 ...

Page 849: ...Step Set Upper Limit Show All Tangents Show Keys on Frozen Curves Show Selected Key Stats Show Tangents Toggle Slide Keys S Snap Frames Toggle Limit Track View Utilities Z Zoom Zoom Horizontal Extents Alt X Zoom Horizontal Extents Zoom Region Zoom Selected Object Zoom Time 3530 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 850: ...n a hierarchical fashion You select objects in the Hierarchy list to Select object and track labels for Track View operations Select object icons to select objects in the scene Select material or map icons when working in the Material Editor Select modifiers in Track View to navigate the modifier stack in the Modify panel See also Hierarchy Right Click Menu on page 3538 Properties Track View Hiera...

Page 851: ...ever selecting object icons in Track View follows the same rules as selecting objects in the scene You can t select the icon of a hidden object You can t select the icon of a frozen object If you select the icon of an object that is part of a closed group the group icon and all the objects in the group are selected To select and deselect item labels by clicking 1 Select the first item by clicking ...

Page 852: ...r vertex editing To select a material or map as the active material in the Material Editor 1 Open the Material Editor 2 Open the Medit Materials branch in the Hierarchy list of the Controller window and select a material The selected material becomes the active item in the Material Editor This is one way to navigate and select a material for editing Example To navigate the modifier stack in the Mo...

Page 853: ...he sphere in Y 4 Go to frame 30 and move the sphere in Z 5 Deselect the sphere by clicking in a blank area of the viewport 6 Open the track View Curve Editor and press Ctrl A Locate in the Track View Controller window the box and sphere objects Notice that both their icons are highlighted as well as the sphere s XYZ position tracks 3534 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 854: ...scene as a single range for quick global operations By default the World track shows the range of the Sound Environment Medit Materials and Scene Materials branches Modify Subtree in Edit Ranges mode causes the World track to include the range of all tracks in the Objects branch as well TrackView Hierarchy 3535 ...

Page 855: ...from an expression controller assigned to any other track or you can copy and paste it to any number of matching controller types Video Post Allows you to manage animated parameters for Video Post plug ins Environment Contains items that control the background and scene environment effects Examples include Ambient Light Background definition Fogs and Volumetric Lighting Render Effects Contains tra...

Page 856: ...the objects in your scene When Manual Navigation on page 3561 is on many of these categories display a small plus or minus button to expand collapse the contents Item Categories Each type of item in the Hierarchy list is represented by an icon You can use these icons to quickly identify what each item represents Objects Branches contain linked descendants of the object Branches below contain trans...

Page 857: ...indicate modifiers and space warp bindings Branches below a modifier contain the modifiers sub objects and parameters Controller Window Right Click menu Right click any item in the Controller window to display the right click menu on page 3538 Use Alt right click to display an alternate navigation menu Hierarchy Right Click Menu Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select an item in the Track View contr...

Page 858: ...ually TIP The Hierarchy right click menu displays commands related to the highlighted item while the Alt right click menu displays commands related to the item currently located under your mouse cursor Interface Select All Selects all tracks that are visible in the Hierarchy list Collapsed items are not selected Select Invert Inverts the current Hierarchy list selection TrackView Hierarchy 3539 ...

Page 859: ...emain highlighted Select Children Selects all objects descending from the selection by highlighting their icon in the Hierarchy list Collapsed children are also selected TIP You can also select an object s children by double clicking its icon Expand Objects Expands only the object branch for all descendants of the selected object The expanded branches are not selected 3540 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 860: ...anches of the selected item Expand All Expands all branches for all descendants of the selected object Collapse Objects Collapses only the object branch for all descendants of the selected object Collapse Tracks Collapses all branches of the selected item Collapse All Collapses all branches for all descendants of the selected object TrackView Hierarchy 3541 ...

Page 861: ... Loads XML animation data from files to the highlighted track or tracks For more information see Saving and Loading Animation on page 7074 If any of the highlighted tracks has child tracks animation is loaded to those tracks as well Save Animation Saves XML animation data from the highlighted track or tracks to disk files For more information see Saving and Loading Animation on page 7074 If any of...

Page 862: ...anches of the selected item Expand All Expands all branches for all descendants of the selected object Collapse Objects Collapses only the object branch for all descendants of the selected object Collapse Tracks Collapses all branches of the selected item Collapse All Collapses all branches for all descendants of the selected object Select All Selects all tracks that are visible in the Hierarchy l...

Page 863: ...trollers such as Noise use the Properties dialog as their primary interface for animating parameters Other controllers do not use the Properties dialog at all and in those cases it is unavailable Procedures To display properties for animation controllers 1 Select the controller track in the Controller Window 2 On the Controller menu choose Properties Or you can right click and select Properties fr...

Page 864: ... the Track View Hierarchy and right click Hierarchy right click menu Properties Graph Editors menu Track View Open Track View Right click a Sound track in the Track View Hierarchy Properties Sound Options dialog The Sound track in the Track View Controller window contains two sound options Use the Metronome to generate a series of beeps or load a sound file to play back Sound is one way to provide...

Page 865: ...on Interface Audio group Choose Sound Displays a file selector where you choose a sound file Remove Sound Deletes the waveform from Track View Reload Sound Reloads the last loaded file This allows the sound file to be reloaded when it has been changed by another program Active Plays the waveform during animation play back Metronome group The Metronome track produces a regular beat using two tones ...

Page 866: ...tools however appear only on the toolbars and do not appear in the menus Interface Modes Lets you choose between Curve Editor and Dope Sheet See Modes Menu on page 3548 Controller Assigns copies and pastes controllers and makes them unique Here you also add looping See Controller Menu on page 3548 Tracks Adds Note and Visibility tracks See Tracks Menu on page 3552 Keys Adds removes slides and scal...

Page 867: ...you tools for working with controllers that are assigned to objects or tracks when in the Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Assign Lets you select tracks and then assign a controller to that selection See Assign Controller on page 3593 Delete Controller Lets you delete certain controllers that can t otherwise be replaced Visibility tracks Image Motion Blur Multiplier Object Motion Blur On Off See Delete ...

Page 868: ...ced making changes to it will affect where ever it is copied If the controller is unique then changes to it will not affect anything else See Make Controller Unique on page 3600 Out of Range Types Lets you extend the animation beyond the existing keyframes Used primarily to loop and otherwise cycle your animation without having to copy keys See Parameter Curve Out of Range Types on page 3601 Prope...

Page 869: ...otation is applied by the Path constraint If you want to collapse this kind of track use Collapse in the Collapse Transform group of the Motion panel Trajectories rollout instead Procedures To collapse a procedural controller track 1 In a viewport select an object with a procedural controller then right click and choose Curve Editor from the quad menu The Track View Curve Editor is displayed 2 In ...

Page 870: ...End Frame Sets the last frame of the range of animation to be collapsed Default The last frame of the original controller s active range WARNING If you choose a range of frames smaller than the original range the animation within the range will be collapsed and the remaining motion will be discarded unless Add to New Layer is on Samples Sets the granularity of the collapse operation This value def...

Page 871: ...Dope Sheet Tracks menu Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Tracks menu There are two types of special tracks that can be accessed from the Tracks menu Note Track Lets you add or remove note tracks to your scene Note tracks can be used for variety of purposes to add information to any track in Track View See Add Note Track on page 3604 Visibility Track Lets you add or remove visibility tracks to objects...

Page 872: ...hold Works on Curves and Dope Sheet edit keys mode See Use Soft Select on page 3553 Soft Select Settings Use Soft Select Settings to display the dialog that lets you control the falloff range of the soft selection Select some keys then watch the Track View Key window while you adjust the range value See Soft Selection Settings on page 3554 NOTE By default the Soft Selection dialog appears as a too...

Page 873: ... Select 3 From the Keys menu choose Soft Select Settings The Soft Selection Settings dialog appears 4 Change the Range and observe the soft selection display in the keys window Soft Selection Settings Track View menu bar Keys Use Soft Select Track View menu bar Utilities Track View Utilities Soft Selection Settings Manager Displays a dialog with controls to adjust the range and falloff of the soft...

Page 874: ... on page 3660 Remove Removes Ease and Multiplier Curves See Remove Ease Multiplier Curve on page 3662 On Off Turns Ease and Multiplier Curves on or off See On Off Curves on page 3662 Ease Curve Out of Range Types Applies Eases to Parameter Out of Range keys See Ease Curve Out of Range Types on page 3663 Multiplier Curve Out of Range Types Applies multiplier curves to Parameter Out of Range keys Se...

Page 875: ...n page 3557 Auto Expand on page 3557 Auto Select on page 3559 Auto Scroll on page 3559 Modify Subtree on page 3559 Dope Sheet only Modify Child Keys on page 3561 Dope Sheet only Manual Navigation on page 3561 Interactive Update Track View Options menu Interactive Update Interactive Update controls whether editing keys in Track View updates the viewports in real time Also turning off Interactive Up...

Page 876: ...nd Interactive Update is on turn it off to improve playback performance Sync CursorTime Track View Options menu Sync Cursor Time Sync Cursor Time Snaps the time slider to the cursor position When on clicking the cursor in the Track View window moves the time slider to that spot in time When you release the mouse button the time slider jumps back to its previous position When off the time slider do...

Page 877: ... Transform controller such as Position and Scale Limits Expands the highlighted object s Limits track to display its parameters such as Upper Limit and Lower Smoothing To be used in conjunction with the Limit Controller on page 3181 Default On Keyable Expands the highlighted object s Hierarchy list to display keyable tracks You must also enable Transform or XYZ Components to see results Also expan...

Page 878: ...u Provides options to control the automatic scrolling of the controller window in Dope Sheet and Curve Editor When these are chosen the choice is displayed at the top of the controller window Options include Selected and Objects Interface Selected When this is on the controller window automatically scrolls to move the viewport selection to the top of the controller window Objects When this is turn...

Page 879: ...rent of all named objects in the scene Dragging a parent Objects range bar with Modify Subtree on affects all tracks subordinate to the object and all tracks of its linked descendants Dragging the World range bar with Modify Subtree on affects all tracks in the scene including Sounds Materials and all tracks of all objects 3 Turn Modify Subtree off The World range bar and the Objects range bar are...

Page 880: ...fy Subtree allows you to move scale edit time and so on on all sub tracks for any or all tracks on a node Modify Child Keys does the same thing but also extends to child nodes as well Modify Subtree lets you edit timing for an object of subset of tracks on an object while modify child keys lets you edit the timing of an entire linked structure group or character Manual Navigation Main toolbar Curv...

Page 881: ...to Expand choices made on the Settings Auto Expand menu Display Menu Track View Curve Editor Display menu Display is only available when Track View is in Curve Editor mode The toggles in the Display menu let you adjust and customize how the items in the Curve Editor appear Selected Key Stats Displays the statistics for the selected keys in the function curve window This is useful because you only ...

Page 882: ...of options to show hide and display See Filters on page 3584 Show AllTangents Track View Curve Editor toolbar Show All Tangents Curve Editor menu bar Display All Tangents This feature shows all tangent handles on any displayed curves You can make changes to multiple tangent handles simultaneously by using Show All Tangents in combination with Lock Tangents See also Show Tangents on page 3658 Keyab...

Page 883: ...ou are working with Set Key animation and you have used key filters to select object parameters or materials all of the parameters will be keyed unless you turn off the track s keyable property TIP You can assign a keyboard shortcut for making tracks keyable by choosing Keyable Property Toggle in the Track View group on the Keyboard panel of the Customize User Interface dialog Procedures To make a...

Page 884: ...as Position Controller Keyable will toggle all of its sub tracks even if they re not selected 2 From the Controller menu choose Keyable The selected tracks are now defined as keyable 3 From the Display menu choose Keyable Icons The keyable icon appears next to the tracks The icon appears red for the tracks that are keyable and black for the ones that are not TIP Use the same procedure to make mult...

Page 885: ...Zoom Track View Key Window on page 3684 Zoom Region Lets you zoom in to a rectangular area See Zoom Region Track View on page 3685 Zoom Horizontal Extents Zooms to the active time segment See Zoom Horizontal Extents on page 3682 Zoom Horizontal Extents Keys Zooms to show all keys See Zoom Horizontal Extents on page 3682 Zoom Value Extents Curve Editor only Zooms vertically so that you can see the ...

Page 886: ...ndomize Keys Changes the values of selected keys randomly based on range thresholds Use this on either values or time For details see Randomize Keys Utility on page 3620 Create Out of Range Keys Creates new keys for selected tracks based on Out of Range Parameters Adjust the samples value to change the granularity of the key creation For details see Create Out of Range Keys Utility on page 3622 Tr...

Page 887: ...the Track View window For details see Soft Selection Settings on page 3554 Euler Filter Corrects rotation anomalies by filtering Euler rotation tracks For details see Euler Filter on page 3625 Current Value Editor Provides transform type in capability from within the Track View modes Allows you to choose between absolute and relative value editing The name of the controller appears above the axis ...

Page 888: ...u is context sensitive so its contents vary depending on what is highlighted For example when the Hierarchy list is active you can assign copy and paste controllers and open properties which you can animate You can set the Auto Expand and Manual Navigation controls to change the behavior of the Controller window display The commands from the alternative quad menu Alt right click are integrated in ...

Page 889: ...Controller window quad menu When the keys window is active you can draw curves add keys move keys and scale values You can also reduce keys 3570 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 890: ...am as a default right click menu in Track View Alt right click for alternate quad menu for Controller window You can add additional commands to these quad menus You can customize the Track View quad menu the same as any other quad menu Procedures To customize the Track view quad menu 1 On the Customize menu choose Customize User Interface 2 On the Customize User Interface dialog click the Quad tab...

Page 891: ...like These include the Keys toolbar The Key Tangents toolbar and the Curves toolbar all of which are displayed by default You can also display other toolbars for quick access to additional tools To show the hidden toolbars right click an empty area between toolbars choose Show Toolbars and then pick the toolbar you want to display KeyToolsToolbar Filter Use this to determine what is displayed in t...

Page 892: ...n curve graph or Dope Sheet See Add Keys Dope Sheet on page 3617 Draw Curves Use this to draw new curves or revise existing ones by sketching directly on the function curve graph See Draw Curves on page 3657 Reduce Keys Use this to reduce the amount of keys in a track See Reduce Keys on page 3640 KeyTangencyToolbar Set Tangents to Auto Located on the Key Tangents Track View toolbar select keys the...

Page 893: ...out depending on your choice from the flyout Set Tangents to Smooth Sets key tangency to smooth Use this to even up discontinuous motion CurvesToolbar Lock Selection Locks the key selection Once you have created a selection turn this on and you can t inadvertently select something else See Lock Selection on page 3609 Snap Frames Restricts key movement to frames Keys that are moved will always snap...

Page 894: ...en many keys are selected See Show All Tangents on page 3563 Lock Tangents Locks the selection of multiple tangent handles so you can then manipulate several handles at once When Lock Tangents is off you can only manipulate one key tangency at a time See Lock Tangents on page 3660 BipedToolbar These tools let you choose which animation curves to display in the Curve Editor You can toggle between t...

Page 895: ...oolbar Name Track View lets you name the Track View By entering a name in this field you create a named Track View that you can recall using the Graph Editors menu Saved Track View submenu Also available in Dope Sheet mode Track SelectionToolbar Zoom Selected Object Puts the currently selected object at the top of the Hierarchy list Also available in Dope Sheet mode See Zoom Selected Object on pag...

Page 896: ...page 3672 for details You can edit track set lists via the Edit Track Set button which opens the Track Sets Editor dialog on page 3674 NavigationToolbar Navigation Track View provides tools to pan and zoom the Key window You can zoom to the extents of the time or the values Also available in Dope Sheet mode See Status Bar View Controls on page 3668 Key StatsToolbar Key Stats Track View provides to...

Page 897: ...layed in the Controller window and the Dope Sheet Key window See Filters on page 3584 Slide Keys Use Slide Keys in the Dope Sheet to move a group of keys and slide adjacent keys away as you move Only slides keys on the same controller track See Slide Keys on page 3614 Add Keys Creates keys on existing tracks on the Dope Sheet grid Combine this tool with Current Value editor to adjust the key value...

Page 898: ...verse Time on page 3635 Scale Time Scales the keys within a selected time segment for selected tracks See Scale Time on page 3636 Insert Time Allows you to insert a range of frames as a time insertion Existing keys slide out of the way to make room for inserted time Once you have made a time selection with Insert Time you can then use all the other time tools See Insert Time on page 3635 Cut Time ...

Page 899: ...ck in Track View will also restrict the movement in the viewport Red keys show keyable tracks black keys are not keyable See Keyable Icons on page 3563 Modify Subtree When this is on allows key manipulations to parent tracks to affect the tracks down the hierarchy On by default in Dope Sheet mode See Modify Subtree on page 3559 Modify Child Keys If you modify the parent without Modify Subtree on c...

Page 900: ...e Controller window based on the current field value Also available in Curve Editor mode See Select By Name on page 3670 for details TIP You can use commas to include multiple names in your selection Track Set List Allows you to assign a name to the set of currently highlighted tracks referred to as a track set and then later re select those tracks by choosing the respective track set from the lis...

Page 901: ...tor Open Right click the starting area of a toolbar containing two vertical bars Show Toolbars Controllers Animation Editor This toolbar contains the basic tools you need to work with controllers in Track View This toolbar is hidden as a default Right click the Track View toolbar and choose Show Toolbars Controllers Track View to display these tools All of these commands are always available via t...

Page 902: ...ontroller will be replaced with a default controller Make Controller Unique Changes an instanced controller to a unique controller This lets you make changes to the controller without affecting any other object tracks Procedures To display the Controller toolbar 1 Right click the blank area on the Track View toolbar to the right of the Modify Child Keys button 2 From the right click menu choose Sh...

Page 903: ...he toolbar to the right of Modify Child Keys Show toolbar Extras Dope Sheet toolbar Provides extra tools for use in Dope Sheet mode Exclude Left End Point Prevents a key at the first frame of a selected block of time from being copied to the clipboard Exclude Right End Point Prevents a key at the last frame of a selected block of time from being copied to the clipboard Filters Main toolbar Curve E...

Page 904: ... selected object 2 From the right click menu choose Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Track View opens with the selected object at the top of the Track View Hierarchy To display the animated transform tracks for an object in Track View 1 Select an object then open a Track View window 2 Right click Filters 3 From the right click menu choose Animated Tracks Only 4 Right click Filters again 5 From the right...

Page 905: ...d X Y and Z axes individually Procedures To choose filter options 1 On the Track View toolbar click Filters 2 Choose any of the filter options from the dialog Interface Show group The Show group has options to display any of the following in the Hierarchy list window Hierarchy 3586 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 906: ... Controller Types off by default Note Tracks Visibility Tracks Sound Materials Maps Material Parameters Static Values Global Tracks non object tracks All Sets all Show check boxes to on None Sets all Show check boxes to off Invert Reverses the state of all Show check boxes Hide by ControllerType group TrackView Toolbars 3587 ...

Page 907: ...cks that contain animation Only the animated tracks are shown each with its full hierarchy whether or not the Hierarchy switch on page 3586is on Selected Objects Displays only items for objects selected in the scene As you select objects in the scene the display in the Hierarchy list changes to show the current selection The display of sound and materials branches are not affected by this filter S...

Page 908: ... enabled displays only the active layer along with all nested controllers TIP Newly available in Customize User Interface on page 7697 are actions and icons for all six Show Only options Find them in the Track View group their names all start with Filter Hide by Category group Contains a list of check boxes that let you hide tracks based on categories similar to those found in the Display panel Tu...

Page 909: ...olbars Controllers Track View Copy Controller Copy Controller copies the selected item to the Track View clipboard You can use Copy and Paste to copy object and modifier tracks controllers objects and containers depending on what you are working on The Controller tools are also available as buttons on the Controllers Track View toolbar This toolbar is hidden by default to unhide right click the to...

Page 910: ...e Controllers menu choose Paste The Paste dialog is displayed 5 Set the options in the Paste dialog and click OK The controller is pasted onto the selected object Paste Controller Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Highlight the track you want to paste to Controller menu Paste Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Highlight the controller track in the controller window Right click any blank space on the Trac...

Page 911: ... Interface Paste Controller Pastes an item from the Track View clipboard The Paste dialog contains the following options Copy Instance Determines whether the cloned item is a simple copy or an instance of the original Replace All Instances When you paste to any track that contains an instanced object replaces all instances of the object with the object on the clipboard If off only the object in th...

Page 912: ...trol point on a complex object by a variety of controllers You can also assign controllers using the right click menu in the Track View Controller window Or you can assign controllers in the Motion panel in Schematic View and by using the Animation menu Constraints and Controllers Technically there is no difference between a controller and a constraint A constraint is simply a controller that requ...

Page 913: ...n page 3142 Group tracks from multiple objects into Blocks Blocks can be copied pasted scaled and saved Use Blocks to quickly re create a complex motion anywhere in an animation Color RGB Controller on page 3149 Point 3 XYZ Controller Creates separate tracks for red green and blue Euler XYZ Rotation Controller on page 3151 Combines separate single value float controllers to specify an angle of rot...

Page 914: ... a trajectory path for an object so that the object follows the path Position XYZ Controller on page 3219 Splits the X Y and Z components into three separate tracks PRS Transform Controller on page 3220 Creates subcontrollers for position rotation and scale Reaction Controller on page 3222 Allows an object or parameter to react to another object or parameter For example you can change the scale of...

Page 915: ... of the same type 2 From the Controller menu choose Assign 3 Choose a controller type from the Assign Controller dialog If a parameter has already been animated then assigning a new controller has one of the following effects The existing animation values are recalculated to produce a similar animation with the new controller For example replacing Position XYZ with Bezier Position closely preserve...

Page 916: ...ars Controllers Track View Delete Controller Main toolbar Open Track View Select a deletable track in the Track View Hierarchy Right click on a blank area of the Track View toolbars and choose Show Toolbars Controllers toolbar Delete Controller Some node subcontrollers can be deleted Visibility tracks Image Motion Blur Multiplier Object Motion Blur and On Off are examples of controllers that can b...

Page 917: ...th of the animation independent of the track s current animation range Choosing this option changes the track s background color to purple This setting is active by default on all new controller tracks turn off the Override Parametric Controller Range By Default option in the Animation Preferences on page 7772 to change it However controller tracks from older scenes are set to Respect Animation Ra...

Page 918: ...ation Range constrains a parametric non keyable controller track to be active only within the track s current animation range Choosing this option changes the track s background color to gray NOTE While Ignore Animation Range on page 3598 is the default setting turn off the Override Parametric Controller Range By Default option in the Animation Preferences on page 7772 to change it controller trac...

Page 919: ...Make Controller Unique Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Select an instanced Controller track Controller menu Make Controller Unique Keyboard U Make Controller Unique converts an instanced clone of a controller to a copy that s unique to the current object Objects and modifiers can also be made unique The result depends on whether or not the data flow branches at the selected container If the data fl...

Page 920: ...oller menu Out of Range Types Graph Editors Track View Curve Editor Curves Track View Toolbar Parameter Curve Out of Range Types With Parameter Curve Out of Range Types you can specify how an object is to behave outside the range of the keys you ve defined Use Parameters Curve Out of Range Types to create loops and cycles The idea is to create a short pattern of keys that produce an animated effec...

Page 921: ...ate a loop 1 Create a Box primitive on the left side of the Front viewport 2 Turn on Auto Key and move the time slider to frame 10 3 Move the box to the right side of the Front viewport 4 Open Track View right click Filters and then select Animated Tracks Only 5 Choose the Position track for the box in the Track View Hierarchy and then click Parameter Curve Out of Range types 6 In the Parameter Cu...

Page 922: ...mation to repeat but do not need the ends to match Loop Repeats the same animation as within the range but interpolates between the last key and first key in the range to create a smooth loop If the first and last key are both at the extreme ends of the range Loop will behave exactly like Cycle If you use Position Ranges to extend the range bar beyond the keys the added length determines the amoun...

Page 923: ...ew Hierarchy You can make note keys and associated notes at specific time locations to keep track of what keys do Do this by adding keys in Dope Sheet Add Keys mode then right click a note key to see the Notes dialog The information you enter will appear in the Key window under the keys Any item in the Hierarchy list can have a note track added as a branch below it You can add a note track to an i...

Page 924: ... two word description as the first line of your note Close the dialog using the X button at the top right corner to enter the body of the note Interface Add Note Track Inserts a note track directly below the highlighted items in the Hierarchy list This is available from the Tracks menu or from the Tools Track View toolbar Notes dialog Adds or edits notes on the animation in Track View The first li...

Page 925: ...th Move Slide and Scale The only way to change the key s time is to use the Time field in the Notes dialog Remove NoteTrack Track View Tracks menu Note Track Remove Use Remove Note Track to delete a note track and its associated keys You can have toolbar access to Remove Note Track by unhiding the Tools Track View toolbar This toolbar is available only in the Curve Editor however The tooltip is la...

Page 926: ...ow on page 3618 Edit Keys Graph Editors menu Track View Dope Sheet Edit Keys Main toolbar Curve Editor Open Modes Dope Sheet Edit Keys Edit Keys displays your animation as a series of keys as boxes on a grid in the Key window Dope Sheet Editor turns on Edit Keys by default Edit Keys is useful for getting a global view of your animation because it displays animation timing for all tracks Use this m...

Page 927: ...e changed are forced to absolute frame increments This includes selection sets of multiple keys When Snap Frames is on each key in a selection set will snap to the nearest frame when the selection is moved or scaled Default on When you use the Time Display format MM SS Ticks which doesn t use frames Snap Frames snaps to time values that match frame boundaries In Dope Sheet Edit Keys mode keys are ...

Page 928: ...t toolbar click Edit Keys NOTE This isn t an absolute necessity but it makes it easier to see the snapping action You can also view the snapping in the track bar in either Dope Sheet or Curve Editor mode 2 On the Track View toolbar turn on Snap Frames 3 In the Track View Key window select one or more keys 4 Use Move Keys or Scale Keys to move keys With Snap Frames on each key in a selection set sn...

Page 929: ...ou click and drag Align to Cursor In either Dope Sheet or Curve Editor select keys to align to current frame Keys menu Align to Cursor Use Align to Cursor to move selected keys to the current time Select the keys to align using Move Slide or Scale Align to Cursor is useful for taking a group of scattered keys and moving them to the same time location Align to Cursor is available in Dope Sheet and ...

Page 930: ...ty parameter in the Object Properties dialog or by selecting an object in the Track View Hierarchy and clicking Tracks menu Visibility Tracks Add In both cases a visibility track using a Bezier float controller is created in Track View The visibility track displays as a child of the object in the Track View Hierarchy NOTE In the Object Properties dialog Rendering Control must be set to By Object i...

Page 931: ...hidden objects have no effect on this function Level of Detail Utility andVisibility The Level of Detail utility on page 2579 lets you construct an object that alters its geometric complexity or level of detail based on its size in the rendered image You create several versions of the same object each with different levels of detail you group them as one and then assign the Level of Detail utility...

Page 932: ...er to frame 10 This is the frame at which you ll set the box to disappear 4 Right click the object and choose Properties from the shortcut menu 5 In the General tab set Visibility to 0 and then click OK 6 Scrub the time slider The box fades This creates a visibility track in Track View and adds a key with a value of 0 to the track Move Keys Dope Sheet Dope Sheet Keys Track View toolbar Move Keys M...

Page 933: ...he highlighted keys and then drag horizontally to move the keys in time TIP Press SPACEBAR to lock the key selection Then you don t have to drag over the selected key but anywhere in the viewport This is useful when you have a complex selection set of keys Slide Keys Track View Highlight keys in the Key window Track View toolbar Slide Keys Use Slide Keys to move a group of keys highlighted keys pl...

Page 934: ...g down Shift Based on the length of your selection the existing keys to the right of the selection move forward in time that is to the right to allow the new key insertion whether you drag to the right or the left Procedures To slide a selection of keys 1 Click Slide Keys on the Track View toolbar 2 Highlight one or more keys 3 Drag to slide the keys to the right The keys following your selection ...

Page 935: ...covered by one or more selected keys The scale center is defined by the current time set by the time slider You can scale keys about any moment in time by dragging the time slider before you use Scale Keys Procedures To use Scale Keys 1 Select an animated object in the viewport then right click and choose Curve Editor The following steps work in either Curve Editor or Dope Sheet modes 2 Drag the t...

Page 936: ...ng the first field in the Key Stats Track View toolbar The scale percentage is displayed in the Show Selected Key Stats field as you drag the selection Add Keys Dope Sheet Track View Dope Sheet Track View toolbar Add Keys Track View Dope Sheet Keys menu Add Keys Add Keys inserts a key on page 8020 at the point where you click a curve or a track Add Keys is a mode that remains active until you acti...

Page 937: ... keys include Expression controllers List controllers and Parametric controllers Properties TrackView Key Window Track View Highlight a single track that uses Properties Right click the track Choose Properties on the Controllers quad Track View Highlight a single track that uses Properties Controller menu Properties Properties displays a dialog to change animation values The type of dialog display...

Page 938: ...s quad choose Properties To display the Key Info dialog for a key 1 Right click the key in the Curve Editor Key Window The Key Info dialog is displayed 2 Change key properties in the dialog TrackView Utilities Track View Utilities menu Track View Utilities Track View Utilities displays a dialog listing plug in Track View utilities A typical Track View utility displays a modeless dialog though util...

Page 939: ...ntrols to adjust the range and falloff of the soft selection of keys in the Dope Sheet and Curve Editor Current Value Editor on page 3627 Provides transform type in capability from within the Track View modes Allows you to choose between absolute and relative value editing The name of the controller appears above the axis choices This utility launches a floating Current Value window that works for...

Page 940: ...nu choose Track View Utilities and then choose Randomize Keys The Randomize Keys utility is displayed 3 By default both Randomize Time and Randomize Value are on Turn off either if you wish 4 Set the spinners to specify the desired range of randomized offset 5 Click Apply Interface Randomize Time Randomly shifts values in time based on the spinner settings For example if the spinner is set to 20 a...

Page 941: ...es menu Track View Utilities Create Out of Range Keys Create Out of Range Keys creates keys in the out of range time of a track when the out of range type is something other than Constant It converts the specified out of range area to a keyed area that you can edit and adjust This utility works both in Curve Editor and Dope Sheet modes In Curve Editor mode you must select the curve as well as the ...

Page 942: ...uld generate keys over frames 10 to 30 When you set this option to 0 no keys are generated before the range After Specifies the number of frames after the range for generating keys In the first example if you set this option to 40 it would generate keys over frames 55 to 95 When you set this to option to 0 no keys are generated after the range Samples Specifies the number of keys to be generated f...

Page 943: ... Track View Key window for example This utility works in Curve Editor and Dope Sheet Edit Keys modes Procedures To use Select Keys By Time 1 In the Controller window highlight the tracks you want to work with 2 On the Utilities menu choose Track View Utilities then choose the Select Keys By Time utility from the Track View Utilities dialog 3 Set a range and click OK Keys within the range in the hi...

Page 944: ...ion animation in objects animated using Euler rotation on page 3151 by processing existing animation keys in selected animated tracks It s particularly useful for cleaning up rotation artifacts when importing raw motion capture data This process does not break any keyed orientations By default the utility modifies only frames with keys on all three tracks X Y and Z By turning on Add Keys If Needed...

Page 945: ...ion tracks to be filtered are highlighted in Track View 4 From the Utilities menu in Track View choose Track View Utilities This opens the Track View Utilities dialog 5 In the list of utilities click Euler Filter and then click OK or just double click Euler Filter This opens the Filter Selected Euler Tracks dialog 6 Change the parameters as necessary and then click OK The utility adjusts the rotat...

Page 946: ... and relative value editing let you increment changes or apply exact values The name of the controller whose values are being changed appears above the axis choices This utility opens a dockable Current Value window that works for either Dope Sheet Edit keys mode or Curve Editor It doesn t work for Edit Ranges Procedures To use the Current Value Editor to apply an incremental change 1 Select the p...

Page 947: ...ditor as opposed to working with keys and range bars A block of time is any contiguous time segment across one or more tracks and is independent of key locations Enter Edit Time mode by selecting a time segment in the Dope Sheet Editor Once a time segment has been selected you can insert cut copy paste or reverse the time segment including its keys The time tools are available from the Time menu a...

Page 948: ...d object 2 On the Modes menu choose Dope Sheet mode The Key window changes from curves to a key spreadsheet 3 If Edit Keys isn t highlighted on the Keys Dope Sheet toolbar click it to turn it on The next steps won t work if you have Edit Ranges on instead of Edit Keys 4 From the Time menu choose Select Time 5 Expand and activate the tracks you wish to alter For example you could select the Z Posit...

Page 949: ... Insert Time on page 3635 Scale Time on page 3636 Exclude Left End Point on page 3637 Exclude Right End Point on page 3638 Reduce Keys on page 3640 Procedures To select time 1 In Dope Sheet mode highlight one or more item labels in the Controller window to specify tracks for time editing 2 On the toolbar click the Select Time button 3 Drag in the keys window to specify time in the selected tracks ...

Page 950: ...f time 1 In Dope Sheet mode highlight one or more item labels in the Controller window to specify tracks for time editing 2 Use Select Time on page 3630 to specify a block of time 3 Click Delete Time Keys in the specified time block are deleted and any keys to the right of the block move leftward CutTime Track View Dope Sheet Specify a time block Time menu Cut Track View Dope Sheet Specify a time ...

Page 951: ... move left CopyTime Track View Dope Sheet Specify a time block Time menu Copy Track View Dope Sheet Specify a time block Time Dope Sheet toolbar Copy Time button Use Copy Time to copy a block of time from one or more tracks to the clipboard after which you can paste it to other tracks You can use the clipboard to copy time with keys to different places in the same track or from one track to anothe...

Page 952: ... multiple tracks as long as the controllers for the selected tracks include valid track types For example position tracks in the clipboard are pasted to position tracks in the selection If the above conditions are not met the Paste Time function has no effect Time editing is available only in Dope Sheet mode it is not available in the Function Curve Editor In Edit Time mode you can copy and paste ...

Page 953: ...er the insertion point is increased by 20 Procedures To paste time into tracks 1 In Dope Sheet mode after using Cut Time on page 3631 or Copy Time on page 3632 highlight one or more item labels in the Controller window to specify tracks for pasting 2 Use Select Time on page 3630 to specify a block of time 3 Click the Paste Time button on the Time Track View toolbar The Paste Track dialog opens 4 I...

Page 954: ...ining keys around it Use Reverse Time to reverse keys within a designated block of time Procedures To reverse time 1 In Dope Sheet mode highlight one or more item labels in the Controller window to specify tracks for time editing 2 Use Select Time on page 3630 to specify a block of time 3 Click the Reverse Time button or choose Time menu Reverse The position of the selected block of time does not ...

Page 955: ... Scale Time button Scale Time scales a block of time You can scale down to fit into less time or expand it to fill more time Scale Time doesn t use the Track View time slider as the scale origin reference it always scales from the first frame of the key selection Procedures To scale time 1 In the Dope Sheet Editor on the Time Dope Sheet toolbar click Scale Time 2 In the controller window click ite...

Page 956: ...d Point button Use Exclude Left End Point to exclude the beginning key in a selected block of time If you paste the same block of time repeatedly one block following the other you can create a looping segment in your animation To create a smooth looping animation you need to exclude either the first or last key of the copied block to prevent keys from doubling up at the ends The key to be excluded...

Page 957: ...ould be your insert point 7 Click Paste Time The Paste Time dialog appears 8 In the dialog choose Paste Absolute or Paste Relative For an animated loop choose Paste Absolute then click OK The time including keys is pasted 9 Play your animation to observe the effect Exclude Right End Point Track View Dope Sheet Extras Dope Sheet toolbar Exclude Right End Point button If you paste the same block of ...

Page 958: ...should be the same 3 Right click an empty section of the toolbar area and choose Show Toolbars Extras Dope Sheet The Exclude Left End Point and Exclude Right End Point buttons appear 4 On the Track View toolbar click Exclude Right End Point 5 On the Track View toolbar click Copy Time The selection is copied to the clipboard minus the first frame 6 Click to define an insertion point in the keys win...

Page 959: ...inal NOTE The Reduce Keys button depicted above appears on the Keys toolbar only in Curve Editor but you can add it to a Dope Sheet toolbar with Customize User Interface on page 7697 Procedures To reduce keys 1 Select an animated object in the viewport 2 Right click the object and choose Curve Editor or Dope Sheet from the quad menu 3 In the Hierarchy list highlight the tracks whose keys you want ...

Page 960: ...e the threshold and reduce keys again TIP It will take repeated experimentation to find exactly the right threshold for your particular animation Interface Reduce Keys Displays the Reduce Keys dialog Threshold Sets a threshold value Higher values will result in fewer keys OK Accepts the Threshold setting and reduces keys as follows Keys are reduced only in highlighted tracks If any of a track s ke...

Page 961: ...ty area adjacent to the Dope Sheet toolbar and choose Show Toolbars Ranges Dope Sheet to display the toolbar Save your layout after you do Besides the Edit Ranges button the Ranges Dope Sheet toolbar shows the following buttons Position Ranges on page 3643 Recouple Ranges on page 3644 Procedures To drag the ranges of an object and all of its linked descendants 1 On the Track View toolbar click Edi...

Page 962: ... Sheet toolbar and choose Show Toolbars Ranges Dope Sheet Save your layout after you do Decouple a Range Bar You decouple a range bar for two reasons You want some keys at the start or end of an animation range not to take effect Keys outside of the range bar are ignored during animation playback The keys outside the range still affect interpolated values inside the range but the applied Out of Ra...

Page 963: ...d last keys in the track This is useful to quickly realign the range and the keys after editing NOTE The Ranges Dope Sheet toolbar doesn t appear in Track View by default To open it right click an empty area adjacent to the Dope Sheet toolbar and choose Show Toolbars Ranges Dope Sheet Save your layout after you do Procedures To recouple a range 1 Right click an empty area adjacent to the Dope Shee...

Page 964: ...of maps and map parameters assigned to a material Map definitions containing a single map type with its associated parameters and coordinates Map Coordinates containing the map XYZ and UVW coordinate offset tiling and angle settings Map Parameters containing the parameters for a specific map type Objects on levels below the transforms containing creation parameters for an unmodified object Modifie...

Page 965: ...e the selected item is not a valid copy source 3ds Max disables Copy when the selected item is not a valid copy source or if multiple items are selected Pasting Items Pasting items involves a few more choices than copying You select one or more items from the Hierarchy list If Paste is available the selected items are valid paste targets The program disables Paste if the selected targets are not a...

Page 966: ...s where you have to option of defining proxy or stand in objects Copying and pasting objects is achieved by highlighting the Object track for the source object copying it then pasting it to the Object track of the target object The Object track is found beneath the Transforms and Modified objects entries and appears with parentheses that define the geometry type For example Object Box or Object Ed...

Page 967: ...place the box with a torus Paste an Object into a Modified Object to replace a complex modified object with a simple stand in object For example you model a complicated vehicle and you want to replace it with a box while you animate its transforms Be sure to save the Modified Object to a file using Save Selected on page 6931 Paste a Modified Object into another Modified Object to replace one compl...

Page 968: ...iners and sometimes at the base Object container In Track View instances and references are displayed in bold face In the modifier stack these branches display as a horizontal line called a derived object line For descriptions of object data flow and instance objects see Understanding Object Data Flow on page 1074 You can make an object unique by selecting a Modified Object or an Object container ...

Page 969: ...w The Curve Editor displays animation as function curves charting the controllers changes of value over time Highlighting a controller label displays keys for that item as vertices on the function curve You can then highlight keys and change their values You can add keys to function curves for tracks that are not yet animated The curves appear as straight lines When you add a key to a function cur...

Page 970: ...f Range Types on page 3663 Multiplier Curve Out of Range Types on page 3665 Freeze Non Selected Curves on page 3667 BezierTangent Handles Custom tangents You can use Bezier handles in the Curve Editor to change the shape of the trajectory through a key To display handles on a key right click a key in the Track View Key Window and choose the Custom Tangents option You can assign the Custom Tangent ...

Page 971: ...r window until you see the additional tracks and then hold down the Ctrl key and click them The curves for all highlighted tracks are displayed together in the Key window Move Keys Curve Editor Track View Curve Editor Track View toolbar Move Keys flyout Move Keys Move Keys Horizontal or Move Keys Vertical With the Move Keys flyout buttons in the Curve Editor you can move one or more highlighted ke...

Page 972: ... is yellow showing it is already on 2 In the Track View Key window highlight one or more keys 3 Drag the highlighted keys to a new location or press Shift and drag the highlighted keys to add copies at the new location 4 Highlight another group of keys 5 Press Shift Alt and drag the highlighted keys towards existing keys to replace them with copies Interface Move Keys Moves keys in both horizontal...

Page 973: ...f keys horizontally 1 Right click an animated object and choose Curve Editor 2 In the Hierarchy list highlight a track 3 Scrub the time slider on page 7528 to the frame to use as the scale center 4 On the Track View toolbar click Scale Keys 5 Highlight one or more keys 6 In the Track View Key window drag any of the highlighted keys horizontally to scale or press Shift and drag to add scaled copies...

Page 974: ...available in Dope Sheet mode Procedures To scale key values 1 Select an object in the viewport then right click and choose Curve Editor 2 Highlight one or more tracks if necessary and then highlight the keys you want to scale 3 On the Curve Editor toolbar click Scale Values The orange Scale Values Origin line appears at the 0 location on the vertical scale 4 Drag the Scale Values Origin line to wh...

Page 975: ...tions Keys added between keys receive the interpolated value shown by the function curve at that location Keys added before the first or after the last key on the curve receive the same value as the nearest key You can change a key value and or time while adding it by dragging after clicking the curve Procedures To add keys to a function curve 1 In the Hierarchy list highlight a track 2 On the Tra...

Page 976: ...eed with which you draw determines how many keys are added to the curve If there are too many keys use Reduce Keys to make fewer keys on the curve Procedures To draw a curve 1 On the Curve Editor toolbar click Draw Curves 2 Select the track of the curve you want to draw on 3 Move your cursor onto the curve and draw If there are too many points after drawing curves delete or reduce on page 3640 key...

Page 977: ...uous tangent handles Discontinuous handles behave like leaves on a hinge with the hinge pin at the key location Each end moves independently of the other To convert a discontinuous tangent to a continuous tangent change the tangent type from Custom to Smooth and then back to Custom again This technique is performed at the key level and can affect unselected vertices if they belong to the same key ...

Page 978: ...able for editing TIP If a highlighted key has Auto Tangency set you can just move its handle to instantly convert the key to Custom For selections of multiple keys choose Lock Tangents then move any handle to convert all the keys to Custom tangency To edit the horizontal length of a Bezier handle 1 Assign a Custom Tangent type to the key you want to edit on the function curve or highlight a key th...

Page 979: ...e selection set 2 Click Lock Tangents to set one of the following modes Off Dragging a tangent handle affects only the single key displaying the handle On Dragging a tangent handle affects both handles of all selected keys Apply Ease Curve Apply Multiplier Curve Track View Curve Editor Curves menu Apply Ease Curve or Apply Multiplier Curve Apply Ease Curve and Apply Multiplier Curve available from...

Page 980: ...ase curve or a multiplier curve 1 In the Curve Editor Hierarchy list highlight the tracks you wish to ease or intensify Not all controller items can receive ease or multiplier curves For example the Path Constraint position controller cannot receive an ease or multiplier curve but its subordinate Percent controller can If the highlighted controller is incapable of receiving ease or multiplier curv...

Page 981: ...s as with any other animation track Remove Ease Multiplier Curve Track View Curve Editor Curves menu Remove Remove Ease Multiplier Curve lets you delete an ease or multiplier curve at any time Procedures To delete an ease or multiplier curve 1 In the Hierarchy list select one or more ease or multiplier curve tracks 2 On the Track View menu bar choose Curves Remove The selected Ease or Multiplier c...

Page 982: ...se the same out of range types as other controller tracks See Parameter Curve Out of Range Types on page 3601 You will usually want to use the same out of range type for an ease curve that you use for its superior function curve Procedures To set the out of range type for an ease curve 1 Highlight one or more ease curve items in the Hierarchy list 2 From the Curves menu choose Ease Curve Out of Ra...

Page 983: ...peating animation Ping Pong Alternates between a forward and backward repeat of the animation within the range Use Ping Pong when you want your animation to alternate back and forth Linear Projects the animation value along a line tangent to the ease or multiplier curve at the end of the range use linear when you want the animation to enter and leave the range at a constant velocity Relative Repea...

Page 984: ...You will usually want to use the same out of range type for a multiplier curve that you use for its superior function curve Procedures To set the out of range type for a multiplier curve 1 Highlight one or more multiplier curve items in the Hierarchy list 2 From the Curves menu choose Multiplier Curve Out of Range Types 3 Do one of the following Click an out of range type image to apply that type ...

Page 985: ...een the last key and the first key of the range to create a smooth loop Use Loop with an extended range bar to produce smoothly repeating animation Ping Pong Alternates between forward and backward repetition of the animation within the range Use Ping Pong when you want your animation to alternate back and forth Linear Projects the animation value along lines tangent to the ease or multiplier curv...

Page 986: ...tices on multiple curves all in the same place Procedures Example To freeze non selected curves 1 Animate an object s position 2 From the Graph Editors menu choose Track View Curve Editor On the Options menu make sure Auto Expand Selected Objects Only Transforms XYZ Components are all on The X Y Z position tracks are all highlighted and their curves appear in the Key window You can drag keys on an...

Page 987: ...ay as dashed lines and are not editable Status Bar View Controls Track View Status Bar View Controls Use the Status Bar View Controls to control the Track View Key window and view or enter frame and key values on the Track View status bar Track Selection Track View toolbar Key Stats Track View toolbar Navigation Track View toolbar Track Selection TrackViewToolbar Zoom Selected Object on page 3669 ...

Page 988: ...p of the Hierarchy list in the controller window In Dope Sheet mode Zoom Selected Object affects the Hierarchy list as well as the Edit window but in the Curve Editor it affects only the Hierarchy list This function scrolls the hierarchy to place the track of the currently selected object at the top of the list If the object is a child of a closed hierarchy the hierarchy is opened to display the s...

Page 989: ...chy list Select By Name TrackView Track View Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Track Selection Track View toolbar Select By Name field With Select By Name you can highlight tracks in the Hierarchy window by entering the track names including optional wildcards in the editable field If the Controller Type display is active in the Filters options you can specify by controller type as well Select By Name us...

Page 990: ... Name field in the Track Selection toolbar All the tracks are selected at once Example To highlight and display Position tracks for three objects 1 Create three boxes By default the boxes are named Box01 Box02 and Box03 2 On the main toolbar click Curve Editor Open 3 In the Track View Hierarchy list expand the hierarchies for the three box objects 4 In the Select By Name field type Box p All the P...

Page 991: ...ets List Track View Track Selection toolbar You can assign a name to the current track selection and then later reselect those tracks by choosing the name of the respective track set from the list Track Sets List You can also create and edit track sets with the Track Sets Editor dialog on page 3674 Using Key Filters withTrack Sets If you are animating track sets using Key Filters in Set Key mode o...

Page 992: ... page 3572 3 Enter a name for your track set The name can contain any standard ASCII characters including letters numerals symbols punctuation and spaces NOTE Names are case sensitive 4 Press Enter to complete the track set You can now highlight another combination of tracks and repeat the process to create another track set To retrieve a track set 1 In the Track Sets List click the arrow 2 On the...

Page 993: ... Sets Editor dialog on page 3674 Track Sets Editor Dialog Curve Editor Track Selection toolbar Edit Track Set The Track Sets Editor dialog is a modeless dialog on page 8045 that lets you create and edit animation track groups called track sets This feature facilitates working on multiple tracks at a time because you can recall your tracks without the need to select them individually TIP As your pr...

Page 994: ... Track Set 4 Expand the new track set A new track set appears containing your selected tracks To edit the contents of a track set This procedure follows from the previous procedure and focuses on adding and removing tracks to from your track set 1 In the Track View Controller window highlight a few tracks to add to your track set Make sure the tracks are not already part of it Status Bar View Cont...

Page 995: ...cedures and explains how you can use the Track Sets Editor to quickly locate your tracks in the Hierarchy list and vice versa This is useful for managing scenes comprised of many tracks that span across multiple track sets 1 Create two track sets each containing tracks Make sure one track is common to both track sets 2 In the Track View Controller window highlight the common track In the Track Set...

Page 996: ...st for a set click the plus or minus button next to the track set name Create A New Track Set Adds a new track set comprising any highlighted tracks in the Hierarchy list Only leaf on page 8002 tracks can be part of a track set If you highlight a non leaf parent track when the track set is created all its children leaf tracks are added instead Status Bar View Controls 3677 ...

Page 997: ...ck set If you highlight a non leaf parent track to be added to the track set all its children leaf tracks are added instead Remove The Track View Selection From The Current Track Set Deletes a track set member from the current track set The track itself must be highlighted in the Controller window Highlight Tracks Selected In The Track View Highlights a track set member based on the current Track ...

Page 998: ...ny function the expression controller on page 3154 uses For example you could enter an expression such as n 2 sin n 40 n The expression parsing in the time field works only when Time Configuration on page 7565 Time Display is set to Frames The expression parser doesn t understand SMPTE or Frame Ticks Procedures To move a key to a specific frame 1 In Track View highlight a key 2 In the Key Time Dis...

Page 999: ...s not active highlight a track if necessary so the keys are visible 2 Highlight an X Y or Z Position key The Value Display shows the X Y or Z position key spatial value 3 Enter the value you want in the Value Display and press Enter The new value takes effect If the time slider is at or near the same frame as the key the change is visible in the viewports Example To add 10 to the values of specifi...

Page 1000: ...View toolbar Pan With Pan you can click and drag the Key window to move it left right up or down Pan remains active until you right click to cancel or click another option The Pan button is yellow while active If you have a middle mouse button pressing it will instantly give you the Pan capability in Track View as in the rest of the software Drag horizontally in all modes to slide the view forward...

Page 1001: ...s Keys buttons Use Zoom Horizontal Extents to show only the active time segment on page 7898 and use Zoom Horizontal Extents Keys to show all keys including those outside the active time segment Procedures To display the active time segment in the Key window On the Track View status bar select Zoom Horizontal Extents The active time segment lighter background color is centered in the Key window In...

Page 1002: ...adjusts the window vertically but it zooms only to the height of the keyframes that are currently in view NOTE In Dope Sheet mode Zoom Value Extents and Zoom Value Extents Range serve no function Procedures To zoom to the height of the curves 1 In the Hierarchy list highlight the tracks to display 2 On the Track View status bar click Zoom Value Extents The Key window scales vertically to display t...

Page 1003: ...ncrease magnification or to the left or downward Zoom Values to decrease magnification Zooming occurs around the cursor location NOTE All three zoom modes work in Curve Editor but only Zoom and Zoom Time work in Dope Sheet TIP If you use a three button or wheel mouse you can also zoom uniformly by using Ctrl Alt middle mouse button or by scrolling with your mouse wheel in the Curve Editor TIP You ...

Page 1004: ...gion TrackView Track View Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Navigation Track View toolbar Zoom Region Zoom Region lets you drag a region in the Key window to scale that region to fill the window Zoom Region remains active until you right click to cancel or click another option The Zoom Region button is yellow while active In Curve Editor mode both time and value are scaled to fit the Key window In Dope S...

Page 1005: ...windows You can name a Track View window by typing in the editable field at the right end of the Track View toolbar Procedures To create a new Track View window Click Track View New Track View The software opens a new untitled Track View window regardless of whether you have closed other Track View windows To name a Track View window Type the name in the edit box at the right end of the Track View...

Page 1006: ...you chose DeleteTrackView Dialog Graph Editors menu Delete Track View The Delete Track View dialog lets you delete one or more stored Track View on page 3503 windows by choosing their names from a list Procedures To delete a Track View window 1 Choose Track View Delete Track View 2 In the Delete Track View dialog choose the name of one or more Track View windows 3 Click OK to delete the highlighte...

Page 1007: ...cent Track View windows or Ctrl click to toggle a selection SavedTrackViews Graph Editors menu Saved Track Views Choose the named Track View from the list Saved Track View lets you recall various Track View windows that you save by naming them 3688 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1008: ...field is not visible right click the toolbar and choose Show Toolbars then choose Name Track View from the list This toolbar can float or dock as you like 2 Close Track View 3 To recall the saved Track View window from the Graph Editors menu choose Saved Track Views and then the desired window name TrackView Customization The Track View user interface is fully customizable There are many ways you ...

Page 1009: ...You can use commands on the toolbar right click menu on page 3696 to perform most Track View UI customization tasks Move your cursor over the blank space to the right of the Track View toolbars and right click to display this menu Show UI Elements Toggles on and off the display of Track View user interface elements For example you can hide or show the menu bar scroll bars the controller and keys w...

Page 1010: ... you can move the time ruler close to the keys or curves when working zoomed in Default on TrackView Curve EditorToolbars You can display Curve Editor toolbars on page 3572 for quick access to tools The Curve Editor toolbars that you can display or hide dock or float from the right click menu include the following Name toolbar Enter a name in this field to create a named Track View window You can ...

Page 1011: ...s unique on page 3582 This option is also available in Dope Sheet mode Track Selection Track View gives you tools to select tracks by typing in the name of an object on page 3668 This option is also available in Dope Sheet mode Keys Track View provides the tools to move on page 3652 scale on page 3654 and slide keys on page 3614 scale values on page 3655 add keys on page 3655 draw curves on page 3...

Page 1012: ... toolbars that can be displayed when in Dope Sheet mode In addition to the ones listed above for the Curve Editor you can also choose to display the following Keys Dope Sheet displays the tools to move add and scale keys on page 3578 the Filters button on page 3584 and the buttons that let you choose between Edit Keys on page 3607 and Edit Ranges on page 3642 options for Dope Sheet Time Track View...

Page 1013: ...ed This toolbar is accessible only from the Keys menu not from the right click menu If you want this menu to stay visible save a Track View layout on page Track Bar You can dock the Track View windows below the time slider and track bar by choosing Dock Bottom from the toolbar right click menu You can dock multiple Track View windows using this technique You can also display a Track View window be...

Page 1014: ... tracks by using the Name Track View toolbar Enter the name for the window in the Name field When you close the window you can reload it by choosing Graph Editors Saved Track Views Then choose the named window from the list TIP Named Track View windows are saved with a file Named layouts are independent of the file To restore the default Track View user interface If you have customized your Track ...

Page 1015: ...p 2 Save the layout after you are done and the changes will be persistent TIP You can also make the Dope Sheet Editor point at a renamed menu bar by using MAXScript In the MAXScript Listener typetrackviews current ui menubar Dope Sheet Menu Bar substituting your menu bar name and then press the Enter key NOTE There is also a script that lets you choose menus from a list Choose Customize menu Custo...

Page 1016: ...track bar layout Save Layout Saves your customized layout creating a new default layout When you open a new Track View this saved layout will be displayed NOTE To restore the default 3ds Max layout see To save a Track View layout on page 3695 Save Layout As Saves your customized layout with a name you choose When you ve customized your layout save it with an easily recognizable name then you can r...

Page 1017: ... The tracks are then put together in a sound mixer so they play simultaneously or overlap one another During the mixing process the mixer operator can change the length or speed of a track increase or reduce volume move a track to another place in the song or cause a track to fade in or out The Motion Mixer works in a similar way For any object you can add multiple tracks on page 8150 to the mixer...

Page 1018: ...h its arms pumping by its sides and another where the biped stands and cheers with its arms in the air You can mix the leg and hip motions from the running motion with the arms from the cheering motion to make an animation of a biped cheering as he runs across a finish line See also Using the Motion Mixer on page 3699 Motion Mixer Interface on page 3749 Using the Motion Mixer The Motion Mixer allo...

Page 1019: ...otion over time Use animation from selected biped or non biped body parts within a motion clip Keep planted feet from sliding during foot based transitions To see a biped motion in the Mixer applied to the biped in the scene you must turn on Mixer Mode from the Biped rollout on page 4331 In the Motion Mixer motions are imported and mixed for any objects in the scene Once motions are mixed you can ...

Page 1020: ...ey affect the animation more at some times than others See Adjusting Track Weight on page 3730 You can use only the part of a clip s motion that affects specified body parts See Filtering Mixer Tracks on page 3715 When motions applied to a biped s upper body vary greatly from motions on its lower body the Mixer automatically compensates for discrepancies in balance See Adjusting Biped Balance in t...

Page 1021: ...Mixer you can specify that a BIP file will affect only one part of the body This feature is not available in Motion Flow In the Motion Mixer you can use a mixdown to automatically lock feet during transitions between biped foot based motions Motion Flow does not perform this function A Motion Flow network can be used in conjunction with the Crowd feature giving the bipeds a choice of motions over ...

Page 1022: ...pens empty 1 Trackgroup 2 Clip track 3 Balance track These items are discussed in detail in the sections that follow Procedures To access the Motion Mixer from the Motion panel 1 Select a biped 2 Access the Motion panel 3 On the Biped Apps rollout on page 4330 click the Mixer button The Motion Mixer opens and displays the selected biped and two tracks To learn about these tracks see Adding Tracks ...

Page 1023: ...er view from the selections under Views on the pop up menu AddingTracks to the Mixer In the Motion Mixer you begin the mixing process by opening the Mixer then adding objects to mix and then loading motion clips to clip tracks on page 8150 One clip track is created automatically if a biped is selected while you open the Mixer but you ll probably need more to hold all the motions you want to use wi...

Page 1024: ...nto a new scene it comes in with its mix name preserved from the original file but without any mixed animation Types of ClipTracks There are two types of tracks to which you can add clips Layer A track for a series of motions that do not need transitions between them By default a Layer track is created for a biped when you open the Mixer Layer track Transition A tall track with room for two rows o...

Page 1025: ...clips in Layer and Transition tracks Clips cannot be added to the balance track NOTE Balance tracks are only available for mixed biped objects Procedures To add a Transition or Layer track to a trackgroup Right click an existing track and choose one of the options for adding tracks from the pop up menu 3706 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1026: ...To convert a clip track from one type to another Right click an existing track and choose one of the options from the pop up menu for converting tracks Using the Motion Mixer 3707 ...

Page 1027: ... This way the objects are automatically highlighted 3 Enter a mix name or leave the default one When you click OK the highlighted objects are added to the mixer under a single object mix A track is automatically assigned to the object Importing Clips to the Mixer You can bring motion clips BIP and XAF files into the mixer with any of these methods Choose a file directly from the folder in which it...

Page 1028: ...IP files see Loading and Saving BIP Animation on page 4300 For more information of XAF files see Saving and Loading Animation on page 7074 Importing XAF Files Non biped object assets are loaded into the Mixer using the Load XML Animation File dialog on page 7077 from which you pick the desired XAF motion file to import If the motion file needs an XMM mapping file you can either choose an existing ...

Page 1029: ...e biped s feet fall on the construction plane on the first frame of the clip The letter Z appears after the clip name to indicate this setting When you load a clip into the Mixer for the first time the clip name is followed by the number 1 If you clone or load the same clip to another part of the Mixer the clip will display the same number or a different number depending on whether the new clip is...

Page 1030: ... from a file 1 Select a biped and open the Motion Mixer See Adding Tracks to the Mixer on page 3704 2 In the Motion Mixer highlight the track into which you want to bring the motion file Be sure to highlight a blank area of the track and not any existing clips on the track 3 From the Motion Mixer menu choose Tracks New Clips From Files You can also right click the track and choose New Clips From F...

Page 1031: ...u want to bring the Motion Flow clips and transitions You can choose either a transition or layer track 2 From the Motion Mixer menu choose Tracks Import Motion Flow You can also right click the track and choose Motion Flow from the pop up menu 3 Choose a script from which to import motion The clips and transitions from the script are imported to the Mixer and displayed the track If the track was ...

Page 1032: ...nd move it to another location on the track A clip cannot be moved in such a way that it overlaps another clip If you move a clip on top of another clip it will return to its original location when you release the mouse Procedures To move all clips horizontally on one track 1 Select one or more clips You can select multiple clips on different tracks for this operation 2 Click Slide Clips on the Mo...

Page 1033: ...rack across tracks and even across bipeds in the Mixer A cloned clip retains the Z 0 status of the original clip if this option was selected for the original clip and any changes made to the original clip s timing Cloning a clip to a different sized biped creates an adaptation on page 7900 of the original clip 1 Make sure there s enough space on the track where you want to place the cloned clips M...

Page 1034: ...on The name of the clip in the track is replaced with the new filename Filtering MixerTracks Each track in the Motion Mixer is part of a trackgroup on page 8151 Each trackgroup can be filtered so it uses motions from one set of body parts and not another For example you might want to use the arm motions from one motion file with the legs from another For this purpose you would need two separate tr...

Page 1035: ...t to use some body parts but not all and name the trackgroup appropriately This is accomplished with the Trackgroup Filter dialogs biped and non biped objects The Trackgroup Filter dialog for biped objects 3716 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1036: ...it possible to mix motions for each set of body parts For example you could create a trackgroup for the arms and have two tracks within this trackgroup Then you could put two completely different sets of motions on each track and use weighting to use one track or the other at different times during the motion See Adjusting Track Weight on page 3730 Using the Motion Mixer 3717 ...

Page 1037: ...pine If you do so the trackgroup highest in the Motion Mixer is used and the other trackgroup is ignored Instead use multiple tracks within the trackgroup to achieve the animation you want Procedures To add a new trackgroup for the biped 1 Highlight the name of an existing trackgroup 2 Right click the trackgroup name and choose Add Trackgroup Above or Add Trackgroup Below 3718 Chapter 15 Animation...

Page 1038: ...he pop up menu To filter and name a trackgroup 1 Highlight the trackgroup label at the upper left corner of the trackgroup you want to filter By default the trackgroup label is All denoting that the trackgroup currently affects all biped parts 2 From the Motion Mixer menu choose Trackgroups Filter The Trackgroup Filter dialog appears By default all body parts are selected Using the Motion Mixer 37...

Page 1039: ...gram to help make the selection For example if the trackgroup will affect only the arms click None to deselect all biped parts then click the four arm boxes to select the arms 4 Enter an appropriate name for the trackgroup at the bottom of the Trackgroup Filter dialog such as Arms 3720 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1040: ...5 Click OK to close the dialog The new trackgroup name appears at the upper left of the track display Using the Motion Mixer 3721 ...

Page 1041: ...n speed throughout the clip with time warps See Adding Time Warps on page 3733 TIP When changing clip timing it can be helpful to display start and end frame numbers and the clip time scale To do this click Preferences on the Motion Mixer and choose the appropriate options in the Mixer Preferences dialog on page 3791 As you choose options the Motion Mixer display is changed interactively Procedure...

Page 1042: ...Trim Clips The gray area disappears TIP At any time you can view original clip lengths in gray by turning on Trim Clips To remove scaling or trimming from a clip in the Motion Mixer select the clip right click and choose Remove Scale Trim Using the Motion Mixer 3723 ...

Page 1043: ...er end of the clip to extend or shorten it in time TIP To see the ratio of the original motion time to the new time click Preferences In the Mixer Preferences dialog turn on Scales This displays the ratio on the clip next to its name Working withTransitions When two or more clips are placed on a transition track on page 8158 you can create transitions between any two clips A transition creates a c...

Page 1044: ...agging either end of the transition in the Mixer When a transition appears with hatchmarks this indicates that the transition is invalid This can occur when a clip s brackets are reversed with the out bracket before the in bracket You can correct this problem by dragging each end of the transition to reverse the ends A useful transition can occur anyplace where two clips overlap The unused part of...

Page 1045: ...allow you to extend a transition into an area where two clips do not overlap However this transition will most likely result in undesirable motion in the mix Transitions extending into areas where clips don t overlap can create unpredictable results 3726 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1046: ...k by default its transitions are also moved or scaled To prevent transitions from changing when you move or scale a clip turn on Lock Transitions on the Motion Mixer toolbar UsingTransition Brackets On a transition track transition brackets appear around each transition and at the start or end of each clip that is not surrounded by a transition Transition brackets When you load a clip onto a trans...

Page 1047: ...for the transition that will result in smooth motion Look for times when each foot has the same planting or free status in both clips For example a time period when both clips have the left foot planted and the right foot free is a good time range for a transition You can fine tune your choice of transition time by optimizing the transition This features searches each clip either in its entirety o...

Page 1048: ...etween them 3 Drag the transition to move it or drag its ends to resize it 4 Before adding the next clip move the last clip s transition bracket to the next desired transition location and then load the clip To optimize a transition With foot based clips you can use the Optimize command on page 3758 to help you find the best timing for a transition The Optimize command exhaustively searches the sp...

Page 1049: ...ositions in the two clips The yellow stick figure shows the biped s position in the first clip while the red figure shows the second 4 On the dialog that appears choose a different Transition Focus from the list As you change the Transition Focus you will see the foot positions change The Transition Focus sets a center or focal point for the transition changing the biped s position slightly depend...

Page 1050: ... Curves off and on and watch the display to see the weight curve appear You access the weight curve by clicking the Weight Mode button at the right end of the track Clicking Weight Mode on the Motion Mixer toolbar enables weight curve editing for all tracks When Weight mode is on you can work only with the weight curve and not with clips You edit a weight curve using nodes points on the curve Clip...

Page 1051: ...on clips on the tracks 3 For the topmost track in the trackgroup click Weight Mode to the right of the track display The weight curve turns red to indicate it can be edited You have to do the next two steps only if the weight curve has no nodes or would like to create more nodes 4 Move the cursor over the line until a small arrow appears Click to set a node 5 Move the cursor and click to set more ...

Page 1052: ...cur at a specific time You use a time warp by picking a time within the motion clip and dragging that time s motion to another time in the same clip The overall time of the clip is unchanged so the object takes the same amount of time to do the entire motion but does some parts quickly and others slowly Dashed lines appear on a time warped clip in the Mixer to indicate the motion speed at differen...

Page 1053: ...ired frame by moving the original time to the warped time within the clip To warp a clip s time 1 In the Motion Mixer zoom in on the original time for the time warp This is the frame number you noted in step 2 of the previous procedure 2 In the Motion Mixer select the clip 3 From the Motion Mixer menu choose Clips Add Time Warp The appearance of the clip does not change when a time warp is added 4...

Page 1054: ...lick the top half the bar The top half turns white to indicate it is selected 8 Drag the top half of the bar to the left or right to set it to the warped time noted in step 3 of the previous procedure This will cause the motion at the original time to occur at the warped time TIP As you drag the top bar watch the Frame value at the top of the Motion Mixer window to see the top bar s new frame numb...

Page 1055: ...hat will occur When both bars are aligned no warping occurs To add multiple time warps to a clip 1 You can time warp other parts of the clip by adding more time warp bars with the arrow cursor then moving the new top bars When you add a second time warp bar after editing the first the top bar appears where you click but the bottom bar appears in a different location The bottom bar s location corre...

Page 1056: ...of the biped you can create a situation where the balance in the two clips do not match one another For example if the arms are waving wildly in the motion used for the upper body the hip motion should compensate to some degree to keep the biped in balance A straight mix of this arm motion with another hip leg motion will most likely not match up in terms of balance Bipeds with same set of upper a...

Page 1057: ...ped is not displayed click Preferences on the Motion Mixer toolbar and turn on Balance Curves on the Mixer Preferences dialog on page 3791 The balance track has a weight curve for adjusting the degree of automatic balance compensation between upper and lower body trackgroups By default the weight value of 1 0 across the balance track provides the maximum degree of compensation You can reduce the w...

Page 1058: ...dy motion 4 Add a clip with a great deal of upper body motion to the upper body track See Importing Clips to the Mixer on page 3708 5 Add a clip with very different lower body motion to the lower body track 6 Click the Balance Weight Mode button at the far right of the balance track The weight curve becomes visible at the top of the balance track TIP If you can t see the weight curve click Prefere...

Page 1059: ...ng its name at the upper left corner of its trackgroups 2 From the Motion Mixer menu choose Mix Balance Parameters The Balance Parameters dialog appears 3 To adjust the degree of horizontal balance compensation on the pelvis change the Lateral Ratio parameter Lower values make more forward backward motion on the pelvis while higher values use more side to side motion to compensate 4 To adjust the ...

Page 1060: ...te an animated sequence for the biped there are several ways to work with the finished mix If you want to work with the mix on the current biped rather than a another biped in the scene you have several options If you re satisfied with the animation as it is you can turn on Mixer Mode on the Biped rollout on page 4331 to display the mix on the biped and simply render the scene Using the Motion Mix...

Page 1061: ...le A MIX file on page 8045 can be loaded onto other bipeds and edited as needed in the Motion Mixer Fixing Foot BasedTransitions with a Mixdown When you create a transition between two motions with planted feet feet with IK constraints the motion might not match perfectly between clips When this occurs a planted foot might slide or pop or a leg might stretch unnaturally during or near the transiti...

Page 1062: ...ended Legs affects unnaturally straight legs Turn on Prompt for options at each Mixdown if you want to be asked for these settings each time you do a mixdown For more information on these options see Mixer Preferences Dialog on page 3791 TIP You should not rely on the mixdown process to correct extreme problems with clips or transitions For the best results adjust transitions before a mixdown to m...

Page 1063: ...ation to check the transitions If they need correction turn off the Mixdown track correct the transitions and compute the Mixdown again Repeat until the transitions are correct 5 With the Mixdown track active choose Bipeds menu Copy Mixdown to Biped 6 Turn off Mixer Mode if it is on The mix from the Motion Mixer is visible on the biped in viewports even though the biped is no longer in Mixer mode ...

Page 1064: ... load clips directly into the Reservoir and all clips that you load directly in the Motion Mixer also show up in the Reservoir For each motion file used in the Motion Mixer the Reservoir list shows the source disk path and name of the file and under the source shows the name of each clip or set of clips derived from that file Using the Motion Mixer 3745 ...

Page 1065: ...under the clip name If you click a clip in the list the window under the list displays information about the clip including structural differences between the figure it s applied to and the figure from which the file was originally saved A second window displays a graphical view of the biped animation drag the slider below the window to move through the animation 3746 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1066: ... might have to wait while the Mixer recalculates the adaptation for the biped You can save loading time by saving adapted clips to new BIP files and replacing the original clip in the Mixer If you save an instanced clip from the Reservoir under a new file name all clips in the Reservoir are renamed likewise Procedures To access the Reservoir On the Motion Mixer toolbar click the Reservoir button T...

Page 1067: ...e automatically fits the motion to the biped You can then save the modified motion from the Reservoir 1 In the Reservoir list highlight the clip whose motion you want to save 2 On the Reservoir toolbar click the Save File button Use the Save As dialog to specify a name and location for the motion file and then click the Save button The motion file is saved as fitted to the biped to which the clip ...

Page 1068: ...d sound industries Like an audio mixer Motion Mixer lets you add a series of tracks on page 8150 for each object in a scene To each track you add clips on page 8051 in the form of BIP or XAF files You can also add transitions on page 8157 to smoothly link clips together Clips and transitions can be filtered on page 7977 so their motion affects only specified biped parts The entirety of the clips t...

Page 1069: ...a mix The Motion Mixer editor on page 3783 showing a graphical interface where the mix is built The Motion Mixer is normally opened as a floating window It can also be opened in a viewport like the Asset Browser and MAXScript Listener Motion Mixer Menus Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Graph Editors menu Motion Mixer The Motion Mixer interface contains five menus located at the...

Page 1070: ...he content of the highlighted non biped object mix This dialog is comparable to the Max Objects To Mix dialog on page 3775 with the exception of the Bake Removed Nodes option NOTE This dialog is only available for non biped object mixes Bake Removed Nodes When on animation keys from removed objects are baked to the main timeline Default off Add Trackgroup Adds a trackgroup on page 8151 to the top ...

Page 1071: ... only side to side motion Range 0 0 to 1 0 Default 0 5 Propagation Affects the degree to which spine links are rotated to follow COM and pelvis rotation When set to 0 0 the default spine rotation is not influenced by lower body motion When set to 1 0 all spine links except the topmost one use the lower body motion s spine animation to some degree to better follow the COM and pelvis motion The lowe...

Page 1072: ...iped inherits this single track s animation rather than the transition and layer tracks in the mix When the Mixdown track is inactive the biped uses the raw mix on page 8044 instead An inactive Mixdown track above and an active Mixdown track below An inactive Mixdown track above and an active Mixdown track below A mixdown can make automatic adjustments to transitions between planted foot motions C...

Page 1073: ... Alternately you can right click a trackgroup label to open the menu The Trackgroups menu lets you administer the bipeds in the mixer Each biped you add to the Motion Mixer gets its own trackgroup a selection of biped parts Filter Opens the Trackgroup Filter dialog where you can customize the object body parts that are included in a trackgroup mix This command is only available when a single track...

Page 1074: ...Transition track at the top of the selected trackgroups Transition tracks hold clips that are mixed with transitions Clips in Transition tracks will automatically spawn transitions when they overlap Delete All Clips Clears the selected trackgroups of all clips and transitions Delete Clears the selected trackgroups from the Motion Mixer Tracks menu The commands in the Tracks menu are only active wh...

Page 1075: ...ea of what the motion looks like Any clip you add to a track using this method is automatically added to the Reservoir on page 3787 NOTE If you choose a BIP file that is older you will receive a warning that the file is obsolete and should be resaved Until the BIP file is resaved it will not display in the Motion Preview New Clips From Reservoir Opens a Reservoir Files dialog where you can choose ...

Page 1076: ...uplicated clips depends upon the clip s length and the number of frames displayed across the Motion Mixer For example if a clip is 100 frames long and the number of frames across the Motion Mixer is 500 the clip will tile five times Tile Range Tiles the selected clip along the range of the active time segment The number of duplicated clips depends upon the clip s length and the number of frames in...

Page 1077: ...Editor dialog Biped Object on page 3764 or the Mixer Transition Editor dialog Non Biped Object on page 3768 based on the kind of mix the transition is applied to The dialogs are similar to the Transition Editor on page 4558 accessed from the Motion Flow rollout Optimize Optimizes the selected transitions This uses optimization algorithms similar to those in Motion Flow Convert To Loopable Clip All...

Page 1078: ...clip s Motion Mixer menu bar Clips Load Source From File The Mixer Clip Source Options dialog opens when you select one or more clips on a track and choose Load Source From File Clips menu on page 3757 The new clip you choose replaces the selected clips You also have the option of replacing instances on page 8015 and adaptations on page 7900 of selected clips Motion Mixer Interface 3759 ...

Page 1079: ...l instances of the selected clip Replaces instances of the clip any occurrence of the selected clip within tracks for the same biped or other bipeds of the same size All instances and adaptations of the selected clip Replaces adaptations any occurrence of the selected clip on all bipeds tracks 3760 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1080: ... are shifted depending on the length of the newly loaded clip Remove Weights Removes any existing weight curves from clips selected to be replaced Remove Warps Removes any existing time warps from clips selected to be replaced Copy Biped Animation to Clip Dialog Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Motion Mixer menu bar Clips Load Source From Biped The Copy Biped Animation To Clip ...

Page 1081: ...he clip selected from the Reservoir All instances and adaptations Replaces any occurrence adaptation on page 7900 of the selected clip on all bipeds tracks in the Mixer with the clip selected from the Reservoir Method to Fit Animation to Clip Scale animation to fit clip Scales the length of the loaded clip to match the length of the clip it replaces in the track Trim animation to fit clip Trims th...

Page 1082: ...ips selected to be replaced Reservoir File Groups Dialog Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Motion Mixer menu bar Clips Load Source From Reservoir Graph Editors menu Motion Mixer Select a non biped object track Motion Mixer menu bar Clips Load Source From Reservoir The Reservoir File Groups dialog opens when you select clips and choose Load Source From Reservoir on the Clips menu...

Page 1083: ...he track Set clip length to animation length shifting remaining clips in time For selected clips changes the animation length to the loaded clip length All clips on the track after the selected clip are shifted depending on the length of the newly loaded clip Remove Weights Removes any existing weight curves from clips selected to be replaced Remove Warps Removes any existing time warps from clips...

Page 1084: ... you specify a focus point on the biped where the transition takes place The Mixer will attempt to match movement based on this selection For example if Left Foot is selected the transition will use the left foot as a focal point during the transition aligning the motion of the left foot in both clips as much as possible during the transition Default Auto Auto The transition focus is calculated by...

Page 1085: ...ard If it is turned off the next clip is always set so that its lowest point is at z 0 This default insures that motion does not gradually float up or down with each additional clip Angle Sets the direction of the destination clip The angle of the destination clip is automatically set for best body fit between the two clips when the Start Frame values change Use Angle to change the direction of th...

Page 1086: ...ps the transition is a gradual interpolation from one frozen pose to another Set Start Frame Copies the value in the Frame field of the Ghost area to the Start Frame field in the Clip area The position of the destination clip changes to match the biped body in the destination clip to the biped body in the source clip Locate an appropriate start frame for the source and destination clips by using t...

Page 1087: ...Blending Consider a character walking around a corner The trajectory of the character s root describes an arc while the IK feet cycle along the ground This clip contains a few footsteps and is used to make a mixer cycle that should take the character around in a circle If you set the root and the feet all to be velocity blends the transition will result in the root continuing around the corner whi...

Page 1088: ...on clips involved in the transition Start Frame Set the transition start frame for the source and destination clips in their respective fields Duration for the source and destination clips displays above the Start Frame fields Rolling Keeps the clip in motion during the transition Fixed For the source clip this option freezes motion at the Start Frame position during the transition For the destina...

Page 1089: ...he transition Velocity Nodes list Lists the objects you have chosen for velocity blending Select Velocity Nodes Click to display a Pick Nodes dialog on page 3772 and choose the objects to velocity blend Delete Velocity Nodes Click to delete the highlighted objects from the list Set Other Transition Velocity Nodes Copies the set of velocity blend objects to all other transitions in the current trac...

Page 1090: ...ime not in the direction that the feet themselves are going at transition time Sub Blend Nodes list Displays the objects chosen for sub blending Select Sub blend Nodes Click to display a Pick Nodes dialog on page 3772 and choose the objects to sub blend Before you pick sub blend nodes you must first choose a velocity blend node in the upper list Typically this is the parent of the nodes that will ...

Page 1091: ...ts before you optimize the transition OK Confirms the current settings and closes the dialog Pick Nodes Dialog Motion Mixer Graph Editors menu Motion Mixer Select a non biped object clip transition Motion Mixer menu bar Transitions Edit Mixer Transition Editor Click the Select Velocity Nodes or Select Sub blend Nodes button This dialog opens when you pick nodes for velocity blending or sub blendin...

Page 1092: ...tion Subtree group Display When on the object hierarchy is shown by indenting When off all objects appear at the same level Default on Select When on selecting an object selects that object s children When off only one object at a time is selected Default off Named selection sets drop down list This list shows the scene s named selection sets on page 239 Choosing a set from this list selects its m...

Page 1093: ... the whole clip or it can search near the existing transition You must specify the preferred length of the optimized transition The software will try to get as close to that length as possible still opting to give you the best length If it searches about the existing transition you must specify the number of frames about which it will search before and after the existing transition Optimized trans...

Page 1094: ...rame value to search before the existing transition After Set a frame value to search after the existing transition Motion MixerToolbar Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Graph Editors menu Motion Mixer Like an audio mixer where you add music tracks and use fades and blends to transition between tracks the Motion Mixer allows you to mix motion clips The Motion Mixer toolbar offer...

Page 1095: ...h the most children in the list NOTE Objects can be added to only one mix at a time Once an object is part of a mix it is removed from the list Add Bipeds Opens the Bipeds dialog listing all the bipeds in the scene Highlight one or several bipeds to load them into the Motion Mixer window 3776 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1096: ...one biped s track to another biped s track Slide Clips Allows horizontal movement of clips on the same track or vertical movement of clips from one biped s track to another biped s track Sliding a clip to the right will move unselected clips which are situated to the right of the selected clip sliding to the left will move unselected clips which sit to the left of the clip Offset Records how many ...

Page 1097: ...ips Holding down the Shift key while moving a track creates a clone of the original track Lock Transitions When Lock Transitions is turned off the default moving a clip or changing its length on a transition track affect the lengths of transitions around the clip When Lock Transitions is turned on transition lengths do not change when you move a clip or drag clip edges not touching the transition ...

Page 1098: ... set To create a named selection select the clips for the set enter a name in the named selectionfield and then press Enter You can reselect an existing selection set by choosing its name from the drop down list Named sets of clips in the mixer are saved with the MAX file but not with MIX files Horizontal This button is available when the Weighting button on the motion mixer toolbar or on a trackg...

Page 1099: ...ter Dialog Biped Object Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Trackgroups menu Filter By default the Motion Mixer expects that a mix you create will affect the entire biped If you like you can filter on page 3715 a trackgroup so clips in the mix affect only selected body parts This functionality makes it easy for you to assign one set of BIP files to control the motion of a biped s ...

Page 1100: ...he current body part selection If everything is active this deactivates everything as if you clicked the None button Trackgroup Label Field Use this field to specify a more descriptive label for a trackgroup When you first create a trackgroup it is labelled All The new label entered here will appear in place of All to the left of the trackgroup Use a unique descriptive name to help you keep track ...

Page 1101: ...ect list The Trackgroup Filter dialog displays a list of objects with the hierarchy indicated by indenting if Subtree Display is on which it is by default Objects can be individually activated or deactivated by clicking them or you can use the buttons across the bottom of the Trackgroup Filter diagram to expedite selections All Activates all selectable None Deactivates all body parts Invert Invert...

Page 1102: ...list selects its members in the Object list OK Confirms selection and closes the dialog Cancel Disregards current selection and closes the dialog Motion Mixer Editor Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer The Motion Mixer window contains an editor where you manage everything that is added to the mix bipeds trackgroups tracks clips and transitions Interface The editor contains three s...

Page 1103: ...an be selected added removed and repositioned The and buttons collapse and expand the display of bipeds and trackgroups The m button mutes a track taking its influence out of the mix The s button sets a track to solo mode making it the only active track in the mix Interactive Clip Controls The center section of the editor Interactive Clip Controls lets you manipulate the scale time timing and trim...

Page 1104: ...ale the entire mix for the biped Transition brackets appear in Transition tracks Where a transition exists the brackets indicate the start and end point of the transition If there is no transition at the end of the clip the bracket indicates where the transition will be placed when a new clip is loaded into the track The current time in the scene can be changed by dragging the vertical purple time...

Page 1105: ... Mode is turned on weights can be adjusted with a red weight curve on a clip or track On a Layer track each clip has its own weight curve Each Transition track has one weight curve for the entire track By default each weight curve has a node at each end that can be moved to change the weight at that point Click on the weight curve to add more nodes and drag a node to move it Weights can range from...

Page 1106: ...set of body parts The Weight Mode button at the right end of the main toolbar turns on this mode for all tracks in the Motion Mixer For more information see Motion Mixer Toolbar on page 3775 On a balance track the Balance Weight Mode button appears rather than the Weight Mode button When in Balance Weight mode you can adjust the weight curve for the balance track on page 7919 To find out how to us...

Page 1107: ...ds are located You can choose between listing biped clips and non biped clips The Source Clipname list on page 3790 where motion clips BIP and XAF files are listed Instances on page 8015 are grouped together in one listing while adaptations on page 7900 are listed separately 3788 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1108: ...ped and non biped motion assets The Max Clips option displays XAF files while Biped Clips displays BIP files New Entry Opens a dialog where you can choose BIP or XAF files to load into the Reservoir You can highlight multiple files to load by holding down the Ctrl key while you click Reload Files Reloads selected BIP or XAF files listed in the Reservoir Load File Opens a dialog where you can choos...

Page 1109: ...ge 3755 or by right clicking a track they are automatically added to the Reservoir If the clip is a new adaptation on page 7900 the name of the clip is assigned an incremental suffix such as 1 or 2 The Refs Reference column tells you how many times a clip instance on page 8015 has been used in the Motion Mixer or if it has not been used at all If an instance shows a Refs value of 1 or more it mean...

Page 1110: ...P file that is from an older version of 3ds Max you will see a warning that the file is obsolete and should be resaved Until the BIP file is resaved it will not display in the Motion Preview NOTE The Motion Preview is available only when you choose the Biped Clips option Mixer Preferences Dialog Select a biped Motion panel Biped Apps rollout Mixer Preferences Graph Editors menu Motion Mixer Prefer...

Page 1111: ...ing the scales quickly lets you know if a clip is two times its original length or half its length Default Off Boundaries Turns on and off the frame numbers at the start and end of the colored clip bars Default On Weight Curves Toggles the display of the weighting line It doesn t matter if the Weight button is active or not Default On Time Warps If a time warp has been added to a clip this switch ...

Page 1112: ...ar in the Motion Mixer Global Displays clip start and end frames as frame numbers Inpoints and outpoints of transitions display the frame at which transitions start and end Default On Local Clip boundary values are displayed as actual lengths in frames Along with the start and end frame number of the transition additional values tell you by how much the transition overlaps each motion clip Mixdown...

Page 1113: ...planted position unless the leg goes completely straight This option corrects the problem by raising the biped s heel off the ground so the knee can bend Default On Max Knee Angle Sets the maximum angle that can be reached between the thigh and calf before the heel comes off the ground An angle of 180 indicates a perfectly straight leg A value of 160 or 170 indicates a slightly bent leg Mixer Roll...

Page 1114: ...Mixer to a MIX file Animation Utilities 3ds Max provides a number of utilities available from the Utilities panel on page 7671 to assist in animating scenes Follow Bank Utility on page 3796 is an alternative to the Path constraint on page 3297 MACUtilities Utility on page 3817 lets you convert an imported TRC motion on page 7259 into CSM format so you can map it onto a biped Camera Tracker Utility...

Page 1115: ...namic you have to click the Apply Follow button each time you change an object s animation or the utility settings When adjusting banking settings move to the point at which the object is at the sharpest turn then alternately click Apply Follow and adjust the banking settings to get the right affect at the extreme corner TIP You can also use an Orientation Constraint to manually control the rotati...

Page 1116: ... one object is selected Multiple Selected displays Apply Follow button Apply Follow Applies the settings and generates rotation keys Each time you click this button rotation keys in the specified range of frames set in the Samples group are deleted and regenerated Follow Bank Utility 3797 ...

Page 1117: ...ples group Specifies the range of frames over which rotation keys are generated and the number of keys to be generated Start Specifies the first frame rotation keys are generated End Specifies the last frame rotation keys are generated Samples Specifies the number of rotation keys to be generated in the specified range Close button Close Exits the Follow Bank utility Motion Capture Utility Utiliti...

Page 1118: ... with 3ds Max Mouse Input Device rollout on page 3809 Keyboard Input Device rollout on page 3810 Joystick Input Device rollout on page 3811 MIDI Device rollout on page 3814 Procedures To assign a Motion Capture controller to tracks The first step in using motion capture is to assign motion capture controllers to the tracks you want 1 In the Track View hierarchy highlight the Transform track you wa...

Page 1119: ...ect using standard transform controls while still making motion capture control available To bind and adjust devices 1 After assigning a Motion Capture controller determine the type of device that will drive the motion Depending on the type of controller you might be able to bind one or more devices For example a Rotation Motion Capture controller can 3800 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1120: ...e movement to the rotation Flip reverses the rotational direction with respect to the mouse movement Example To set up the Joystick controller to move a Free camera You set up the Joystick controller to move a Free Camera around on the XY plane The Y movement of the joystick will affect the camera s forward and backward movement and the X movement of the joystick will rotate the camera You ll use ...

Page 1121: ...and Y positions of the camera Example continued To add the increment based on direction options If you tested the camera motion at this point moving the joystick forward or backward along the Y would produce a diagonal motion because the Position tracks would receive equal amounts of X and Y values Adding the Increment Based On Direction options will change this 1 Click the X Edit Binding button 2...

Page 1122: ...bserving it in the Top viewport As you move the joystick in the Y direction the camera moves forward or backward Moving the joystick in the X direction rotates the camera but then as you continue moving the joystick in the Y direction the camera moves forward and back along its local axis Motion Capture Utility 3803 ...

Page 1123: ...Interface 3804 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1124: ... right mouse button Play During Test When turned on and you click Test the animation in the scene plays in a loop while you test your motion Note that tracks in the Motion Capture list that are selected marked red won t play back because they re waiting for input from the assigned peripheral device Start Stop Displays the Start Stop Trigger Setup dialog on page 3806 You can choose the type of MIDI...

Page 1125: ...s label let you specify which note event triggers which function Stop This note event stops the playback or the recording On the Media Control Station this would be the square button This is the equivalent of clicking the Stop button under the Record Controls group Play Plays the animation This is the arrow button on the Media Control Station Record When this note is sent by itself it s the equiva...

Page 1126: ...ction click the tracks you want and then enter a name in the Edit field above the track list To select a previously named set open the Edit window and select it from the list To delete a named set select it from the list and then click the Delete button at the right NOTE A specific track can be in only one named selection at a time All Assigns all tracks to the Record Controls group Invert When tr...

Page 1127: ...s the same or greater than the In number the Preroll number is ignored For example if In 0 and Out 200 then a Preroll of 100 would give you 100 frames before the recording started while a Preroll of 50 would be meaningless If the range defined by Preroll and Out is larger than the current segment the segment is temporarily enlarged during the recording In Specifies the frame number where the recor...

Page 1128: ...ou enter in the Threshold field constrains how 3ds Max changes the selected track The difference between the new animation and the original animation at any frame will be less than the threshold value Low threshold values closely match the original animation but may not greatly reduce the number of keys High threshold values produce the fewest keys but may not match the original animation with muc...

Page 1129: ... Flip will reverse the rotation to counterclockwise Keyboard Input Device rollout Lets you assign most keyboard keys to drive the animation Key Assignment group Click the Assign button and then press any key The assigned key appears in the list at right Alternatively you can open the list and select a key from it Assign Click the Assign button and then press any key The assigned key appears in the...

Page 1130: ...f seconds contained in 1 unit For example if this value is 1 0 then an Attack value of 1 0 equals 1 second Range Sets the maximum output value of the controller NOTE This controller ignores the state of the Ctrl Alt and Shift keys TIP Because a single keyboard key can only generate either a positive or negative value if you want to control both directions of a Bend Angle for example use a List con...

Page 1131: ... Throttle On the Sidewinder this is a slider next to the stick Scale Scales the relative effect of the joystick action to the animation response Spinner Value float 0 to 999 999 Flip Flips the direction of the response Accumulate When turned off the joystick position represents an absolute position and you re limited to the rectangle defined by the limits of the 3812 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1132: ...e is incremented when the button is down and decremented when the button is up Inc When turned on the value increments when the button is down and stays at that value when you release the button Absolute When turned on the assigned parameters jumps to the value set in the Speed spinner when the button is down and then jumps back to zero when you release the button Use this for on off animations su...

Page 1133: ...mera points in the Z direction However if you had a car that pointed along its Y axis you d use Y Component X Y Z Specifies the edit binding to use Match this to the Edit Binding button under Device Bindings For example if the Y Edit Binding button is selected choose the Y Component option MIDI Device rollout Controls animation using a MIDI device 3814 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1134: ... option the velocity of the note pressed determines the output value The notes set under Note Range merely specify which notes are valid to press The value takes on the Min value until a key within the Note Range is pressed When the key is pressed the value approaches the Max value based on how hard the key was pressed The value actually travels along a parabola toward the Max value The Sustain se...

Page 1135: ...troller When using a different type of MIDI controller such as a slider box you can specify a note event and then watch the corresponding progress bar light up when you activate that event You can find the correct note number by activating the event while watching the Note Number field at the bottom of the dialog Channel This is one of four text fields that display all of the values being generate...

Page 1136: ...NM file or create a new one using the MNM Creator Marker Selection dialog Procedures To convert a TRC file into CSM 1 Click the Browse button next to Create 2 Highlight a MNM file in the Select Mapping File dialog Click Open to confirm your selection The MNM file serves as a naming convention reference for the TRC conversion 3 Click the Browse button over Convert TRC To CSM 4 Highlight a folder in...

Page 1137: ...es the MNM Creator Marker Selection dialog which creates a MNM file to use in the conversion process Browse Lets you pick a custom mapping file to use in the conversion process CSM Output Folder Displays the folder path where the CSM file is generated Browse Lets you pick a folder in which 3ds Max saves the generated CSM file Convert TRC To CSM Lets you first pick the TRC file to convert The resul...

Page 1138: ...le only when Batch File Conversion is off Default on Translation Offset group Enable Turn on to add an offset to the resulting data s position TRC Space 3ds max Space Choose between an offset space relative to the TRC data s root or to your scene XYZ Sets the offset value for each position axis CameraTracker Utility Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Utilities dialog Camera Tracker The ...

Page 1139: ...g on page 3851 Procedures To generate a camera match move 1 Open the working scene in 3ds Max The scene should have a Free camera to be match moved as the tracker does not create one The scene also should have a set of Point or CamPoint helper objects positioned in 3D to correspond to the tracking features Optionally install the movie as an environment map based background image in the match camer...

Page 1140: ...lms a scene the white dots will be tracking points 2 Open the movie file in the Camera Tracker utility and create a set of feature tracking gizmos for each of the tracking features in the scene Camera Tracker Utility 3821 ...

Page 1141: ...earch box for each gizmo so that they re centered on the features and have motion search bounds large enough to accommodate the biggest frame to frame move of the features throughout the frames that will be tracked 4 Associate each tracker with its corresponding scene point object 3822 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1142: ...racker at frames in which the feature radically changes motion or shape or is briefly occluded and so might be difficult for the computer to track If you want you can do this after a tracking attempt indicates where tracking errors occurred 7 Perform the feature track using the Batch Track rollout This is often an iterative process correcting for tracking errors by tuning start and stop frames or ...

Page 1143: ...d background 9 Check the match for obvious errors and review the tracker gizmo positions at these frames You can manually adjust gizmos at these frames and the matcher interactively recomputes the camera position 10 Optional Apply smoothing to selected camera parameters and recompute a compensating match for the other parameters The Camera Tracker also has the ability to animate 3ds Max geometry t...

Page 1144: ...th the others for example four on the ground and two elevated or three on one wall and three on another For maximum match accuracy you should use as many features as you can and select the features that are distributed as widely as possible over the scene The features don t have to be in any particular planes A 3ds Max scene file in which a set of point objects have been created and positioned in ...

Page 1145: ...vie window see Motion Tracker rollout on page 3830 Show frame Allows you to step through the movie displayed in the Movie window Alternatively use the Movie Stepper rollout which provides additional browsing controls Deinterlace Causes the tracker to apply a video deinterlacing filter to the movie frames If the movie comes from a video source and the features you re tracking show marked interlacin...

Page 1146: ... becomes corrupted for any reason When AutoLoad Save is turned off you can open a different movie file either with an empty tracker state or into the existing tracker state or save the current tracker state into a new file The name of the current tracker file is displayed at the bottom of the Movie rollout Save Saves the state of the tracking setup and any position data produced to the current MOT...

Page 1147: ...set the Max Move Frame spinner to the maximum move before creating the tracker its motion search bounds box will be set to accommodate this move for you You can also adjust this box at any time in the Movie window NOTE It s possible to change the search bounds box for different frame ranges in the movie so you can optimize your search capabilities See Keyframes and Position Data on page 3841 Worki...

Page 1148: ...clicking it Tabbing You can move among successively numbered gizmos by pressing the Tab key If the gizmo you re searching for is out of view because you re zoomed in the image will be repositioned in the window to bring the newly selected gizmo into view Tabbing while you re zoomed in provides a quick way to step through the gizmos to check their fine positioning Positioning You can reposition a g...

Page 1149: ...back to first gizmo after the last digit Selects the numbered gizmo only works for gizmos 1 to 10 0 10 Arrow Keys Nudges the gizmo in the direction of the arrow CameraTracker MotionTrackers Rollout Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Utilities dialog Camera Tracker Motion Trackers rollout The Camera Tracker utility s Motion Trackers rollout sets up and controls the image feature trackers...

Page 1150: ...es a new movie feature tracker This places a feature tracker gizmo in the center of the Movie window and a new entry in the tracker list The new tracker takes on the parameters currently displayed under Tracker Setup You can change these parameters after you create the tracker but it s often useful to set the Max Move Per Frame parameter prior to creating the new tracker as this automatically esta...

Page 1151: ...t s name This means you must be careful to name the point objects uniquely otherwise you might establish incorrect associations Further you must load the working scene in 3ds Max before opening the movie in the camera tracker utility so the named objects can be found If you happen to open the movie first the object names in the Tracker list will all read none Simply reopen the movie in the tracker...

Page 1152: ...ature image is sampled at that frame for searching in subsequent frames Turning on Resample On Error causes the tracker to detect errors during tracking If one is found it backs up to the last good frame and places a new keyframe there causing a new target feature image to be sampled at that frame and continues tracking from that frame Subpixel Tracking Usually an image feature won t move an integ...

Page 1153: ...nd the scene Use greater levels if the features are fairly close together or move very slowly within the frame You can also reduce feature tracking times by making the inner feature bounds box in the gizmo as tight as you can while still retaining a couple of pixels worth of surrounding contrast Search times are proportional to the feature bounds box size Track Range Use these when a feature moves...

Page 1154: ...g that keyframe up until the next keyframe are deleted and so become unknown The Complete Tracking button in the Batch Track rollout searches for unknown positions in the currently enabled trackers and tracks those frames The Check Status button in the same rollout checks for any currently unknown positions as well as tracking errors See Batch Track Rollout on page 3838 CameraTracker Movie Stepper...

Page 1155: ...rectly or one frame at a time if the Master Track Enable check box is turned on Feature Tracking If turned on any forward steps will cause frame by frame feature tracking to be performed for all enabled trackers with unknown position data at the frames you previously stepped through You can use this to perform a tracking check while testing bounds settings or to review tracked positions one frame ...

Page 1156: ...en box around each frame position at which you or the tracker create keyframes Live Camera Match Enabled after you set up the match parameters and select a match camera in the Match rollout If turned on the match camera position is recomputed and adjusted as you move gizmos in the Movie window This can be useful for making corrections to bad match frames by adjusting the trackers or to check the e...

Page 1157: ...mes and measures the difference between that average and the jump in the current frame If this difference exceeds the current Jump delta threshold a potential error is flagged If the threshold is set to five any jump in the current frame that s five pixels more than the average jump in the last five frames is flagged This picks up sudden accelerations rather than just large jumps You can adjust th...

Page 1158: ... keyframe 5 If inspection shows that there isn t an error the thresholds may be set too finely so try adjusting the associated threshold and running Check Status again This is often a good way to calibrate the thresholds for your scene but be careful not to increase them too much and miss a real error 6 To clear an entry out of the list click the Clear button This is basically a cosmetic action th...

Page 1159: ...rneath it in the Status box Incomplete Lists the tracker numbers with untracked frames in their active frame ranges Errors Lists the tracker numbers containing one or more tracking errors as determined by the current error threshold settings Tracking Error Review group Displays all the potential errors in a list For each error the list shows a tracker number error frame and details about the error...

Page 1160: ... exceed the newly adjusted thresholds Next Moves to the next error in the list Clear Clears an entry out of the list CameraTracker Position Data Rollout Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Utilities dialog Camera Tracker Position Data rollout Interface Apply to group Contains three radio buttons that control which trackers will be operated on by the action buttons below it Selected Track...

Page 1161: ...inates in decimal pixels show any subpixel tracking as decimal fractions The text window is a standard MAXScript source editor and you can copy edit or save the contents to file Export Creates a text file containing position data for the trackers specified in the Apply To group Pressing this button displays a standard Save File dialog asking for the location and name of the file you re creating Th...

Page 1162: ...embered in the MOT settings file and restored on reopening the movie in the camera tracker As with the tracker point scene objects the camera name is stored and used when reloading so make sure it s unique The camera selected must be a Free camera It can be at any position and orientation in the scene Match group Lets you choose which camera parameters will be estimated during the match move Those...

Page 1163: ...nimation Start frame lets you position the movie frame range relative to the animation frame range The position data for a match will be taken from the tracker frames starting at the Movie Start spinner value and the camera will be matched and animated starting from those frames Movie Start Sets the start of the range to be matched in the movie Animation Start Sets the start of the range in the an...

Page 1164: ... might be exaggerated when you employ match point weighting as this tends to distribute the errors toward the nonweight points Show Errors Opens a text window containing a list of the maximum errors for each of the matched frames so you can look over the whole set of match frames and identify which frames to check CameraTracker Move Smoothing Rollout Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button U...

Page 1165: ... parameters or axes Rotation Pan Tilt and Roll Position Dolly Truck H and Truck V FOV Camera FOV field of view Pan Rotation about the local camera Z axis Tilt Rotation about the local camera X axis Roll Rotation about the local camera Y axis Dolly Movement along the local camera Y axis Truck H Movement along the local camera X axis Truck V Movement along the local camera Z axis 3846 Chapter 15 Ani...

Page 1166: ...you to break up a match moving job into several frame ranges Use this to isolate and experiment on a troublesome range of frames without disturbing other satisfactory frames All Frames Applies the smoothing to all the keyframes in the selected parameters Rematch After Smooth Controls whether a compensating match move is performed after the filtering If this is turned on the parameters that were sm...

Page 1167: ...t of an animal s head with a 3D jaw to create talking animal animations Procedures Example To create a juggler juggling 3D balls of fire This assumes you already have a video of a juggler Otherwise find a juggler and a video camera 1 Load a video of a juggler 2 Create tracker gizmos to associate with the juggling balls 3 Use the Movie Stepper to track the gizmos 4 Go to Object Pinning and choose t...

Page 1168: ...hly recommended Object To Pin Lets you choose the object in 3ds Max scene for pinning and animating By default the tracking object associated with the selected tracker is preloaded into this button You can use this picker if you wish to pin a different object Pin Range group Movie Start The movie frame from which to start using tracked feature positions Animation Start The frame in the 3ds Max ani...

Page 1169: ...t exactly over the tracked feature If combined with grid space the object is also placed and moved directly on the active grid plane Relative Leaves the pinned object at its current position in space and moves it so that its projected position relative to the tracked feature remains the same throughout the pinning frame range This makes it possible to animate an object that you don t want placed e...

Page 1170: ...ctly with their trackers You can verify this by checking the entries in the list at the top of the Motion Trackers rollout If there is an object associated you will see its name in the list entry if not you will see no object If you open a movie file for which you have previously set up trackers in the camera tracker before you open the associated 3ds Max scene the objects won t be associated with...

Page 1171: ...s that generate keys to produce animation that simulates real world physics For example using standard keyframing techniques to animate a bouncing ball you create keys that move the ball down to the floor squash the ball move the ball back up and so on Using a dynamics system you assign physical properties to the ball and the floor such as friction or amount of bounce specify which object will col...

Page 1172: ... interactivity is with each other and with the effects in the scene The simulation is then solved generating the keyframes The effects of collisions between objects depend on the velocity of the objects and their properties For collision to work between two objects each object must have the other object assigned for collision For example when bouncing a ball both the floor and the ball are assigne...

Page 1173: ...can bounce off of a keyframed sphere for example Dynamics Controller When a Dynamics simulation is solved a new list controller is created that holds both the generated dynamics keys and the original keys This allows you to restore your original keys if necessary Undo is not supported by Dynamics For example if a sphere is bouncing in a Dynamics simulation and the sphere already contains position ...

Page 1174: ...t is Unyielding 12 Click Ok to close the Edit Object dialog The ground box won t move when the other objects collide with it 13 On the Dynamics rollout in the Effects group turn on Global Effects 14 Click Assign Global Effects select Gravity in the dialog and click right arrow then click Ok This assigns gravity to all objects in the simulation 15 On the Dynamics rollout in the Collisions group tur...

Page 1175: ...he generated dynamics keys and the original keys This lets you easily restore the original keys Undo is not supported by Dynamics To layer simulations reverse this method In other words after you ve solved the first simulation copy its controllers to the old tracks and then set up the next level of the simulation The new simulation will base its actions on the previous one instead of overwriting i...

Page 1176: ... the gravity effect to the ball 5 Use the Dynamics utility to specify the range of frames to which keys will be generated and to calculate the animation and generate the keys In the case of a bouncing ball a number of position and rotation keys are generated for the ball 6 Play the animation to see if the effect is what you were looking for If one or more objects fly off into space or move through...

Page 1177: ...lts to specific axes Do this on the Hierarchy panel Link Info Locks rollout on page 3501 The Locks rollout contains three rows of check boxes affecting the XYZ axes of the three possible transforms Move Rotate and Scale The Scale transforms are ignored and only the Move and Rotate locks are used When a check box is turned on that axis of the specific transform is locked When you manipulate a forwa...

Page 1178: ...que 4 1 Move 1 Rotate unique Turn on any one Move and any one Rotate but not in the same column This is like two long pins parallel sliding in a single long slot The joint can transmit force in one direction only and restrain rotation about the axis of the pins This combination is of limited application 5 2 Moves 1 Rotate matching Turn on two Moves plus one Rotate turned on that s in the same colu...

Page 1179: ...ravel in one direction and to rotate about an orthogonal axis One possible check box combination is XXO XOX 10 2 Moves 2 Rotates matching Turn on two Moves and two matching Rotates This results in a sliding axle a shaft that can both slide in and out of a hole and rotate with the hole The clear Move and Rotate axis specifies the axis along which the joint can slide and rotate The possible check bo...

Page 1180: ... name and is stored in the max file For example you might have a simulation named Bouncing Ball that bounces a ball down a flight of stairs while another simulation named Paper Airplane flies a paper airplane across the room List Displays the name of the current dynamics simulation and lists all simulations in the scene If the list contains two or more simulations choose Dynamics Utility 3861 ...

Page 1181: ... List Displays the Edit Object List dialog on page 3873 which lets you specify which scene objects are to be included in the simulation Edit Object Displays the Edit Object dialog on page 3867 The Edit Object dialog is the main interface for object dynamics attributes Use this dialog to set collisions effects surface properties and mass for each object in the simulation Select Objects in Sim Adds ...

Page 1182: ...use the button to move them to the list on the right All objects thus chosen collide with each other in the simulation The Assign Global Collisions dialog functions similarly to the Edit Object List dialog on page 3873 Solve group Update Display w Solve Displays each frame of the solution in the wireframe viewports during the calculations This slows down the calculation process Solve Calculates th...

Page 1183: ...n a dynamics simulation that starts at frame 20 the box will move between frames 10 and 20 because of the Bezier controller s default interpolation To avoid this before solving the simulation set the last animation keyframe s Out tangent type to Linear or Step see Bezier Controllers on page 3138 Alternatively set the last key of the keyframed input motion after the start time of the simulation or ...

Page 1184: ... for the sudden reversal of motion would be generated on either side of the missing impact Thus the motion controller is left to interpolate motion in a region where the motion should be sharply defined When this happens motion can be incorrect and the remainder of the solve is affected In the aforementioned example a key describing the impact is lost and the motion controller interpolates motion ...

Page 1185: ...n object upon collision with another object If there are no collisions in your simulation these settings have no effect Because the Dynamics Properties rollout is available at the top level of any material including sub materials you can specify different surface dynamic properties for each face in an object There are also controls in the Dynamics utility that let you adjust the surface properties...

Page 1186: ... disappears and sliding friction takes over Generally sliding friction is lower than static friction due to surface tension effects For example once steel starts sliding over brass a value of static friction that might run from 05 to 2 the sliding friction drops to a significantly lower value 01 to 1 Edit Object Dialog Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Dynamics Dynamics rollout Edit Ob...

Page 1187: ...nd momentum of the object at the simulation s starting frame specified in the Start Time spinner in the Time and Simulation rollout Timing group If Use Initial State is turned off the object is assumed to be sitting motionless at the starting frame The Dynamics utility overwrites keys Either the object s keys are clocked with the simulation or it s not moving or both If you don t solve for the ini...

Page 1188: ...rrent Edit Object parameter settings or loads previously saved parameter settings You can use these controls to save the settings for one object and then apply them to another object Set Name Accepts a new name for a parameter set Click Save to save the parameter set with this name Available Parameters Sets Lists previously saved parameter sets Load Loads the selected parameter set Save Saves the ...

Page 1189: ... collision This is the fastest method If your object is a box or close to a box shape this option is both fast and accurate Cylinder A cylindrical form is used to test collision The height axis of the cylinder is aligned with the local Z axis of the object Sphere A spherical form is used to test collision Mesh Uses the surface of the object to calculate the collision This option is the most accura...

Page 1190: ...ly Copy to Object s Material Copies the value in the Bounce spinner to the material assigned to the object Static Friction Specifies how hard it is to start moving on a surface Available only if Override Material Static Friction is on Override Material Static Friction Enables the Static Friction spinner when you want to use a specific value that s different than that assigned by the object s mater...

Page 1191: ...the Calculate Properties Using option Override Automatic Mass Enables the Mass spinner so you can specify the object s mass When you override the automatic value the Mass value is no longer affected by the Density or Volume values Mass is affected by the Calculate Properties Using options Volume The volume of the object measured in cubic centimeters When automatically calculated this value depends...

Page 1192: ...otation of the object responds to torque Grid A sample grid is used to calculate the mass moment The smaller the cells in the grid the more accurate the calculation The grid cells are measured in centimeters regardless of the current display unit Override Automatic Resolution Lets the Dynamics utility automatically set the grid size based on the complexity and size of the object In addition the lo...

Page 1193: ...on similarly Interface Objects in the Scene To add scene objects to the simulation assuming Include is chosen select objects from the list on the left then use the button to move them to the list on the right Search Field The edit box above the Scene Objects list lets you search for object names by entering names that use wildcards For example searching for sphere finds all objects whose names sta...

Page 1194: ... level you click and below Selection Sets Displays a list of named selection sets Choosing a selection set from this list selects those objects in the Scene Objects list Clear Clears all entries from the Exclude Include list on the right Skin Utilities Utilities panel More button SkinUtilities Skin Utilities provide a method for copying skin data envelopes and vertex weights from one model to anot...

Page 1195: ...t 6 If necessary adjust the skin data object at the Vertex sub object level to make it fit the other mesh as closely as possible 7 Select both the skin data object and the object to which you want to paste the data 8 Click Import Skin Data From Mesh The Paste Skin Data dialog appears 9 Match up the bones by highlighting one on each side of the dialog and clicking the left arrow to move the target ...

Page 1196: ... original object name NOTE The skin data is stored in channels To see the data select the SkinData_ mesh and use the Channel Info Utility on page 6047 Import Skin Data From Mesh Opens the Paste Skin Data dialog Before clicking this option you must select the SkinData_ mesh and the mesh to which you want to paste the data Skin Utilities 3877 ...

Page 1197: ...nder Target Bones will be mapped when you click OK Target Bones Lists target bones available for matching and lists matches moved from the Source Bones listing with the left arrow Source Bones Lists source bones available for matching Add Adds removed bones back to the source or target list Remove Removes highlighted bones from the source or target list 3878 Chapter 15 Animation ...

Page 1198: ... dialog where it follows the target bone name You can also match more than one source bone to a single target bone by highlighting the target bone and the source bones and clicking the left arrow When you click OK only the matches listed on the left side of the dialog will be mapped Right Arrow On a highlighted match on the left side of the dialog removes the match and moves the source bone to the...

Page 1199: ...3880 ...

Page 1200: ...ulation display window This allows you to test and play with a scene interactively You can alter positions of all physical objects in the scene dramatically reducing the design time You can then transfer the scene back into 3ds Max with a single mouse click while retaining all the properties needed for the animation reactor frees you from having to hand animate time consuming secondary effects lik...

Page 1201: ...each of the options in the relevant section of this guide Command Panel You can use the reactor options on the Create panel to create various reactor elements To find most reactor objects go to the Helpers sub panel and then from the drop down list choose reactor You can also find a space warp used for water on page 4074 in Space Warps reactor 3882 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1202: ...Once you ve created a reactor object selecting the object and opening the Modify panel allows you to configure its properties 3883 ...

Page 1203: ...There are also three reactor modifiers used to simulate deformable bodies on page 4024 3884 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1204: ...tilities panel This provides access to functionality such as previewing the simulation changing world and display parameters and analyzing the convexity of objects It also lets you see and edit the rigid body properties associated with objects in the scene 3885 ...

Page 1205: ...NOTE The reactor menus and toolbar provide shortcuts for many of the reactor functions provided in the command panel 3886 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1206: ... buttons that let you quickly create constraints and other helpers display physical properties generate animations and run the real time preview To display the reactor toolbar 1 Right click an empty area of the main toolbar to display a list of available toolbars 2 Click reactor The reactor Submenu 3887 ...

Page 1207: ... is the reactor quad menu To open this menu press Shift Alt and right click in the active viewport Helper Icons Many reactor elements such as constraints and the Rigid Body Collection have their own special helper icon that appears in the viewport when you add them to the scene For instance the following illustration shows the Hinge constraint icon 3888 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1208: ...n about how the element behaves in the simulation For example the display for a valid hinge indicates the hinge position and when selected the hinge axis and any limits you have specified for the movement of the hinged bodies Introducing Dynamics Simulation This section gives a broad overview of physical simulation and introduces some concepts you might find useful when working with reactor Physic...

Page 1209: ...figuration From all this information the physics engine calculates a continuous set of states that can then be displayed in real time if the calculations are fast enough or converted into keyframes to be played back later What Does A Physics Engine Do A physics engine like Havok has three basic tasks to perform 1 Collision Detection Track the movement of all the objects in the scene and detect whe...

Page 1210: ... Hz cycles or frames per second Simulating a Cannon Ball Let s forget about collisions for now and consider only the simulation of a cannon ball immediately after it has been fired from the cannon We know the ball s position and orientation but we ll ignore this for now speed acceleration and weight and we assume we know the state of the environment air resistance wind force gravity Armed with thi...

Page 1211: ...stant but most other forces like wind and air resistance are not So taking the cannon ball example imagine a windy layer in the atmosphere that the cannon ball passes through as shown in the next figure In the simulation on the left we assume we re taking steps of one second this is actually a relatively large interval for a physics simulation but is used here to illustrate the point We know all t...

Page 1212: ...d of the time step Thus to step forward in time by a large time step t it is better to split this into n steps of a smaller time interval t n This is also true of the math As the simulation becomes more complex the math required to calculate the new positions and velocities of objects in a simulation also becomes more complex and as a result the guesses produced by the math give progressively less...

Page 1213: ... the accuracy of the simulation was not sufficient remember smaller time steps mean better accuracy then we d like to decrease the time step even further say to 1 120th of a second But this would mean we generate twice the number of images keyframes we are interested in which is wasteful To get around this the Havok engine allows you to specify the number of substeps to take per key The Substeps K...

Page 1214: ... keyframe By setting the number of substeps we can control the accuracy of the physical simulation independent of the number of keyframes created Rigid Bodies and Deformable Bodies Rigid Bodies Havok simulates most objects in a simulation as rigid bodies A rigid body is an object whose geometry doesn t change over the course of the simulation You can simulate any real world object that doesn t not...

Page 1215: ...popularized by Sir Isaac Newton that describe the behavior of objects under the influences of other objects and external forces Since then we ve discovered that these laws break down at very small i e subatomic and very large i e planetary scales New physics systems have been devised to work with these scales for example relativistic and quantum but these are beyond the scope of the reactor physic...

Page 1216: ...hen creating objects of 1 1 1 size it is most useful to be working in meters or feet rather than centimeters inches or kilometers miles in that you most often simulate objects larger than sugar cubes and smaller than football fields It is for this reason that the default values in many physics engines are usually specified in meters Special Features in reactor A number of reactor features enhance ...

Page 1217: ...or through menus quad menus and toolbars All 2D and 3D icons follow a consistent look and feel The reactor utility on page 4083 parameters are arranged for easy access You can find more details in reactor on page 3881 The reactor Utility on page 4083 Vertex Selection Inside reactor Modifiers The reactor modifiers for deformable bodies on page 4024 Cloth Soft and Rope let you select vertices and ap...

Page 1218: ...Cooperative Constraints reactor includes a number of cooperative constraints on page 3943 that facilitate the simulation of articulated bodies and machinery Special Features in reactor 3899 ...

Page 1219: ...ited or not like those found in robots and machinery The Car Wheel constraint on page 3988 is particularly suited to the simulation of wheels attached to a chassis The wheels rotate and can be powered about a given axis Limited linear motion relative to the chassis is allowed along a user defined suspension axis Using Point Point constraint on page 3975 with the Limited option lets you limit the r...

Page 1220: ...on and Constraint Spaces Constraints on page 3925 in general restrict the relative movement between two bodies parent and child or between a body child and the world and use consistent intuitive nomenclature and setup methods Springs linear dashpots and angular dashpots are referred as Simple Constraints on page 3930 while the other constraints those that are grouped with a Constraints Solver on p...

Page 1221: ...ls for automatically aligning and manipulating those spaces Storage and Access of Collision Information reactor can store information of all rigid body collisions occurred during the simulation The information includes the objects involved the point of collision and the relative velocity during collision and can be used by animators to generate particles or other effects trigger sounds etc You can...

Page 1222: ...ble collisions globally instead of inside the Rigid Body Collection on page 3922 The software stores disabled collisions inside the reactor Utility on page 4083 You can disable collisions not only for rigid bodies but also for cloth soft and rope And you can access disabled collisions through MAXScript Special Features in reactor 3903 ...

Page 1223: ...and direction Range and Falloff parameters let you set up the range of action for the wind Cloth Soft Rope Attachments to Deforming Meshes Skin The Attach to DefMesh on page 4069 deformable constraint allows vertices in cloth soft bodies and rope to follow a non rigid mesh such as skin 3904 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1224: ...oth soft rope modifiers in reactor can now use the soft selection flowing to that modifier and blend the current vertex animation with the reactor animation facilitating the transition between skin driven and reactor driven animation Special Features in reactor 3905 ...

Page 1225: ... body properties on page 3909 like mass elasticity or friction without having to use the reactor Utility on page 4083 You can open a floating MAXScript window to modify rigid body properties from the reactor menus quad menus and toolbars at any time 3906 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1226: ...r studio layers to store the animation of rigid bodies For more information see Preview Animation Rollout on page 4085 Also the ragdoll script on page 4104 is aware of being applied to character studio bipeds and in such cases sets up the constraints so that when you create an animation the biped is physically animated reactor Helpers Create panel Helpers reactor reactor Helpers 3907 ...

Page 1227: ...ver on page 3945 Point Point Constraint on page 3975 Point Path Constraint on page 3995 Hinge Constraint on page 3969 Rag Doll Constraint on page 3948 Car Wheel Constraint on page 3988 Prismatic Constraint on page 3982 Linear Dashpot on page 3934 Angular Dashpot on page 3939 Cloth Collection on page 4034 Deforming Mesh Collection on page 4059 Rope Collection on page 4055 3908 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1228: ...reactor simulations You can use a rigid body in reactor to simulate any real world object that doesn t change its shape from a pen to a boulder hurtling down a mountainside You can create a rigid body using any geometry in a 3ds Max scene reactor then lets you assign the properties the object should have in the simulation such as mass friction and whether the body can collide with other rigid Rigi...

Page 1229: ...rouped together known as a compound rigid body on page 3920 If you designate an object whose geometry changes over time as a rigid body the simulation uses its geometry at the start frame reactor lets you assign the physical properties that each body will have in the simulation such as mass friction and whether the body can collide with other rigid bodies You can specify a proxy geometry for a rig...

Page 1230: ... sections each of which is described in detail in this topic Procedures To edit the properties of a rigid body 1 Select the appropriate object in the scene 2 Open the Properties rollout or dialog If the item you have selected cannot become a rigid body for example if it is a helper object such as a Rigid Body Collection or if you have no object selected the dialog still displays when you choose th...

Page 1231: ...igid body moves relative to surfaces it s in contact with The friction values for both objects combine to produce a coefficient for the interaction To achieve realistic results use values between 0 0 and 1 0 However values up to 5 0 are accepted Elasticity This value governs the effect collisions have on the velocities of the rigid body in other words how bouncy the object is Like Friction this is...

Page 1232: ...nd out how to access collision data in the Storing and Accessing Collisions on page 4019 Shell The radius of an extra shell around convex shapes which reactor uses as the shape s surface for collision detection purposes The simulation tries to ensure that the distance between this shell and other objects is always more than zero in other words that the distance between the original convex shape an...

Page 1233: ...erent body s geometry as the simulation geometry for an object For example you can have a complex object displayed on screen but replaced for simulation purposes by a box which is much easier and faster for reactor to simulate The box governs the movement of the object and dictates how it collides its position and orientation However on screen you can see the complex object in full detail Geometry...

Page 1234: ...ing concave objects as convex for simulation purposes allows you to take advantage of their faster processing time This is the default setting for an object s simulation geometry Mesh Convex Hull If you are unsure whether an object is convex or concave you can perform a convexity test on it With the object selected open the reactor Utilities menu and select Convexity Test You can specify one of th...

Page 1235: ...Bounding Sphere The object is simulated as an implicit sphere The sphere is centered on the object s pivot point and then minimally encloses the object s geometry 3916 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1236: ...assed through an algorithm that creates a convex geometry using the geometry s vertices completely enclosing the geometry s vertices To visualize this imagine shrink wrapping a teapot The teapot is concave but its shrink wrap forms a convex hull Rigid Body Properties 3917 ...

Page 1237: ...used as the physical representation of the object in the simulation For instance you could use the convex hull of a low poly teapot to simulate a high poly teapot The proxy object s pivot point is aligned with that of the rigid body 3918 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1238: ...want to ignore that warning If for example you want to place objects inside a convex object and make them collide with the internal faces of that object you should simulate it as concave instead of convex NOTE If you are using a standard 3ds Max plane as a rigid body as opposed to the special reactor Plane on page 3999 object you must set its simulation geometry to Concave Mesh Proxy Concave Mesh ...

Page 1239: ... proxy object by clicking the Proxy button reactor displays the specified proxy In the Preview Window in place of the object Compound Rigid Bodies Rigid bodies can be made of one or more objects or primitives For instance if you assign physical properties to an object in a scene and add it to a Rigid Body Collection we say that the rigid body has one primitive However reactor 3920 Chapter 16 react...

Page 1240: ...is heavier than the handle so that if you toss the axe it spins around its head You can do this because the Mass property on the Rigid Body Properties dialog is assigned to a specific primitive rather than an entire rigid body unlike most of the other properties in this dialog For single primitive rigid bodies this distinction is unimportant However in the case of a compound rigid body the group p...

Page 1241: ... this object a Mass value and if you wish change its Simulation Geometry setting Specifying any other rigid body properties for a child object has no effect unless you remove the object from the group Rigid Body Collection Create panel Helpers reactor RBCollection Animation menu reactor Create Object Rigid Body Collection reactor toolbar create Rigid Body Collection button The Rigid Body Collectio...

Page 1242: ...ther or both of these methods On the RB Collection Properties rollout click the Pick button and then in the viewport click an object to add On the RB Collection Properties rollout click the Add button and then use the Select Rigid Bodies dialog to specify one or more objects to add To create a collection and add bodies in a single step 1 Create and select the object s to add to the collection 2 Cr...

Page 1243: ...he collection If the object can be used as a rigid body the cursor will change from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the collection Add Lets you add one or more objects from the scene to the collection Click the button to open the Select Rigid Bodies dialog Make a selection in the provided list and then click the Select button to add the objects to the collection Dele...

Page 1244: ...Reset Default Values Sets values for the collection to their defaults In this instance it sets the ODE Solver back to its default value Constraints With reactor you can easily create a simple physical simulation by simply assigning rigid body properties to objects and adding them to a Rigid Body Collection When you run the simulation objects can fall from the sky slide across each other bounce off...

Page 1245: ...opics Constraint Solver on page 3945 Rag Doll Constraint on page 3948 Hinge on page 3969 Point to Point on page 3975 Prismatic on page 3982 Car Wheel on page 3988 Point to Path on page 3995 Constraint Concepts This section introduces some common concepts that you ll need to understand to work with any of the reactor constraint types Constraints Simple Constraints and Cooperative Constraints You us...

Page 1246: ...s like Rag Doll on page 3948 or Hinge on page 3969 Because all the bodies are connected maintaining one constraint may affect the other constraints so it is better if they are simulated together so they are aware of each other Thus some constraints require you group them so they can be solved as a system Those constraints are called Cooperative Constraints on page 3943 and are usually more stable ...

Page 1247: ...int constraint to attach two objects together at a common point it works in exactly the same way regardless of how you specify the attached objects However with the more complex Rag Doll constraint which you typically use to model body joints it s important to specify which object is the parent This is because this constraint lets you specify a number of limits on how the child can move relative t...

Page 1248: ...hild s constraint space So for instance if you move the constraint space relative to the child you can use this option to move the parent s constraint space into alignment with it Align Spaces To Parent Space Aligns the parent and child constraint spaces with the parent s constraint space So for instance if you move the constraint space relative to the parent you can use this option to move the ch...

Page 1249: ...g exerts forces on the attached bodies in an attempt to maintain its rest length So for instance if the objects are pulled apart so that the spring attachment points are further apart than the rest length the spring works to bring them back together again You can configure a spring s behavior by specifying its stiffness damping and rest length reactor also lets you choose whether the spring acts u...

Page 1250: ...bjects in a single step See the Scripts on page 4103 topic To change the attachment positions for the bodies 1 With the Spring constraint selected open the Modify panel 2 In the modifier stack open the Spring s sub object list 3 Highlight the option corresponding to the object whose attachment point you want to move Parent Space or Child Space If the Spring is single bodied Parent Space allows you...

Page 1251: ...rface Modifier Stack Child Space At this sub object level you can select and move the constraint space for the child object including the point relative to the child where the Spring is attached to it When you assign a child body to the Spring the Child Space attachment point is set to the child s pivot point If you alter the position of the attachment point it maintains its new position relative ...

Page 1252: ... to be the parent body When off the Spring is single bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub object is the parent You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body Child Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the Spring You assign the child object by clickin...

Page 1253: ... box markers are the objects attachment points Set Click this button to set the spring s rest length to the current distance between the two objects attachment points Damping Determines how quickly the oscillation of the spring settles down It governs the forces applied to the connected bodies due to the relative velocities of their connection points Valid damping values are those greater than or ...

Page 1254: ...near Dashpot explicitly to a simulation as all valid constraints in a scene are added to the simulation by default A two bodied dashpot is valid if it has two rigid bodies attached while a single bodied dashpot is valid if it has one rigid body attached When not selected invalid dashpots are colored red in the viewport Procedures To create a Linear Dashpot Choose one of the above options and then ...

Page 1255: ... and can be moved using the Move tool The attachment point maintains its position relative to its corresponding object for example if you move the child object its space and hence its attachment point moves with it The attachment point doesn t have to actually be on either object 5 To reset the attachment point to the child object s pivot reattach the objects to the dashpot or use the Align Spaces...

Page 1256: ...e child during the simulation Parent Space At this sub object level you can select and move the dashpot attachment point for the parent body When you assign a parent object to the dashpot the Parent Space attachment point is set to the parent object s pivot point If you alter the position of the Parent Space attachment point it maintains its new position relative to the parent during the simulatio...

Page 1257: ...rent body Child Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the dashpot You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Align Spaces To Use these options to align the bodies local constraint spaces You can find out more about each option in the Working With Constraint Spaces on page 3928 section Lock Relative Transform When on the re...

Page 1258: ...Disabled When on the dashpot is not added to the simulation Reset Default Values Click this to set Strength Damping and Disabled to their respective default values Angular Dashpot Create panel Helpers reactor A Dashpot Animation menu reactor Create Object Angular Dashpot reactor toolbar Create Angular Dashpot button Dashpots typically serve to cushion impact An example of a real world angular dash...

Page 1259: ...ld pick button and then select the object to use as the child object in one of the viewports By default this aligns the Angular Dashpot s target orientation with the child body s local space 3 If you do not want to assign a second body to the dashpot turn off the Parent check box if necessary 4 If the dashpot is two bodied repeat Step 2 using the Parent pick button to set Parent for the angular da...

Page 1260: ...on Interface Modifier Stack Child Space At this sub object level you can select and rotate the offset rotation for the child object This is the rotation that the angular dashpot tries to maintain for the child body relative to the parent When you assign a child object to the dashpot reactor aligns Child Space to the child body s local space If you alter the rotation of this sub object it maintains...

Page 1261: ...t is the parent You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body Child Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the dashpot You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Align Spaces To Use these options to align the ...

Page 1262: ... to 0 Default 0 1 TIP Typically a damping value of 1 10th of the stiffness yields good results Allow Interpenetration When on collisions are disabled between the dashpot s objects During the simulation they can pass through each other Default off Disabled When on the dashpot is not added to the simulation Reset Default Values Click this to set Strength Damping and Disabled to their respective defa...

Page 1263: ...he constraint is maintained Tau If the constraint drifts that is if the attached objects reach a state where the constraint isn t satisfied then reactor applies a corrective force to rectify this drift An impulse is calculated to rectify the drift in a constraint system the Tau parameter governs the percentage of the corrective impulse the constraint applies to each object NOTE Tau is unavailable ...

Page 1264: ...for the cooperative constraints on page 3943 in a particular Rigid Body Collection on page 3922 and performs all the calculations necessary for the constraints to work together For a cooperative constraint to be simulated in a scene it must be included in a valid Constraint Solver and any of the rigid bodies it contains should be in the Rigid Body Collection associated with the solver For a Constr...

Page 1265: ...lver The collection should contain the rigid bodies for the constraints in the solver To add constraints to a solver 1 Create a Constraint Solver and some cooperative constraints to add to the solver 2 Add constraints to the solver using either or both of these methods On the Constraint Solver Properties rollout click the Pick button and then in the viewport click a constraint helper to add On the...

Page 1266: ... the constraints in the Constraints list to momentarily display in the viewports as if selected Constraints Lists the names of the constraints currently in the solver Pick Lets you add a constraint to the solver Click this button then in the viewport move the cursor over the constraint you would like to add to the solver If the object can be used as a constraint the cursor changes from an arrow to...

Page 1267: ...ted together this parameter specifies how aggressive the deactivation is A value of 0 0 disables deactivation For more information about deactivation see Havok 1 World Havok 3 World Rollout on page 4087 Disabled When on disables all the constraints in this solver Reset Default Values Sets Deactivation Threshold and Disabled to their respective default values Rag Doll Constraint Create panel Helper...

Page 1268: ...llustration The arm is allowed to rotate relative to the torso within the grey limited cone You can also limit the child body s ability to twist You restrict how a Rag Doll constraint s child can move relative to the parent using the constraint s Twist Cone and Plane limits on page 3957 As with the other constraints the constraint space for the Rag Doll joint is defined in each body s local space ...

Page 1269: ...age 4103 Procedures To create a Rag Doll constraint Choose one of the above options and then click in any viewport to add the Rag Doll NOTE For a two bodied Rag Doll the icon s initial position has no effect on the Rag Doll s behavior For a single bodied Rag Doll it defines the initial position of the world attachment point You can change this afterwards To attach objects to the Rag Doll 1 Create ...

Page 1270: ...topic To change the Rag Doll positions and orientations for the bodies 1 With the Rag Doll selected open the Modify panel 2 In the modifier stack open the sub object list 3 Access the sub object level corresponding to the object whose constraint representation is to be altered Parent Space or Child Space If the rag doll is single bodied Parent Space represents the world attachment position and rot...

Page 1271: ... the Rag Doll this helps you to choose appropriate limits for your desired behavior Visual representation of the limits is displayed at the location of the parent s sub object This provides you with a graphical representation of the limited area of movement for the child relative to the parent 2 With the rag doll selected open the Properties rollout NOTE You can use this rollout to specify how the...

Page 1272: ...ted between 90 0 and 0 90 respectively Taking the Min and Max limits and sweeping those angles around the plane normal creates cones The rotation of the attached object is then limited to within the region between the plane and these cones You can also rotate the plane independent of the twist axis To display the plane limits turn on Display rollout Show Plane Limits 5 By combining Cone and Plane ...

Page 1273: ... the cone To change the Twist limits 1 Select the Rag Doll helper object and open the Properties rollout 2 The Twist settings limit the rotation of the child object about the twist axis relative to the parent object To fix the twist of one object relative to the other set the twist limits to 0 0 3 Display the Twist limits by turning on Display rollout Show Twist For a detailed explanation of how t...

Page 1274: ...oll for the child body The constraint axes are defined in the child body s space which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the child the space moves as well and maintain its offset rotation and translation with respect to the child When you assign a child body to the Rag Doll the Child Space is positioned so that the attachment point coincides with the child body pivot point and th...

Page 1275: ...Properties rollout 3956 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1276: ... how strongly the constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 Limits group Twist Min The minimum rotation about the twist axis the constraint allows between the reference and attached objects constraint spaces For example if Min 5 then with respect to the constraint spaces the child cannot rotate more than 5 degrees coun...

Page 1277: ...this cone intersects the cone produced by the cone limits it further inhibits the motion of the child with respect to the parent Breakable group Breakable When on the constraint is breakable If its breakable limits are exceeded during simulation it will cease to exert impulses on the attached objects You can find out more about breakable constraints in Breakable Constraints on page 3944 Display gr...

Page 1278: ...ed by simpler constraints like Hinge on page 3969 or Point Point on page 3975 constraints Because they represent complex joints the rotational limits use a complex parameterization that can benefit from some explanation This section covers the different axes planes and cones used for that parameterization We ll begin with a simple picture of two objects connected by a rag doll constraint you can t...

Page 1279: ...thumb changes from pointing upwards to downwards Your movement is just a series of rotations along the twist axis of the shoulder and elbow In general the twist axis should follow the length of the child body in a joint In reactor you can specify the extent to either side of the neutral position the constraint can twist this need not be symmetrical A Twist Axis outward B Plane Axis C Twist X Plane...

Page 1280: ...ane Axis 1 Twist Range The other two axes are interlinked and together control the volume the child body may occupy So first we ll look at the cone angles that allow you to specify the volume that the child may move through Constraints 3961 ...

Page 1281: ...A Twist Axis B Plane Axis inward C Twist X Plane Axis 1 Cone Min 2 Cone Max 3962 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1282: ...t representing your shoulder then the green volume is the range of allowed positions your upper arm may occupy However we can refine the allowed volume further by using the plane axis to enforce plane limits These limits are used to generate two further cones Constraints 3963 ...

Page 1283: ...A Twist Axis B Plane Axis C Twist X Plane Axis outward 1 Plane 2 Plane Min Cone 3 Plane Max Cone 4 Plane Min 5 Plane Max 3964 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1284: ...e Axis 1 Plane 2 Plane Min Cone 3 Plane Max Cone This allows us to create two different scenarios one where the cones generated by the plane limits intersect with cone produced by the cone angles and another where they do not Constraints 3965 ...

Page 1285: ...A Twist Axis C Twist X Plane Axis 1 Plane Min Cone 2 Plane Max Cone 3966 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1286: ...one If the volumes do not intersect the plane limits have no effect in the constraint However by allowing the cones to intersect and deeming the overlapping volume as invalid body positions we can limit the allowed positions for the child body even further Constraints 3967 ...

Page 1287: ...A Twist Axis B Plane Axis C Twist X Plane Axis Back to Rag Doll Constraint on page 3948 3968 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1288: ...o the hinge axis for each body A Hinge constraint is simulated only if it has the correct number of rigid bodies attached and is included in a valid Constraint Solver on page 3945 When not selected an invalid Hinge is red in the viewport Procedures To create a Hinge constraint Choose one of the above options and then click in any viewport to add the Hinge constraint NOTE The icon s position has no...

Page 1289: ...e object whose hinge axes you want to move Child Space or Parent Space If the Hinge is single bodied Parent Space represents the world attachment position and rotation of the axes 4 The space represented by a pair of axes the larger of which represents the hinge axis the smaller of which is used to specify limits becomes active in the viewport It can be moved and rotated using the Move and Rotate ...

Page 1290: ...he objects will be able to rotate 90 degrees in either direction about the shared hinge axis The child object is free to rotate within the indicated limits relative to the parent during the simulation 3 Change the minimum and maximum rotations the constraint maintains between the objects by adjusting the Min Angle and Max Angle values The limit display updates to reflect your changes to help you c...

Page 1291: ... then Parent Space represents the world orientation and position of the Hinge Child Space At this sub object level you can move and rotate the representation of the Hinge for the child body The Hinge axes are defined in the child body s space which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the child the space moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to...

Page 1292: ...ut Parent When on the Hinge has two bodies and you can designate an object to be the parent body When off the Hinge is single bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub object is the parent Constraints 3973 ...

Page 1293: ...e constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 Limited group Limited When on limits the rotation about the hinge axis between the attached objects When this value is true the child object will only be free to rotate relative to the parent within the range specified by the Min Angle and Max Angle values You can also specif...

Page 1294: ...are a common point in space The objects can rotate freely relative to each other but always have the attachment point in common When you set up the constraint the point is defined in the object space of each object involved During the simulation the constraint tries to apply forces to the objects so that the two pivot points defined by the two objects match reactor also provides two variations on ...

Page 1295: ...If you do not want to assign a second body to the constraint turn off the Parent check box if necessary 4 If the constraint is to be two bodied make sure Parent is on and then use the Parent pick button to set the parent for the constraint By default the attachment point for the parent is also aligned with the child body s pivot point which means that the bodies will maintain their current positio...

Page 1296: ... button To limit the rotation between the attached objects 1 With the constraint selected open the Properties rollout 2 In the Constraint Type group choose Limited By default the child body can rotate a total of 90 degrees around each axis relative to the parent during the simulation 45 degrees clockwise and 45 degrees counterclockwise 3 You can then choose which limits to display around the Paren...

Page 1297: ...operties rollout 2 In the Constraint Type group choose Stiff Spring 3 You can now specify a Length value for the stiff spring The default is 0 0 the same as a Point Point constraint During the simulation reactor works to maintain this distance between the constrained objects attachment points To use the current distance between the attachment points as the length click the Set button 3978 Chapter ...

Page 1298: ...elative to the parent during the simulation If the constraint is single bodied the Parent Space s position represents the point in the world where the constraint is attached Child Space At this sub object level you can select and move the constraint attachment point in the child body s local space When you assign a child body to the constraint the Child Space attachment point is set to the child o...

Page 1299: ...Properties rollout 3980 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1300: ... you move either space in the viewport the other space moves and rotates along with it and vice versa Strength group Strength Tau Govern the impulses applied to the constraint s bodies in order to maintain the constraint and so how strongly the constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 ConstraintType group These option...

Page 1301: ...l Helpers reactor Prismatic Animation menu reactor Create Object Prismatic Constraint reactor toolbar Create Prismatic Constraint button The Prismatic constraint serves as a constraint between two rigid bodies or a rigid body and the world that allows its bodies to move relative to each other along one axis only Rotations as well as the remaining two translation axes are fixed For example you coul...

Page 1302: ...aint positions and rotations for the bodies 1 With the constraint selected open the Modify panel 2 In the modifier stack open the constraint s sub object list 3 Access the sub object level corresponding to the object whose attachment point you want to move Child Space or Parent Space If the constraint is single bodied Parent Space represents the world attachment position and rotation of the constr...

Page 1303: ...ation where the sub objects are fully aligned for the objects the child can move 0 units in either direction along the shared sliding axis relative to the parent The limits are displayed as a line in Parent Space 3 Change the Min Limit and Max Limit settings as necessary Interface Modifier Stack 3984 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1304: ...f the constraint is single bodied then Parent Space represents the world orientation and position of the constraint Child Space At this sub object level you can move and rotate the representation of the Prismatic constraint for the child body The constraint axes are defined in the child body s space which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the child the space moves as well and mai...

Page 1305: ...t When on the constraint has two bodies and you can designate an object to be the parent body When off the constraint is single bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub object is the parent 3986 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1306: ...ow strongly the constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 Limited group Limited When on limits the movement of the child object along the sliding axis the child object can move relative to the parent only within the range specified by the Min Limit and Max Limit values You can also specify a Friction value for a limite...

Page 1307: ... constrain a wheel to a position in world space During the simulation the wheel object is free to rotate around a spin axis defined in each object s space Linear motion is allowed for the wheel along a suspension axis You can also add limits to the wheel s movement along this axis The constraint s child body always acts as the wheel while the parent acts as the chassis The Car Wheel constraint als...

Page 1308: ...constraint is to be two bodied repeat step 2 using the Parent pick button to specify the chassis object for the constraint To create the constraint and attach objects in a single step See the Scripts on page 4103 topic To change the positions and rotations for the bodies 1 With the constraint selected open the Modify panel 2 In the modifier stack open the constraint s sub object list 3 Access the ...

Page 1309: ... change the suspension limits 1 With the car wheel constraint selected open the Properties rollout The default limit settings in the Suspension Parameters group are Min Limit 0 0 and Max Limit 0 0 This means that in a situation where the constraint spaces are fully aligned for the objects the wheel cannot move along the suspension axis The limits define the allowed motion of the wheel along the su...

Page 1310: ... You can also change Friction for the Car Wheel constraint this inhibits the wheel s motion along the suspension axis To spin the wheel These controls are found in the Spin Parameters group 1 Set the Velocity value to the required value This is specified in radians per second 2 Set the Gain This is the maximum angular impulse the constraint can apply to maintain this angular velocity Constraints 3...

Page 1311: ...represents the world orientation and position of the constraint Child Space At this sub object level you can move and rotate the representation of the constraint for the wheel This describes both the location on the wheel that the constraint considers as its attachment point and the rotation of the spin axis for the wheel This is defined in wheel space which means that if you alter the position or...

Page 1312: ...Properties rollout Parent When on the constraint has two bodies and you can designate an object to be the optional chassis rigid body attached to the Car Wheel Constraints 3993 ...

Page 1313: ... the constraint and so how strongly the constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 Suspension Parameters group Min Limit The distance the constraint allows the wheel to move along the suspension axis relative to the chassis in the direction opposite that indicated by the icon s suspension arrow For example if Min Limit ...

Page 1314: ...int space display in the viewport Reset Default Values Returns the constraint s parameters to their default values Point Path Constraint Create panel Helpers reactor Point Path Animation menu reactor Create Object Point Path Constraint reactor toolbar Create Point Path Constraint button The Point Path constraint allows you to constrain two bodies so that the child is free to move along a specified...

Page 1315: ...f the viewports 4 If you do not want to assign a second body to the constraint turn off the Parent check box if necessary 5 If the constraint is to be two bodied repeat step 2 using the Parent pick button to set the parent for the constraint 6 Use the Path pick button to designate the path The constraint icon moves to the designated path By default this constraint type is aligned so that the paren...

Page 1316: ...e moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to the parent When you assign a parent body to the constraint Parent Space is aligned with the path s local space If the constraint is single bodied then Parent Space represents the world orientation and position of the path Parent SpaceChild Space At this sub object level you can move and rotate the representation of t...

Page 1317: ... parent body When off the constraint is single bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub object is the parent You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body 3998 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1318: ... Govern the impulses applied to the constraint s bodies in order to maintain the constraint and so how strongly the constraint works to restrict their movement You can find out more about these parameters in Strength and Tau on page 3944 Breakable group Breakable When on the constraint is breakable If its breakable limits are exceeded during simulation it ceases to exert impulses on the attached o...

Page 1319: ... to it However it is always fixed in the simulation the Mass on page 3912 and Unyielding on page 3912 properties are ignored The reactor Plane acts in only one direction as shown in the viewport by an arrow pointing away from its solid surface This means that rigid bodies approaching the plane from the wrong direction pass through it You can of course also use two opposing planes The reactor Plane...

Page 1320: ... target and the maximum angular impulse the Motor can apply to achieve this velocity You do not need to add a Motor explicitly to a simulation as all valid motors in a scene are added to the simulation by default A Motor is valid if its Rigid Body property has been set to a valid rigid body in the scene When not selected invalid motors are colored red in the viewport Procedures To create a motor C...

Page 1321: ...xis The rotation axis and rotation direction are displayed in the viewport Interface Motor Properties rollout Rigid Body Displays the name of the rigid body that the motor applies forces to You assign a motor s rigid body by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport Ang Speed The target angular velocity that the motor attempts to achieve for the rigid body It is specif...

Page 1322: ...r Toy Car Animation menu reactor Create Object Toy Car reactor toolbar Create Toy Car button The reactor Toy Car is a quick way to create and simulate a simple car without having to set up each constraint separately The Toy Car helper lets you choose a chassis and wheels for your car tweak various properties such as the strength of its suspension and specify whether you would like reactor to turn ...

Page 1323: ... any viewport to add the Toy Car NOTE The icon s initial position has no effect on the car s behavior To set up the rigid bodies for a Toy Car 1 Create and position the rigid bodies you want to connect using the Toy Car helper A toy car must have a chassis and at least one wheel 2 Use the Rigid Body Properties dialog to assign a mass value to each car element The Mass values you specify affect how...

Page 1324: ...e or more objects to use as wheels By default reactor uses the icon orientation taken from the chassis to provide the directions of the wheels spin and suspension axes Each spin axis is aligned with the icon s X axis and passes through the relevant wheel s pivot point The suspension axes are aligned with the icon s Z axis and also pass through each wheel s pivot point NOTE For this to work make su...

Page 1325: ...directions relative to the bodies local spaces By default the Spin axes are aligned with the wheel and chassis s local X axes and the suspension axes with their Z axes To spin the Toy Car wheels 1 On the Toy Car Properties rollout turn on the Spin Wheels check box 2 Change the default Ang Angular Speed and Gain values as necessary Angular Speed is the target angular velocity that reactor attempts ...

Page 1326: ...ar Properties rollout Chassis Displays the name of the rigid body that serves as the chassis You assign the chassis object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport reactor Objects 4007 ...

Page 1327: ...ear Strength The strength of the forces applied to keep the wheels in position relative to the chassis Suspension The suspension strength for the car The lower the value the more the chassis bounces when forces are applied to it Internal Substeps Allows the car to be simulated using more substeps per keyframe than the rest of the simulation Increasing the Internal Substeps value can be useful if y...

Page 1328: ...ls to spin during the simulation and an arrow appears on the Toy Car viewport icon showing the direction of motion Ang Speed The target angular velocity that reactor attempts to achieve for the wheels when Spin Wheels is on It is specified in radians per second so the default value of 3 14 pi results in 180 degrees of rotation per second or half a revolution per second Gain The maximum angular imp...

Page 1329: ...te the Car Wheel constraint parameters of the same names on page 3994 Fracture Create panel Helpers reactor Fracture Animation menu reactor Create Object Fracture reactor toolbar Create Fracture button 4010 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1330: ...ody the collision information is analyzed and if a threshold is exceeded the rigid body is removed from the fracture helper Once the rigid body has been removed it moves independently of the fracture object and is free to collide with the rigid bodies that are still part of the fracture object This can often result in a chain reaction of pieces breaking off You can optionally enable the use of con...

Page 1331: ...racture bodies are treated during collision detection see the Fracture Tips on page 4017 topic Penetration depth calculation especially in the context of the simulation paradigm used in reactor is computationally expensive so you might notice slower performance when the fracture bodies are penetrating each other Stability in these cases can also become an issue reactor provides a number of techniq...

Page 1332: ... helper Click the Add button and then use the dialog to select one or more objects to use as fracture elements The names of rigid bodies you add appear in the helper s Pieces list To create the Fracture helper and add objects in a single step See the Scripts on page 4103 topic To prevent the Fracture object from exploding See the Fracture Tips on page 4017 topic reactor Objects 4013 ...

Page 1333: ...Interface Properties rollout Highlight Click this button to cause the objects in the Pieces list to momentarily display as if selected 4014 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1334: ... off at the current frame For example say you ve created an animation from frame 0 to frame 50 using Fracture where piece A broke off at frame 10 Highlighting piece A and moving the time slider to frame 10 or after automatically turns on Broken Moving the time slider to frame 9 or before turns off Broken This is because reactor keeps track of the times pieces break off That way if you continue the...

Page 1335: ...he higher the mass of the object that hit the piece the larger the impulse Velocity When a piece of the fracture object experiences a collision where the relative velocity is greater than the threshold specified it breaks off from the fracture object The size or mass of the object is not be taken into account Energy Loss The amount of extra kinetic energy is lost in the collision due to the breaki...

Page 1336: ...cale Tolerance The collision tolerance for bodies that use the penetration depth algorithm is determined by multiplying the Collision Tolerance value on page 4088 by the value specified If this value is negative the collision tolerance will extend inside the bodies effectively shrinking the collision geometry For more information about using these values see the Fracture Tips on page 4017 topic Fr...

Page 1337: ...ng a physical gap between all pieces The gap should be as big as Collision Tolerance Scale Tolerance 3 Increase the Energy Loss value on the Fracture object s Properties rollout This is the percent of energy that can be lost in the fracture event by transferring momentum from the broken piece to the unbroken Fracture object Increasing it increases the relative velocity between the newly fractured ...

Page 1338: ...ollision and the relative velocity during collision You can then use it to generate particles or other effects in your animation when objects collide trigger sounds and so on You can activate and configure collision storing using the reactor utility s Collisions rollout on page 4090 Interface Store Collisions group Store Collisions Use these options to store collision information when creating an ...

Page 1339: ...e options let you provide more specific details about the collision information you want to record Objects When on lets you store only collisions involving particular objects Use the Objects button to designate those objects Click this button to open the Filter Bodies In Collisions dialog on page 4023 This allows you to select the pairs of objects whose collisions interest you Only collisions invo...

Page 1340: ...ame SMPTE MM SS Ticks The time in the current time units which can be frames ticks SMPTE etc when the collision happened Object A The first rigid body involved in the collision Object B The second rigid body involved in the collision Point The location of the collision in world coordinates Normal The unit normal of the collision specified from B to A Speed The relative velocity of the two objects ...

Page 1341: ...d penetrating exited the other rigid body Close Closes the dialog Save Allows you to save the stored information in a text file This is an example of the format Time 4175 A Box01 B Teapot01 Point 3 25862 56 7632 10 0549 Normal 1 28512e 007 3 18186e 007 1 NRV 53 4184 Phantom Not Phantom Time 4415 A Phantom B Box01 Point 0 0 0 Normal 0 0 0 NRV 0 Phantom Entering Time 4495 A GeoSphere01 B Box01 Point...

Page 1342: ...ene that contain at least one of your selected objects For example take a scene containing four rigid bodies Box01 Box02 Box03 and Box04 If Common Collisions is on and you highlight Box01 and Box02 in the Bodies list then the only possible pair that includes only your selected objects is Box01 Box02 If you highlight Box01 Box02 and Box03 then the possible pairs using these objects are Box01 Box02 ...

Page 1343: ...riven either by reactor during the simulation or by existing animation in 3ds Max allowing the objects to bend flex and stretch while affecting and being affected by the rest of objects in the world simulation IMPORTANT The Havok 3 engine does not support deformable bodies in reactor you can use these only with the Havok 1 engine In addition to creating entirely deformable objects you can combine ...

Page 1344: ...type Also like rigid bodies you can constrain the possible movement of deformable bodies see Constraining Deformable Bodies on page 4061 NOTE Deformable bodies are more complex than rigid bodies on page 3909 so reactor requires more time to simulate them Working with Deformable BodyVertices reactor includes several tools for working with individual vertices in deformable bodies The topics covering...

Page 1345: ... two topics Cloth Modifier on page 4026 Apply it to each mesh to be deformed as cloth Cloth Collection on page 4034 A container for cloth objects Cloth Modifier Animation menu reactor Apply Modifier Cloth Modifier reactor toolbar Apply Cloth Modifier button The Cloth modifier lets you to turn any geometry into a deformable mesh allowing you to simulate the behavior of objects such as curtains clot...

Page 1346: ...hes also stretch more etc Irregular triangulations for example a Delaunay triangulation of a 3ds Max NURBS surface results in isotropic behavior same behavior across all directions avoiding artificial creases and folds around specific directions it can therefore produce more realistic looking results for pieces of clothing Regular triangulations like that of a standard 3ds Max plane lead to anisot...

Page 1347: ... the object s modifier stack To edit a cloth object s physical properties 1 Select the appropriate object in the scene 2 On the Modify panel ensure that the reactor Cloth modifier is highlighted in the modifier stack 3 Use the Properties rollout to edit the properties which are described in the Interface section following 4028 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1348: ...Interface Modifier Stack Vertex Allows you to select individual vertices of the cloth object to apply and modify deformable constraints on page 4061 Cloth 4029 ...

Page 1349: ...Cloth Properties rollout Mass The Cloth object s mass in kilograms This affects the behavior during collisions with other objects and also the stretching caused by attached rigid 4030 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1350: ...imulation affect your cloth object Simple Force Model This default method is suitable for most situations Stiffness The stiffness of the cloth Damping How quickly the cloth dissipates energy as it changes shape Complex Force Model This more accurate model of cloth dynamics is more computationally expensive to simulate It provides parameters to specify the shear and stretch stiffness separately as ...

Page 1351: ...s of the cloth s original mesh Avoid Self Intersections When on the cloth will not intersect with itself during the simulation This results in a more realistic looking simulation but can increase simulation time Constrain Deformation When on limits the extent to which the cloth can stretch Max A percentage value that indicates how stretchy the cloth is The lower the value the less stretching react...

Page 1352: ...rmable object For more information see Soft Selection on page 4071 Reset Default Values Resets the values for the Cloth object to their defaults Constraints rollout These options allow you to create different types of deformable constraints for the body For more information see Constraining Deformable Bodies on page 4061 Cloth 4033 ...

Page 1353: ...use a Cloth Collection 1 Create some Cloth objects by applying the reactor Cloth modifier to standard objects 2 Choose one of the above commands and then click in any viewport to add the Cloth Collection NOTE The icon s position has no effect on the collection s behavior The collection icon is added to the scene You can add Cloth objects to the collection in two ways by picking or by using a selec...

Page 1354: ...ct the cursor changes from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the collection Add Adds one or more objects from the scene to the collection Click the button to open the Select Cloths dialog Highlight one or more entries in the list and then click the Select button to add the objects to the collection Delete Removes objects from the collection In the Cloth Entities list h...

Page 1355: ... for this collection reactor simulates the objects in this collection using 60x10x3 1 800 steps per second while the simulation in general uses 60x10 600 steps every second This allows the objects in this collection to be simulated more accurately without slowing down the rest of the simulation In general terms you can think of it in this way Precision stability of overall simulation Number of Sub...

Page 1356: ...e You can use soft bodies to simulate squashy objects like a partially deflated beach ball a water bottle jelly or fruit They are also useful for adding realistic secondary motion to your objects and characters floppy ears noses tails etc reactor provides two methods for simulating soft bodies The mesh based method uses the vertices in the mesh to operate as with cloth and rope FFD soft bodies on ...

Page 1357: ...nd squashed during the simulation You can specify physical properties for soft bodies including stiffness mass and friction reactor provides two types of soft body mesh based soft bodies where reactor deforms the underlying mesh directly and Freeform Deformation FFD bodies in which reactor encases the original mesh in a simpler lattice that it uses to update the mesh For more information about cre...

Page 1358: ...SoftBody modifier is highlighted in the modifier stack 3 Use the Properties rollout to edit the properties which are described in the Interface section following Interface Modifier Stack Vertex Allows you to select individual vertices of the soft body to which to apply and modify deformable constraints on page 4061 Soft Bodies 4039 ...

Page 1359: ...he mass of the soft body in kilograms This affects the soft body behavior upon colliding with other objects its buoyancy when interacting with water and the stretching caused by attached rigid bodies on page 4067 4040 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1360: ...able for most simple objects such as balls and bricks For more complex meshes greater than 200 triangles however this approach can be time consuming and may slow down the simulation A good alternative is to use FFD soft bodies on page 4043 keyframes stored This indicates the number of keyframes stored for the soft body if any reactor stores keyframes for the object if you create a reactor animatio...

Page 1361: ...hese parameters see FFD Soft Bodies on page 4043 Reset Default Values Restores the default values for parameters in the modifier Constraints rollout These options let you create different types of deformable constraint for the body For more information see Constraining Deformable Bodies on page 4061 4042 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1362: ... so that it too appears to deform FFD bodies are less accurately modeled than mesh based soft bodies but also less computationally expensive to simulate Because of this it s generally advisable to use an FFD based soft body when deforming a complex mesh As a general rule of thumb if a mesh has more than 200 triangles it s probably a good idea to use an FFD based soft body NOTE When you view an FFD...

Page 1363: ...FD vertices evenly distributed over the lattice You can also use the Conform To Shape command to make the FFD lattice better represent the underlying geometry 3 Apply the reactor Soft Body modifier on page 4038 on top of the FFD modifier 4 in the Properties rollout of the Soft Body modifier choose FFD Based You can now add the body to a soft body collection on page 4046 and simulate it as an FFD s...

Page 1364: ...tate of the FFD state at a particular keyframe as the stable configuration for the object Animate Transform When on reactor animates both the FFD lattice and the transformation of the object In some situations the deformation calculated by the FFD modifier is more consistent if the object transformation follows the FFD lattice IMPORTANT Use this option only when the FFD encloses the entire mesh of...

Page 1365: ... the scene to the collection For more information about soft bodies see Soft Body Modifier on page 4038 When you run the simulation the soft body collections in the scene are examined and provided the collections are not disabled reactor adds the soft bodies they contain to the simulation Procedures To create and use a Soft Body Collection 1 Create some soft bodies by applying the reactor SoftBody...

Page 1366: ...ject to add On the Properties rollout click the Add button and then use the Select Soft Bodies dialog to specify one or more objects to add To create the collection and add objects in a single step See the Scripts on page 4103 topic Interface Soft Body Collection Properties rollout Highlight Click this button to cause the objects in the Soft Bodies list to momentarily display as if selected Soft B...

Page 1367: ...ick the Select button to add the objects to the collection Delete Removes objects from the collection In the Soft Bodies list highlight the bodies to remove from the collection and click this button Disabled When on the collection and in turn the bodies it contains are not added to the simulation Advanced rollout Internal Steps Specifies how many substeps per keyframe are used to simulate the coll...

Page 1368: ...ng hair etc Only shapes on page 606 can be simulated as ropes This section contains two topics Rope Modifier on page 4049 Rope Collection on page 4055 Rope Modifier Modify panel Modifier List reactor Rope Animation menu reactor Apply Modifier Rope Modifier reactor toolbar Apply Rope Modifier button Rope 4049 ...

Page 1369: ...ct will influence the rope s behavior If the spline contains only two vertices then the rope simulation geometry will have only a single section and will behave in a particularly un rope like fashion as a result More vertices will allow the rope to bend easily and behave more realistically 2 With the object selected choose one of the commands listed above The Rope modifier appears in the object s ...

Page 1370: ...Interface Modifier Stack Vertex Allows you to select individual vertices of the rope to apply and modify deformable constraints on page 4061 Rope 4051 ...

Page 1371: ...fects the rope behavior on collisions against other objects its buoyancy when interacting with water and the stretching caused by attached rigid bodies on page 4067 the higher the mass of the rope the less stretching induced by the rigid body 4052 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1372: ...Weaves values produce an inflexible rope whereas small values mean that only sections very close to each other will have restricted relative movement Keep Shape When on the rope tries to keep its original shape such as a spiral rather than returning to a straight line The effectiveness of this depends on the number of weaves the higher of number of weaves the stronger the shape keeping forces Cons...

Page 1373: ...indow Clear Keyframes Clears any stored keyframes for this rope Use Soft Selection Allows you to use Soft Selection to smooth the transition between keyframed and simulated vertices for this deformable object For more information see Soft Selection on page 4071 Reset Default Values Resets the values for this rope to their defaults Constraints rollout 4054 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1374: ...d and provided that the collections are not disabled the ropes they contain are added to the simulation Procedures To create and use a Rope Collection 1 Choose any of the above commands and then click in any viewport to add the Rigid Body Collection NOTE The icon s position has no effect on the collection s behavior The collection icon is added to the scene You can add rigid bodies to the collecti...

Page 1375: ...nges from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the collection Add Adds one or more objects from the scene to the collection Click the button to open the Select Ropes dialog Highlight one or more objects in the list then click the Select button to add the objects to the collection Delete Removes objects from the collection In the Rope Entities list highlight the bodies to ...

Page 1376: ...for this collection the objects in this collection will be simulated using 60x10x3 1 800 steps every second while the simulation in general uses 60x10 600 steps per second This allows the objects in this collection to be simulated more accurately without slowing down the rest of the simulation In general terms you can think of it this way Precision stability of overall simulation Number of Substep...

Page 1377: ... but the rigid body deformable body will So for instance you can create deformable clothes for a deforming mesh that you can drape realistically around his body or you can cause environmental objects to react to the deforming mesh You can also attach deformable bodies to deforming meshes This allows you for example to attach physically simulated hair garments or tentacles to a keyframed character ...

Page 1378: ...elper object that acts as a container for deforming meshes on page 4058 Once you have placed a Deforming Mesh Collection in your scene you can add any deforming meshes in the scene to the collection For more information about deforming meshes see Deforming Meshes Skin on page 4058 When you run the simulation reactor examines the deforming mesh collections in the scene and provided the collections ...

Page 1379: ...llection and add objects in a single step See the Scripts on page 4103 topic Interface Deforming Mesh Collection Properties rollout Highlight Click this button to cause the objects in the collection to flash momentarily in the viewports Deforming Meshes Lists the names of the objects in the deforming mesh collection Pick Adds an object to the deforming mesh collection Click this button and then in...

Page 1380: ...their animation during the simulation but instead remain static This is useful for instance if you want to drape clothes around a deforming mesh skinned character in the Preview window on page 4099 before using Update MAX it s much easier to dress a character that isn t still walking around Reset Default Values Resets the Freeze value to its default Constraining Deformable Bodies reactor modifier ...

Page 1381: ...Selection option to smooth the transition between simulated and keyframed vertices for deformable bodies see Soft Selection on page 4071 NOTE You can constrain deformable bodies only to points in world space rigid bodies or deforming meshes You can t attach deformable bodies to live deformable bodies You can however attach deformable bodies to other deformable bodies once they have been simulated ...

Page 1382: ... Vertices Creates a Keyframe constraint on page 4065 that makes the chosen vertices follow their current animation in 3ds Max Attach to Rigid Body Creates an Attach to Rigid Body constraint on page 4067 between the chosen vertices and a rigid body The vertices follow the animation changes in position and rotation of the rigid body on page 3909 Constraining Deformable Bodies 4063 ...

Page 1383: ...list of the deformable constraints for the deformable body To highlight a constraint for changing its parameters or deleting it click its name in the list Delete Constraint Deletes the highlighted constraint in the list FixingVertices in World Space reactor modifier Cloth Soft Body Rope Constraints rollout The Fix Vertices constraint lets you fix vertices in a deformable body to their current posi...

Page 1384: ...hile the rest of the mesh is subject to physical forces and deformation as usual 5 When you are finished choosing vertices it s advisable to exit the Vertex sub object level This prevents you accidentally deselecting some of the constrained vertices before simulating 6 To change the set of fixed vertices select the object access the modifier s Vertex sub object level highlight its Constrain To Wor...

Page 1385: ...ist 3 Ensure the constraint is highlighted in the constraints list this makes the Keyframe rollout available 4 Select the vertices to constrain in the deformable body During the simulation these vertices follow the deformable body s current animation while the rest of the body is affected by the physical simulation as usual 5 When finished it s advisable to exit the Vertex sub object level This pr...

Page 1386: ...mes reactor uses those for the animation When off reactor evaluates the animation before the reactor modifier is applied thus ignoring any stored keyframes AttachingVertices to a Rigid Body reactor modifier Cloth Soft Body Rope Constraints rollout The Attach To Rigid Body constraint allows you to fix vertices in a deformable body to a particular rigid body Constraining Deformable Bodies 4067 ...

Page 1387: ...dy The new constraint appears in the Constraints list 3 Ensure the constraint is selected in the Constraints list this makes the Attach To RigidBody rollout available 4 On the Attach To RigidBody rollout click the Rigid Body pick button and then select the body to which to constrain the vertices 5 Select the vertices to constrain in the deformable body During the simulation these vertices maintain...

Page 1388: ...g a rigid body in one of the viewports Do not affect rigid body When on the attached deformable body does not affect the behavior of the rigid body in the simulation In other words the points in the deformable body will follow the rigid body but no force is applied to the rigid body from the deformable Ignore Collisions When on disables collision detection between the rigid body and the deformable...

Page 1389: ...rtex sub object level of the deformable body s modifier This lets you select individual vertices in the deformable body 2 On the Constraints rollout click Attach To DefMesh The new constraint appears in the Constraints list 3 Ensure the constraint is selected in the Constraints list this makes the Attach To DefMesh rollout available 4 On the Attach To DefMesh rollout click the Deformable Mesh pick...

Page 1390: ...ons When on disables collision detection between the deforming mesh and the deformable body Soft Selection You can use deformable constraints to specify that you want certain vertices of a deformable object to follow a user specified animation such as skinning while the rest of the object is fully physically simulated However sometimes this can result in a visible join between the animated and sim...

Page 1391: ...such as Edit Mesh on page 1353 or Mesh Select on page 1527 You can also apply this modifier to the body later but it s important that it be below the reactor modifier in the object s modifier stack 2 Follow the instructions in Keyframing Vertices on page 4065 to keyframe selected points for the deformable body then create your reactor animation 3 With the body selected open the selection modifier ...

Page 1392: ...e Falloff value to specify a smooth falloff from the selected vertices to the unselected ones This is represented visually in the viewport 7 Now open the reactor modifier and turn on Use Soft Selection When you run the animation your specified falloff will be used to blend smoothly between the keyframed and simulated vertices Constraining Deformable Bodies 4073 ...

Page 1393: ...ater object which affects how objects float in it Water in reactor is a space warp on page 8132 that is simulated as water Space warps don t render so you need to provide reactor with a geometrical representation of the water if you want it to appear in your final animation You do this by binding a plane or other geometry to the space warp Note that a representation of the water still appears in t...

Page 1394: ...in a rendered animation unless you bind the space warp to a plane or other geometry You can find out how to do this in Rendering Water on page 4078 Procedures To create a Water space warp 1 Choose one of the above commands and then in any viewport drag out a Water object TIP For horizontal water create the space warp in a Perspective or Top viewport 2 Move and rotate the object as necessary using ...

Page 1395: ...Interface Water Properties rollout 4076 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1396: ...density of water 1 0 1 000 kg m3 Viscosity Resistance to flow how difficult it is for objects to move through the liquid A high value means that the motion of objects through the water is highly damped Depth The depth of the water Buoyancy is applied only to objects inside the water Use Current State When on the simulation uses the current animation to calculate the starting state So if you have f...

Page 1397: ...ich lets you set a scale strength for the deformation For example if you set this scale value to 2 0 any water deformation is doubled for the vertices in the object Procedures To bind a plane to reactor Water 1 Draw a plane the same size as your water in the viewport Put it in a different place so you can easily link the two 2 Click the Bind To Space Warp button on the main toolbar 3 In the viewpo...

Page 1398: ...ect Wind reactor toolbar Create Wind button The Wind helper object lets you add wind effects to reactor scenes allowing you for instance to make curtains flap in the breeze After adding the helper to your scene you can configure various properties for the effect such as its speed gusts and whether objects in your scene can be sheltered from the wind You can animate most of these parameters The ori...

Page 1399: ... of the above commands and then click in any viewport to add the Wind helper NOTE The icon s position has no effect on the wind s behavior unless you activate the Use Range option 2 Use the Rotate tool to rotate the icon and set the wind direction The wind blows in the direction indicated by the weathervane arrow 4080 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1400: ...Interface Wind Properties rollout Wind 4081 ...

Page 1401: ... effects to cloth objects affected by the wind This effect can occur in the Left Right Up Down or Back Forward directions where Forward is the wind direction and Up is the up axis of the wind icon Magnitude The directional variance for the ripples Frequency The regularity of ripple formation Perturb Time When in the spatial perturbation is itself perturbed over time meaning that the ripples move b...

Page 1402: ...om Rigid Bodies Cloth Soft Bodies and Ropes Disabled Removes the wind from the simulation Display The size of the wind icon in the viewports Reset Default Values Resets the default property values for this Wind helper The reactor Utility Utility panel reactor You can access much of reactor s functionality through the reactor utility It lets you preview the simulation change world and display param...

Page 1403: ...on page 4093 Utils on page 4095 Properties on page 4098 Differences between Havok 1 and Havok 3 You can use either of two different dynamics solvers in reactor Havok 1 or Havok 3 To switch between them choose the desired solver from the drop down list on the About rollout The active solver is saved with the scene file The difference between the two in a nutshell is that Havok 1 provides a broader ...

Page 1404: ...ge 3944 Simulation geometry only Textures smoothing actual geometry Preview Window display hold Spacebar and move mouse right button drag Preview Window interaction during pre view Additional parameters Standard Toy Car on page 4003 NOTE If you preview a simulation or create an animation using Havok 3 and the scene contains non supported entities such as soft bodies reactor simply ignores these en...

Page 1405: ...mation keyframes are created starting from this frame to the End Frame time End Frame The last frame to simulate When reactor creates an animation it generates keyframes from the Start Frame time to this frame Frames Key The number of frames for every keyframe that reactor creates time step For example a value of 2 will create a keyframe every other frame Increasing this value forces reactor to ta...

Page 1406: ... new subcontroller is added to the List controller to hold the keys created by reactor This new controller is weighted to 100 while the previous controllers are weighted to 0 In the special case of rigid bodies belonging to a character studio Biped on page 4147 a new biped layer is created every time a reactor animation is generated Preview Animation Previews the simulated scene in the Preview Win...

Page 1407: ...fely ignored if you are happy with the behavior of your animation The default Gravity value reflects real world gravity 9 8 m s2 386 22 inches s2 on the Z axis For more information see Scale on page 3896 World Scale The distance in 3ds Max world units that represents one meter in the reactor world and hence determines the size of every object in your simulation NOTE Changing the World Scale value ...

Page 1408: ...g or not The reason that there are two properties rather than just one is for bodies that vibrate It s possible that a body can end up vibrating after a collision or some other occurrence A vibrating body might vibrate a few millimeters in distance which would keep it active for a typical Short Frequency test However the object is not really moving anywhere so keeping it active wastes CPU time How...

Page 1409: ...mum linear velocity for all bodies This does not set objects linear velocity If later on a rigid body s velocity significantly exceeds this value it might tunnel through other objects even if its Quality property is set to Critical The default value is 200 meters second This value is used during continuous simulations by the collision solver to optimize the simulation so if it can assume a maximum...

Page 1410: ... on page 4019 Filter Before Storing See Storing and Accessing Collisions on page 4019 Define Collision Pairs Opens the Define Collisions dialog on page 4092 This allows you to toggle collision detection between specified pairs of objects Pairs of objects with disabled collisions pass through each other during the simulation Selected Pair Enable Lets you quickly enable collisions between the select...

Page 1411: ... list of possible pairs that can be made using only the highlighted objects When off the lists contain all possible pairs from the scene that contain at least one of your selected objects For example take a scene containing four bodies Box01 Box02 Box03 and Box04 If Common Collisions is on and you then highlight Box01 and Box02 in the Entities list then the only possible pair that just includes yo...

Page 1412: ...t to the Enabled list Enable All Double Left Arrow Moves all pairs in the Disabled list to the Enabled list OK Closes the dialog saving any changes carried out while the dialog was open Cancel Closes the dialog without saving changes Display Rollout Utility panel reactor Display rollout This rollout lets you specify display options for previewing on page 4099 your simulation including cameras and ...

Page 1413: ...Interface Camera Click this button and then pick a camera from the viewports to use as the initial view for the display Your chosen camera s name appears on the 4094 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1414: ...ght from the Preview Window Display menu You can combine up to six omni lights or spotlights to create the preview lighting Choose lights from the scene one at a time with the Pick button or add from a list of the available lights in the scene using the Add button To remove a light from this list highlight it in the list and then click Delete Texture Quality The size NxN pixels of the textures gen...

Page 1415: ...ulation For instance you can check your reactor world for the presence of any unusual physical states that might cause problems with the simulation such as excessive gravity and you can remove redundant keyframes from a generated animation You can also access these utilities from the reactor menu Interface 4096 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1416: ...tinue or cancel If you are trying to simulate choosing Continue runs the simulation otherwise it closes the window Analyze Before Simulation When on reactor always calls Analyze World before previewing or running the simulation Default on Stop Simulation on Warnings When on prevents reactor from creating an animation if any warnings occur during analysis For example if the analysis finds that a bo...

Page 1417: ...n Threshold Specifies how aggressive the key reduction is Increasing this value causes more keys to be deleted but the animation might lose fidelity Lowering it retains more keys with greater accuracy at the cost of memory Default 0 5 Reduce After Simulation When on reactor automatically applies keyframe reduction each time you simulate Reduce Now Reduces keyframes for all the rigid bodies in the ...

Page 1418: ...ow 1 Choose one of the above commands 2 If no errors are found in your current scene setup the Preview Window opens with your scene 3 Press P to start the simulation At any time during the simulation you can orbit around the scene by left button dragging the mouse within the Preview Window With Havok 1 and Havok 3 you can pan the window by middle button dragging with Havok 3 you can also pan the w...

Page 1419: ...vok 3 To update 3ds Max from the Preview Window 1 Preview the simulation as described above 2 When the scene is in your chosen state for instance you might want to drape some clothing over a figure or let some objects fall and roll on the ground open the MAX menu and choose Update MAX NOTE The scene in 3ds Max will not be refreshed until you close the Preview Window Interface Preview Window Menus ...

Page 1420: ...CPU to simulate reactor waits 0 3 second before simulating the next step That way the animation is presented in the window at the same speed as the final animation in 3ds Max However for complex scenes or slow CPUs simulating a particular period of time can take actually more CPU time than the specified period For example a simulation step of one second might actually take two seconds to calculate...

Page 1421: ...in red Y in green and Z in blue axis are displayed at the origin 0 0 0 Flashlight On Off When on a flashlight located behind the camera lights the scene When off lights defined on the Display rollout of the utility are used If no lights are defined the preview uses a single fixed light Performance menu Fixed Step 60 50 40 30 fps Choosing one of these options changes the frequency of the simulation...

Page 1422: ...ore information see Display Rollout on page 4093 Scripts This section deals with some useful scripts that you can use to speed up your creation of reactor scenes If you are interested in creating your own scripts see the MAXScript Reference available from the 3ds Max Help menu Setup Scripts These scripts allow you to quickly set up constraints and collections They are run automatically when you fo...

Page 1423: ...ngs on page 3930 Collection Creation This applies to all the reactor collection types rigid body collections on page 3922 soft body collections on page 4046 cloth collections on page 4034 and rope collections on page 4055 It also applies to the Fracture on page 4010 and Constraint Solver on page 3945 helpers To create a collection and add bodies in a single step 1 Create the object s to add to the...

Page 1424: ...creation options are on and then click Create Humanoid A humanoid figure appears in the viewport 3 To set up the humanoid s constraints ensure that your new humanoid is highlighted in the Humanoids list on the Constrain Humanoid rollout by default it s called Ragdoll and that your chosen options are active on the rollout 4 Click Constrain Humanoid The script creates Rag Doll constraints and Hinge ...

Page 1425: ...ry that follows the naming conventions and adds your figure to the Humanoids list 3 Ensure your figure is highlighted in the list and then click Constrain Humanoid Interface Create Humanoid rollout Name Root This text box stores the root name for the objects to be created For example the Name Root RagDoll generates objects with names such as RagDoll Pelvis and RagDoll R UpperArm Height The height ...

Page 1426: ... character s hands Add Feet When on reactor creates boxes for the character s feet Link Parts When on reactor links the created parts as a 3ds Max hierarchy Create Humanoid Click to create the humanoid objects and add them to the scene Scripts 4107 ...

Page 1427: ...ed for creating rag dolls In generating this list only the root node is examined so it is in effect a list of valid root nodes in the scene If the rest of the hierarchy does not exist for a given root when you use the root to create a rag doll the software outputs errors to the MAXScript listener 4108 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1428: ... to the rest of the body Snapshot Parts When on the script creates a separate geometry object for each object to be attached to a constraint It is the newly created snapshot that is then used in the constraint and added to the collection if a collection is being created Link To Original When on the newly created snapshot geometries are linked to the original geometries Available only when Snapshot...

Page 1429: ...g parts are connected using mostly Rag Doll constraints on page 3948 However the script also uses Hinges on page 3969 for the elbow and knee joints as using Rag Doll constraints would be overkill to achieve the simple constrained motion found in an elbow joint The script also sets suitable limits for each constraint In addition the script sets the mass of each rigid body in the character to 10 0 k...

Page 1430: ... Frame on page 4085 in between A and B the object will start with the velocity it had in your animation WARNING Make sure the object has the desired velocity at the exact frame where reactor starts the simulation Start Frame Since 3ds Max usually decelerates an object when animating its movement using keys at time A and B starting the reactor animation at time B won t add any velocity to the react...

Page 1431: ...x or keyframe vertices of the mesh or spline by using deformable constraints on page 4061 Fixed or keyframed vertices will not be simulated physically Can I apply the Cloth Soft Rope modifier to more than one object In general no because the animation is stored explicitly in a single modifier The only exception is the FFD soft body on page 4043 If you have an FFD modifier applied to more than one ...

Page 1432: ...uids like water flowing through a pipe or pouring from a tap Can I move the center of mass of my objects How You can t explicitly set the center of mass of an object However you can use compound rigid bodies where different pieces have different masses to simulate uneven mass distribution For example you can simulate an object with a low center of gravity by dividing the object into two pieces pri...

Page 1433: ...of Cloth Soft Rope to it by using the Attach To Deforming Mesh on page 4069 constraint How can I make a rigid body not move until a collision happens You can use the Inactive on page 3912 property for the rigid body How can I animate a floating object like a balloon There are many alternatives you can try Use water on page 4074 The buoyancy of a balloon in the air follows the same rules as the buo...

Page 1434: ... Whenever you get unexpected behavior from reactor it is advisable to perform a world analysis on page 4097 to get a report of anything detected by reactor as suspicious unexpected or prone to error in your scene For more information see reactor Utilities on page 4095 Discussion Forums http area autodesk com The Area provides you with a moderated community to discuss learn and share techniques and...

Page 1435: ...the reactor modifier For example you can apply a MeshSmooth modifier on top of the reactor modifier to render a smooth surface while simulating a simpler one For soft bodies with complex meshes using FFD soft bodies on page 4043 can offer better results and decrease the computation time Unless necessary do not use the Avoid Self Intersections option because it increases computation time and memory...

Page 1436: ... on page 4067 make sure that the points of attachment are outside the rigid body otherwise make sure Ignore Collision is on If your Cloth Soft Rope is attached to a rigid body on page 4067 use Runge Kutta as the ODE Solver for the Rigid Body Collection on page 3922 of the attached rigid body Try increasing the amount of internal steps in the Cloth Soft Rope collection Advanced rollout Rigid bodies...

Page 1437: ...increasing the linear drag in the scene If you are working with Fracture the Fracture Tips on page 4017 section provides information on how to avoid instability Cloth Soft Rope object stretches too much If you have attached using the Attach to RB Constraint on page 4067 it to a falling object be sure to turn off Do Not Affect Rigid Body If the problem remains increase the mass of the Cloth Soft Ro...

Page 1438: ...t makes sense for the sizes of the objects Try increasing the number of substeps on page 4085 in the simulation Cloth Soft Rope intersects itself Make sure you have turned on the Avoid Self Intersections option in the modifier on page 4024 I can t add an object to a Cloth Soft Rope Collection Only an object that has the proper reactor modifier applied can be added to one of these collections Make ...

Page 1439: ...on in general An object doesn t move during the simulation Make sure that you ve added the object to a RBCollection on page 3922 and that it has a mass on page 3911 other than 0 0 objects with mass 0 0 are fixed If you are using Fracture on page 4010 make sure none of the pieces is fixed has mass 0 0 A keyframed object doesn t move during the simulation Make sure that you enabled the unyielding on...

Page 1440: ...slow down the sinking Follow the opposite steps if you re trying to make your objects float more Water doesn t ripple enough You can either increase the Max Ripple value in the Water space warp on page 4075 or you can scale the effect of the space warp on a particular object that you ve bound to the space warp by modifying the Scale Strength value in the Water world space modifier on page 4078 The...

Page 1441: ...4043 can also create a large number of keys in the FFD modifier one for each vertex for each frame Although the Reduce Keys on page 4095 functionality in reactor applies only to rigid bodies you can reduce keys in the FFD modifier using the 3ds Max Reduce Keys tool available from Track View on page 3503 reactor runs out of memory during simulation Reduce the complexity of the objects simulated For...

Page 1442: ...f the mouse spring on the Display rollout on page 4093 Objects barely move when picking during preview Try increasing the strength and damping of the mouse spring on the Display rollout on page 4093 I can t see anything in the Preview Window It might be caused by the lack of a proper camera create a camera and select it in the Display rollout on page 4093 If still doesn t work try changing the far...

Page 1443: ...simulates cloth as a series of linked vertices the Rope modifier on page 4049 tries to produce a smooth curve going through the vertices In most cases the curve generated by the modifier is suitable but in some cases for example if the vertices in the spline are far apart you might find that the generated curve is not optimal In those cases you can Modify refine the spline below the Rope modifier ...

Page 1444: ...irectX compliant hardware some specific hardware and driver configurations might cause problems Update to the latest drivers for your graphics card Refer to the manufacturer s Web site for details Try to use DirectX instead of OpenGL or vice versa for the preview This setting independent of what is used for the 3ds Max viewports can be changed on the Display rollout on page 4093 If you discover th...

Page 1445: ... Try to increase the strength of the wind or decrease the weight of the objects it should affect 4126 Chapter 16 reactor ...

Page 1446: ...ot create character mesh objects Create your character mesh before using Biped to create a skeleton for it Physique on page 8091 uses the biped armatures to animate the actual character mesh simulating how the mesh flexes and bulges with the movement of the underlying skeleton NOTE You can use Physique with other hierarchies beside the biped skeleton And as an alternative to Physique you can use t...

Page 1447: ... other type of linked hierarchy The software provides a unique ability to separate the motion of the animation from the structure of the character Thus you can animate a giant walking and apply that motion to a tiny elf Or you could animate a fat character and retarget the same motion to thin one Using a library of motions you can animate a character doing hundreds of different actions as easily a...

Page 1448: ...cter studio provides you with a broad range of tools for animating virtually any type of character To expedite your introduction to the product be familiar with the following 3ds Max concepts Creation transformation and modification of objects Selection of objects through clicking or dragging in viewports and by using the Select From Scene dialog on page 228 Navigation in viewports and changing yo...

Page 1449: ...e motion and characters In Figure mode on page 4420 you pose the biped to fit your character model In Keyframe mode on page 8019 you animate the skeleton Motions created for the biped can be saved and loaded onto other biped skeletons with different physical characteristics For example you could animate a giant ogre save the animation and load it onto a small child Motion files are saved in the pr...

Page 1450: ...elative angle to the ground rather than behaving as though fused to the shoulders For example take a biped in a standing position with arms hanging at its sides If you rotate the spine forward the fingers touch the ground rather than pointing behind it This position is more natural for the hands which speeds the process of keyframing the biped This feature also applies to the biped head When you r...

Page 1451: ... Physique determines how each component of the skeleton influences each vertex of the skin based on settings you specify Physique affects a mesh after you click Attach To Node on the Physique rollout and select a root node in the viewports During the attach process Physique works its way through all of the children in a hierarchy starting at the object you select and creates its own links with ass...

Page 1452: ...ides tendons and bulge angles for fine tuning mesh deformation after envelopes are adjusted All envelopes have an inner and outer bound boundary Vertices falling within the inner bound of a single link receive a full weight of 1 0 from that link Those falling outside the outer bound receive no weight from that link Vertices falling between the inner and outer bounds receive a weight from 0 through...

Page 1453: ...esh in Figure mode on page 4420 Use a pose with the arms outstretched so the hands are away from the torso Save a figure file so it s easy to return to this pose whenever you need Select the mesh and choose Physique in the Modify panel Turn on Attach to Node and select the root node in the hierarchy biped Pelvis or root node in a bones hierarchy not the COM In the Physique Initialization dialog bo...

Page 1454: ...olation for smooth motion or to adjust ranges and affect timing 3ds Max allows for some basic ways to do these tasks for all scene objects using direct key manipulation The simplest and most direct access to keys and ranges can be found on the track bar Keys for selected biped objects are immediately visible there With some limitations you can create keys by Shift dragging in the track bar Right c...

Page 1455: ...bench The Workbench is a curve editor customized for use with character studio It provides specialized tools for selecting and displaying curves and also for locating and fixing errors and discontinuities in motion It is a visualization tool that allows you to see and manipulate quaternion function curves represented as euler angles Also you can see curves for the the position of a biped body part...

Page 1456: ...th animation The Animation Workbench See also Working with the Workbench on page 4476 Animation Workbench on page 4483 Understanding Motion Flow Motion Flow is a tool that graphically arranges clips motion files flowing from one motion to the next You can use a Motion Flow graph to set up a series of clips with transitions between them The biped then performs the series of motions in sequence Unde...

Page 1457: ...network of clips on the graph where each clip has a transition to two or more clips With this type of graph you can tell character studio to generate the actual motion sequence for you based on random selection Multiple transitions from each clip 4138 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1458: ...page 4508 Motion Flow Mode on page 4545 Motion Flow Rollout on page 4548 Understanding Crowds The Crowd system in character studio lets you create realistic simulations using large groups of characters humanoid and otherwise that behave and interact with one another by procedural means You can use it to easily animate scenes containing hundreds of people and or creatures all with similar or widely...

Page 1459: ...m offers two types of motion synthesis When working with bipeds you use the Motion Flow feature to allow the software to create scripts for the bipeds that match the delegate behaviors When working with non bipedal characters such as fish or birds you use Clip Controllers that let you apply different animation segments to various types of motion For example a bird flaps its wings quickly while asc...

Page 1460: ...acilitate deformation during movement NOTE Physique deformations are based on a volume which means you can refine your geometry later with minimal impact to skin behavior Thus you can create your animation before building your model if you like Create a Biped Skeleton Biped automates the creation of bipedal character skeletons It also lets you introduce significant changes to the skeleton structur...

Page 1461: ...weighting to apply fine tuning control over individual vertices Introduce bulge angles to change muscle shape based on the angle of a particular joint Create tendons to simulate the motion of tendons under the skin based on link movements Adjust link parameters to change skin twisting sliding and creasing as the biped moves Sliding allows the skin to compress at the biceps and forearm as the elbow...

Page 1462: ...OTE Rotations always occur about the local axis Use FreeformTechniques Biped provides a variety of methods for creating character motion easily You can use a purely traditional approach by manually creating keyframes in freeform mode for different poses letting the computer interpolate between joint positions and IK goals Use a Footstep DrivenTechnique You can also choose a partially assisted appr...

Page 1463: ...standard non layered keyframe animation Use In Place Mode to Control theView In Place Mode on page 4318 is a tool that lets you keep your biped in view during animation playback It offers a convenient way of adjusting and adding keyframes to a character without constantly changing your view to follow the character motion Import Motion Capture Files Motion capture files can be imported from the BVH...

Page 1464: ...g or walking and then sitting down Keyframe adjustment tools allow the following Find the next or previous key for the selected biped body part Use the Time spinner to slide a key back and forth in time Change Tension Continuity and Bias for a key Display trajectories You can place arms and legs of a character into the coordinate space on page 7943 of another object or the world to simulate intera...

Page 1465: ...ingYour Character Great character animation is the result of many refinements that tune the overall personality of your character You will find the need to refine progressively both the skinning behavior and the animation timing of your character Biped and Physique make this iteration process straightforward by using the 3ds Max modifier stack and undo methods In addition the ability of Biped to m...

Page 1466: ... a character skin to put the skeleton into Create a basic skin shape for your character using any of the 3ds Max modeling tools and surface types Be sure to place your character s skin in a neutral pose with arms outstretched and legs spaced slightly apart You may also want to add sufficient detail to your skin s mesh or control points around joints to facilitate deformation during movement Charac...

Page 1467: ...the 3ds Max toolbar to position your biped skeleton NOTE In addition to the standard move rotate and scale operations you can also use modifiers to adjust the parts of the biped NOTE Biped body parts cannot be removed however unwanted parts can be hidden If you delete a part the entire biped will be deleted The following list includes some tips for positioning your skeleton Use the Page Up and Pag...

Page 1468: ...ir local X axis along the length of the limb When you exit Figure mode the biped walks runs and jumps with reversed knees When working with a mesh in a symmetrical pose pose one side of the skeleton and use controls on the Copy Paste rollout on page 4389 to paste the posture to the opposite side of the biped Biped 4149 ...

Page 1469: ...e sure that the skeleton is positioned correctly in the mesh Once you have successfully positioned a skeleton inside your character mesh you are ready to attach the mesh with Physique For more on this workflow see Understanding Physique on page 4132 4150 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1470: ... animate with character studio footsteps which help solve the common animation problem of locking the feet to the ground The parent object of the biped hierarchy is the biped s center of mass object which is named Bip01 by default Creating a Biped A button for creating a Biped appears in the Create panel under Systems You create a biped by clicking this button and then dragging in the active viewp...

Page 1471: ...changing biped parameters see Structure Rollout on page 4424 Creating a Biped Using AutoGrid The AutoGrid feature lets you create objects on the surface of other objects rather than on the home grid AutoGrid automatically creates a grid for construction When you turn AutoGrid on a tripod cursor is displayed in the viewport As you move your mouse over the geometry in the scene the tripod cursor rot...

Page 1472: ...rt A Transform gizmo moves with your cursor to indicate the location of the AutoGrid 4 Drag out a biped The biped feet will be in contact with the geometry Understanding Biped Anatomy The geometry of a biped is a linked hierarchy of objects that by default resemble those of a human The parent or root object of the biped is its center of mass COM on page 7933 This object is displayed as a blue octa...

Page 1473: ...delete any of the components of the skeleton If you try to delete any part of the biped skeleton you delete the entire hierarchy If you want to create a partial biped for example a biped with no head simply hide the objects you don t want to use Repositioning Biped Body Parts You can reposition certain biped body parts in Figure mode to suit different characters You can move entire arm assemblies ...

Page 1474: ...em with standard 3ds Max rotations because biped IK will not be available on these extra parts Changing Initial Biped Anatomy Use the body parameters to change initial biped anatomy The Body parameters are in the Create Biped rollout that appears in the Create panel when you create a biped NOTE You can change body parameters in the Create panel immediately only after creating a biped Once you leav...

Page 1475: ...entire biped hierarchy inherits the new name To change the biped name after creation 1 Select any part of the biped and go to the Motion panel 2 In the Biped rollout click the expander bar to display the Modes and Display groups 3 Enter a new name in the Name field and press Enter WARNING Do not use the usual Name And Color rollout to rename a biped This changes only the name of the biped s root o...

Page 1476: ...d After creating the default biped you will often need to change the proportions of the skeleton to fit your model Use Figure mode to change the biped structure in its rest pose Activating Figure mode returns the biped to its original location and orientation With the biped in Figure mode you can use the transform tools to change the proportions and positions of body parts For instance you might a...

Page 1477: ...4158 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1478: ...te the spine objects to create the figure for a hunchback or a dinosaur Use the move tool to change the position of the thumb or the arms You can even apply modifiers to the biped skeleton pieces such as using an FFD on the biped head to adjust its shape Posing the Biped 4159 ...

Page 1479: ...tstretched The common workflow is to freeze the character and then in Figure mode reposition the biped so the center of mass is at the base of the torso The spine objects legs and feet are scaled and rotated to fit within the confines of the mesh then the arms and hands neck and head The tail and ponytail objects can be used for animating wings fins jaws ears horns or hair 4160 Chapter 17 characte...

Page 1480: ...without affecting the animation Changing the Biped Structure Bipeds don t have to appear human You can change their elements and form to create other kinds of characters Although you can change some initial aspects of the biped s structure in the Create panel you use Figure mode to change all aspects of the biped s structure after its creation Bipeds don t have to be human Posing the Biped 4161 ...

Page 1481: ...s relative to the body Define the position of the feet relative to the ankles Define the default pose of the biped before animation is applied to it for example define a hunchback Scale the biped and its various parts Simultaneously scale and position biped parts using Rubber Band mode on page 8109 See Rubber Banding Arms and Legs on page 4168 Create natural links for Physique using Triangle Pelvi...

Page 1482: ... Figure mode on page 4420 See also Figure Mode on page 4420 Biped Rollout on page 4331 Creating a Skin on page 4605 Procedures To work in Figure mode 1 Select the biped you want to pose and then go to the Motion panel The Motion panel doesn t show Biped controls unless the biped is selected 2 On the Biped rollout click Figure mode The button turns blue to indicate a special edit mode The biped s p...

Page 1483: ...eet of the skin 6 Scale toes or move them along their local X axis so each toe is aligned with the corresponding toe in the skin The ends of the final toe links should go through the tips of the skin s toes You might have to change the number of biped toes to match the number of skin toes A biped must have at least one toe on each foot If the skin has no toes or the character is wearing footgear t...

Page 1484: ...e one upper arm R Arm1 or L Arm1 in its local Y axis to center its link in the upper arm of the skin 3 Scale the upper arm so its link ends at the elbow of the skin 4 Scale the lower arm RArm2 or L Arm2 so its link ends at the wrist of the skin If the skin s arms are bent rotate the lower arm to center its link as well 5 Scale fingers or move them along their local X axis so each finger is aligned...

Page 1485: ...he bones in the left arm and leg 4 On the Copy Paste Rollout create a collection then turn on Posture and click Copy Posture 5 On the Copy Paste Rollout click Paste Posture Opposite The right arm and leg assume the position and scale of their corresponding bones on the left Scaling Links Use standard 3ds Max scale transforms to adjust a biped s posture by scaling the size of its links You must be ...

Page 1486: ... Main Toolbar When you select a body part to scale use the Transform gizmo to scale along one axis at a time Use Scale and the Transform gizmo to scale links If your character is symmetrical select body parts in pairs and scale them at the same time Scaling Links 4167 ...

Page 1487: ...mensions to size the envelopes This saves time when you adjust envelopes in Physique See also Rubber Banding Arms and Legs on page 4168 Rubber Banding Arms and Legs Rubber Band mode provides a way to proportion the arm and leg links simultaneously Rubber Band mode works with the Move transform rather than the Scale transform When you move an arm or leg with Rubber Band mode turned on both the link...

Page 1488: ...Using Rubber Band to resize an arm without changing the hand position Rubber Banding Arms and Legs 4169 ...

Page 1489: ...m or leg link As you move the arm or leg link the hands and feet are stationary as the knees or elbows are positioned To adjust the biped center of mass with Rubber Band 1 On the Motion panel Biped rollout turn on Figure mode 2 Select the center of mass object diamond shape on the biped 3 Turn on the Move transform 4 On the Biped rollout Modes group turn on Rubber Band mode This button is unavaila...

Page 1490: ...ckly turn on and off the biped bones objects and footsteps twist links and leg states as well as footstep numbers and trajectories There is also a Display Preferences dialog accessed from here that lets you control which bipeds are visible during Biped Playback NOTE The Display group is hidden by default To display the group click the expansion bar on the Biped rollout Procedures To change biped d...

Page 1491: ...he Biped With the Physique component you can use Biped to animate a deformable skin usually a mesh object However some animations don t require deformation For example a knight clad entirely in rigid metal armor doesn t need to deform as skin does Also figures seen from a distance don t require the same degree of realism as figures seen close up 4172 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1492: ... character has separate objects with ball joint geometry for the limbs and lends itself to the linking technique described in this topic Linking objects and other geometry to the biped can also be used in cases such as the following Link a weapon or a flower to the biped hand Link eyeballs or teeth to the biped head Link extra 3ds Max bones or splines to the biped to create extra envelopes when Ph...

Page 1493: ...hanical or jointed model Body parts in this model should be separate 3ds Max objects 2 Create a biped 3 On the Biped rollout turn on Figure mode then position and fit the biped to your mesh objects 4 Go through the mesh objects and use Select and Link on the 3ds Max toolbar to link each object to its corresponding part on the biped All of keyframe animation applied to the biped will animate the mo...

Page 1494: ...haracters Clicking Load File brings the Open dialog from which you can pick a FIG file and choose from the following twist poses on page 4357 options Load Twist Poses Loads both the twist links on page 4424 and twist poses data Default on Don t Load Twist Poses Loads only the twist links data NOTE The pose presets are always available Load Twist Poses Only Loads only the twist poses data without t...

Page 1495: ...f the three loading options depending on whether or not you want to load twist poses or to load twist poses only 6 Click OK WARNING Loading a figure file replaces the selected biped s pose and base parameters If you have created a new pose or a new biped structure save it in a figure file before you load a different biped figure Footstep Animation Footstep animation is a central compositional tool...

Page 1496: ...relationships that are found in different forms of locomotion While the placement of footsteps appears in viewports the timing appears in Track View Dope Sheet Editor There each footstep appears as a block of time with each block representing the time when the foot is planted in a footstep Footstep Animation 4177 ...

Page 1497: ... more appropriate Footsteps are used to lock the foot to the ground You can create the same result in freeform animation by simply creating planted keys on page 4369 for the feet Workflow In general you compose a footstep pattern with these actions 1 Select the biped and access the Motion panel 2 Click Biped rollout Footstep Mode 3 In the Footstep Creation rollout click Walk Run or Jump to choose ...

Page 1498: ... footstep motion isn t right deactivate the footsteps make changes to footstep placement or timing reactivate the footsteps and play it again Do this until the foot and leg motions are correct When footsteps are activated keys are created for each of the tracks of the figure the head spine pelvis arms legs and if appropriate tail and ponytails These keys form an initial sketch of your animation Th...

Page 1499: ...e footsteps in the viewports to position them for proper ground collision with the terrain object For example if the biped toes are rotated for the Lift key at the last frame of a footstep to create more toe curl as the character walks the leg automatically repositions itself to maintain foot contact with the ground footstep These adaptations speed up the process of creating and editing animation ...

Page 1500: ...Footstep Mode When Footstep mode is active footstep creation controls appear in the Motion panel Footstep controls in Motion panel Footstep Animation 4181 ...

Page 1501: ...e Dynamics on page 8135 is turned on in the Dynamics and Adaptation rollout before footsteps are created and activated the center of mass uses spline dynamics to calculate vertical motion which does not take gravity into consideration Using spline dynamics you must set keys for the top of a jumping motion or the dip when the character lands this trajectory is automatically calculated with biped dy...

Page 1502: ...form Editing Between Footsteps on page 4227 You can make the biped interact with other objects in the scene throwing or kicking a ball opening a door and so on You do this by attaching a biped limb to an object in the scene An animatable IK Blend parameter lets you store the anchored position and combine inverse with forward kinematics After you ve set keys be sure to remove the anchors TIP You ca...

Page 1503: ... animation with pencil and paper first This will make the task of setting up footsteps much easier Answering the questions below can help orient your planning Planning for Footstep Placement How are the footsteps going to be positioned in viewports Draw a sketch of their positions What is the sequence of the footsteps This will determine the footstep numbers Footsteps always begin with the number ...

Page 1504: ...determined by the gait you have chosen Walk Run or Jump and the parameters for that gait You must choose the gait before parameters can be set Choose the gait that most closely approximates the type of movement you want to create You can alter or adjust the gait after footsteps have been created Walk Gait In a walk at least one foot is always in contact with the ground A period where one or both f...

Page 1505: ...ther foot is on the ground Jump Gait Jumping is a special case of running Both feet are in contact with the ground at the same time or airborne at the same time As with running forward motion is horizontal and constant but vertical motion depends on the length of the jump Turn on Jump before creating footsteps to create this type of gait The gait parameters of a jump are Feet Down The number of fr...

Page 1506: ...n of gaits and other parameters that alter the nature of the biped s motion see Adjusting Vertical Motion on page 4217 Creating Footsteps Automatically Automatic footstep creation is the easiest way to create a walk or run cycle You can use this method to make the biped climb or descend a flight of stairs hop repeatedly and do a variety of motions Automatic footstep creation places the footsteps f...

Page 1507: ...teps on the Footstep Operations rollout Keys have now been created for the footsteps 7 Click Play Animation to see the animation Creating Footsteps Manually Creating footsteps manually is useful for complicated footwork such as dancing Manual footstep creation allows you to place each new footstep carefully where you want it Multiple footsteps can also be generated automatically To quickly generat...

Page 1508: ...Create Footsteps Manually Before placing footsteps you must choose the gait then set parameters for the gait in the Footstep Creation rollout on page 4434 Footstep creation and gait buttons When you select the Walk Run or Jump gait parameters for that gait appear on the Footstep Creation rollout See Choosing a Gait on page 4185 for information on gaits and parameters Switching Between Left and Rig...

Page 1509: ...e only active footsteps deactivate all footsteps first then add footsteps and activate them again See Deactivating Footsteps on page 4193 See also Choosing a Gait on page 4185 Creating Footsteps Automatically on page 4187 Editing Footstep Placement on page 4199 Procedures To prepare for manual footstep creation 1 On the Motion panel Biped rollout click Footstep Mode You are now in Footstep mode an...

Page 1510: ... achieved the desired pattern 5 Click Create Keys For Inactive Footsteps 6 Click Play Animation to see the animation To append footsteps onto the existing footsteps 1 Make sure Footstep Mode is turned on 2 If the existing footsteps are active deactivate them first Select all footsteps and click Deactivate Footsteps 3 Click Create Footsteps append 4 Click in a viewport to create a footstep Move the...

Page 1511: ... your cursor to indicate the location and orientation of the gizmo Click to place a footstep then move the cursor and click again to place more footsteps 6 When you have finished placing footsteps click Create Keys For Inactive Footsteps Keys have now been created for the footsteps 7 Click Play Animation to see the animation The biped steps on the terrain following the footsteps Activating Footste...

Page 1512: ...ocedures To activate footsteps 1 While in Footstep mode create footsteps using the automatic or manual method 2 Move rotate delete and edit footsteps as desired 3 Click Create Keys for Inactive Footsteps in the Footstep Operations rollout 4 Click Play Animation to see the animation Deactivating Footsteps When you change the position or timing of active footsteps the biped s animation changes accor...

Page 1513: ...teps after activating them When you move or rotate active footsteps substantially you might find that the original keys generated are no longer appropriate for your animation If this happens deactivate footsteps move the footsteps into the correct locations and activate footsteps again When changing footstep timing in the Curve Editor s Dope Sheet mode you might receive an error message stating th...

Page 1514: ...rs on page 4403 to store any upper body animations you want to preserve while you proceed with changes in your biped s footsteps Rules for Inactive Footsteps When you click deactivate footsteps only selected footsteps are deactivated If you haven t made any changes to the default animation it is recommended that you deactivate all footsteps However if you ve changed or added animation keys to part...

Page 1515: ... moves through the air and returns to the ground again These leg states are labeled by character studio to help you work with footsteps and leg foot keys more easily when editing footsteps These states are referred to in these topics to aid in understanding more advanced footstep concepts so it s important that you become familiar with them Touch occurs at the leg keyframe where the foot first tou...

Page 1516: ...less of the footstep pattern activating footsteps will always cause leg keys to be generated at each lift and touch frame Although you can alter these keys to some degree by going to a touch or lift keyframe turning on Auto Key and changing the leg positions or rotations you cannot delete these keys To change the foot leg animation after footsteps are activated seeAnimating Legs and Feet on page 4...

Page 1517: ...s turned on the track is selected You can animate the COM or change existing keys after footsteps are activated To change COM keys after footsteps are activated seeAnimating the Upper Body on page 4209 and Adjusting Body Keys in Track View on page 4211 Editing Footstep Motion The topics in this section deal with the editing of footstep motion when animating bipeds They are Editing Footstep Placeme...

Page 1518: ...es the distance between selected footsteps Selecting Footsteps To change footstep placement you must first select the footsteps to change When Footstep Mode is turned on footsteps can be selected with the same methods used to select 3ds Max objects Click footstep icons while holding down the Ctrl key Click and drag to draw a bounding box around footsteps you want to select Unselect footsteps by ho...

Page 1519: ...tep key display relates directly to the different states on page 4196 the leg and foot can be in at any given time The left edge of each footstep key indicates the foot is in the Touch state while the right edge indicates the Lift state The duration of the footstep key between Touch and Lift indicates the time the foot is in the Plant state The space between footstep keys indicates a time when the...

Page 1520: ...und footsteps to select them Selecting footsteps also selects the footsteps in Track View A selected footstep in Track View has a white border and a dot on both the left and right edges of the footstep key Footstep key selected in Track View Click the center of a footstep key in Track View to select it Hold down the Ctrl key and click the center of additional footstep keys to select multiple foots...

Page 1521: ...hanged Editing timing for active footsteps also changes keys for the center of mass and leg keys but not the spine arm or tail keys This can cause the resulting animation to look different from the way you intended For this reason you might prefer to deactivate footsteps before editing timing See Deactivating Footsteps on page 4193 When editing footstep timing in Track View the following limitatio...

Page 1522: ...dures To display footstep keys in Track View 1 Choose Graph Editors menu Track View Dope Sheet 2 If necessary expand the Objects listing to display footstep keys To move selected footsteps in time In Track View drag any selected footstep key to drag all selected footstep keys in time To change the duration of a footstep 1 In Track View click the left or right edge of a footstep key In addition to ...

Page 1523: ...ing the keyframes of your character s animation In most cases edits you make to footsteps act upon your keys in an intuitive fashion In order to understand what happens when active footsteps are edited you must first understand what happens to biped keys when footsteps are activated See Understanding Footstep and Body Keys on page 4196 Key Adaptation for Footstep Placement Edits When you move or r...

Page 1524: ...nt If you move footstep keys in such a way that you remove an overlap or create a new overlap between opposite legs you have changed the gait and new keys will be generated for legs If you do not change the overlap relationship between opposite legs existing legs keys are retained WARNING Editing a jumping sequence so that the feet hit or leave the ground slightly out of phase rather than at the s...

Page 1525: ...yclic motion sequence out of shorter sequences You can also copy footsteps from one biped and paste them onto another biped with this technique Splicing footsteps makes use of a footstep buffer to store footstep positions and keys The buffer is a temporary area in memory where footsteps are stored TIP Use motion splicing when you want to edit segments of a single footstep based animation To build ...

Page 1526: ...le Buffer mode is active the footstep buffer is replaced with the motion in the BIP file 3 Click Buffer Mode to turn it off Now you can splice the edited buffer by pasting footsteps To splice the footstep buffer 1 Click Paste Footsteps on the Footstep Operations rollout The footsteps from the buffer appear in their saturated colors 2 Use Select and Move from the 3ds Max toolbar to position the fir...

Page 1527: ...e paste will not be performed TIP To create a cycle of a motion with alternating footsteps you must copy and paste at least three footsteps Animating Legs and Feet When you activate footsteps keys are created for the legs and feet according to the footstep pattern and timing Leg and foot keys are set at each Touch and Lift frame and between footsteps Although the parts of the leg thigh calf foot t...

Page 1528: ...ing Links on page 4242 You can also click the Set Key button on the Key Info rollout on page 4367 to set keys for selected body parts at the current frame This option allows you to move body parts as you like setting keys only when you have decided to do so WARNING Do not use the 3ds Max Set Key button to set keys for the biped Animation on the center of mass COM works differently depending on whe...

Page 1529: ...before animating on other frames character studio does not automatically place a key at frame 0 when you animate on frames other than 0 as 3ds Max does Interdependencies Between Legs and Upper Body When footstep animation is used animation of the upper body and animation of the legs are interdependent Any time you change the position of the body s center of mass leg positions are automatically upd...

Page 1530: ...Footstep and Body Keys on page 4196 for terms and definitions used in this section NOTE The information in this section applies only to biped body keys for the arms legs spine neck and other parts of the upper body For rules for editing footstep keys see Editing Footstep Timing on page 4200 Locked Keys Some biped keys are locked meaning they cannot be moved in time Locked keys are colored red in T...

Page 1531: ...curves showing the interpolation between body keys You can also use the Workbench to analyze edit and fix biped motion curves See Working with the Workbench on page 4476 You can use Scale Keys to scale selected keys except for locked keys TIP If you want to animate a biped performing movements with its upper body while standing extend the length of the standing footsteps to cover the length of the...

Page 1532: ...rs that stand erect such as humanoids use the default location of the center of mass within the pelvis Characters that naturally lean forward such as some dinosaurs and birds should have the center of mass moved slightly forward of the pelvis This is also good for robots and droid soldiers Characters that are holding a heavy weight out in front of them or overweight characters might need their cen...

Page 1533: ...Center of mass moved behind the biped in rubber band mode 4214 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1534: ...tutorial that uses this technique see Creating the Illusion of Weight Balance Factor The balance factor on page 7919 is an animatable parameter that determines how the biped s hips and spine will compensate when the biped bends forward or backward Footstep Animation 4215 ...

Page 1535: ...while standing When Balance Factor is 0 and you rotate the spine forward the COM keeps its original vertical alignment and the head swings forward There is no movement in the hips to compensate for the shift in body weight This setting is good for animating a sitting biped who leans forward to prevent its hips from shifting backward It can also work well for characters with tails the tail provides...

Page 1536: ...f no Body Horizontal key exists at the frame where you want to set the Balance Factor create one by clicking Set Key in the Key Info rollout 6 Change the Balance Factor parameter There is no need to click Set Key again after setting the Balance Factor parameter 7 Rotate the biped s spine The biped s hips and or head shift position based on the Balance Factor value AdjustingVertical Motion A ballis...

Page 1537: ...ill snap back to its original airborne height Although this will cause a Body Vertical key on page 4196to appear on the Track Bar and in Track View the key will have no effect on the biped s airborne height Gravity andTiming In reality the length of time a person animal or insect stays in the air during a jump is based on two factors How high the creature jumps which in turn is based on how hard t...

Page 1538: ...ional pull which is an acceleration of approximately 32 feet sec sec Because this equation depends on an accurate measure of distance the biped s height is used as a guide to actual distances in the scene For the purpose of gravitational computation the biped is considered to be about 5 10 tall the average height for a male human being Of course some of your characters will not be the same height ...

Page 1539: ...ation rollout on page 4417 alters the degree of gravitational pull imposed on the biped during its airborne periods between active footsteps The GravAccel default value is based on the standard calculation for the Earth s gravity and its effects on a man of average height When the GravAccel parameter is increased the effects of gravity are decreased and the biped jumps higher The GravAccel paramet...

Page 1540: ...et created This value cannot be animated the current GravAccel value is used throughout the biped s footstep sequence Changes to the GravAccel parameter have no effect whatsoever on the amount of time the biped spends in the air TIP If you want to change GravAccel back to its default value but don t remember what that was you can find out by creating another biped of the same height and noting its...

Page 1541: ...ynamics by Changing Body Vertical keys at the Touch and Lift frames Setting changing or deleting Body Vertical keys during a footstep Changing the stiffness or springiness of the biped s legs at Touch and Lift frames with the Ballistic Tension parameter BallisticTension Ballistic tension refers to the stiffness or springiness of the biped s landing at the end of a jump or takeoff at the start of a...

Page 1542: ...s or spline dynamics will be used during airborne periods With biped dynamics on page 7923 the height and trajectory of the biped during airborne periods is determined by gravity calculations and other biped specific information With spline dynamics on page 8135 the airborne height and trajectory are not set for you automatically you must set them manually with keyframes Footstep Animation 4223 ...

Page 1543: ...lected vertical COM key is a touchdown key from an airborne period you can change the Ballistic Tension parameter on the Key Info rollout to control knee bend Turn on Trajectories on the Display rollout to view how changing parameters affects the trajectory To set a Body Vertical key 1 On the Track Selection rollout click Body Vertical 2 Turn on Auto Key 3 Click Select and Move on the main toolbar...

Page 1544: ...elect all the Body Vertical keys you want to change 3 Right click over one of the selected keys to display the TCB dialog 4 Change the value of Dynamics Blend in the TCB dialog This changes it for all selected keys NOTE This only affects the biped during airborne periods in a footstep animation Changing Dynamics Blend keys in a walk motion does not affect the motion Saving Footstep Animation After...

Page 1545: ...om heel to the ball of the foot as is common in a typical walk Freeform animation on page 7986 provides a more traditional method of animating to those familiar with 3ds Max or other character animation systems Keys are set by using the character studio Set Key tools found in the Key Info rollout on page 4367 or by turning on Auto Key mode moving the time slider and transforming the biped parts Fr...

Page 1546: ... biped For example if you want the biped to run dive into a pool then climb out of the pool you would create footsteps for the running and climbing portions of the animation but not the swimming portion When you activate footsteps the biped will become airborne during the swimming period jumping high in the air between the running and climbing footsteps If you don t suspend gravity during the airb...

Page 1547: ...enu Track View Dope Sheet from the 3ds Max menu 3 Expand the footstep key display for the biped 4 Right click the footstep key display area The Footstep Mode dialog appears 5 In the Footstep Mode dialog choose the Edit Free Form no physics option In each airborne period in Track View a hollow yellow box appears 6 In the Track View footstep key display click inside the yellow box for the airborne p...

Page 1548: ...7 Play the animation The biped uses vertical dynamics during all footstep motions except the freeform period Footstep Animation 4229 ...

Page 1549: ...teps the biped might skip footsteps at one end of the freeform period For this reason you should activate footsteps before setting up a freeform period 8 During the freeform period animate the biped and set keyframes as you like To edit footstep timing after creating a freeform period you must choose the Edit Footsteps option in the Footstep Mode dialog 4230 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1550: ...o footsteps footsteps are generated for a foot only during periods between two planted keys In other words the conversion process looks for times when a foot has two consecutive identical keys with an IK Blend setting of 1 and Object space selected In this case a footstep icon is placed at the foot s location with the duration of the footstep set by the time between the two identical keys This is ...

Page 1551: ...e footstep patterns are removed from the viewport gravity and dynamics are removed and footstep mode is disabled You are now working with a purely freeform animation If you re converting to footsteps and the operation is successful footsteps appear in the viewport biped dynamics on page 7923 is turned on and Footstep mode is enabled Freeform Animation Freeform animation of a biped swimming While c...

Page 1552: ...you mix the use of footstep and freeform methods WARNING You can t add a freeform period at the beginning or end of a footstep animation TIP If you want to do this stretch out the timing for the first or last set of footsteps then convert the footstep animation to freeform Freeform Method A freeform animation contains no footsteps instead it relies on the transforms of the biped body objects and c...

Page 1553: ...rvals when a biped is airborne the software ensures that there is a vertical key occurring at the lift off and touchdown frames This calculates the correct ballistic motion so vertical keys are automatically inserted if not present There are three types of IK keys you can create planted sliding and free keys Planted keys have an IK Blend of 1 They are joined to the Previous IK Key and are in Objec...

Page 1554: ...e the same as 3ds Max when creating keys It doesn t automatically create keys at frame 0 when you create your first set of keys at a later frame For this reason it s often useful to select all the parts of the biped at frame 0 then click Set Key to creating holding keys for all To create a freefrom animation from a footstep animation 1 Select the biped whose footstep animation you want to convert ...

Page 1555: ...data is viewable in Track View or on the track bar Once you ve selected the biped object using one of the methods described below you can see its associated motion data on the track bar or displayed in the Transform branch for that object in Track View Biped lets you expand and collapse certain animation tracks to give you more control over your character s movement as you set keyframes For exampl...

Page 1556: ...ctingTracks from theTrack Selection Rollout The center of mass has three separate animation tracks two for motion and one for rotation These tracks can be selected on the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 Body Horizontal Body Vertical Body Rotation selects the Body Turning track SelectingTracks with the Select By NameTool You can navigate to and select tracks for a given object using the text e...

Page 1557: ...fingers and toes are grouped with the legs The body s translation keys are separated into vertical and horizontal tracks Procedures To access Track View do one of the following 1 On the 3ds Max toolbar click Curve Editor 2 Select any biped object in the viewport then right click and choose Curve Editor The hierarchy list automatically displays the track of the selected biped object 3 Choose Graph ...

Page 1558: ...k If you select a biped foot and click Zoom Selected Object you may need to scroll up the Track View hierarchy to view the Thigh track transform keys These keys also store foot transforms TIP Use controls in the Separate Tracks area of the Keyframing Tools rollout on page 4380 if you prefer transform tracks for individual objects To display footstep tracks 1 Select any biped with footstep animatio...

Page 1559: ...s and toes except the clavicles If you attempt to move a hand or foot beyond the biped s kinematic limit the arm or leg straightens out and moves as far as possible in the direction you drag The pelvis head neck non base spine links and non base tail links cannot be moved They can only be rotated although they move when their parent moves When you select multiple biped parts and move them the move...

Page 1560: ...Center of mass Does not move Does not move Pelvis Pelvis Does not move Does not move Head Head Does not move Does not move Neck Neck Positions upper body relative to lower body Does not move Spine Spine Base Positions tail relat ive to body Does not move Tail Tail Base Positions ponytail relative to body Does not move Ponytail1 11 and so on Ponytail Positions arms relat ive to body Do not move R C...

Page 1561: ...ht click and choose Rotate from the quad menu To make biped movement appear natural certain biped joints are limited in how they can rotate such as the elbows and knees When a joint can rotate in all three axes X Y and Z it is said to have three degrees of freedom DOF A joint s DOF can be modified by selecting it and then setting options on the Locks on page 3501 rollout of the Hierarchy panel NOT...

Page 1562: ... refer to Pelvis as Ball Joint on page 4244 Biped Motion Constraints Some biped parts have special case conditions that govern how you can transform them as described in the table and sections that follow Comments Free Axes Link Name Biped Link Rotates entire biped X Y Z Bip01 default Center of mass If feet are planted adjusts legs to keep X Y Z Pelvis Pelvis feet and toes above ground X Y Z Head ...

Page 1563: ...ree free axes X Y Z Finger0 01 02 Finger1 11 12 amd so on Fingers other finger joints have Z only Toe bases have three free axes X Y Z Toe0 01 02 Toe1 11 12 and so on Toes other toe joints have Z only Pelvis as Ball Joint The pelvis can be rotated in all three axes X Y and Z This ball joint provides three degrees of freedom improving the flexibility of animating with a biped because the pelvis gyr...

Page 1564: ...containing new pelvic rotation tracks will be blended with old assets lacking these tracks Special Rotation Elbows and Knees Elbows and Knees perform a special rotation when you rotate them about their X axis They don t actually rotate around their X axis this does not make sense because they have one degree of freedom Instead the upper and lower arm leg are rotated together about an invisible axi...

Page 1565: ...rally about its center of mass for example during flips in the air On the Motion panel Key Info rollout on page 4367 you can turn this behavior off by setting Balance Factor to 0 0 for corresponding horizontal center of mass keys The Balance Factor control is in the Body group on the rollout Independent Orientation Arms Head Feet Changing the orientation of a clavicle the root Arm object changes t...

Page 1566: ...ectory on keys that already exist Visualizing Rotation Animations with Function Curves Another way to visualize your rotation animation is through the Curve Editor on page 3518 Each key you add is displayed and connected to other keys creating a curve that represents your animation You can use either the TCB Rotation Controller on page 3258 or the Euler XYZ Controller on page 3151 on the Quaternio...

Page 1567: ...arm key 4 If the TCB group is not already displayed click the TCB divider 5 Change the Tension Continuity and Bias spinners The trajectory changes to reflect the new parameters Play the animation to see the change TIP You can also access TCB controls by right clicking on keys in the trackbar Track View Curve Editor or the Workbench Curve View 4248 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1568: ...Rotating Multiple Biped Links Freeform Animation 4249 ...

Page 1569: ... page 4363 and then select and rotate any spine neck or tail link to use the character studio technique of naturally bending the entire spine neck or tail Selecting and Rotating Multiple Links When you select and rotate multiple biped links the rotation is individually applied to each selected link This is a convenient way to get fingers to curl for example or to keyframe a biped s arms legs multi...

Page 1570: ...ng these two modes opens up a wider range of controls over your spine neck or tail To rotate all links in the spine neck or tail 1 On the Bend Links rollout turn on Bend Links Mode 2 Select and rotate a single spine neck or tail link The other links in the spine neck or tail rotate to match the single link s rotation 3 On the Bend Links rollout turn on Twist Links Mode 4 Rotate the link in local X...

Page 1571: ...g the controller weights you can increase or decrease the effects of the different controllers You can enable disable or collapse the list controller animation tracks If you collapse the track you can then bring them into the Motion Mixer Motion Flow or Layer editor or export them to a game engine NOTE Biped SubAnims exhibits different behaviors based on whether you assign a controller or a constr...

Page 1572: ...troller you want to add to and highlight the first Available entry The Assign controller button becomes active 5 Click the Assign Controller button An Assign Controller dialog appears 6 Choose the controller to want to use and click OK 7 Play the animation and observe the effect You can animate the parameters for the controllers using Track View or by right clicking the list entry in the controlle...

Page 1573: ...he track bar or in the Workbench Curve View if the Workbench is open To add controllers to multiple biped parts at the same time 1 In the viewport select the biped parts to which you want to add list controllers 2 Open the Workbench The selection list in the Select panel has the biped parts highlighted 3 Click the Controllers button on the Workbench toolbar The controller list appears to the right...

Page 1574: ...panel Position List Scale List and Rotation List 5 Navigate to the appropriate List rollout In the Layer window highlight the Controller you wish to weight The Weight field becomes available 6 Turn on Auto Key move the time slider and enter values in that field or use the spinner to set keys to animate the weights WARNING Don t even think about using the 3ds Max Set Key button to animate the weigh...

Page 1575: ...t in relation to the biped in Figure mode Props can be made to follow the motion of either hand by keyframing the Position and Rotation coordinate space of the prop Bipeds with multiple props as swords Animating Prop Linkage Props can change linked parents similar to the 3ds Max Link controller at any keyframe This is done using the Position Space and Coordinate Space lists in the Prop section of ...

Page 1576: ...s the prop is exchanged between the hands This can be easily changed once the data is in the scene go to the desired frame choose a new coordinate space as described in the previous section then set a key When loading a BIP file for retargeting onto other characters the props move with each of the hands The software ensures that the hands come together at the precise position on the prop during tr...

Page 1577: ...ke or open a BIP file of a character swinging a sword 8 Turn on Auto Key then select the prop 9 Animate the prop using standard 3ds Max transforms Example To animate the biped switching the prop to the other hand 1 Follow the steps in the previous procedure to animate the biped swinging the prop 2 Move to the frame where you want the biped to switch the prop the other hand 3 Move the biped s other...

Page 1578: ...uad menu 5 In the dialog that is displayed make the appropriate choices and then click Collapse After a short delay the track bar displays the keys that have been added TIP If you see a different Properties dialog that doesn t offer you the Collapse button you are too low in the hierarchy Select the next level up in the hierarchy and try again Freeform and IK Using IK Keyframe Parameters Biped s i...

Page 1579: ...ey Biped has three automatic ways to set these parameters Setting planted sliding or free keys creates keys with different combinations of these three parameters Setting a planted key creates a key with IK Blend set to 1 0 Object and Join To Prev IK Key turned on Setting a sliding key creates a key with IK Blend set to 1 0 Object turned on and Join To Prev IK Key turned off Setting a free key crea...

Page 1580: ...be motivated by the apparent swinging at the joints An IK Blend value of 1 0 means full inverse kinematics with the hand or foot being used as an end effector A spline path is computed through the keys of the hand and the hand moves along that spline Joint angles for the rest of the arm are computed to allow the hand to follow the spline The motion in this case appears to be directed by the hand o...

Page 1581: ...s that the IK path of the hand or foot translates and rotates with your character as it moves For example the boxer s hand trajectory always moves relative to the weaving bobbing and turning of the boxer s body The Object option is used for animating dynamic links between the limbs and other objects in the scene The IK Blend control activates when a biped arm or leg hand and foot key is current 0 ...

Page 1582: ... footstep interval is the start and end of a sequence of IK constraints in world space with IK Blend set to be greater than 0 0 A biped foot in the Move state should have body space turned on with an IK Blend of 0 0 By using these IK constraints you can convert between the two animation methods seamlessly In a freeform walking animation typically you need two key types for the legs If the foot is ...

Page 1583: ... examine the IK constraints for one footstep The footstep rolls on the heel of the foot then rotates down flat on the ground then raises up on the ball of the foot rotates at the end of the toes and finally lifts off of the ground Touch state pivot planted at heel at frame 14 The foot is touching the ground at the heel In the Key Info rollout Set Planted Key is clicked to set IK Blend 1 0 with obj...

Page 1584: ...o ball of foot at frame 16 The next keyframe is also a planted key as the foot is flat on the ground In the Key Info rollout Set Planted Key is clicked The pivot on the ball of the foot is selected Freeform Animation 4265 ...

Page 1585: ...ame 17 This key has the pivot on the ball of the foot as well Click Set Planted Key Two consecutive keys with the pivot at the ball of the foot are necessary to rotate the foot about the ball of the foot 4266 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1586: ...Heel lifts toe remains flat at frame 18 After rotating the foot about the pivot at the ball of the foot you set another planted key with the pivot on the toe Freeform Animation 4267 ...

Page 1587: ...Foot rotates off pivot at end of toe at frame 19 Here is another planted key with a pivot at the end of the toe the foot rotates about the tip of the toe 4268 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1588: ...nd that the foot is not rotating around the visible pivot remember that it is using the previous key s pivot In such a case you must set two consecutive keys with the pivot at the same location then the foot will rotate around the displayed pivot If you adhere to these rules in creating footsteps in a freeform animation then you can use Convert in the Biped rollout to easily change from a freeform...

Page 1589: ... found below the viewports when animating a biped Doing so will cause unpredictable results Instead always use the Set Key buttons found on the Key Info rollout If you are animating a walk cycle or an intricate hand animation then you should make use of the three different types of set key buttons in the Key Info rollout Each set key button applies different IK constraints depending on whether a f...

Page 1590: ...n the Key Info rollout To use character studio specific shortcuts make sure that the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle on page 7858 is active Ground Plane Collision Detection for the Pelvis and Feet When one or two feet are planted and the pelvis or a planted foot is rotated character studio detects collisions of the foot and its toes with the ground plane defined by the planted foot s footstep or...

Page 1591: ...Animating Pivots 4272 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1592: ...ivots are essentially extensions of the IK chain By setting a planted key for the hand the hand is anchored in world space you can move the biped or the collarbone and the hand remains planted Pivots on the hands make it easy to animate hands and fingers While pivots are used in both freeform and footstep animation the pivots are only visible and accessible when in Freeform mode Biped IK To unders...

Page 1593: ... satisfy the IK constraint The secondary joints remain in place and will never drift in an IK solution they simply obey the values set by the animator Because there is no drift for the secondary joints the animator does not have to tediously assign tension values to hold them in place If an IK pivot point constraint has been set some by products of character studio natural IK are that Interactivel...

Page 1594: ...st the primary joints NOTE During animation playback the Ankle Tension parameter is used to set the relative importance of the interpolated ankle joint over the interpolated knee joint for intervals in between keyframes This is relevant only to interpolation on bipeds Freeform Animation 4275 ...

Page 1595: ... page 4367 Procedures To use pivots 1 Select a biped hand or foot 2 On the Key Info rollout click Set key and then choose Object You can also select an object if you like at this point by selecting a non biped object in the viewport 3 Turn on Select Pivot 4 Select a pivot in the viewports 4276 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1596: ...rts so the spine is horizontal and the arms stretch to reach the ground If appropriate for your mesh set Leg Links to 4 and rotate the legs so the knees point backwards You can set this value at creation time in the Create Biped rollout on the Create panel or later using the Structure rollout on page 4424 on the Motion panel Animate pivot points with planted keys to mimic the rolling of the feet f...

Page 1597: ... climbing a ladder riding a bike or rowing a boat Motions that involve the temporary manipulation of objects such as bouncing or kicking a ball opening a door or touching another biped An object to which a hand or foot can be attached is called an IK object See the tutorial Interacting with Objects for lessons that show you how to make a biped iron clothing ride a skateboard bounce a basketball cl...

Page 1598: ... the time such a key is set Set one key when you want the attachment to begin and a second key when you want the attachment to stop This defines an Object space interval the duration of a temporary attachment 7 On the frame that defines the end of an attachment interval set IK Blend to 1 0 choose the Object option and turn on Join to Prev IK Key You can also click Set Planted Key to set these para...

Page 1599: ... you close the MAX file If you want to use anchors from one session to the next you must turn them on again the next time you open the file Editing Freeform Animation The topics in this section deal with the editing of freeform animation for bipeds They are Editing Biped Keys on page 4280 Copying and Pasting Postures and Poses on page 4281 Mirroring Motion on page 4287 Using Layers on page 4288 Ed...

Page 1600: ...delete Keys that are locked appearing in red in Track View cannot be deleted TIP When you ve selected the biped part you want to transform click Lock Selection Set on the 3ds Max prompt line Now you can transform the part without accidentally selecting a different part of the biped The default keyboard shortcut for Lock Selection Set is the spacebar Copying and Pasting Postures and Poses The Copy ...

Page 1601: ...mation Use the Copy Tracks function to copy the animation of biped parts onto other parts and other bipeds You can further manipulate these tracks with the Curve Editor and Dope Sheet Editor using all the standard tools found there Copy Tracks works with both footstep and freeform animation TIP The copy collections on page 4390 feature acts as an additional layer of organization allowing your copi...

Page 1602: ...g or a part of an arm or leg onto the opposite arm or leg of the same biped Both Paste Posture and Paste Posture Opposite work differently in and out of Figure mode Out of Figure mode only the orientation of the copied links is pasted In Figure mode both the orientation and the scale of the copied links are pasted Also when you paste the finger base toe base spine base tail base or clavicles in Fi...

Page 1603: ...ut on page 4367 and with Auto Key mode WARNING Don t use the Set Key Mode toggle or the large Set Keys button next to Auto Key These will not produce the correct results Keyboard Shortcuts The following are Biped keyboard shortcuts to the copy and paste posture commands Make sure the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle on page 7858 is active Meaning Shortcut Copy Posture Alt C Paste Posture Alt V Pa...

Page 1604: ...t functions see the lesson called Creating a Simple Freeform Animation found in the Animating with Freeform tutorial To paste the posture NOTE Turning on the Auto Key button before pasting posture automatically sets a key for all objects whose posture has changed 1 Choose the Posture you want from the copied postures drop down list 2 Select the biped you want to paste to or move to another frame f...

Page 1605: ...to replace this with a descriptive name you can easily identify with the action it represents 5 Click Paste Posture Opposite The opposite limb now has the posture of the limb you copied To copy the entire pose of a biped 1 Select any part of the biped whose pose you want to copy 2 On the Copy Paste rollout click Create Collection and rename the new collection Biped Pose 3 Click Copy Pose 4 Advance...

Page 1606: ... The entire biped animation including all footsteps and keys is mirrored symmetrically through an axis that joins the center for the biped to the world origin For example if a biped is walking from the center of the world grid toward the user the mirror will change the motion so the biped is now walking away from the user Original motion Freeform Animation 4287 ...

Page 1607: ... Paste rollout NOTE This feature mirrors only those biped tracks that have at least one key The position of a keyless object is not mirrored Using Layers Layers allow you to add successive layers of animation above the original biped animation This is a powerful way of making global changes to your character animation For example simply add a layer and rotate the spine forward at any frame and a r...

Page 1608: ...n panel Layers rollout click Create Layer to create a new layer Enter a name for the layer in the Layer name field 2 Create an offset or increment by setting one key You can either use Auto Key mode or click Set key on the Key Info rollout on page 4367 this can be done at any frame 3 Click Collapse to collapse the layer To increment an interval of keys with an envelope blended offset 1 Create a ne...

Page 1609: ...e offset only occurs in the range between the two keys 4 Click Collapse to collapse the layer EditingTrajectory Keys By turning on biped trajectories selecting the center of mass track and turning on Sub Object Trajectories you can select a key on the trajectory Then either use Bend Horizontal in the Keyframing Tools rollout on page 4380 to bend the trajectory about the selected key or simply move...

Page 1610: ...y clicking the appropriate button in the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 Above Bending the trajectory Below Moving a key on the trajectory WARNING Do not use 3ds Max trajectories Motion panel Trajectories text button to edit biped trajectories Freeform Animation 4291 ...

Page 1611: ...the panel below Selection Level turn on Sub Object and choose Trajectories on the drop down list if it isn t already displayed 6 In a viewport select as many keys as you want on the trajectory The selected keys turn red in the viewport 7 If you want to bend the trajectory open the Keyframing Tools rollout and locate the Bend Horizontal spinner Then adjust the Bend Horizontal values as desired To e...

Page 1612: ... XYZ and TCB Rotation controllers via the Quaternion Euler rollout on page 4355 The Curve Editor on page 4483 displays the animation curves based on the chosen controller Each curve is labeled starting with one of the following Quaternion Rotation of the Tangent Euler Rotation of the TCB Euler Rotation of the You can animate most biped parts center of mass pelvis spine head neck arms legs and tail...

Page 1613: ...d s hands feets and center of mass COM Hands and feets positions are set in world space while the COM position is set local to the world FK IK key blending is illustrated as follows Full lines represent IK periods Gaps between lines represent FK periods Vertical dotted lines represent a change in pivot points NOTE Keys set to Join to Prev IK Key on page 4259 are locked in value until the next un j...

Page 1614: ... a Euler rotation curve Using Euler animations with Layers Motion Mixer and Motion Flow Both Euler tangents and quaternion TCB data are stored in each keyframe Therefore even if you are using the Euler XYZ controller you can still change the profile of your curves using quaternion TCB control values on the Key Info rollout on page 4367 If you add a new layer to an Euler controlled biped part that ...

Page 1615: ... preserve Euler tangents Copy Pasting Data between Euler and Quaternion Curves When you copy a track and paste it onto another its type Euler or quaternion is pasted as well This sometimes results in animations switching from quaternion to Euler and vice versa Euler tangents of copied poses or postures are never copied If you copy an Euler track and paste it onto any type of track with Auto Key tu...

Page 1616: ...ed updates your master scene content See XRef Objects on page 6936 for more information Externally Referencing a Biped When you create an XRef biped certain modes on the Motion Panel s Biped rollout on page 4331 become unavailable as XRef data is read only Figure Mode on page 4420 Footstep Mode on page 4433 Motion Flow Mode on page 4545 Mixer Mode on page 3794 As a result you need to go back to th...

Page 1617: ...imation on page 4300 from your XRef biped breaks the XRef link Loading Saving and Displaying Biped Motion Working with Biped Motion Files character studio uses a variety of file formats to save load and edit motion BIP file bip The native character studio file format for saving biped motion A BIP file saves all information about biped motion footsteps keyframe settings including limb rotation the ...

Page 1618: ...s custom marker names in a CSM or BVH file with the standard preset marker names used by a biped NOTE For BVH and CSM file specifications see the BVH rtf and CSM rtf documents on the program disc STP file stp The Step file format saves footstep data Unlike a BIP file it does not save keys for the feet or upper body STP files are ASCII files The main purpose for this format is to enable developers ...

Page 1619: ... also be saved with the BIP file There are several ways to create or acquire bip files By loading one of the sample animation files that come with 3ds Max Refer to the installation and support guide for more details By creating your own animation with footsteps or freeform methods and saving the animation with the Save button in the Biped rollout See the procedures that follow By loading and filte...

Page 1620: ...e initial position of the animation file You might need to use Zoom Extents to see the biped after it is repositioned TIP The Biped keyboard shortcut Alt R sets the animation range to that of the currently selected biped Since the length of the animation can change after loading a BIP file this keystroke can be useful To use it make sure that the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle is active To save...

Page 1621: ... legs spine or neck onto a biped with more links in the legs spine or neck There are a few ways to perform motion mapping You can Go into Figure mode and change the structure of your biped When you exit Figure mode the new structure of the biped will adapt to the existing animation Save a BIP or STP file from one biped and load it onto another biped of a different structure and size Copy footsteps...

Page 1622: ... in any of the above cases Then you might see your biped moving over footsteps that are spaced inappropriately far apart or close together for the size of your biped Typically you should leave Scale Stride mode active unless you want to maintain the spatial relationship between the biped and other objects in your scene Procedures To turn off Scale Stride mode 1 Select the biped and go to the Motio...

Page 1623: ...e you merge make sure the root name of the biped you want to import is different from that of bipeds already in your scene If there is a name conflict select the conflicting biped go to the Motion panel and use the Structure rollout s Root Name field to change the biped s root name If you skip this step you will get a Duplicate Name dialog for every object in the merged biped s hierarchy 2 Choose ...

Page 1624: ...ding extra bones and the mesh skin the mesh skin is linked when Attach To Node is used in Physique Selecting a biped while merging a MAX scene In the illustration the center of mass object is named Hero With Select Subtree active all the children are also selected when you click Hero including the Physique mesh Loading Saving and Displaying Biped Motion 4305 ...

Page 1625: ... are not a problem The biped and its animation is merged with the scene To hide the finger toe and head dummy objects The dummy objects for fingers toes and the head are visible on the newly merged biped Usually these dummies are hidden from sight They are used by Physique to create envelopes for all the finger tips toe tips and head these dummies display when a character is merged The quickest wa...

Page 1626: ...Motion panel on the Biped rollout turn on Move All Mode 5 Use Select And Move to move the clone to a new location in the scene Combining BIP Motions character studio provides two main ways of combining BIP files to build more complex character animations Motion flow on page 4508 uses BIP files as clips in a script The motion flow script joins clips together using transitions Transitions can be unc...

Page 1627: ...enerate step files for biped motion The online document stp rtf provided with character studio in the cstudio docs directory describes the STP format Procedures To load footstep data 1 Select the biped to animate via saved footsteps go to the Motion panel 2 On the Biped rollout make sure you are not in Figure mode then click Load File 3 In the file dialog choose Step Files STP as the file type to ...

Page 1628: ...rameters dialog on page 4592 This dialog can reduce large numbers of keys at once It is displayed when you use the Motion Capture rollout to load a BIP BVH or CSM file Once you have loaded a motion capture file you can filter the data further by clicking Convert From Buffer also on the Motion Capture rollout which also displays this dialog See Filtering Motion Capture and Marker Data on page 4577 ...

Page 1629: ...ialize the Physique settings How Biped Uses Figure Mode When you animate the biped the Biped plug in maintains the at rest pose you have created for these elements of the biped body Spine Neck Clavicles Tail Ponytails Center of mass position relative to the body When Biped adapts the keyframed motions stored in BIP files to different characters the keyframes of the above elements are recreated as ...

Page 1630: ...over that certain biped limbs or the biped scale need a global adjustment in order to provide a closer match to the figure of the talent who performed the motion See also Motion Capture Rollout on page 4584 Copying and PastingTracks Biped s Copy Paste rollout on the Motion panel provides controls for copying and pasting biped tracks from one part of the biped to another or from one biped to a diff...

Page 1631: ...ttons in the Paste Options group on page 4402 become active Procedures To copy a track from one biped to another 1 Select any part of the biped and access the Motion panel 2 On the Copy Paste rollout click Create Collection and rename the new collection Biped Track 3 Click Track to use Track mode Then select the biped parts whose tracks you want to copy 4 Click Copy Track Biped creates a new track...

Page 1632: ...edures NOTE The procedures in this topic assume that you have already selected the biped and gone to the Motion panel To reposition a freeform animation with no IK attachment or a footstep animation 1 On the Biped rollout turn on Move All Mode The biped s center of mass is selected and displayed in a larger than usual size On the main toolbar Select And Move is turned on Move All mode is a conveni...

Page 1633: ...d with limbs attached to world space IK attachment A biped with limbs in world space has an IK Blend setting of 1 0 for each limb with no Object Space object specified For example when you plant the feet of a biped so its knees will bend when you lower its center of mass or you plant the hands of a biped doing pushups typically you do not specify an Object Space object 1 Create a dummy object near...

Page 1634: ... Position Y and Start Position Z to change the XYZ position of the biped 3 Turn off Motion Flow mode To use layers to reposition a biped with freeform animation Using layers and Auto Key when you reposition a freeform biped gives you some editing choices as described below 1 On the Layers rollout click Create Layer NOTE If the biped uses footstep animation the Move All Mode button will become unav...

Page 1635: ... else in the scene NOTE It is possible to turn on both buttons at once This is not recommended Depending on your system configuration turning on Play Animation and Biped Playback at the same time can considerably slow down performance Biped Playback Biped playback previews the motion of all existing visible bipeds If you hide a part or all of biped the hidden biped or biped part does not appear in...

Page 1636: ...port with the view you want to see 2 Hide or show the bipeds you want to appear in the playback 3 Select one of the visible bipeds and go to the Motion panel 4 On the Biped rollout click Biped Playback Stick figure biped animation plays back in the active viewport Animation plays back for all visible bipeds To preview biped motion using the full biped model 1 Drag the time slider 2 Click Play Anim...

Page 1637: ...ng a follow camera In this viewing mode visible footsteps appear to slide under the biped For export to games this feature is valuable as many game engines intelligently move the character s center of mass laterally according to game play In Place mode makes it easy to view tune and export animation in a manner that is complementary to game engine playback NOTE Trajectories do not display using In...

Page 1638: ...ce playback to gain a sense of lateral momentum when setting or adjusting horizontal keys Body Horizontal Track for the center of mass Procedures To use In Place mode to adjust keyframes 1 Select a biped that has animation and go to the Motion panel 2 On the Biped rollout click the bar at the bottom to expand the rollout If the rollout is already expanded the bar shows a minus sign at the left ins...

Page 1639: ...button Trajectories provide useful visual feedback as you edit keys showing the effects on the motion path for the parameters you re adjusting You also can use trajectory display to compare filtered and unfiltered motion capture data Changes to Tension Continuity Bias Dynamics Blend Ballistic Tension and the overall gravity setting GravAccel are reflected in the trajectories NOTE Trajectories do n...

Page 1640: ...he Modes And Display sub rollout if necessary by clicking its name 4 In the Display group turn on Trajectories 5 Turn on Sub Object selection level 6 On the main toolbar turn on Select And Move 7 Use the Transform gizmo to move the keys on the trajectory Display Preferences The Display Preferences dialog on page 4346 lets you customize how bipeds are displayed while you work with them This topic i...

Page 1641: ...ory display In the Footsteps group you can choose colors for the left and right footsteps and generate various colors or standard colors in the viewport or Track View You can also Show or Hide All Footsteps or Footstep Numbers In the Playback group you can define which bipeds will appear in Biped Playback This can be useful for speeding performance if your scene contains a number of bipeds See als...

Page 1642: ... files into longer animations Mixer mode is used to view save and load animation created with the Motion Mixer As with other parts of 3ds Max the rollouts change depending on the mode the software is in When no modes are active the following rollouts are displayed Assign Controller Rollout character studio on page 4328 Biped Apps Rollout on page 4330 Biped Rollout on page 4331 Track Selection Roll...

Page 1643: ...data You can also create freeform animation without any of the modes active simply by turning on the Auto Key button and moving or rotating any part of the biped Motion Panel Biped Once you have created a biped use the Biped controls on the Motion panel to animate the biped load and save Biped files and fit the biped to a mesh representing your character Create a biped if one does not exist and se...

Page 1644: ...tation Rollout on page 4417 Structure Rollout on page 4424 Center of Mass The parent object of the biped is its center of mass which appears as a blue octahedron near the center of the biped s pelvis The name of this object is the root name of the biped Bip01 by default The Center of Mass COM object is the root parent The center of mass is sometimes referred to as the COM Biped User Interface 4325...

Page 1645: ... the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 to select each track as well as the COM itself Rotating About a Different Pivot Point You can decouple rotation from the COM and rotate the biped about a pivot point you choose For instructions on how to do so see To rotate the biped about a pivot that is not the COM on page Left Pivot point moved to be near the biped s feet Right Rotating the biped after ...

Page 1646: ...s with the surfboard because the center of mass is linked to the surfboard Because the COM is the root object in the biped hierarchy it is the only object in the biped that you can link directly to other objects in the scene by using Select And Link To make other body parts such as feet and hands follow other objects in the scene use the technique of IK attachment see Animating IK Attachments on p...

Page 1647: ...ter studio Select a biped s COM Motion panel Assign Controller rollout The Assign Controller rollout assigns and appends different transform controllers to individual objects You can also assign controllers in Track View Animation controllers are plug ins that handle all of the animation tasks in the software For a complete list of available Animation controllers see Assign Controller on page 3593...

Page 1648: ...ler Displays a selectable list of controllers for a selected track Once controllers have been added right click the Biped SubAnim entry in the list and choose Properties to display the SubAnims dialog Biped User Interface 4329 ...

Page 1649: ...ition controller when you click Collapse Rotation Collapses the Rotation controller when you click Collapse Don t Delete Prevents the removal of the list controller after collapsing and hides the controller instead Per Frame Creates a key per frame during the collapse preventing the controller from collapsing onto the key times of the biped and SubAnim controller Collapse Performs the collapse Bip...

Page 1650: ...he Display group on the Biped rollout lets you adjust how the biped is displayed providing controls to show or hide Objects Bones Footsteps and Trajectories In addition the Biped rollout provides controls for converting footsteps into a freeform animation or a freeform into a footstep animation NOTE The Modes group Display group and Name field are hidden by default Click on the Modes and Display e...

Page 1651: ...ions to combine BIP files together to create character animation in Motion Flow mode on page 4545 After creating a script and editing transitions use Save Segment on the Biped rollout to store a script as one long BIP file Save an MFE file this enables you to continue Motion Flow work in progress TIP Use Motion Flow mode to cut motion capture files together NOTE The Motion Flow rollout on page 454...

Page 1652: ...ake advantage of footsteps Move All Mode Allows the biped to be moved and rotated with its relative animation intact You can transform the biped interactively in the viewport or with the dialog box that opens when the button is active When this button is active the biped s center of mass enlarges to be more easily selected for translation The Collapse button on the Move All dialog box allows you t...

Page 1653: ...t in Figure mode Reposition the biped center of mass to simulate the physics of wind or weight pushing against the biped Figure mode must be turned on to enable Rubber Band Mode To reposition biped knees and elbows turn on Figure mode and turn on Rubber Band mode Select the Move transform tool then select and drag a biped upperarm or thigh in the viewports Use this as an aid to fitting a biped to ...

Page 1654: ...ure Scale Stride mode is on by default Displays when Scale Stride mode is off Scale Stride mode is on by default so scaling occurs automatically when you load a bip stp or fig file Scaling occurs when you paste footsteps and when you scale the biped s legs or pelvis For example if you load a bip file that was saved from a larger biped the footsteps come into your current scene scaled to match the ...

Page 1655: ...eserved Biped keys for limbs footsteps and center of mass can be adjusted using In Place mode When the center of mass is moved on the XY axes in this mode the footsteps move View biped playback without requiring a follow camera In this viewing mode visible footsteps slide under the biped For export to games this feature is valuable since many game engines intelligently move the character s center ...

Page 1656: ...dering You can also hide individual body objects by using the standard 3ds Max Hide controls found in the Display panel and Display Floater Bones Displays biped bones Bones which do not render are represented as the color of the corresponding links Displaying Bones is useful for seeing exactly where the joints fall in relation to the biped objects Objects and Bones Displays bones and objects simul...

Page 1657: ...ings Show Footsteps Displays biped footsteps in the viewport but no footstep numbers Footsteps are represented as green and blue foot shaped outlines by default these are also visible in preview renderings Hide Footsteps Turns off footsteps and footstep numbers in the viewport Twist Links Toggles the display of twist links used in biped Default on Leg States When this button is on the viewport dis...

Page 1658: ...ack when you use Biped Playback on the Biped rollout Footstep color preference is a good way to distinguish between the footsteps of two or more bipeds in a scene Name Rollout The Name rollout lets you change the name of the biped When you change the name in the Biped rollout the center of mass is renamed and the entire biped hierarchy inherits the new name Save As Dialog Biped Select a Biped Moti...

Page 1659: ...Interface Save As dialog for a FIG BIP or STP file 4340 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1660: ... by animating the biped and saving a BIP file Step file STP Save footstep timing and location data in an ASCII format Step files contain no body keys spine arms etc Save Segment Lets you select segments of your animation for your BIP or STP file From Starts saving at this frame of the named animation To Stops saving at this frame of the named animation Active Time Segment When on animation in the ...

Page 1661: ...ayed here along with the object that it controls All When on all associated animation controllers are saved with the BIP file Selected When on only the highlighted animation controllers are saved with the BIP file Open Dialog Biped Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Load File The Open dialog lets you load biped BIP figure FIG and step STP files When you load a FIG file in Figure mode the Op...

Page 1662: ...Interface Open dialog for BIP or STP files Biped User Interface 4343 ...

Page 1663: ... generate step files for biped motion Biped will generate body keys for the loaded steps See stp rtf in the cstudio docs directory for more details on the step file format NOTE In Figure mode you can load only FIG files In other modes you can load BIP and STP files Motion Preview Lets you scrub through the animation in a BIP or STP file manually before opening it Restructure biped to match file Wh...

Page 1664: ...BIP file without it and reload NOTE The settings for loading 3ds Max objects are only active if Load MAX Objects is checked and there are objects in the data Prompt for Duplicates Opens a Merge dialog for each object in the BIP file that has a duplicate in the scene In this dialog you can Merge Skip or Delete Old If Prompt for Duplicates is off the objects in your scene will be automatically overw...

Page 1665: ...ory parameters and to set the number of bipeds to play back when you use Biped Playback on the Biped rollout You access the Display Preferences dialog by clicking the Display Preferences button on the Display group in the Biped rollout Interface Trajectories group NOTE Trajectories do not display using In Place mode Bone base Displays bone base trajectories 4346 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1666: ...t footsteps Generate Various Colors Asks whether you want different colors for left and right footsteps Based on your response generates various colors for footsteps in the viewports This works with multiple bipeds Generate Normal Colors Changes right footsteps to blue and left footsteps to green the default Applies to all bipeds in the viewports Viewport Colors in Track View Displays viewport foo...

Page 1667: ... and opposite biped body parts You can select the COM in various ways If the viewport rendering method on page 7818 is set to Wireframe you can select the COM in your viewport it s an octahedron located near the center of the biped s pelvis You can turn on Move All Mode on the Biped rollout on page 4331 which enlarges the COM in your viewport This is useful in shaded viewports where the biped pelv...

Page 1668: ...te gizmo When you key the COM s position or orientation using Set Key on page 7552 or Auto Key on page 7549 the animation data is stored within the respective biped transform tracks The biped Transform tracks contain the COM keyed data See also Biped Color coded Keys and Trajectories on page 4467 Procedures To Edit the COM s position and orientation 1 Create a biped 2 On the Motion panel expand th...

Page 1669: ...transform values 3 Select the Move gizmo s Z axis This turns off Body Horizontal and turns on Body Vertical 4 Turn on Body Rotation on the Track Selection rollout 3ds Max replaces the Move Transform gizmo with the Rotate Transform gizmo You can now change the biped s orientation To Lock all Biped COM Tools This procedure follows the concept from the previous procedure and centers on selecting mult...

Page 1670: ... controls Lock COM Keying restores the selected controls To rotate the biped about a pivot that is not the COM This is an example that shows the biped falling over by rotating about its feet NOTE These steps do not work when Move All Mode is active because this mode always uses World coordinates 1 Select both of the biped s feet and set Planted keys for them 2 Select the biped s COM 3 Click Select...

Page 1671: ...ing animation can be strange and unexpected 7 On the Key Info rollout click Set Key WARNING You must use the Biped Set Key You cannot use Auto Key for this operation 8 Move to a new frame rotate the biped and click Set Key again 9 Continue working this way until the rotation is complete To return to rotating the biped about its COM choose World from the Reference Coordinate System drop down list I...

Page 1672: ...e affects the animation Turn on Trajectories on page 8155 Keyed keys for COM tracks are color coded as follows Keys containing Body Horizontal tracks are red Keys containing Body Vertical are yellow Keys containing Body Rotation are green NOTE If a frame contains multiple keyed COM tracks the key s color code is divided accordingly A key s color reflects its keyed COM tracks Body Horizontal Select...

Page 1673: ...0 in order to override fully the trajectory during the airborne period Body Rotation Selects the center of mass to edit biped rotational motion You can rotate the biped about a pivot point that is different from the COM For instructions on how to do so see the Procedures section above Lock COM Keying When on allows you to select multiple COM tracks at the same time Once locked the tracks are store...

Page 1674: ...ontrollers 1 Create a biped 2 Turn on Auto Key 3 Select the biped s upper arm and rotate it so it extends forward 4 Go to frame 20 and rotate the upper arm so it extends sideways 5 Go to frame 40 and rotate the upper arm back to its original orientation From left to right the biped at frame 0 20 and 40 In the Motion Panel on the Quaternion Euler rollout notice that the Quaternion option is active ...

Page 1675: ...e the Euler option The curves have been converted to display Euler controlled rotations You now have access to the curve s tangent handles to change the curve s interpolation The animation is displayed as three separate Euler curves labeled Tangent Euler Rotation 8 Choose a different axis ordering from the Axis Order drop down list under the Euler option 4356 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1676: ...s preserved in the 3dsmax ini file from which it is restored after a scene reset or session change Euler Converts the selected biped animation to Euler rotation Axis Order Lets you choose the order in which the Euler rotation curves are calculated Available only when Euler is active Default YXZ Changing the ordering reflects on the curves which are modified accordingly However this change does not...

Page 1677: ...llout toolset However if your biped does not contain twist links the Twist and Bias settings are not used The Twist Poses rollout tools only affect limbs with three degrees of freedom DOF such as upper arms and thighs because you can control their twist links by rotating them Two DOF limbs forearms and calves for instance differ due to the fact that you can only control their twist links if you ro...

Page 1678: ...ses 1 Prepare a biped with five twist links on each upper arm TIP You can use See Through on page 183 on the biped s limbs to better distinguish the twist links inside 2 Exit Figure Mode and then expand the Twist Poses rollout 3 Select the right upper arm The rollout controls are enabled because you selected a three DOF limb 4 Use Previous Key and Next Key to cycle through the different pose prese...

Page 1679: ...e biped s arm extends upwards and shows some twisting 6 Click Set This assigns the Twist value of 0 to the upper arm s twist links NOTE A twist change is always reflected on both sides in this case both upper arms 7 Rotate the upper arm locally around its Y axis so it extends on the side 4360 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1680: ...se resets the current Twist value of the twist links 9 Rotate the upper arm locally around its X axis The twisting in the upper arm is calculated based on the limb s proximity to the saved poses Rotate the upper arm to verify the twist links Biped User Interface 4361 ...

Page 1681: ...tting of 1 0 concentrates the twist towards the top link while a setting of 0 0 instead concentrates it towards the bottom link The default setting is 0 5 distributing the rotation evenly throughout the links The twist links from the opposite side are so affected NOTE Changing the Bias value automatically resets the current limb s orientation to the active twist pose NOTE You can also set a Bias v...

Page 1682: ...ink such as a biped spine neck or tail NOTE Activating one of the Bend Links rollout modes deactivates any of the others However clicking Zero Twist or Zero All maintain any mode currently active NOTE The Bend Links rollout is displayed in Mixer Mode Motion Flow Mode or Footstep Modes Procedures To bend a spine naturally using Bend Links Mode 1 Select any link in the biped s spine Biped User Inter...

Page 1683: ...l you reach a pronounced bend 4 Rotate the spine link in local X Notice that all chain links rotates in a weird way due to the fact that they do not maintain their relationship with the two other axis Undo the rotation 5 On the Bend Links rollout click Twist Links Mode to activate it 6 Rotate the spine link in local X The rotation averages up the spine for all links while the spine maintains its e...

Page 1684: ...inks rollout click Twist Individual Mode to activate it 6 Rotate either the bottom or top spine link The chain links rotates to smooth out the orientation difference between the two link extremities Adjust the Smoothing Bias control to distribute the chain s rotation towards the base or top link Interface Bend Links Mode This mode can be used to rotate multiple links of a chain without having to s...

Page 1685: ...r further details Smooth Twist Mode This mode takes into account the orientation in local X of the chain s first and last links in order to distribute the rotation of the other links This results in a smooth rotation between every chain link The rotation distribution can be set by adjusting the Smoothing Bias control or by rotating either the first or last link of the chain Smoothing Bias Sets the...

Page 1686: ...istribution NOTE On the time slider or in Track View you can move one Biped key past another See Moving Keys on page 4466 Activating Parameters Groups of the Key Info rollout are unavailable depending on what part of the biped is selected and if a key is current Body Vertical on page 4353 Body Horizontal on page 4353 and Body Rotation on page 4354 refer to the three tracks used to animate the bipe...

Page 1687: ...e active If a biped hand is selected and a key is current then all parameters are active except parameters in the Body Dynamics group If a biped foot key is selected and current then all parameters are active except for parameters in the Body Dynamics group If a biped leg is selected and a key is current then Time and TCB parameters are active XYZ Position and Body Dynamics parameters are made una...

Page 1688: ... on NOTE If 3ds Max bones using the IK Controller or 3ds Max Particle Emitters are linked to the biped or if you are displaying 3ds Max trajectories or ghosting the Auto Key button must be on while the biped is positioned These objects update their parameters in real time as they are positioned Delete Key Deletes the key of the selected object at the current frame By default biped arm hand and fin...

Page 1689: ...r subsequent TCB keys Set Free Key Sets a biped key with IK Blend 0 Join To Previous IK Key turned off and Body selected in the IK group In a Footstep or Freeform animation a biped leg in a move state should have a free key TIP Right click to open the Free Key Defaults dialog on page which lets you set new default values for subsequent TCB keys To change the default values for TCB keys right click...

Page 1690: ...eter changes in the Key Info rollout affects the biped motion Changing Tension Continuity and Bias in the Tcb group affects the trajectory around the current key Changing the value of IK Blend for a hand or foot will affect the trajectory between keys Leave Trajectories on and turn on Show Buffer Trajectories on the Motion Capture rollout to compare a raw motion capture trajectory with the filtere...

Page 1691: ...ng the controller properties will have on the animation The red mark at the top of the curve represents the key The marks to the left and right of the curve represent an even division of time to either side of the key The TCB graph is a stylized representation of the animation around a single key Ease To Slows the velocity of the animation curve as it approaches the key Default 0 High Ease To caus...

Page 1692: ...near animation curve Low continuity creates a linear curve similar to high tension except without the Ease To and Ease From side effect The default setting creates a smooth continuous curve at the key Bias Controls where the animation curve occurs with respect to the key Default 25 High Bias pushes the curve beyond the key This produces a linear curve coming into the key and an exaggerated curve l...

Page 1693: ...t specified on page 4376 puts the biped limb into the coordinate space of the selected object the biped limb follows the specified object Ankle Tension Adjusts the precedence of the ankle joint over the knee joint When set to 0 the knee takes precedence When set to 1 the ankle takes precedence This effect is only visible between keyframes Select Pivot Activate to designate pivots around which the ...

Page 1694: ...vot is visible but not editable no dots if you re in an FK forward kinematics period or no limb or multiple limbs are selected dialog disabled no relevant data exists These are shown in the following illustration NOTE When on an IK key the left hand and foot charts use a blue red color scheme Join to Previous IK Key When on places the biped foot in the coordinate space of the previous key Turn off...

Page 1695: ...ect to make it link to different objects at different times Head group The Head group lets you define a target object for the target to look at Target Blend Determines the extent to which the target blends with the head s existing animation A setting of 1 0 causes the head to look directly at the target 0 5 causes the head to blend half of its existing animation with looking at the target and a se...

Page 1696: ...tor select the Horizontal Track in the Track Selection rollout set a key and enter a value in the Balance Factor field For example to create a sit then walk sequence you could shift the biped s weight balance between 0 the character is supported by the chair for the sit key and 1 for the stand key the character s pelvis shifts to maintain balance If a character is seated and reaches across the tab...

Page 1697: ...ard weight This would be when the biped is sitting or falling down A Balance Factor of 0 the minimum value causes the hips to stay still when the biped leans forward or backward A value of 0 places the biped s weight at the center of mass A value of 1 places the biped s weight above the center of mass A value of 2 places the biped s weight in the head Click the spinner up arrow to move the biped s...

Page 1698: ...a jumping or airborne motion Ballistic Tension Select the Body Vertical track COM and control the amount of spring or tension when the biped lands or takes off from a jump or run step The change is subtle A walk cycle will not activate this value The biped has to be airborne then the Lift and Touch vertical keys will display a Ballistic Tension value If there are more than three vertical keys duri...

Page 1699: ...ed Motion panel Keyframing Tools rollout Use controls on the Keyframing Tools rollout to clear animation on a biped or selected parts mirror biped animation and cause the Neck to rotate in body space rather than parent space You can also bend the horizontal center of mass track around a selected horizontal key SeparateTracks By default 3ds Max uses an optimized method for key storage For example k...

Page 1700: ...sform tracks available transform tracks are displayed in Track View When the Separate FK Tracks options are on for the Arms and Fingers only these tracks receive keys When the Separate FK Tracks options are off all limb tracks receive keys Biped User Interface 4381 ...

Page 1701: ...parate Tracks that are currently on causes a key to be stored for every biped object in the limb for the frames where any biped keys previously existed Procedures Example Use separate finger tracks to create a clenching fist 1 Create a biped with five fingers that have three joints apiece 2 Turn on Set Parents Mode 3 Turn on Separate FK Tracks for Arms 4 Select the right hand and set a free key at...

Page 1702: ... page 4252 Manipulate Subanims Modifies Biped subanims For more information about Biped subanims see Using Controllers on page 4252 Clear Selected Tracks Removes all keys and constraints from the selected objects and tracks Clear All Animation Removes all keys and constraints from the biped Biped User Interface 4383 ...

Page 1703: ...or the neck pelvis head and so on Mirror Reflects the animation about the world space XZ plane This option reverses the biped s position by 180 degrees so it now faces in the opposite direction Mirror in Place Reflects the animation locally but at the initial frame maintains the world space position and orientation of the biped The biped continues to face in the same direction Original animation T...

Page 1704: ...et Parents Mode stores the position of the entire limb when a biped limb is moved using inverse kinematics instead of rotated using forward kinematics For example if Set Parents Mode is off and Separate Tracks are turned on for the biped arms then the arm will snap back to its original position if you transform the biped hand If Separate Tracks are turned on for a biped body part then turn on Set ...

Page 1705: ...ey is deleted it will not affect the finger hand keys You must turn on Set Parents Mode for these toggles to take effect Arms Turn on to create separate transform tracks for the finger hand forearm and upper arm By default there is one finger track per hand All finger keys are stored in the Finger0 transform track the first link of the biped thumb Neck Turn on to create separate transform tracks f...

Page 1706: ...w or the Track Bar and an increment applied to the selected keys State Filters in this dialog select certain biped keys for you based on foot states Touch Plant Lift and Move Select Left Leg and the Move state filter then click Select to select all the left leg keys in a Move state for example Move is the leg state between footsteps Biped User Interface 4387 ...

Page 1707: ... of a limb at the current frame First select the keys in Track View then rotate or move the limb then click Apply Increment Apply Increment Adjusts the rotation and or position of a limb at the selected keys Use this feature when you need to set the position of a limb over multiple keys 4388 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1708: ...acks you want Left Leg Right Leg Body Horizontal Body Vertical Then select the foot states Touch Plant Lift Move Then click Select to select all the matching keys Selected keys are highlighted in white in Track View Copy Paste Rollout Create a biped or select one Motion panel Copy Paste rollout not available in Footstep Motion Flow or Mixer modes Controls on the Copy Paste rollout let you copy and...

Page 1709: ...eld at the top of the list A thumbnail view gives a preview of what the active buffer has saved Buffers are saved with your MAX scene file and also remain available in your 3ds Max session even if you reset The default name of a buffer depends on which mode you are in In the Posture and Pose modes the name of the buffer consists of abbreviated names of the body parts you selected followed by a seq...

Page 1710: ...In Track mode Paste Opposite can make a biped s limbs move symmetrically or apply the opposite of the copied movement to a different biped TIP After pasting a pose or tracks to a different biped often you have to reposition it This is easily done with Move All mode NOTE If a copied pose posture or track contains sub animations they can be pasted to another pose posture or track as long as the same...

Page 1711: ... the Copy Collections drop down list and save it Then select the Lower collection and save it as well 7 Save your scene and reset it File Reset 8 Create a new biped and load the Upper collection 9 For every 10 frames select the biped s upper body and paste the corresponding posture from the Copied Postures drop down list Set a key for each pasted posture 4392 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1712: ...n list now contains three collections two Upper collections one from the current file and one from the incoming and one Lower collection from the incoming file To capture different snapshots 1 Under the thumbnail snapshot of the Copied Postures group click Capture Snapshot from Viewport 2 Rotate your current viewport to different user views and copy a biped posture Notice that your snapshot matche...

Page 1713: ... and then create a new collection Rename it Poses 2 Make sure you re in Pose mode and click Copy Pose at frame 0 Then go to frame 30 3 Using tools from the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 move your biped away from its current position and rotate it in all three axes The biped with offset position and orientation 4 In the Paste Options group on page 4402 enable all three Paste buttons 4394 Cha...

Page 1714: ...ntation Paste Rotation is the only enabled button Example To maintain COM offsets using By Velocity 1 Create a biped Then on the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 turn on Body Horizontal 2 Set a key at frame 0 Then make sure Pose mode is selected and copy your biped s pose 3 Go to frame 10 and move the Body COM 50 units in the Y axis Set a new key 4 In the Paste Options group on page 4402 enabl...

Page 1715: ...ut on page 4367 set a key 3 In the TCB group set Ease To to 10 Ease From to 50 and all three TCB values to 5 4 In the IK group set IK Blend to 0 5 and choose the Object Space option Then set another key 5 Make sure you re in Posture mode and click Copy Posture 6 Create a new biped next to the original one Create a box next to its right hand 4396 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1716: ...the Body Space option selected 8 On the Keyframing Tools rollout on page 4380 turn Separate Tracks off for the arms Then turn Auto Key on 9 In the Paste Options group on page 4402 set the Auto Key TCB IK Values to Default 10 Click Paste Posture The hand assumes the copied posture and the key s TCB and IK values are set to default Keys are also set for the whole arm Biped User Interface 4397 ...

Page 1717: ...t Space remains selected Also notice that the hand is the only keyed limb 13 Go to frame 15 set the Auto Key TCB IK Values to Interpolated and paste the posture again This new key averages up the values based on the previous and next keys setting Ease To Ease From to 5 and 25 TCB to 15 and IK Blend to 0 25 Also Body Space is selected from the previous key Interface Create Collections Clears the cu...

Page 1718: ... existing Copy Paste Buffer upon load Default Off Load Collections When on sets biped to load the Copy Paste buffer from the incoming file appending the current buffer Default On Posture Pose and Track Choose one of these buttons to choose which kind of information you are copying and pasting The copy paste buttons change to indicate the current mode Default Pose Copy Paste buttons These buttons c...

Page 1719: ...e mode Copy Pose Copies the current pose of the entire biped and saves it in a new pose buffer Paste Pose Pastes the pose of the active buffer onto the biped Paste Pose Opposite Pastes the opposite of the pose of the active buffer onto the biped Track mode Copy Track Copies the tracks for the selected biped objects and creates a new track buffer Paste Track Pastes the track or tracks in the active...

Page 1720: ...t its name and enter a new name Thumbnail buffer view For Posture and Track mode displays a schematic view of the parts of the biped in the active copy buffer For Pose mode displays a schematic view of the entire biped This can help you preview the effect of pasting the active buffer Thumbnail showing a copied left arm posture Thumbnail showing a copied pose Capture Snapshot from Viewport When cho...

Page 1721: ...COM data when pasting poses on page 4394 TIP This choice can be seen as pasting absolute or relative COM animation The former will overwrite the current data with the copied one while the latter will maintain the current data ignoring all copied information By Velocity When on determines the values of the active COM tracks based on the previous trajectory of the COM through the scene This option i...

Page 1722: ...ious and next keys Interpolated Sets the TCB values to an interpolation from the animation on which you are pasting If an existing key is being pasted its TCB values are maintained Along the same lines existing IK values are also maintained when pasted If no key is present the IK values are set from the position in time between the previous and next keys Layers Rollout Select the Biped Motion pane...

Page 1723: ...he original layer is displayed as red bones Honoring IK Constraints Across Layers You can maintain a biped s IK constraints across layers by retargeting its hands and feet to the original layer This assures that the biped s constrained body parts are honored and locked in place while you make animation changes on the upper layers You can also choose to retarget a biped using another one as referen...

Page 1724: ...he fundamentals of animating across layers and expands on the concept of honoring IK constraints 1 Prepare a biped with IK keys on its feet and its left hand constrained to an IK object 2 Select your biped and expand the Layers rollout on the Motion panel 3 Create a new layer and rename it Low center of mass The Retarget Left Arm button in the Retargeting group becomes active which indicates that ...

Page 1725: ...ed s center of mass 6 Lower the center of mass on the Z axis until the biped s head is under the base layer s head display represented as a red box TIP To avoid deselecting the center of mass you can lock it by clicking the Selection Lock Toggle on page 7539 or press the spacebar 4406 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1726: ...nored 7 In the Retargeting group turn on both Retarget Left Leg and Retarget Right Leg Then click Update The biped s IK feet are adjusted to match those of the base layer The animation keys are updated to reflect the current layer s retargeted feet TIP If some body parts assume odd positions simply drag the time slider on page 7528 a few frames past your current frame and then drag it back home Bi...

Page 1727: ...ed This procedure centers on using an animated biped as a retarget reference for another biped with disproportionate body parts This method is often used when a motion is imported from raw data and adapted to bipeds with different proportions 1 Prepare an animated biped or load a BIP on page 7923 file onto one 2 Create a second biped alongside and rename it Disproportionate Biped 4408 Chapter 17 c...

Page 1728: ...page 4420 You can now change the biped s structure 4 Scale its upper arms and thighs to make them disproportionate from the rest of its body TIP You can quickly select body parts on both sides of a biped if you first select the body part then click Symmetrical on the Track Selection rollout on page 4348 Biped User Interface 4409 ...

Page 1729: ... the Layers rollout 7 Click Select Reference Biped and select your original biped in the viewport Disproportionate Biped adopts the animation from the reference biped whose name is now displayed next to the Select Reference Biped button 4410 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1730: ...iped 9 Turn on both Retarget Left Arm and Retarget Right Arm and then click Update Both hands precisely match those from the reference biped The animation keys are updated to reflect the current layer s retargeted hands Biped User Interface 4411 ...

Page 1731: ...r the base layer IK constraints 10 Turn on both Retarget Left Leg and Retarget Right Leg Then click Update The feet are correctly retargeted to the reference biped updating the respective animation keys 4412 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1732: ...and Retargeted Biped layers The base layer displays the non targeted motion while Retargeted Biped shows an adjusted motion that matches both hands and feet from Disproportionate Biped with the original biped 12 You can continue animating the biped to your liking Collapse your layers when you are satisfied Biped User Interface 4413 ...

Page 1733: ...rrently active 3ds Max objects and list controllers are loaded only at the base layer 0 When you load into a higher layer separate tracks are removed and IK is removed for any limb If Retarget is on for a limb the limb keys are removed After you load a layer retargetting does not happen automatically you must click Update after you load the layer 4414 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1734: ...es all the layers into layer 0 Legs that stray from the original footsteps in higher layers are pulled in to the original footsteps Snap Set Key Snaps the selected biped part to its original position in layer 0 and creates a key Use this in higher layers to return the selected biped part to the original motion If a layer has a posture key that bends the character forward at frame 2 and you want to...

Page 1735: ... Biped Choose this method to use the biped whose name is displayed next to the Select Reference Biped button as retarget reference Select Reference Biped Lets you choose a biped to use as retarget reference for the selected biped The chosen biped s name is displayed next to the button Retarget Left Arm When on the IK constraints of the base layer are honored for the biped s left arm Retarget Right...

Page 1736: ...Dynamics and Spline Dynamics These parameters specify how new biped center of mass keys are created and therefore how you want to work with the biped Turning on Spline Dynamics will create center of mass keys without gravity and balance calculation for newly created footsteps This may feel more familiar to new users who are already familiar with spline interpolation Biped Dynamics calculates biped...

Page 1737: ...ss COM Balance Factor and Dynamics Blend parameters are set to a value of 1 Biped calculates airborne trajectories and biped balance NOTE Use Dynamics Blend on the Key Info rollout Body group to set a vertical COM key that is a blend between Dynamics and Spline Interpolation a value of 1 is full Dynamics a value of 0 is full Spline interpolation Spline Dynamics Creates new center of mass keys usin...

Page 1738: ... the footsteps Now turn off Body Vertical Keys and the upper body still retains its original motion Use Footstep Adapt Locks Time to retain upper body motion while editing footstep duration in Track View When the duration of a footstep is changed the biped leg will adapt by re timing the touch plant and lift keys The biped upper body keys will retain their exact motion Body Horizontal Keys Turn on...

Page 1739: ...This reference or Figure mode position in which the biped is aligned to the mesh is necessary when a mesh is linked or attached to the biped with Physique After the biped is positioned to fit within a mesh leave Figure mode on during the process of attaching a mesh to the biped with Physique or when using Select And Link on the 3ds Max toolbar to link the mesh objects of a character to the biped T...

Page 1740: ... Figure mode is used to define biped structure The Structure rollout on page 4424 is displayed when you work in Figure mode allowing you to tailor the biped to your mesh character After creating a biped make all of your biped structure changes on the Structure rollout For example you may want to use one toe with one toe link if your character is wearing shoes or if your character s toes do not nee...

Page 1741: ...eneral sense of the issues involved when a biped is fitted to a mesh Use the Structure rollout to set the number of toes and fingers specify the number of links per finger and toe One toe with one toe link is often sufficient if your character wears shoes or if animating individual toes will not be necessary 4422 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1742: ... is not critical NOTE Objects like eyeballs and weapons should be linked to the biped after Physique is applied otherwise links Envelopes will extend to these objects when Physique is applied Reposition and use Ponytails on the Structure rollout to animate a character s jaw ears hat hair and ponytails A saved fig file can be reloaded if the biped is repositioned in Figure mode by mistake Move the ...

Page 1743: ...irst step in fitting a biped to a mesh in Figure mode Procedures To Scale a Biped and a Physique Mesh Select the biped turn on Figure mode and then change the biped height on the Structure rollout The biped and mesh scale together To Skin a Biped with Twist Links This procedure takes into account the process of skinning a character and expands on the concept of using twist links to better deform a...

Page 1744: ...a Skin modifier on page 1672 to the mesh 6 Unfreeze all the biped twist bones 7 On the Skin Parameters rollout of the Motion panel add all the biped bones to the skin except the forearms 8 Select and freeze the twist bones again 9 Turn on Edit Envelopes on the Parameters rollout 10 Select and adjust the Envelopes of the twist bones until the desired behavior is achieved moving and rotating the han...

Page 1745: ...The skeleton body type provides a realistic skeleton which fits naturally into mesh skins Male The male body type provides a silhouette mold based on basic male proportions Female The female body type provides a silhouette mold based on basic female proportions 4426 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1746: ...ate other appendages Reposition ponytails in Figure mode and use them to animate a character s jaw ears nose or anything that should move with the head Unlike the process of selecting the biped hand and dragging to reposition the entire arm ponytails must be keyed using rotational transformations Fingers Sets the number of biped fingers Default 1 Range 0 to 5 Finger Links Sets the number of links ...

Page 1747: ...spinner up arrow to move the ankle attach point toward the toes Range 0 to 1 Height Sets the height of the current biped Use to size the biped to your mesh character before Physique is attached This parameter is also used in a procedure to scale your character after Physique is attached Triangle Pelvis Turn on to create links from the upper legs to the lowest biped spine object when Physique is at...

Page 1748: ...d on in the Display rollout links from the legs to the lower spine object are visible Triangle Neck When on links clavicles to the top spine link instead of to the neck Default off Like Triangle Pelvis this feature has no effect on how the biped animates It is a convenience when you skin the biped using Physique Some meshes deform more naturally with the triangular neck configuration If you have a...

Page 1749: ... As with feet the planted behavior applies only to IK periods of biped animation After you set a Free key the fingers rotate as children of the hands using FK until you set another Planted key Twist Links group The bone twist option previously limited to the biped s forearm has been expanded to include all limbs These settings allow better mesh deformation on skinned models using Physique on page ...

Page 1750: ...181 Upper Arm Sets the number of twist links in the upper arms Default 0 Range 0 to 10 Forearm Sets the number of twist links in the forearms Default 0 Range 0 to 10 Thigh Sets the number of twist links in the thighs Default 0 Range 0 to 10 Calf Sets the number of twist links in the calves Default 0 Range 0 to 10 Horse Link Sets the number of twist links in the horse link the additional lower leg ...

Page 1751: ...mation for extra tails is saved in MAX and BIP files Create Xtra Click to create a new Xtra tail By default the parent of the tail is the biped s root Center Of Mass COM object You can change this by using the Pick Parent button Delete Xtra Click to delete the Xtra tail that is highlighted in the list If you the Xtra tail you delete is parent to another tail the child tail reverts to having the CO...

Page 1752: ... Xtra tail List of xtras Lists the biped s Xtra tails by name Links Sets the number of links in the tail Default 1 Parent name field Motion panel only Displays the name of the tail s parent object Pick Parent Motion panel only Reassigns the parent object Click this button to turn it on then in a viewport click a different part of the same biped The part you pick becomes the tail s parent Reorient ...

Page 1753: ...r to step longer distances Body Rotation keys change to bank into turns created by changes in path curvature or body speed Right or left leg keys in a move state must be adapted to step between new locations NOTE If for some reason you do not want the adaptation to occur use the Footstep Adapt Locks settings on the Dynamics Adaptation rollout on page 4417 to keep the biped from correcting the body...

Page 1754: ...e Footstep Creation rollout choose the gait you want to create Walk Run or Jump 3 Click Create Multiple Footsteps The Create Multiple Footsteps dialog displays for the selected gait 4 Set multiple footstep parameters and then click OK 5 On the Footstep Operations rollout click Create Keys for Inactive Footsteps to activate the footsteps To create footsteps manually beginning at the current frame 1...

Page 1755: ...ootstep Each new footstep is appended to the end of the biped s footstep sequence Create Footsteps alternates right and left footsteps as you create new ones Press Q to toggle between a left and right footstep Newly created footsteps are bright green for right footsteps and bright blue for left footsteps Once the footsteps have been activated the footsteps change color to pastel green and pastel b...

Page 1756: ... time as the most recent footstep on the opposite side Alternately it may start after the end of the previous footstep Timing parameters Use these parameters with Create Footsteps append or Create Footsteps at current frame to apply timing to newly created footsteps These parameters are different for each gait and change as you select a different gait Walk Footstep Walk only Specifies the number o...

Page 1757: ...ust the footstep path Interface Create Keys for Inactive Footsteps Activates all inactive footsteps Activation creates default keys for any footsteps that do not have them If a footstep does not have keys it is displayed as bright green right foot or bright blue left foot After keys are created for the footsteps the footsteps change color to pastel green and pastel blue Inactive footsteps on the l...

Page 1758: ... any footsteps exist that have not been activated the Copy button is grayed Activate the footsteps first then try again TIP Turn on Buffer mode on the Biped rollout to view and edit only the buffered footsteps and biped motion A pasted footstep is inactive until it overlaps a like foot and turns red Mouse up to activate the new footsteps Paste Footsteps Pastes footsteps from the footstep buffer in...

Page 1759: ...u want to end up with TIP To create a cycle of a motion with alternating footsteps you must copy and paste at least three footsteps All body keys between the start of the first step and end of the last step are also copied and pasted Bend Bends the path for the selected footsteps The path is bent to the left or right as you move the spinner Other footsteps after the selected footsteps will be move...

Page 1760: ...f the selected footsteps Length and Width may both be active at the same time Width 1 and Width 2 Create Multiple Footsteps Dialog Walk Select the Biped Motion Panel Biped rollout Footstep Mode Footstep Creation rollout Walk Create Multiple Footsteps Create Multiple Footsteps Walk dialog The Create Multiple Footsteps dialog for the walk gait creates a sequence of walking footsteps using a series o...

Page 1761: ...a value below 0 will make it step down To make the biped walk in place In the First Step group Set Parametric Stride Length to zero To make the biped walk backward In the First Step group set Parametric Stride Length to a value less than zero The absolute value of the Parametric Stride Length is still the length of the stride To make the biped speed up as it walks 1 In the Timing group click Inter...

Page 1762: ... gaits are selected Number of Footsteps Determines the number of new footsteps to be created Parametric Stride Width Sets the stride width as a percentage of the pelvis width A value of 1 0 produces a stride width equal to the pelvis width A value of 3 0 produces a wide waddling stride Changes to this setting automatically change the Actual Stride Width Parametric describes the parameter in terms ...

Page 1763: ...rameters for the Walk gait Walk footstep Double Support When Auto Timing is selected these parameters are automatically adjusted to reasonable values Control the footstep sequence by adjusting the Stride Length and Time To Next Footstep parameters When Auto Timing is off you can control the footstep sequence by adjusting the gait timing parameters but you can t change the Time To Next Footstep par...

Page 1764: ...ntage of the length of the biped s leg The default value of 0 75 gives an average stride of normal proportions A value of 1 0 will produce a stride length equal to the leg length which makes the biped stretch slightly to reach the next step A value of 0 0 will make the biped walk in place A negative stride length will make the biped walk backwards When a biped walks backwards it does not simply re...

Page 1765: ...es the ground again This parameter is only enabled if Auto Timing is on Speed Displays the number of units the biped will move per frame It changes in response to changes in the other parameters but cannot be adjusted directly The following two parameters are only enabled when Auto Timing is off You can use these parameters instead of Auto Timing to control the speed of the forward motion over the...

Page 1766: ...s Create Multiple Footsteps Dialog Run Select the Biped Motion Panel Biped rollout Footstep Mode Footstep Creation rollout Run Create Multiple Footsteps Create Multiple Footsteps Run dialog The Create Multiple Footsteps dialog for the run gait allows you to create a sequence of running footsteps by setting a series of parameters This dialog will display when Run is selected on the Footstep Creatio...

Page 1767: ...s of biped anatomy and Actual describes the value in 3ds Max units Stride Width 1 and Stride Width 3 Actual Stride Width Sets the stride width in modeling units Changes to this setting automatically change the Parametric Stride Width Timing Auto Timing Sets timing parameters automatically Auto Timing affects the following timing parameters for the Run gait Run footstep Airborne When Auto Timing is...

Page 1768: ...he current frame after the existing footstep sequence allowing you to make a gap in time before the footsteps start again First Step and Last Step Parametric Stride Length Sets the stride length for the new footsteps as a percentage of the length of the biped s leg The default value of 0 75 gives an average stride of normal proportions A value of 1 0 will produce a stride length equal to the leg l...

Page 1769: ...ent cycle A cycle starts with the frame in which a biped foot touches the ground continues as the foot lifts and moves and ends with the frame before the foot touches the ground again This parameter is only enabled if Auto Timing is on Speed Displays the number of units the biped will move per frame It changes in response to changes in the other parameters but cannot be adjusted directly The follo...

Page 1770: ...llout on the Motion panel and then click Create Multiple Footsteps Interface Start Left Starts the footstep sequence with a left step Start Right Starts the footstep sequence with a right step Alternate When this box is selected the footsteps will alternate between right and left When this box is cleared the footsteps will be either right or left steps causing the biped to hop on one foot Number o...

Page 1771: ...ing the gait timing parameters but you can t change the Time To Next Footstep parameter Interpolate Allows you to control acceleration or deceleration of the series of footsteps When this box is selected a second set of step parameters under Last Step is enabled Biped creates the footsteps starting with the values of the parameters under First Step and ending with the values of the parameters unde...

Page 1772: ...stride length will make the biped jump backwards When a biped jumps backwards it does not simply reverse the forward movement but maintains the correct foot state sequence with the toe touching the ground first followed by the heel Adjusting Parametric Stride Length automatically changes the value for Actual Stride Length Stride Length 0 75 and Stride Length 1 0 Actual Stride Length Sets the strid...

Page 1773: ...n Speed Displays the number of units the biped will move per frame This changes in response to changes in the other parameters but cannot be adjusted directly The following two parameters are only enabled when Auto Timing is off You can use these parameters instead of Auto Timing to control the speed of the forward motion over the series of footsteps 2 Feet Down Specifies the number of frames that...

Page 1774: ...een footsteps Biped elevation during these jumping and airborne periods will be lost when converting to freeform from footsteps unless you create a vertical COM key in the airborne period in the footstep animation a freeform animation uses spline interpolation for the center of mass position and does not account for gravity Elevation in airborne periods is restored if you convert back to footsteps...

Page 1775: ...K Blend 0 0 This will insure that the feet are locked and rid of unnecessary foot sliding as the body is moved When converting if the leg keys have been set up this way Biped will extract footsteps during any duration where IK Blend 1 0 Interface Convert to Freeform dialog Generate a keyframe per frame Creates keys at every frame NOTE Converting footsteps to freeform creates foot IK Blend values o...

Page 1776: ...keys that represented footsteps Flatten Footsteps to Z 0 The entire biped is repositioned to place the footsteps at Z 0 NOTE An IK Blend value of 1 for the feet puts them into world coordinate space and prevents them from slipping while setting biped keys in a freeform animation Footstep Mode Dialog Graph Editors menu Track View Dope Sheet Right click on a footstep track Right click anywhere in th...

Page 1777: ...dit Free Form no physics In this mode you can edit the biped s body keys for the frames at which the biped is airborne Free Form suspends the physically based dynamics that normally control biped motion This is essential when you want to make the biped fly or sit down or fall over Note that the freeform period must be between footsteps 4458 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1778: ...Start and End Frame Displays the start and end frames of the footstep from Touch to Lift Biped displays just the start frame if the footstep block is too small to show both Zoom in to see both start and end numbers Both footsteps 0 and 1 begin at frame 0 and end at frame 19 Start Frame Displays just the start frame number Touch Both footsteps 0 and 1 begin at frame 0 Duration Displays the number o...

Page 1779: ...isplay both numbers at the same time by selecting both boxes Footsteps 0 and 1 share a double support period of 20 frames No Support Displays the number of frames that the whole biped is airborne that is the frames in which neither of the feet have any contact with the ground The no support period between frames 3 and 4 and 4 and 5 is 12 frames Foot Air Duration Displays the number of frames that ...

Page 1780: ...lect Entire Footstep Selects the entire footstep Select End of Footstep Selects rightmost key for the current footstep selection TrackView Biped Graph Editors menu Track View Dope Sheet or Track View Curve Editor In this Track View Dope Sheet view of a walking motion footsteps are represented by colored squares footstep numbers appear in boldface inside the squares in between Biped User Interface ...

Page 1781: ...s between the keyframes You can see and control the motion and animation of the objects in the scene using the keys found on the curves You can even draw curves directly on the graph Footsteps inTrackView Dope Sheet By default left leg footsteps are blue and right leg footsteps are green Inactive footsteps are more saturated values of blue and green active footsteps are pale blue and green The lef...

Page 1782: ...ases If your animation requires extensive hand and finger keyframing turn on Arms on the Keyframing Tools rollout all of the arm transform tracks are now enabled down to the first finger link on each finger Now if you delete an upper arm key your finger hand animation is preserved How Dynamics and Footsteps Relate When footsteps are created a footstep track displays in Track View Dope Sheet Footst...

Page 1783: ... you do not need a vertical center of mass key at the top of a jumping motion or at the bottom of dip when the biped lands from an airborne period Click and drag the middle of a footstep to move it in time Click and drag one edge of a footstep to stretch the footstep in time 4464 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1784: ...aracter studio calculates the trajectory of the Body This image shows the center of mass trajectory Keyframes are white squares on the trajectory Simply change gravity GravAccel on the Dynamics Adaptation rollout and the jumping motion is flattened The biped looks like it s hopping on the moon By selecting half the footsteps in Track View Dope Sheet and moving them to the right in time the biped h...

Page 1785: ...move a key onto a frame where a key is already present it replaces the original key In Track View you can move a key past another using the transform track You can also scale keys forward in time such that some keys are now past the keys that weren t scaled If keys move into negative time a warning reminds you that keys in negative frames can t be used for footstep animation a workaround is to set...

Page 1786: ...etween footsteps in Track View Right click the footstep track to display the Footstep Mode dialog here you specify a freeform period select multiple footstep edges and set footstep numbering display options Biped Color coded Keys andTrajectories Biped uses color coding for IK keys in three places Track View Track Bar and when trajectories are displayed in the viewports Also depending on the types ...

Page 1787: ...yellow for sliding keys blue for body space IK keys TIP One way to create a body space IK key is to set a regular IK planted or sliding key and then at that frame on the Key Info follout IK section choose Body Or you can convert an FK key that s already set to Body by increasing its IK Blend value above 0 0 During FK periods the node trajectory and its keys display in purple the same keys are gray...

Page 1788: ...ved from the foot s node pivot location This gives you more detailed information about the animation that is driving the foot Footstep trajectory In following illustration while the biped walks the right hand reaches up to touch something in IK as shown by the yellow trajectory made by two sliding IK keys Later the biped touches its own face using body space IK as shown by the bright blue keys The...

Page 1789: ...t it was hard to know what type of trajectory these combinations produced The new trajectory colors clarify the result In the chart the letters have the following meanings O object space B body space IK a key where IK Blend 0 It is always accompanied by the space O or B FK a key where IK Blend 0 no matter what space it s in Trajectory Color Trajectory Drawn Result From To 4470 Chapter 17 character...

Page 1790: ...et to Bone Base or Bone Tip on the Display Preferences dialog on page 4346 Biped Shortcuts The table in this topic shows the default keyboard shortcuts for character studio To customize your shortcuts use the path specified above Use the Keyboard Shortcut Override toggle on page 7858 on the main toolbar to enable the character studio keyboard shortcuts All character studio keyboard shortcuts activ...

Page 1791: ...o edit biped rotational motion Body Rotation Selects the center of mass to edit vertical biped mo tion Body Vertical Buffer Mode Toggles foot states of the selected leg at the current Alt Ctrl S Change Leg State frame View the state change in the leg states displayed on the Biped rol lout Clear All Animation Clear Selected Tracks Collapse Layer Alt M Collapse Move All Mode Changes 4472 Chapter 17 ...

Page 1792: ...y Footsteps Enable Subanims Figure Mode Searches for any problem in the motion and prompts Alt Ctrl F Fix Graphs you whether or not to fix problems it encounters Problems it looks for in clude overlapping keys keys past the end of the footstep range keys at negative frames or illegal footstep timing Click OK when prompted to fix these problems automatic ally Footstep Mode Free Mode Biped User Inte...

Page 1793: ...the current frame In Track View you can watch the key turn from red to gray and back again as you lock and unlock it Manipulate Subanims Mirror Mixer Mode Motion Flow Mode Move All Mode Next Layer Pastes the posture from the clipboard onto the cur rently selected biped Alt V Paste Posture Pastes Posture Opposite for the currently selected biped Alt B Paste Posture Opposite 4474 Chapter 17 characte...

Page 1794: ...l E Scale In Transform toggle should use this when ex porting biped objects as regular 3ds Max links through the 3ds Max SDK Animators should not use this shortcut Scale Stride Mode Set Free Key Sets a biped key 0 Set Key Set Layer Snap Key Set Multiple Keys Set Planted Key Resets the total animation length to the length of the Alt R Set Range current biped footstep range Biped User Interface 4475...

Page 1795: ...e Customize User Interface dialog Working with the Workbench The Workbench is a customized version of Track View that you use for correcting and improving biped animation It extends the functionality of existing curve editors by giving you different options for visualizing and manipulating curves and provides filters to perform general rotation position and other biped specific operations Curves c...

Page 1796: ...jects share tracks For example all the objects in a leg or an arm share a single track 4 On the Analyze panel choose an analyzer from the drop down list Set the analysis conditions then click Analyze Any errors the analyzer encounters will be displayed in a list at the bottom of the Analyze panel The Curve view also indicates the problem area by displaying a vertical bar 5 On the Fix panel select ...

Page 1797: ...g and fixing knee conditions specifically knee wobble and extension For more information see Analyze Panel on page 4492 Fixers Fixers address problems found by the analyzer The fixers work by running a specified operation over just the analyzer result They don t change the complete animation just areas around the problem For more information see Fix Panel on page 4498 Filters Filters are operation...

Page 1798: ...el to another The tools displayed change with each panel The overall workflow is left to right for the tabs and top to bottom within each panel Selections are displayed in lists clicking a name in a list selects that entry Operations are usually performed by clicking a button at the bottom of the panel TIP The Tab panels can be hidden once the operations are performed and you don t need to see the...

Page 1799: ... view of curves in the Curve view window Zoom Zoom Extents Horizontal and Vertical and Pan are often used to get a better view of an entire curve or a portion of a curve As a default the curve view automatically displays the curve of whatever biped object is selected in the viewport The Workbench window can be resized to make it easier to work with curves You can float or hide toolbars to give you...

Page 1800: ... Show Layered Edit This is a special Workbench mode that extends the edit to affect keys surrounding the one you are editing It works like soft selection in 3ds Max but gives you greater control over the displacement It can help you blend your edits into existing motion Selecting WorkbenchTracks As a default behavior whatever biped part is selected in the viewport will have its curves displayed in...

Page 1801: ...ootstep animation you can see the footstep keys by opening a Track View Dope Sheet window Analyzing Curves Once you have selected curves you can analyze them to discover error conditions You choose between four kinds of detectors Noise Spike Knee Wobble or Knee Extension You can also select only a the portion of a curve to analyze Perform the analysis by clicking the Analyze button The errors are ...

Page 1802: ... then edit the waves in various ways to alter the sound Similarly the motion of the biped body parts as defined by position and rotation tracks can be evaluated for error conditions regarding speed angle acceleration or change of direction Of course you can also fix curves manually You can select the key on the curve and move it using the standard Track View key buttons duplicated in the Workbench...

Page 1803: ...eys on page 4466 The Animation Workbench displays rotation curves in local biped space for both quaternion and euler rotations This improves the speed of curve manipulation since the whole biped doesn t need to be calculated in order to draw a single curve NOTE This does not affect position curves which are still evaluated in world space NOTE Curve display will only change for certain objects in C...

Page 1804: ...urves in the workbench because the head doesn t inherit the spine link s rotation and doesn t have an internal rotation of its own Interface 1 Tab panels Select Analyze Fix and Filter 2 Display Tab panels 3 Display Controllers list 4 Workbench toolbar 5 Curve View 6 Curve View toolbars same as Track View toolbars Animation Workbench 4485 ...

Page 1805: ...peration over the whole curve rather than using the results of the last error analysis Use this when you have errors visible in the motion but the fixer refuses to find them For more information on the Filter panel user interface see Filters Panel on page 4503 Use the Tab button on the Workbench toolbar to display and hide the Tab panel CurveView To the right of the Tab area is the Curve View wher...

Page 1806: ...tor on page 3572 Noise curves represent random position and rotation Each biped part can show any of these curves except for the Horizontal and Vertical tracks which show only positional curves and the Turning track which shows only angular curves The Axis order drop down lets you choose the order in which the rotation curves are calculated Curves in previous version of Character Studio were alway...

Page 1807: ...g sets of keys along a curve within a range To set the range click to highlight one of the square handles and then drag it As you drag the handle follows the curve Handle follows curve To set a layered offset click to highlight the circular handle and then drag it to the desired position The circular handle follows the curve unless you hold down the Esc key If you drag while holding down Esc you c...

Page 1808: ... the selection drop down list To change the curves that are displayed go into the Controller window and select the curves you want to see Once you ve made a selection you can hide the entire Tab area by clicking the Tab button on the Workbench toolbar This gives you more room to work on the curves in Curve View The functionality of the Select panel is similar to the standard 3ds Max Selection Floa...

Page 1809: ...st highlight the body part track whose curve you want to see To hide or unhide the Tab panel 1 Click the Tab button on the Workbench toolbar The Tab panel disappears from view 2 Click the Tab button again The Tab panel returns to view 4490 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1810: ...Interface Animation Workbench 4491 ...

Page 1811: ...off Named selection list When you create a named selection in the scene the named selection becomes available Select From Viewport When Select From Viewport is on you can click the biped body parts directly in the viewport rather than from the list The curves are immediately displayed in the Workbench Curve View This is handy if you don t know the name of the part you need to select Analyze Panel ...

Page 1812: ...ped object whose curve you want to correct You can select the object from the Select list in a viewport or from the Controllers hierarchy 2 Click the Analyze tab then on the Analyze panel choose the analyzer you want to use from the drop down list By default there are two choices Noise Detector and Spike Detector Animation Workbench 4493 ...

Page 1813: ...bottom of the panel The errors also appear in Curve View as brown lines 5 If no errors are found try lowering the standard deviation value or make sure you have used the appropriate property when using the noise detector For example if you have a problem with the rotation of a leg but you choose a Pos property that error will not be detected 4494 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1814: ...Interface Animation Workbench 4495 ...

Page 1815: ...any large change in the animation either rotational or positional as determined by the standard deviation value Can operate on specific curves as determined by the selection in the Property drop down list regardless of what s currently visible in the Workbench NOTE It s important to understand that noise isn t always bad For example in an animation of a person waving his hand then suddenly punchin...

Page 1816: ...in the jerk of the rotational angle Pos Speed Looks for noise in the speed of the position Pos Accel Looks for noise in the acceleration of the position Pos Jerk Looks for noise in the jerk of the position Standard Deviation Lets you set the degree to which the animation can depart from its overall pattern For example in data that is somewhat noisy by design the Noise detector can look for instanc...

Page 1817: ...ed body part or set of parts at a particular time In general fixes either change the value of a key or remove keys to produce corrected motion The results of last analysis are displayed in the Analyze Results list Clicking an error in the list once displays the error as a yellow line over the curve clicking the error twice updates the viewport scene making the error the current frame Errors can be...

Page 1818: ...ove keys from curves automatically 1 On the Select panel highlight the biped part in the list TIP If you don t know the name of the part you can click it in a viewport 2 On the Analyze panel choose the appropriate Analyzer type and properties 3 Click Analyze The errors are listed in the error result list at the bottom of the panel 4 On the Fix panel choose the errors you want to fix 5 In the Fixer...

Page 1819: ...st Displays all the errors the analyzer found for the selected body parts The name of the Biped object is preceded by the frame number of the error Clicking the error once displays a yellow line at that 4500 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1820: ...Good if you just want to keep the general shape of the animation but don t want to keep the details May remove too much detail in the animation Adv Rot Smoothing Works even better than the normal smoothing filter when it comes to only modifying large changes Can be repeated on the same track for greater effect It is the slowest filter great at keeping minute details which can be very important esp...

Page 1821: ...er is available only when Remove Keys is the fixer Knee Angle Sets the rotation angle to determine what constitutes knee extension errors If the knee is planted and its angle is less than or equal to the knee limit angle then the center of mass object is adjusted so that the knee angle doesn t exceed the limit This parameter is available only when Knee Extension is the fixer Frames Determines the ...

Page 1822: ...ver you want to perform a general operation over a body parts motion like smooth out or boost up some noise Procedures To filter a track 1 Choose the parts you want to filter either just a particular curve or an entire selection 2 Choose the time range you want to filter either the entire biped animation the active time segment or a custom range 3 Choose the filter you want to apply Adjust its ind...

Page 1823: ...Interface 4504 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1824: ...n and subanims Rot filters work in quaternion rotation space and modify the quaternions of the specified animation tracks Pos filters work in the specified positional coordinate system and modify the positions of the animation tracks Blurring Uses basic Gaussian filters that take a weighted average over the width Blurring filters are good for smoothing out noise but can also over smooth areas that...

Page 1825: ... already exist See Sub Anim parameters on page 4507 Key Reducer Creates tracks with fewer keys by removing certain keys based on tolerance and key spacing parameters This works similarly to how key reduction works during motion capture import See Key Reducer parameters on page 4507 Knee Wobble Corrects knees that wobble or shake when a foot is planted If the knee is determined to wobble by the fil...

Page 1826: ...the list as it s collapsed onto the biped Per Frame Sets keys at every frame of the collapsed controller The Sub Anims filter tools are also available from the Motion panel You can assign controllers to a biped subanim and then collapse it by right clicking and choosing Properties The difference between using this in the Motion panel and in the Workbench is that you can apply subanims to multiple ...

Page 1827: ...y Spacing settings affect key reduction only on specified center of mass COM tracks horizontal vertical or rotational Filter Click to apply the active filter to the selected tracks Working with Motion Flow Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Motion Flow Mode Motion flow mode provides an area to graphically arrange clips into a network and tools to create and edit transitions between clips Mo...

Page 1828: ...gate driven method uses a network of clips but instead of random selection it bases clip selection on a delegate s speed and heading In a delegate driven crowd simulation clips are arranged to follow a logical sequence For example the first clip could be a start walk clip then a walk loop then a branch to a turn right and turn left clip then a slow to stop clip and so on During motion synthesis th...

Page 1829: ...e of the graph dialog says Shared Motion Flow Graph followed by the name of the shared motion flow Shared Motion Flows are used to control multiple bipeds with one shared motion flow There are two ways to create clips in the Motion Flow Graph on page 4549 The first method lets you create a blank clip to which you later assign a BIP file The second method lets you create multiple clips at once by c...

Page 1830: ...e Motion Flow Graph on page 4549 that are named clip1 clip2 and so on 7 On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar click Select Clip Transition 8 Right click over a clip in the window A clip dialog is displayed 9 Click Browse in the clip dialog and choose a BIP file 10 Optionally set the start and end frame and then click OK The selected icon displays the clip name in the Motion Flow Graph on page 4549 this...

Page 1831: ...the Show Graph button to open the Motion Flow Graph 2 On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar click Create Multiple Clips The Open dialog appears Use it to choose the location of your BIP files 3 While holding down the Ctrl key choose multiple clips in the Open dialog Once processed multiple clips appear in the Motion Flow Graph on page 4549 window 4512 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1832: ...n panel Biped rollout Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow rollout Motion Flow Graph Transitions shown as arrows link motion files clips together to create longer character animation and crowd simulations Transitions can be created manually with the Transition Editor on page 4558 or automatically by the software Working with Motion Flow 4513 ...

Page 1833: ...e dozens of motion clips so automatic creation of optimized transitions can be a big time saver Whether you plan on animating one or many bipeds using Motion Flow mode you ll need transitions between the clips in the Motion Flow Graph Procedures To create transitions using From To or To From method 1 On the Motion Flow rollout click the Show Graph button to open the Motion Flow Graph 2 On the Moti...

Page 1834: ... Transition To From To create transitions using Create All Transitions 1 On the Motion Flow rollout click the Show Graph button to open the Motion Flow Graph 2 On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar click Create Multiple Clips The Open dialog appears Use it to choose the location of your bip files 3 While holding down the Ctrl key choose multiple clips in the Open dialog Once processed multiple clips ap...

Page 1835: ... click Yes to create transitions from each selected clip to itself Possible transitions from one clip to the next are automatically generated To optimize transitions in the Motion Flow Graph 1 After adding several clips and transitions click Select Clip Transition and select one or more transitions 4516 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1836: ...ite 2 On the Motion Flow toolbar click Optimize Selected Transitions The Transition Optimization dialog is displayed 3 Click OK A processing bar scrolls across the top of the Motion Flow Graph on page 4549 Working with Motion Flow 4517 ...

Page 1837: ...Graph Default transitions are assigned if no transitions exist between the clips The clip names and starting frame numbers display in the list on the Motion Flow Script list A sample script as it appears in the Scripts group on the Motion Flow rollout Random scripts vary the order of the clips found in the Motion Flow Graph Scripts are run in a top down order to animate the character Click Play to...

Page 1838: ...otion flow graph with three or more motion files For information on how to set up the graph see To create multiple clips in the Motion Flow Graph on page 2 In the Scripts section of the Motion Flow rollout click Define Script and then select a sequence of clips from the Motion Flow Graph dialog on page 4549 As you select the clips in the Motion Flow Graph dialog they are added to the script list W...

Page 1839: ... 5 Click Stop Animation Change the Start Frame setting to 25 and move the frame slider Now the biped will hold its start position until frame 25 then start moving 6 Change the Start Position X Y or Z setting These settings let you control the position of the footsteps that the character follows 7 Change the Start Rotation setting to 90 Often the footsteps in a BIP file are not oriented in the dire...

Page 1840: ...ion Flow Editor MFE file for later editing This format lets you save a Motion Flow and script from one biped and load it onto another biped You save load and append MFE files from the Motion Flow rollout Procedures To save Motion Flow Editor files 1 Create a Motion Flow Graph with three or more motion files For information on how to set up the graph see To create multiple clips in the Motion Flow ...

Page 1841: ...a script see To create Motion Flow Scripts on page A sample script called Kicking Script containing four clips 3 Click the Save File button to save a Motion Flow Editor MFE file The Save As dialog opens 4522 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1842: ...to store your Motion Flow Editor files To load Motion Flow Editor files 1 Select a biped 2 Open the Motion panel 3 On the Biped rollout click Motion Flow Mode 4 On the Motion Flow rollout click Load File The Open dialog opens Working with Motion Flow 4523 ...

Page 1843: ... the Play Animation button to see the biped move to the scripted clips To append Motion Flow Editor files 1 Select a biped 2 Open the Motion panel 3 On the Biped rollout click Motion Flow mode 4 On the Motion Flow rollout click Load File The Open dialog opens 4524 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1844: ...may have to scroll down to see it CustomizingTransitions Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow rollout A good transition links two clips together seamlessly the motion through the transition should appear natural as though the motion was captured as one long motion sequence If clips do not transition smoothly you may find it necessary to edit or customize your tran...

Page 1845: ...ion Flow Scripts on page 3 Choose the first clip in the clip list in the Scripts section on the Motion Flow rollout 4 Click Edit Transition to display the Transition Editor for the selected clip and the clip following it in the list 5 Scrub the Frame spinners in the Ghost areas of the Source Clip and Destination Clip to find a place in both clips to start the transition Two stick figures appear to...

Page 1846: ...ast two clips For information on how to create a script see To create Motion Flow Scripts on page 3 Choose the first clip in the clip list in the Scripts section on the Motion Flow rollout 4 Click Edit Transition to display the Transition Editor for the selected clip and the clip following it in the list 5 At the upper left corner of the Transition Editor click Next Transition in Script 6 Click Op...

Page 1847: ...dom motion in the Motion Flow Graph in the clip and transition dialogs as well as in the Create Random Motion dialog You create random motion by first adding clips to the Motion Flow Graph and adding transitions between the clips Clips and transitions are then given percentages which are used to create random motion for one or more bipeds You can manually control the weighting for a possible start...

Page 1848: ...al chance of being randomly chosen You can adjust the weighting of transitions in the Motion Flow Graph or Transition Editor to give transitions a higher probability of being selected You can also set a specific start clip for your biped to use while the remainder of the clips in the script are randomly chosen from the Motion Flow Graph To customize transition weighting and setting a start clip 1 ...

Page 1849: ... Motion Flow Graph Each transition displays its weighting value 100 by default 5 Click Select Clip Transition and right click a transition that you want to adjust The Transtion Editor dialog is displayed 6 Adjust the Probability setting to give the transition a higher or lower probability of being randomly chosen for the motion flow script NOTE The Probability range is 0 to 100 7 On the Motion Flo...

Page 1850: ...imum Animation Length 12 Click Play Animation or scrub the time slider to view the transition Procedures To create a random script for one biped 1 On the Biped rollout select a biped and turn on Motion Flow mode 2 On the Motion Flow rollout click Show Graph This displays the Motion Flow Graph 3 On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar click Create Multiple Clips The Open dialog appears where you can choos...

Page 1851: ...g clips are weighted at 100 meaning all the transitions have a even chance of starting first 7 Region select all the clips in the Motion Flow Graph The clips all turn purple and are assigned a weighting of 100 All the clips have an even chance of starting first 4532 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1852: ...vary clip and transition percentages in the clip dialog or Transition Editor to favor a clip or transition if you like 11 Click Play Animation or scrub the time slider to view the transition Unifying Motion The Create Unified Motion command allows you to create one motion from a script The entire unified motion is then available when you exit Motion Flow mode Create Unified Motion converts a scrip...

Page 1853: ...n Motion Flow Mode 3 On the Motion Flow rollout click Show Graph This displays the Motion Flow Graph 4 On the Motion Flow rollout click Load File and choose 1flobees mfe from the Open dialog 5 Click Create Unified Motion 6 On the Biped rollout turn off Motion Flow mode 7 Open the Layers rollout and click Create Layer A new layer is created and you see a red skeleton appear on your biped 4534 Chapt...

Page 1854: ...8 Activate the Front viewport and turn on Auto Key 9 At frame 0 select and rotate the biped s upper left arm about the Y axis Working with Motion Flow 4535 ...

Page 1855: ... s own motion flow If a biped s motion flow happens to be a shared motion flow then the shared motion flow will be used to compute random motion A biped that shares a motion flow shares only the clips you have added to the Motion Flow Graph Scripts are unique to each biped although the scripts point to the clips of the shared motion flow You can manipulate each biped s motion flow and scripts in t...

Page 1856: ...create a shared motion flow for each size TIP The only way to save a shared motion flow along with the bipeds sharing it and keep everything hooked up correctly is to save it all in a max file Procedures Example To share a random motion flow among multiple bipeds 1 Create three bipeds 2 On the Biped rollout turn on Motion Flow Mode 3 On the Motion Flow rollout click Show Graph This displays the Mo...

Page 1857: ...sition and region select all the clips 7 On the Motion Flow Graph click Synthesize Motion Flow Graph and click Yes when asked if you want to create transitions from each selected clip to itself 4538 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1858: ...ed 9 Region select all the clips in the Motion Flow Graph dialog The clips all turn purple and are assigned a weighting of 100 All the clips have an even chance of starting first 10 On the Motion Flow rollout click Shared Motion Flow The Shared Motion Flow dialog is displayed 11 On the Shared Motion Flows dialog click New A new shared motion flow is created Working with Motion Flow 4539 ...

Page 1859: ... group click Add 13 On the Select dialog choose all the bipeds The bipeds are added to the list If you add clips to the motion flow graph they will be shared by the bipeds 14 Click OK to close the Shared Motion Flow dialog 4540 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1860: ...on is ready you can save the shared motion flow setup apply it to a similar set of bipeds with Physique applied and then render the final animation with no further crowd setup required For best results the two sets of bipeds should have the same number of members and be of comparable structure and size and the biped structures should have the same root names 1 Create a biped crowd simulation using...

Page 1861: ...n Setting Up Paths for Motion Flow Files On a Motion Flow Graph the location of the referenced BIP files is saved in the MFE file If a BIP file cannot be found the program looks in the Animations directory specified by Configure User Paths File I O on page 7733 If a BIP file is not found in the Animations directory then 3ds Max looks for the file in the same location as the currently loaded MAX fi...

Page 1862: ... new directory is added as another MoFloDir line 3ds Max will search the directories in the order they appear and will use the first instance of the file that it finds When network rendering the file names need to be UNC compatible Procedures To load a Motion Flow scene from another system 1 Open a Motion Flow scene that was created on a different system If referenced BIP files cannot be found the...

Page 1863: ... on the Add Directory To ini File option automatically adds another MoFlowDir line to your biped ini file NOTE Turn on Add Directory to Search if you want to search for referenced BIP files during your current session but do not want to add the directories to the biped ini file 4 Click Play Animation after paths for all the referenced BIP files are properly set 4544 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1864: ...ce them to BIP files in the Motion Flow Graph You then use these to create a script in the Motion Flow Script list You adjust transitions between BIP files with the Transition Editor You save scripts transitions and clip references in a Motion Flow Editor file MFE for later editing Random Motion and Crowds You can generate random motions for one or more bipeds using the Create Random Motion comman...

Page 1865: ...g on Select Clips Transitions on the Motion Flow Graph toolbar and then right clicking a clip icon a clip dialog appears allowing you to browse for a clip Click Define Script on the Motion Flow rollout then select a series of clips on the Motion Flow Graph By left clicking on a clip it will appear in the Scripts list The clips are connected visually in the Motion Flow Graph with red arrows active ...

Page 1866: ...Things to look for in both clips are similar supporting feet body momentum that will appear natural and arm motion similarities If velocity changes between the clips are too abrupt use the Length field to adjust the duration of the transition On the Motion Flow rollout click Save File to save your work as an MFE file transitions and scripts are saved These BIP files contain no footsteps Biped foot...

Page 1867: ... the following procedures To load Motion Flow Editor files on page To append Motion Flow Editor files on page To save Motion Flow Editor files on page Interface Load File Load a Motion Flow Editor file MFE Motion Flow Editor files include Clips References to biped animation files Transitions Names attributes and connections between clips Scripts Different paths through a set of connected clips and...

Page 1868: ...the Motion Flow Graph Shared Motion Flow Displays the Shared Motion Flows dialog on page 4567 Allows you to create delete and modify shared motion flows Shared motion flows are used to animate one or more bipeds to simulate a crowd If the selected biped is using a shared motion flow then the icon has a white circle around it Motion Flow Graph Dialog Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Motion...

Page 1869: ... shared motion flow To use a shared motion flow to create random scripts for multiple bipeds the first step is to click Shared Motion Flow on the Motion Flow rollout and then add bipeds that will share one shared motion flow On the Motion Flow Graph clips are added and transitions are created between all the clips Then Create Random Motion is used to compute a random motion for all the bipeds Clip...

Page 1870: ...Setting clip duration is not critical for transitions the Transition Editor on page 4558 allows you to start and end a transition on any frame of a clip Create Multiple Clips Load multiple motion files Displays an open file dialog Select multiple files and click OK multiple files are loaded into the Motion Flow Graph window Set lowest starting foot height to Z 0 BIP files only Sets the lowest star...

Page 1871: ...which are not included in a script Create Transition To From Create a transition between two clips Click drag to one clip from another in the Motion Flow Graph dialog Click on a single clip and then mouse up to create a loop transition It is necessary to have this capability in order to create random scripts You can create transitions which are not included in a script Create All Transitions Creat...

Page 1872: ... clip files can be stored Clip Mode Edit biped footsteps and limbs for the selected clip Use Set Key on the Keyframing rollout to set biped limb keys Clips turn green in the Motion Flow Graph window in Clip Mode Show Script Dependencies Displays the scripts that use the selected clip If you push the Show Script Dependencies button on a shared motion flow graph it will check all the bipeds sharing ...

Page 1873: ...sed to compute an optimized transition Show Optimal Transition Costs Displays costs in the Motion Flow Graph window The lower the number the better the transition Check All Transitions Checks the graph for overlapping transitions and transitions whose length is too long for the clip It informs you of any problems or tells you that none have been found Auto Clip Names Names the clip based on the na...

Page 1874: ...tion clips Editing transitions using the Transition Editor on page 4558 allows you to determine where a transition occurs in the source and destination clip Transition duration and the orientation of the destination clip can also be adjusted in the Transition Editor Random Motion The Create Random Motion command traverses clips in the Motion Flow Graph based on transition percentages Transitions a...

Page 1875: ... Names a new script Select clips in Motion Flow Graph to create the clip list for the new script Redefine Script Keeps the script name and removes clips in the list Select clips in Motion Flow Graph to create a new clip list Insert Above Selected Clip item Inserts a clip above the selected clip in the list First select a clip in the list choose Insert Above Selected Clip item and then click a clip...

Page 1876: ...cted clip the current frame Cut Removes the selected clip from the script list and creates a default transition to the next clip on the list Copy Copy the selected clip to the clipboard Paste Paste a clip from the clipboard Clip Mode Edit biped footsteps and limbs for the selected clip Use Set Key on the Keyframing rollout to set biped limb keys Edit Clip Displays the Clip Properties dialog on pag...

Page 1877: ...ire script along a world Y axis Start Position Z Move the entire script along a world Z axis Start Rotation Rotate the entire script around the world Z axis All transformation and rotation is based on the original position and affect the entire script Transition Editor Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Motion Flow Mode Scripts group Select a clip in the script list Transition Editor Displa...

Page 1878: ...een the clips Default transitions use minimum motion loss and are quick to compute However the best quality transitions are the optimized transitions Once the Transition Editor is open the first thing to try before manual editing are the optimized transitions upper right corner of the dialog Length Transition Duration Set the duration of a transition in the Length field A value of 10 for example c...

Page 1879: ...y whether a clip is rolling in motion or fixed single frame during the transition Change the direction of the destination clip using the Angle field Other parameters in the Transition Editor allow you to create and name new transitions scroll through the saved transitions jump to the transition starting frame set automatic transition parameters and go to the next transition in the script You can s...

Page 1880: ... velocities in both clips Smooth out abrupt velocity changes using longer transitions Ease In Ease in value for the source clip Ease Out Ease out value for the destination clip Transition Focus Lets you specify a focus point on the biped where the transition takes place Default Center of Mass Center Of Mass The transition focus is based on the center of mass position of the biped as it transitions...

Page 1881: ...lues change Use Angle to change the direction of the destination clip Previous Transition Go to the previous transition in the script Displays the previous transition in the Transition Editor moves the time slider to the start frame of the previous transition and highlights the previous clip in the Scripts list Next Transition Go to the next transition in the script Displays the next transition in...

Page 1882: ... spinners allow you to view and scrub the source and destination clips by displaying stick figures ghosts yellow and red stick figures represent the source and destination clips The source and destination bipeds might not be near each other during this scrubbing process the destination clip will be repositioned when you click Set Start Frame is clicked When you locate a suitable start frame click ...

Page 1883: ...ws you to determine a start frame for the source and destination clips Visual feedback of the stick figures is a good way to judge which start frames are needed for the source and destination clips Playback group These controls let you play back the transition from the Transition Editor dialog Play Transition Icon Toggles the playback of transition Speed Changes the playback speed Frames Before Fr...

Page 1884: ...eds using controls in the Create Random Motion dialog Parameters for random motion are set in the Motion Flow Graph in the clip and transition dialogs as well as in the Create Random Motion dialog Random motion is created by first adding clips to the Motion Flow Graph window and adding transitions between the clips Clips and transitions are then given percentages which are used to create random mo...

Page 1885: ... will add clips until the length of the script is greater than or equal to the minimum animation length specified here first clip in script Gets the start position and rotation from the first clip biped s current position rotation Uses the biped s current position to start the script Create motion flow script Creates a script after computing the motion If this is on a motion flow script will be cr...

Page 1886: ...t and adding bipeds in the Shared Motion Flow dialog Create Creates random motion for the selected biped or all the bipeds in the shared motion flow Cancel Cancel and close the dialog Shared Motion Flow Dialog Select a biped Motion panel Biped rollout Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow rollout Shared Motion Flow Shared Motion Flow Dialog Controls in the Shared Motion Flow dialog allow you to assign one ...

Page 1887: ...h dialog will say Shared Motion Flow Graph followed by the name of the shared motion flow Bipeds in a shared motion flow should have the same lower body scale and structure Adaptation for differently sized bipeds does not occur in a shared motion flow If you want differently sized bipeds in a crowd then create a shared motion flow for each size See Sharing Motion Flow on page 4536 for more details...

Page 1888: ... a new shared motion flow Delete Deletes the current shared motion flow The scripts of the bipeds sharing the deleted motion flow will be deleted Those bipeds will have an empty motion flow graph and no scripts Load Loads a shared motion flow SMF file Motion Flow Mode 4569 ...

Page 1889: ...d from the shared motion flow The biped will get the newly loaded motion flow and all its scripts The shared motion flow will remain the same Bipeds Sharing this Motion Flow list Lists the bipeds that share this motion flow Add Displays a dialog where you can choose bipeds to add to the motion flow list Add bipeds to the list of bipeds that share a motion flow When you add a biped its current moti...

Page 1890: ...n using in a shared motion flow must have the same lower body structure and scale Transition Optimization Dialog Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow Graph Select transitions in the graph window Optimize Selected Transitions Transition Optimization dialog Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow rollout Scripts group Select a clip in the Script list Edit Transition Optimize Transition Transition Optimization dialog O...

Page 1891: ...rame values Clip Properties Dialog Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow Graph Right click a clip in the Motion Flow Graph window Clip Properties dialog Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow script rollout Select a clip in the list Edit Clip Clip Properties dialog Parameters in the Clip Properties dialog allow you to browse for a clip set a start and end frame for the clip and set a random start probability for the...

Page 1892: ... you want to retain the Z position of the character you would turn this option off Leave this option off if Motion Flow motions must be blended that begin and end at different heights such as three clips that have the character mounting a bicycle riding the bicycle and dismounting the bicycle Turning off this option can however cause a jump in the motion during motion flow transitions Turn this on...

Page 1893: ...ata is imported to 3ds Max it can be filtered to Use fewer keyframes Create footstep motion Use props in the scene In addition some motion capture files come with a separate marker file which can be used to match the biped posture to the motion capture actor How Motion Capture Data is Acquired Motion capture data is typically acquired by one of several means Optical sensing technology Optical syst...

Page 1894: ...ms as well as complex motion tracking systems The latter type of prosthetic motion capture would be an ideal approach if it weren t for the complex mechanical requirements and the performance inhibiting qualities generally associated with such designs However the type of data provided can be clean rotational data collected in real time without any occlusion problems This method is based on a set o...

Page 1895: ... necessary the biped is sized to fit the markers first then the biped limbs are oriented to align them to the markers Marker files should be loaded with keys at every frame and no footstep extraction this is required for calibration and also enables the calibration controls Calibration controls are the second row of buttons on the Motion Capture rollout In character studio the csm marker file form...

Page 1896: ...ootstep filtering and extraction looping the data and importing a portion of the motion capture file 3ds Max ships with a variety of raw unfiltered motion capture data files in BIP CSM and BVH formats Some of the same data is available in filtered versions either with footsteps or freeform Try your own filtering adjustments on the raw versions of this data Importing the raw data displays the origi...

Page 1897: ...on Capture rollout Character Studio Marker Files The csm on page 7945 format is an ASCII file used to import positional marker data from motion capture systems onto a biped 4578 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1898: ...nt and click OK The biped adapts itself to the motion data If Footstep Extraction is turned on footsteps appear TIP Use a biped that does not have a mesh attached with Physique Import motion capture data with the idea of then saving a BIP file that can be used for any character If skeletal scale information is loaded from a motion capture file a mesh with a Physique modifier might deform unnatural...

Page 1899: ...og turn on Show Recognized Markers and the option for On All Objects 7 Now on the Motion Capture rollout click Talent Figure Mode Use Non Uniform Scale or Rubber Band Mode on the Biped rollout to size the biped to the displayed markers NOTE This step is optional and should be used if you need to correct for slight differences in limb scale between the original talent who performed the motion and t...

Page 1900: ... it with Physique You import the data adjust it to your liking and save it as a BIP file You can also run standard BIP files through this filtering process to create loops or to extract footsteps from a freeform animation Motion Capture Import Footstep motion capture is enabled automatically when importing motion capture data using the Sliding Tolerance and Sliding Angle controls in the Motion Cap...

Page 1901: ...the foot must make a complete turn before a sliding footstep is created Use this with motion capture files that contain feet that pivot as in a dance motion NOTE Sliding footsteps display as a footstep with a line through the center Only Extract Footsteps Within Tolerance Turns on Z axis Tolerance These controls filter out footsteps that do not fall within a given range of the ground plane Use thi...

Page 1902: ...The dummies are named bip01prop bip02prop and so on If a prop of that name already exists its animation and size is reset upon loading the CSM file The Marker Display dialog contains a check box for toggling display of the prop markers The prop track names are LPRPB LPRPM LPRPT MPRPB MPRPM MPRPT RPRPB RPRPM and RPRPT These stand respectively for left prop bottom left prop middle left prop top midd...

Page 1903: ...d on an actor during motion capture to identify joints calibration lets you adjust the biped relative to the original marker positions if necessary Load only raw marker files with no key reduction or footsteps to enable marker calibration controls NOTE For BVH and CSM file specifications see the BVH rtf and CSM rtf documents on the program disc Motion Capture Buffer Raw motion data is automaticall...

Page 1904: ...rs and trajectories It is not possible to undo calibration Marker Files Unlike a BIP or BVH file that contains limb rotation data a CSM marker file on page 8037 contains only marker position data When a raw marker file is imported only marker position data is buffered in the motion capture buffer 3ds Max uses the marker data to extract limb rotation data to position the biped After using the calib...

Page 1905: ...pears representing the raw motion capture data Play the animation the animation of the biped representing filtered motion capture data and the red stick figure play back together TIP For a very accurate visual comparison between raw motion capture data and filtered data toggle Show Hide Objects on the Display rollout to hide the biped Toggle Show Hide Bones in the same rollout to display only bipe...

Page 1906: ...ter If skeletal scale information is loaded from a motion capture file a mesh with the Physique modifier applied might deform unnaturally 7 If a marker file was loaded turn on Show Markers as a visual aid for biped scale and limb correction If correction is necessary adjust biped scale first Keyframe adaptation takes place in order to accommodate a biped scale change The remaining steps in this pr...

Page 1907: ... version of the motion capture data that ships with 3ds Max These are in a BIP format Filter standard BIP files to convert footstep animation to a freeform animation extract footsteps from a freeform animation and to loop a BIP file BVH BioVision motion capture data file Contains the actor s skeletal and motion information Once the motion capture data is filtered and adjusted save it as a BIP file...

Page 1908: ...t so that the lowest foot at frame 0 starts at the Z 0 height This lines up clips along the Z axis and creates smooth transitions First load raw marker data and turn on Show Markers to help you decide if calibration is necessary If both scale and position calibration are necessary calibrate scale first Talent Figure mode and then calibrate limb position 3ds Max adapts biped keys after biped scale ...

Page 1909: ...arison of the raw and filtered motion data Show Buffer displays a red stick figure representing the raw buffered data compare this to the filtered motion of the biped during playback Show Buffer Trajectory Displays buffered raw motion capture data as yellow trajectories for the selected biped body parts Use Show Buffer Trajectory to display a trajectory based on the buffered raw motion capture dat...

Page 1910: ...er file use Adjust Talent Pose to correct the biped position relative to the markers Align the biped limbs to the markers then click Adjust Talent Pose to compute this offset for all the loaded marker data NOTE Calibration controls are enabled only when a marker or BVH file is imported in its raw form Do not use key reduction or extract footsteps when you import a marker file for the first time Sa...

Page 1911: ...ure mode on page 4590 and Adjust Talent Pose on page 4591 Motion Capture Conversion Parameters Dialog Create or select a biped Motion panel Motion Capture rollout Load Motion Capture File button Open a file Load motion capture data Motion panel Motion Capture rollout Convert from Buffer button Motion capture and marker data typically have keys at every frame Filtering motion capture data reduces k...

Page 1912: ...es appear as below MocapHeightSmoothing 0 MocapBodyHorzSmoothing 0 MocapBodyRotSmoothing 0 MocapSpineSmoothing 0 MocapHeadSmoothing 0 Higher values of smoothing will cause the importer to filter and smooth out the data using a gaussian filter taking out spikes and jerks in the motion These values must be integers and can range from 0 to any high number but practical values would probably always be...

Page 1913: ...he Fit To Existing option will match the biped s position to the motion capture position during the handspring 6 Find the Footsteps track for the biped in Track View 7 Right click the footsteps area of the Track View Edit window then select Edit Free Form No Physics in the Footstep Mode dialog 8 Click the handspring area between the footsteps It turns to a solid yellow Motion capture data will rep...

Page 1914: ...ed in one of three ways None Freeform No footsteps are extracted For swimming or flying motion data footstep extraction is not necessary For a traditional approach to character keyframing use this option to keyframe the biped without footsteps or Biped Dynamics this is essentially a freeform animation Motion Capture Rollout 4595 ...

Page 1915: ...ped dynamics Conversion Chooses the type of key processing Use Key Reduction Reduces keys for simpler key editing No Key Reduction Does not reduce keys Use this on files that are already key reduced or if you want to work with all the data in a raw motion capture file NOTE Marker files imported for the first time should be loaded with no key reduction or footstep extraction to enable the calibrati...

Page 1916: ...key biped foot first touches a footstep NOTE Sliding footsteps display as a footstep with a line through the center Sliding Angle Creates a sliding footstep on page 4581 when rotational tolerance is reached This value is in degrees the default is set high 360 degrees The foot must make a complete turn before a sliding footstep is created Use this with motion capture files that contain feet that pi...

Page 1917: ... designed to loop NOTE This often works best if Footstep Extraction is tuned off Key Reduction Settings group Key reduction keeps the original motion intact and intelligently filters out more than 80 percent of the keys in the motion capture file making the process of altering the biped animation much simpler Use the Tolerance and Minimum Key Spacing settings to fine tune key reduction for a speci...

Page 1918: ...ys Tolerance is computed first then Minimum Key Spacing computes further key reduction A Minimum Key Spacing value of 10 for the head track ensures that no two keys are closer than 10 frames for this track Filter Turn off to prevent filtering of the motion capture data into a track When this is off there is no key reduction for the track Set All Forces all tracks to the values set in these fields ...

Page 1919: ...re data character studio then places the knees and elbows in a natural position For marker files involving running and walking this option can clean up the data nearly instantly regardless of how many markers were used and where they were placed Talent Definition group Loads a Figure Structure File fig and a Pose Adjustment file cal prior to importing a marker file Typically you correct a marker f...

Page 1920: ... to filtered BIP format Interface Source File Selection Opens a dialog where you can specify motion capture files to convert Use Shift click to select all files between two that you click Use Ctrl click to add individual files to the selection Destination Directory Specifies the directory in which to store the filtered files Specify Conversion Parameters Lets you choose how to specify conversion p...

Page 1921: ...face Show Recognized Markers When on displays the markers that character studio recognizes On Selected Objects Displays the markers on selected objects only On All Objects Displays the markers on all objects Show Prop Markers Enables the display of markers on prop bones on page 4583 Show Unrecognized Markers Displays the markers that character studio does not recognize 4602 Chapter 17 character st...

Page 1922: ...Physique Physique 4603 ...

Page 1923: ...number of joints within the attached skeleton With Physique you can define how the skin behaves when it deforms For example You can make portions of the skin solid excluding them from Physique s deformation though solid portions still move along with the root node of the skeleton they are attached to These solid portions are said to be root vertices You can make portions of the skin deformable The...

Page 1924: ...ata file either to restore the data that belongs to a particular skin or portion of skin Physique works with bipeds created and animated using the Biped plug in and with 3ds Max hierarchies including the Bones systems Physique also works with bones that are not in a hierarchy and splines See also Posing the Biped on page 4157 Using Physique Creating a Skin A mesh deformed by a skeletal structure i...

Page 1925: ...4606 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1926: ...e Often it has been collapsed from an object with modifiers or a compound object An uncollapsed object with modifiers or a compound object A parametric geometry primitive such as a cylinder Geometric primitives are useful mainly for simple applications of Physique for example a cylinder with two bone links to depict an arm A patch object A spline or text shape A NURBS object A Free From Deformatio...

Page 1927: ...NG After you collapse a compound or modified object you can no longer edit it parametrically If you work extensively with complex meshes of this sort you can save two max files one to contain the original editable objects and modifiers and the other to contain only the collapsed mesh You can create a figure s skin out of several objects For example you could have separate objects for the torso leg...

Page 1928: ...l with the arms not dangling palms facing down fingers straight and slightly spread apart Position the head so it will face in the correct direction when you load the biped s at rest standing pose If the skin and biped are for a figure that stands erect position the head normally If the character stoops forward for example a chimpanzee make the head face upward so that it will face forward after t...

Page 1929: ...highly complex mesh can slow your system s performance when working with Physique If you plan to use an Editable Poly mesh create the mesh with evenly sized rectangular polygons Avoid using long triangular polygons as these do not deform smoothly with Physique These attributes are particularly important around the hip and shoulder areas Models with evenly sized rectangular polygons A common workfl...

Page 1930: ...ot so important for the facial area of the model where little deformation will take place with Physique For example the character shown below was originally modeled as designed but with no regard for the best polygon distribution for Physique The numerous odd shaped polygons especially around the hips and the pose with the legs too close together would have made this model difficult to work with a...

Page 1931: ...ed to work better with Physique by deleting edges and vertices and reshaping many of the polygons in the hip area The model was also altered to make the character assume the reference pose 4612 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1932: ...After MeshSmooth is applied to the simplified mesh renderings of the two models look identical However the second model works much better with Physique Using Physique 4613 ...

Page 1933: ...bjects that are especially useful with Physique Bipeds are provided by character studio Bones are a standard Systems object provided with 3ds Max Splines can be used rather than a bones hierarchy You create both bones and bipeds using the Systems object category on the Create panel Bones are useful for facial animation a face with moving lips for example or for non bipedal characters Bipeds are th...

Page 1934: ...This Physique hierarchy is created with dummy objects linked to each other Physique mesh with a biped skeleton Using Physique 4615 ...

Page 1935: ... can be used with Physique to add extra links and envelopes for any character or to animate assemblies on a robot or mechanical character Bones can also be added to animate extra appendages a hat a jaw and so on NOTE If 3ds Max bones using the IK Controller are linked to the biped the Auto Key button must be left on while the biped is positioned 4616 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1936: ...image 3ds Max bones are used to animate the linked piston assemblies The bottom image shows 3ds Max bones used for added control when Physique is applied In both cases the bones compress automatically as the biped is positioned Using Physique 4617 ...

Page 1937: ...Parameters rollout you specify the accuracy of the IK solution and the frame duration of the solution For bones that compress you generally want an accurate solution to ensure that the bone follows the end effector perfectly without any drift In the image of the rollout Position has a value of 0 the least amount of allowable distance Rotation is at its default value of 1 the Rotation End Effector ...

Page 1938: ...priate biped object 3 On the Motion Panel specify an End Effector Parent 4 Specify another part of the biped 5 On the Motion Panel set the Position Threshold to 0 6 On the Hierarchy panel IK Sliding Joints rollout turn on all the sliding parameters 7 Animate the character The bones expand and compress with the motion of the character To add a bone after Physique is applied using Reinitialize 1 Tur...

Page 1939: ... Link Assignment turns on also 6 Click Initialize 7 Adjust envelopes in Sub Object Envelope 8 Turn off Figure mode If you want the end of the bone to follow the biped select the bone and delete the bone end effector in the Motion Panel This bone is used to animate the character s nose To add a bone after Physique is applied using Add Add Bone 1 Turn on Figure mode 4620 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1940: ...it can also use the scale of a link The skeleton hierarchy can also be a 3ds Max system object that defines a behavior as well as a hierarchy There are two kinds of objects that are especially useful with Physique Bones are a standard Systems object provided with 3ds Max Bones can either be hierarchically linked or floating Splines can be used rather than a bones hierarchy You create bones using t...

Page 1941: ...ked together and know nothing about each other By adding floating bones to Physique you can deform the mesh by animating the bones This is in contrast to using Attach To Node and clicking the root of a hierarchy like the biped pelvis For Attach To Node to work all the bones should be linked together 4622 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1942: ...he mesh You can use this technique for facial animation or to deform any mesh To control a mesh with a spline 1 Place a spline inside a mesh 2 Select the mesh and add the Physique modifier 3 In the Physique Floating Bones rollout click Add and select the spline in the viewports 4 Select the spline turn on Vertex Sub Object and move the spline vertices to animate the mesh Using Physique 4623 ...

Page 1943: ...See also Using Physique with a Biped on page 4614 4624 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1944: ...ique Rollout on page 4671 Procedures To attach a mesh to a bones hierarchy using Physique 1 Select or create a bones hierarchy 2 Position the bones hierarchy inside the mesh TIP When you use a bones hierarchy with Physique use frame 0 as your figure mode Don t include frame 0 in your animation Use it as the place where you position the bones and fit them to the mesh 3 Select the mesh 4 Go to the M...

Page 1945: ...ears This is where you determine the following default settings Whether envelopes should be used to manage the vertex to link assignments Whether Physique uses deformable or rigid envelopes to manage the vertex to link assignments Number of links considered for blending Previewing Motion After you have attached the skin to the skeleton Physique deforms the skin when the skeleton is animated From t...

Page 1946: ...back which makes it hard to see how Physique has animated the skin Use the Time Configuration dialog to turn off real time playback The animation plays back more slowly than usual but it plays every frame TIP You can also specify which elements of the characters not to display in the viewports and thereby speed up redraw See Physique Level of Detail Rollout on page 4675 For a skin attached to a co...

Page 1947: ... weighted to produce smooth blending at joint intersections Each envelope comprises a pair of inner and outer bounds each with four cross sections Envelopes Deformable and Rigid Envelopes There are two envelope types deformable and rigid Deformable envelopes influence vertices they encompass to follow the deformation spline created through the hierarchy Only the vertices encompassed by deformable ...

Page 1948: ...tionship to the link Vertices in a rigid envelope however are deformed blended in the overlap area of other envelopes There is a twist parameter in Link Sub Object that can be enabled in a rigid envelope This allows the rigid envelope to twist along the length of the link Using Physique 4629 ...

Page 1949: ...inks such as the character s head to the rigid envelope to minimize the deformation For special cases you can turn on both deformable and rigid envelopes for the same link This advanced feature allows you to average the effect of the two types of skin deformation for additional firmness in the skin The forearms and legs are sometimes good candidates for this 4630 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1950: ...lap area By the actual shape of adjacent envelopes you can control the degree of influence each has on blending at the overlap area You can further control the number of envelopes that participate in the blending effect or whether no blending takes place at all Where you specify no blending a vertex in an overlap area is influenced by a single link only Using Physique 4631 ...

Page 1951: ...ighted value that falls off to 0 at the outer bound Vertices are color coded in the viewports according to their weight the color is based on parameters you specify in the Blending Envelope Display Options Dialog on page 4706 See also Envelope Sub Object on page 4717 Adjusting Default Envelope Shape When you want to address vertex linking anomalies the first step is to resize or reposition the env...

Page 1952: ...g a deformation at the joint You ll note problems with vertices as you preview motion It sometimes looks like vertices got left behind when the link they were supposed to be attached to moves in 3D space In fact that s just what is happening they weren t assigned to any link at all and remain where they were at the initial skeletal pose the pose of the mesh and its skeleton at the time Physique wa...

Page 1953: ...velope shape 1 In the Selection Level group of the Blending Envelopes rollout turn on Link In a viewport select any link 2 In the Parameters group turn on the Inner Outer or Both option and then increase the value of Radial Scale until the outer envelope just surrounds the character mesh NOTE With Both turned on both the inner and outer bounds scale together 4634 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1954: ...ust envelopes around the biped s pelvis The Biped Triangle Pelvis option was used in this model Triangle Pelvis creates additional links from the legs to the lower spine Top The default envelope from the pelvis to the lower spine object is too small Middle Mesh appears scrambled because the pelvis doesn t control all the vertices that surround it Using Physique 4635 ...

Page 1955: ...ns 1 On the Selection Level rollout turn on Cross Section 2 In the Envelope Parameters group turn on Inner or Outer if you want to work with cross sections solely in that part of the envelope Turn on Both to be able to work on both Inner and Outer cross sections at the same time 3 Turn on Select Object on the Main toolbar and in a viewport click the cross section you want As you move the cursor ov...

Page 1956: ...ithout mirroring It is now the currently selected envelope 4 In the Edit Commands group click Mirror The selection flips about the mirror axis 5 Use the Rotate transform on the Main toolbar to rotate the selection to its final orientation Fine Tuning Envelopes Once you have adjusted inner and outer bounds of envelopes at the Envelope Sub Object level you may find you need still finer control choos...

Page 1957: ...Envelope cross sections can be scaled and moved 4638 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1958: ...he shape between itself and its neighbors on each side Rotating and Scaling Control points are internally positioned using cylindrical coordinates that is a distance from the link at some angle around the link To move a control point you must scale it to the correct distance from the link and then rotate it into the orientation you desire The move tool actually serves the dual function of rotating...

Page 1959: ...d weight Assign vertices to their links yourself bypassing Physique s envelope method for vertex link assignment You might want to reassign link assignments in effect about adjacent fingers for example even after working to reshape envelope size and position You may find that you need greater control in areas where adjacent envelopes overlap perhaps movement in the ring finger is causing unwanted ...

Page 1960: ...opes Changing Display Options You can change the display settings for envelopes and their component parts Click the associated color sample to open the Color Selector and change color setting for Inner and outer bounds on both deformable and rigid envelope types Differently weighted vertices as they fall within the inner bound or between it and the outer bound Selected cross sections and control p...

Page 1961: ...ub object level See Creating Bulges on page 4649 Skin stretching generally between non contiguous links is controlled at the Tendon sub object level Tendons provide a secondary movement a pulling or stretching based on links farther up or down the skeleton See Creating Tendons on page 4653 See also Link Sub Object on page 4725 Bulge Sub Object on page 4737 Tendons Sub Object on page 4747 Working w...

Page 1962: ... rigid envelopes As the wrist twists the vertices on the forearm will twist also See also Envelope Sub Object on page 4717 Working with Both Deformable and Rigid Envelopes You can assign both Deformable and Rigid to a given link For example you might assign both to the shins and size the envelopes differently to gain the benefits of both First size the deformable envelope to affect the whole lower...

Page 1963: ... It maintains continuity through each joint as a joint angle changes the spline passing through the joint remains a smooth curve Physique relies on the deformation spline to obtain smooth bends of the skin object Physique offers bias and tension controls to adjust the shape of the deformation spline Links depicted by deformable spline 4644 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1964: ...tes On the outside the side where the angle is greater than 180 degrees the skin moves toward the joint On the inside the side where the joint angle is less than 180 degrees the skin moves away from the joint The sliding effect tightens the outside to keep detail at the joint and prevent the facets of the mesh from moving apart It relaxes the inside to prevent the mesh from bunching up at the join...

Page 1965: ...2 w3 0 3 0 9 3333333 w3 w3 w1 w2 w3 0 4 0 9 4444444 so w1 w2 w3 1 0 In Cases where All Envelopes Use Partial Blending The weight fill in for vertices with a weight less than 1 will always fill with the weight of the root Whenever a vertex is assigned to a group of links all of which are partially blended then the remaining weight will be assigned and blended with the root link This works well for ...

Page 1966: ...n with 56 of wf with more of the nonpartial blended links The remaining 44 of wf is filled in with the root as in the partial blended case This provides a smooth transition between the partial and nonpartial links Bulges For some animations simply attaching the skin and correcting its vertex assignments results in an animated skin you can use in final renderings For other animations you might need...

Page 1967: ...orts and in the Bulge Editor on page 4687 you can edit the shape of the bulge to look like a flexed biceps muscle higher and wider above the bone than below it Now as the elbow bends from a straight orientation up and toward the shoulder Physique bulges the biceps appropriately see Creating Bulges on page 4649 for more information about creating bulges Because bulges are optional you can approach ...

Page 1968: ...nd its child link in the hierarchy The bulge angle is the angle of the joint where the bulge has its full effect When the joint has a different angle Physique interpolates so the bulge can grow as the joint flexes toward that angle See Setting Bulge Angles on page 4651 for more information NOTE The resulting bulge for any given frame in an animation is determined by the interpolated effects of all...

Page 1969: ... child joint angles For example the forearm link can be deformed by bulge angles associated with both the elbow and wrist joints Adjusting bulge parameters including the joint intersection parameters Bulge parameters control the smoothness and the strength of the bulge and are found at the Bulge sub object level Joint intersection parameters control how the skin behaves when bulges would overlap e...

Page 1970: ...defines the muscle in its flexed pose Both are exposed so you can add definition to the default character As in a biceps muscle a heavily muscled character might have some shape even in a relaxed pose This lets you change the baseline without disturbing the original mesh You can actually use Physique bulge cross sections to model your character The cross section deformation for a given link is det...

Page 1971: ...les are Moving the character into several extreme poses Putting the arms high over the head and bending them into different positions Making the character squat and lifting the legs into various positions Adding bulge angles to the links at places where real muscles would bulge Once the skin reacts well to the full range of motions you can then place the character into a less demanding pose and it...

Page 1972: ...int is pulled in each direction You insert the tendon cross section at the location where you want the skin to stretch You then attach it to the link that influences the movement Each link can contain several tendon cross sections and each control point may be attached to a separate link In a practical application however such as in the area below the armpits you might have two control points atta...

Page 1973: ... the Pinch Pull and Stretch settings to adjust the skin behavior 13 Adjust the Upper and Lower Boundary settings to control the extent of the effect on neighboring links To attach a tendon to another link 1 In the Selection Level group of the Tendons rollout turn on Control Point to make it the active selection level 2 In a viewport select one or more of the tendon s attach points Click a point to...

Page 1974: ...e link that has the tendon you want to remove 2 In the Insert Settings group click Delete Saving and Loading Physique Data You can save Physique data to a Physique phy file to save data common to all objects that share a given Physique modifier Later you can reload the data file either to restore the data that belongs to a particular skin or portion of skin or to transfer the Physique of one skin ...

Page 1975: ... mesh you d need to reinitialize Physique settings to recognize those changes Reinitializing with changed settings applies them as new defaults in the areas you choose Reinitializing without changing settings on the Physique Initialization dialog is a method of erasing unsatisfactory changes you ve made to the Physique settings again in those areas you specify Reinitialization mode of Initializati...

Page 1976: ...rresponding check box those rollout settings are ignored and initial defaults are reestablished See also Reinitialize Physique on page 4683 Working with an Initial Pose At times you ll need to alter the fit of the hierarchy in the Physique mesh or change its structure To do so you change the default initial pose which Physique uses as a reference for various operations including reinitializing For...

Page 1977: ...g you specify which skin deformations are refreshed automatically in viewports The more complex the skin object the more effective these controls can be at speeding up your work NOTE The 3ds Max renderer also heeds Level of Detail settings Don t forget to reset these controls before the final render Turning Blending On and Off When Physique is first initialized the Blending Between Links parameter...

Page 1978: ... Physique causes Physique to reevaluate vertex assignments each time the stack is changed While this technique will improve performance in one way it will hurt performance if you need repeatedly to make changes down in the stack Procedures To optimize skin objects 1 Select the skin If the skin consists of multiple objects select all of its component objects 2 Apply an Optimize modifier to the skin...

Page 1979: ... you use Initial Skeleton Pose in Physique In this case the mesh appears at its size before scaling To correct for this perform the following steps 1 On the Modify panel either make Physique inactive or highlight the skin so the active level is below the Physique modifier in the stack 2 Scale and move the mesh until it matches the biped or bones 3 Re enable Physique or highlight its name once more...

Page 1980: ... for moving the facial features Boxes form the facial skeletal structure You can also use splines linked to the biped head to deform the mesh You can add a spline to a character that already has Physique applied by using Add in the Physique Bones rollout and clicking the spline in a viewport Using Physique 4661 ...

Page 1981: ...e outer corners of the mouth as for a smile Bones to make the eyes open and close A bone to control the jaw opening and closing The main head bone going straight up from the neck to the top of the head This bone controls the head overall and any vertices not affected by bones on the eyes mouth and jaw Use this bone to bend the head forward or backward 4662 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1982: ...ain head bone Facial bone linkage If you use objects other than 3ds Max bones you must create dummy objects at the end of each object used as a bone and link each one to its corresponding bone before applying Physique This is necessary because Physique extends links to the end of the second to last object in the hierarchy not the last In other words if you don t create and link the dummy objects t...

Page 1983: ...d be attached to the body mesh or it could be separate If possible use a head that is separate from the body mesh For human characters this often works fine most character animation doesn t provide a view of the underside of the neck so your viewers will most likely never notice that they re separated If you use a separate head it will be easier to control the facial animation If you use a separat...

Page 1984: ...and click Attach to Node pick the biped s COM as usual After applying Physique to the head or the entire structure you can adjust envelopes and vertex assignments for the facial bones as you would for any biped bone Animating the Facial Structure After you apply Physique to the structure you can animate it by rotating or moving bones 3ds Max manipulators on page 2636 are useful for setting up a cu...

Page 1985: ...stablish the initial skeletal pose Position the facial bones in the at rest position at frame 0 and start keyframing the face at frame 1 or later You can perform lip synch animation by loading a sound track in Track View By scrubbing the time slider you can locate a sound and keyframe the dummies to appropriate positions 4666 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1986: ...emove From Link 6 Select links of the lower lip and click Lock Assignments Physique and Modifiers Combining Physique with Other Modifiers Although you can apply Physique to an object with modifiers this can affect performance If you use other animated modifiers in combination with Physique this reduction is unavoidable If the other modifiers are not animated you can collapse the stack to remove mo...

Page 1987: ... link and you want the twist to be interpolated based on the new position Using Physique with Changing Geometry Physique can effectively handle dynamically changing geometry That is if the geometry coming through the modifier stack to Physique changes Physique dynamically adjusts to accommodate the changes to the geometry while maintaining its own parameter settings including manual vertex assignm...

Page 1988: ...rmation with the FFD control points and their link assignments must be thoughtfully placed 5 Use Bind To Space Warp on the main toolbar to bind the mesh to the FFD space warp 6 Link the mesh to the biped pelvis or root node of the bone structure so it follows the skeleton and FFD as they move around the scene To use an FFD to complement the effects of Physique on a portion of a character mesh TIP ...

Page 1989: ... warp If necessary adjust the vertex assignments of the control points so they are assigned to the proper links You do this in the same way as you do when using Physique with a mesh except there are fewer assignments to deal with Although fewer assignments provide smoother surface deformation with the FFD control points and their link assignments must be thoughtfully placed Physique User Interface...

Page 1990: ...the biped inside your character mesh 4 Select the mesh IMPORTANT If the mesh is made of multiple objects select all of them 5 Go to the Modify panel Use the Modifier List to apply Physique to the mesh 6 On the Physique rollout click to turn on Attach To Node In a viewport select the biped s pelvis object The Physique Initialization dialog on page 4680 is displayed 7 Click Initialize accepting the ...

Page 1991: ...he Physique Initialization dialog displays 6 Click Initialize accepting the default settings 7 Experiment with animating the bones and adjust envelopes around problem areas Use the Envelope sub object level to edit the newly created envelopes To add a bone after you ve already used Attach To Node 1 Link the bone to the biped then click Reinitialize 2 Select the mesh then go to the Modify panel On ...

Page 1992: ...the Physique PHY file to open and then click OK A Physique Load Specification dialog is displayed 3 Use the dialog to choose the kind of data to load and then use the lists to match links in the PHY file with links in the scene IMPORTANT The number of links selected from the file left column must match the number of links in the active Physique modifier right column 4 Click OK Physique updates the...

Page 1993: ... page 4683 with the Vertex Settings option selected reestablishes the relationship of a vertex and its original position relative to the Physique deformation spline Settings for vertex link assignments bulges and tendons can be reset from this dialog Bulge Editor Displays the Bulge Editor on page 4687 which is a graphical alternative to the Bulge sub object level for creating and editing bulge ang...

Page 1994: ...ue Level of Detail rollout Controls in the Physique Level Of Detail rollout not only optimize the viewports but also affect the rendered result The primary purpose of this rollout is for troubleshooting After creating bulge angles and tendons you can turn off their influence to see exactly what they add to the deformation of the skin This rollout also has controls for how changes in the modifier s...

Page 1995: ... of bulges and tendons 5 Use the Bulge Editor or the sub object levels to adjust bulge and tendon settings Interface Renderer When chosen settings in the Skin Update group affect rendered images Viewports When chosen settings in the Skin Update gropu affect viewports 4676 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 1996: ...nding on rigid links This toggle is unavailable unless Rigid is chosen Default on Stack Updates group The controls in this group handle changes to vertex count that arise from nonanimated changes to the modifier stack If the vertex count changes vertices are reassigned globally Add Change adds in changes based on the vertices initial position The other options reset the initial position at each fr...

Page 1997: ...nhide the biped for example Floating Bones Rollout Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Floating Bones rollout Floating bones provide a way to use Physique without using a biped character The Floating Bones rollout specifies the splines bones hierarchy or unattached bones you are using to deform a mesh For example Physique lets you animate a mesh by animating ...

Page 1998: ...initial position Reset reassigns vertices but leaves envelopes as is Delete To delete a spline or bone click to highlight its name in the list and then click Delete Physique Shortcuts Turn on the Keyboard Shortcut Override toggle on page 7858 to enable the character studio keyboard shortcuts All character studio keyboard shortcuts activate when the Motion panel is active and the Keyboard Shortcut ...

Page 1999: ...ous Shift I Previous Selection Level Resets envelopes for selec ted links to their default values Ctrl E Reset Envelopes Not available for customization in the Customize User Interface dialog Physique Dialogs Physique Initialization Dialog Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Physique rollout Click Attach to Node Select a root object in a viewport Physique Ini...

Page 2000: ...nt rollout on page 4703 to specify envelope parameters In most cases the default parameters on the Vertex Link Assignment rollout work well as a starting point for envelope type envelope sizing and blending between links Normally you want deformable envelopes Blending Between Links is set to N Links a vertex can be influenced by all envelopes that overlap it The Object Bounding Box option is chose...

Page 2001: ...zation Although these options are unavailable they are all turned on by default except Include New Bones for initialization since all these settings are new when you use Attach To Node for the first time These check boxes become available when you click Reinitialize on the Physique rollout 4682 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2002: ...llout On the Vertex Link Assignment rollout on page 4703 you can choose to create new envelopes and pick the type of blending between links Reinitialize Physique Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Physique rollout Click Reinitialize The Reinitialize button on the Physique rollout is used mainly for resetting a particular attribute of your character s skin be...

Page 2003: ...re prompted to put the biped or bones system into Figure mode or in the initial position and then reinitialize To reinitialize select the mesh open the Modify panel and click Reinitialize A dialog warns you to put the skeleton into the initial position Click OK to reinitialize and save the file after you have done so See also Physique Initialization Dialog on page 4680 4684 Chapter 17 character st...

Page 2004: ...pose for defining how the skeleton fits inside the skin The current pose becomes the new initial pose replacing the pose used when you first attached the mesh to the biped Default off NOTE This toggle does not reassign vertices that you reassigned manually unless you also turn on Vertex Link Assignments Physique User Interface 4685 ...

Page 2005: ... default values By default one bulge angle is created per link Turning on Bulges deletes any new bulge angles you might have created Default off When this option is on you can set new default values for cross sections in the Cross Sections rollout on page 4705 Tendons Resets tendons to the default values Turning on Tendons deletes any tendons you might have created Default off Vertex Link Assignme...

Page 2006: ...tor works exclusively with bulge angles To create and edit Tendons use the Tendons sub object level on page 4747 Using an Animation to Preview Limb Orientations For easier creation of bulge angles you should create a simple animation that moves the limb into extreme orientations In the case of the human arm you might set keyframes with the arms down against the body extended to the sides bent at t...

Page 2007: ... section is created at the location you clicked 6 In the viewports rotate the joint to the desired angle This is most easily done by creating a preview animation as described in Using an Animation to Preview Limb Orientations on page 4687 just move the time slider to a frame that has the angle you want Otherwise you will have to exit the Bulge sub object level select the appropriate limb and rotat...

Page 2008: ...e effect is at full strength To choose a specific bulge angle for editing 1 Expand the Current Bulge Angle drop down list click the downward pointing arrow at its right The full list of bulge angle names appears 2 Click the name of the bulge angle you want to edit The Bulge Editor s Cross Section and Profile views update to show the cross sections associated with the newly selected bulge angle To ...

Page 2009: ...r click Delete CS Slice NOTE You cannot delete the default cross section at the joint between the link and its child To make a cross section the active cross section In Profile view click a cross section to select it The selected cross section displays in Cross Section view You can change its shape by selecting and editing control points in Cross Section view This will bulge the mesh at the locati...

Page 2010: ...ick the cross section after you click Select And Translate CS Slice 3 Drag left or right in the Profile view to move the cross section or cross sections left or right NOTE You cannot move cross sections through each other To copy and paste cross sections 1 Select the cross section to copy 2 On the Bulge Editor toolbar click Copy Selected CS 3 Select a cross section to paste over 4 On the Bulge Edi...

Page 2011: ...ints To change the Profile view orientation 1 In the Cross Section view move the cursor to the outer end of the orientation bar The cursor changes to a shape like the Cross Section view 2 Drag to rotate the orientation bar When you release the mouse the Profile view updates to show the profile at the angle of the orientation bar Interface Toolbar Select Scale and Rotate Control Points Lets you sel...

Page 2012: ...an draw the cross section interactively placing control points at each resolution step You can freeze existing control points by selecting them in the Cross Section view and holding down the Ctrl key as you draw NOTE The number of control points created depends on the cross section Resolution see Cross Sections panel on page 4700 TIP You can also use this too In Profile view When you draw in Profi...

Page 2013: ...lge on the mesh migrates up and down the link as the cross section is moved Insert Cross Section Slice Lets you insert a cross section by clicking Profile view in the location you want the cross section to appear A new cross section is created where you clicked on either the parent or the child link Extra cross sections give you more control of how and where the mesh bulges Delete Cross Section Sl...

Page 2014: ...more bulge angles for further control if you like Delete Bulge Angle Deletes the current bulge angle The current bulge angle displays in the Current Bulge Angle field First select a bulge angle in the Current Bulge Angle dropdown and then click Delete Bulge Angle Select Nearest Bulge Angle When on selects the bulge angle nearest to the current joint angle If a joint bends over time you can use thi...

Page 2015: ... view using either a rectangular selection region or Ctrl click This allows you to enter settings on the Cross Sections panel on page 4700 for all selected cross sections at once Only one active cross section however can be viewed and edited in Cross Section view Selected but inactive cross sections are shown in a dark red color in the Cross Section and Profile views These are the elements of the ...

Page 2016: ...g to the angle of the limb and the bulge angle parameters Orientation bar The bright yellow radius indicates the orientation of the slice shown in profile view Profile view always shows a vertical profile of Cross Section view indicated by the green dots at the top and bottom of the view just outside the circle that contains the resolution lines By default the orientation bar is level at 3 o clock...

Page 2017: ... section at a time is active in Cross Section view you can use the Cross Sections panel on page 4700 to change parameters for multiple cross sections Profile view shows a profile of the bulges you create As in Cross Section view the control spline is red and the deformation spline is green The profile is always a vertical profile of the Cross Section view You can drag the orientation bar in Cross ...

Page 2018: ...nce The range of angles through which the bulge influences the skin Range 0 to 180 Default 90 degrees For example if you ve set a bulge angle for the joint at 90 degrees an Influence value of 40 means that the bulge effect begins to appear when the rotating joint reaches 50 degrees 90 minus 40 or 130 degrees 90 plus 40 Power Controls how smoothly or abruptly the bulge takes effect At 0 the bulge t...

Page 2019: ...s are the same as those in the Cross Section Parameters group on the Bulge rollout at the Bulge sub object level Changing a value in one location changes it in the other Cross Sections Click to display the Cross Sections panel Sections Sets the number of cross sections for the selected link TIP Rather than manually inserting cross sections in Profile view use Sections to create cross sections For ...

Page 2020: ...nts snap to the nearest resolution line Entire Link When on selects all cross sections for all bulge angles in the selected link Use this to globally change parameters for all cross sections on a link Entire Link also affects Copy Selected CS and Paste Selected CS While Entire Link is on Copy Selected CS copies all cross sections for all bulges and Paste Selected CS pastes all cross sections for a...

Page 2021: ...at has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Physique rollout Click Open Physique phy File Choose a file Physique Load Specification dialog This dialog appears after you have chosen a Physique phy file to load It lets you specify which information you want to obtain from the file Interface At the upper left of the dialog are check boxes that let you specify which kind of data to load Tu...

Page 2022: ...efore you click OK Selected Links From File and Selected Links In Modifier At the left of the dialog is a list of the links that were saved in the file and at the right is a list of links in the currently open Physique skin and skeleton You can choose which links to update with the saved data Physique Initialization Rollouts Vertex Link Assignment Rollout Select an object that has the Physique mod...

Page 2023: ...eates rigid envelopes for the links Default not chosen Rigid envelopes determine vertex link assignment based upon the linear links in the hierarchy Blending Between Links This drop down list lets you choose how links are initially blended Default N Links TIP Typically you should leave this set to the default of N Links N Links Vertices are influenced by all overlapping envelopes 4704 Chapter 17 c...

Page 2024: ...d envelopes when a model has none reinitialize Physique Object Bounding Box Envelope size is based on the size of objects in the hierarchy such as biped limbs or bones Link Length Each envelope has a Radial Scale that is one third of the length of the link Overlap Sets how far the envelopes overlap Default 0 1 Smooth Sets the distance between the inner and outer bounds of an envelope by scaling th...

Page 2025: ... per cross section this is the value labeled Resolution in the Bulge Editor on page 4687 and at the Bulge sub object level on page 4737 Sub Object Options Dialogs Blending Envelope Display Options Dialog Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Envelope sub object level Blending Envelopes rollout Display group Click Display Options This dialog lets you customize how ...

Page 2026: ...trol Points are on by default Selected Deformable Envelope and Selected Rigid Envelope groups These two groups have the same controls By default deformable envelopes are shown in red and rigid envelopes are shown in green Physique User Interface 4707 ...

Page 2027: ...r swatch to change the viewport color of selected cross sections Control Points Toggles viewport display of control points Click the color swatch to change the viewport color of selected control points Bezier Patch Handles Click to set the viewport color of Bezier patch handles Exclude Envelopes Dialog Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Bulge sub object leve...

Page 2028: ...pes list left side Displays the links available for exclusion Selected links are not in this list Exclude Envelopes for Selected Link list right side Displays envelopes to exclude from the current link selection The text field displays the name of the selected link or Multiple Links Selected Right arrow Select links in the Link Envelopes List on the left then click the right arrow to add them to t...

Page 2029: ...rchy This visual aid can help you to find and select links Default off Clear Clears all links from the Exclude Envelopes For Selected Link list Bulge Angle Display Properties Dialog Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Bulge sub object level Bulge rollout Display group Click Display Options This dialog lets you customize how Physique displays bulge angles at the ...

Page 2030: ...nvelope display in the viewports Default 1 1 Default Color Click to change the bulge angle envelope color in viewports ActiveViewport Display group Selected Cross Sections The check box toggles the display of selected cross sections Default on Click the color swatch to change the color of selected cross sections displayed in viewports Physique User Interface 4711 ...

Page 2031: ... displayed in the viewports when the Bulge Editor is open Profile The check box toggles the display of the profile Default on Click the color swatch to change the color of the profile displayed in viewports NOTE The bulge profile displays in the viewports when the Bulge Editor is open Tendon Display Options Dialog Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Tendons sub ...

Page 2032: ...s the display of tendon attach points Default on Click the color swatch to change the color of attach points displayed in viewports Tendon Attached Links The check box toggles the display of attached links Default on Click the color swatch to change the color of attached links displayed in viewports SelectedTendon Elements group Cross Sections Click to change the viewport color of selected cross s...

Page 2033: ...ertices then lock them click Type In Weights to display the Type In Weights dialog use the lists in the dialog to select a link and then change the weight to that link in order to position the vertices vertex positions update in viewports as the weight changes NOTE You ll primarily use Type In Weights to correct flaws on low to medium resolution meshes On a high resolution mesh adjusting envelopes...

Page 2034: ...tly influence the selected vertices All Links When chosen displays all available links Weight Displays the vertex weight for the active link the link currently displayed by the Link Name list Use the spinner to change the weight value if necessary Absolute Uses an absolute value for vertex weight Normalized This option is unavailable in character studio Physique User Interface 4715 ...

Page 2035: ...lays absolute weights When more than one vertex is selected each is likely to have a slightly different weight Click a link in this list to select it Physique Modifier Sub Object Levels Physique Sub Objects Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel In the modifier stack display expand the Physique sub object hierarchy The Physique modifier has five different sub ob...

Page 2036: ...he shape of the envelope determines which vertices are affected by the link s movement An envelope has an inner and an outer bound outside these bounds vertices are not effected Inside these bounds the envelope s influence is strongest at the inner bound A Falloff setting lets you control how quickly influence falls as it approaches the outer bound Envelopes also control blending they provide smoo...

Page 2037: ... Skeletal Pose turned on check that the envelopes enclose all areas of the mesh If you turn off Initial Skeletal Pose the character adopts its animated position at the current frame Use an animation that stretches the character around such as a run or dance motion Find a frame where the envelopes need adjusting and edit the envelope parameters Changing the envelopes with the character in an animat...

Page 2038: ... the patch vertices This relieves you from having to scale the envelopes to a large size to encompass tangent handles Procedures See Adjusting Default Envelope Shape on page 4632 Interface Controls for Envelope sub objects are on the Blending Envelopes rollout Physique User Interface 4719 ...

Page 2039: ...oss Section select a cross section on the inner or outer boundary of an envelope and then move or scale it You might Non Uniform Scale the cross section of a collar envelope so it avoids vertices in the chest area Control Point Turn on to edit the control points on a cross section For example you might turn on Control Point select a point on a cross section of an envelope and move the point to cha...

Page 2040: ...h a rigid envelope and the armpit with a deformable envelope Both envelopes can also be turned off for a link Partial Blending Turns on partial blending for the selected links Leave either a deformable or rigid envelope on and then turn on Partial Blending Physique calculates the weights of each link on a given vertex If Partial Blending is off and the total weight is less than 1 Physique normaliz...

Page 2041: ...mesh deformation when the bones are moved Envelope Parameters group Envelope type drop down list Shows the type of the selected envelope If the link has both a rigid and a deformable envelope you can use this list to choose which envelope s parameters you are adjusting 4722 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2042: ... then change values in the spinners Inner Turn on to change the values of the inner bound Outer Turn on to change the values of the outer bound Both Turn on to change the values for both inner and outer bounds at the same time When Both is selected the values displayed for Radial Scale and Parent and Child Overlap reflect the values for the inner bound Radial Scale Radially scales the envelope bou...

Page 2043: ...luencing another link For example you can exclude the right thigh link from influencing the left thigh link Or rather than scale the index finger envelopes to avoid influencing middle finger vertices exclude the middle finger links from the index finger links Mirror Mirrors the envelopes on a selected link or mirrors selected cross sections in an envelope After a Mirror operation you can adjust th...

Page 2044: ...e display Shaded Toggles shaded display of vertex weights in the viewports Default off Link Sub Object Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Link sub object level Use parameters at the Link sub object level to change how deformation around joints occurs When a joint in the skeleton bends or rotates Physique by default deforms vertices uniformly on either side o...

Page 2045: ... spline displays as a yellow curve that runs through the mesh Like a spline object the deformation spline created by Physique is a continuous curve through several points While a spline object runs continuously from 4726 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2046: ...l you take control of the behavior of the deformation spline and subsequently gain full control of the skin s behavior relative to the skeleton s movement Interface Link Settings Rollout on page 4727 Joint Intersections Rollout on page 4734 Link Settings Rollout Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Link sub object level Link Settings rollout Controls on the Link ...

Page 2047: ... activates the selected link Default on Turning off Active makes the link unavailable for vertex assignment meaning that the link has no influence on any vertices Vertices within range of this 4728 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2048: ...cted Links Reinitializes the link and its vertex parameters based on the current link parameter settings Clicking Reinitialize Selected Links does not change vertex assignments or manual reassignments For example increasing the tension of a link can cause the spacing to change for the link s cross sections Reinitialize Selected Links smoothes the spline and makes cross section spacing even again T...

Page 2049: ... rigid as well as deformable envelopes Default off Turn off for the rigid envelope for a character s head the head should not twist along the length of the link You might want to turn this on for the forearm or upper arm link if you re using rigid envelopes Tension Values lower than 1 0 concentrate the effect closer to the joint Values higher than 1 0 move the effect away from the joint Range 0 0 ...

Page 2050: ...that is greater than 180 degrees Inside sliding causes the vertices to relax and slip away from the joint preventing bunching of vertices on the side having an angle less than 180 degrees TIP Use sliding for knees and elbows Inside As values increase skin moves away from the joint Range 0 0 to 1 0 Default 0 0 no inside sliding Outside As values increase skin moves toward the joint Range 0 0 to 1 0...

Page 2051: ...han 0 5 shift scaling onto the child link At 0 0 expansion and contraction are limited to the selected link At 1 0 expansion and contraction are limited to the child link Range 0 0 to 1 0 Default 0 5 Link Scale Scales the entire link radially independent of the effect of any cross sections At 1 0 the link is actual size and this setting has no effect Other values increase or decrease the radial sc...

Page 2052: ...e bones change in length the mesh expands and contracts when Stretch is on Breathe When on scaling a skeleton node changes the radial scale of the link s skin When off scaling a node has no effect on the scale of the skin Default off Physique User Interface 4733 ...

Page 2053: ...rollout When a joint bends the skin can collide Without collision detection it can overlap unrealistically This is especially likely when one or both of the links have bulges The joint intersection controls can detect skin collisions and correct overlap by creasing the skin By default Physique draws a crease plane that bisects the joint and prevents vertices from each link from crossing the crease...

Page 2054: ...t to the Blend To point Between Blend To and Blend From the crease plane has a partial effect adjusted by the Bias setting Vertices at locations less than the Blend From point are not affected by the crease plane Procedures To adjust joint intersection parameters 1 With Physique active on the Modify panel go to the Link sub object level 2 In a viewport click the link you want to work with 3 Select...

Page 2055: ...lane and the point where this joint begins to blend Blend From in the parent s case Blend To in the link s case The distance of the vertices from the crease plane determines the exact amount of shifting Vertices within the blend region that are closer to the intersection plane are shifted more than the vertices further away from it Default 0 0 Blend To Indicates the distance beyond which the creas...

Page 2056: ...creates a single default bulge angle for each bulge joint in the attached skeleton The angle of this joint is that of the initial skeleton pose This is the pose the skeleton had when the Physique modifier was applied to the skeleton or when you use Reinitialize on page 4683 and turn on Initial Skeleton Pose in the Physique Initialization dialog To create a bulge you need to add only a single addit...

Page 2057: ...r the newly created bulge angle When Select Nearest Bulge Angle is active the bulge angle color changes as the joint bends this is a good visual indicator of which angle has the most influence at any given frame Scrub the time slider to a frame where the arm is bent to 90 degrees then click Set Bulge Angle you can also rotate the joint NOTE The Set Bulge Angle command records only the angle betwee...

Page 2058: ...ls at the Bulge sub object level The benefit of using the Bulge Editor is that bulge angle data is represented graphically and provides an alternative way of creating selecting and editing cross sections Rather than editing cross section control points in the viewports to bulge the mesh you might prefer to open the Bulge Editor and move control points in the Bulge Editor s Cross Section view Proce...

Page 2059: ...t the new cross section to be 9 Scale the cross section or move its control points to create the bulge To move individual control points use the Control Point selection level 10 Enter 80 0 in the Influence field If the bulge angle is for a biceps bulge when the forearm and upper arm create a 90 degree angle the bulge begins to appear at 10 degrees To copy all Bulge angles from one link to its oppo...

Page 2060: ...hild link 3 In the Bulge Angle Parameters group click Set Bulge Angle To delete a bulge angle 1 Click the arrow of the Current Bulge Angle drop down list The full list of bulge angle names is displayed 2 Click the name of the bulge angle you want to delete 3 Click Delete Bulge Angle You can t delete the default bulge angle a link must always have at least one bulge angle defined To use Select Near...

Page 2061: ...Interface Controls for the Bulge sub object level are on the Bulge rollout 4742 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2062: ... or control point depending on the selection level Bulge Editor Click to display the Bulge Editor on page 4687 which lets you create and edit bulge angles using the schematic Cross Section and Profile views Select Nearest Bulge Angle Turn on to select the bulge angle nearest to the current joint angle If a joint bends over time this lets you use the time slider to select a bulge angle If you click...

Page 2063: ...ross Section pastes all cross sections for all bulges TIP Entire Link is useful for copying all the bulges from one arm or leg to another Bulge Angle Color Click the color swatch to change the color of the current bulge angle Giving each bulge angle a different color is a convenient way to distinguish between them Bulge Angle Parameters group Set Bulge Angle Changes the angle value to the skeleton...

Page 2064: ...you ve set a bulge angle for the joint at 90 degrees an Influence value of 40 means that the bulge effect begins to appear when the rotating joint reaches 50 degrees 90 minus 40 or 130 degrees 90 plus 40 Power Controls how smoothly or abruptly the bulge takes effect At 0 0 the bulge takes effect immediately without interpolated easing As values increase the bulge eases in gradually A value of 10 0...

Page 2065: ... copy and paste all the bulge angles from one link choose Entire Link from the Current Bulge Angle drop down list and then click Copy Select the opposite link and click Paste Click Mirror to mirror the pasted link parameters Mirror Mirrors bulge angles and cross sections on bulge angles If necessary you can then use Select And Rotate to orient the bulge angles and cross sections Display group Inte...

Page 2066: ...a tendon from the spine to the upper arm go to the Tendon sub object level Select a spine link In the Insert Settings group click to turn on Insert and then click the selected link to position the tendons A tendon cross section is added to the link Turn off Insert In the Selection Level group turn on Cross Section Using the Rotate tool on the Main toolbar rotate the cross section so its control po...

Page 2067: ...Tendons connecting upper chest to arms Procedures See Creating Tendons on page 4653 Interface Controls for Tendon sub objects are on the Tendons rollout 4748 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2068: ...ndon cross section or control point depending on the active selection level Insert Settings group Sections Sets the number of base cross sections for the tendon Default 1 Attach Points Sets the number of attach points around the tendon s base cross section Default 6 Resolution Sets the radial resolution around the base cross section Attach points are constrained to one of the radial resolution lin...

Page 2069: ...nk Default 1 0 The Pull Pinch and Stretch values work together to control along a particular dimension the strength of the one link the attached link call it link B on vertices assigned to another link the link where the tendon cross sections are inserted call it link A Vertices on link A behave as if they were under the influence of link B Pull Pinch and Stretch can all range from 2 0 to 2 0 At t...

Page 2070: ...ifferent link Detach At the Control Point selection level detaches the tendon of the selected control point At the Cross Section selection level detaches all of the cross section s attached tendons At the Link selection level detaches all attached tendons on all cross sections of the selected link Upper Boundary Conditions group Connect to Child Link When on allows tendons to affect the child link...

Page 2071: ...nt link This lets you connect tendons across several links Otherwise there is a boundary between the links where no tendon effect occurs Default off Lower Bound Sets the lower boundary overlap Lower Boundary values less than 0 0 affect the parent link Default 0 0 WARNING Tendons that span several links can conflict with joint intersection parameters In these cases go to the Link sub object level o...

Page 2072: ...ze the viewport display of tendons Vertex Sub Object Physique Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it Modify panel Vertex sub object level Most often you will want to use envelopes to correct the way skin behaves as the biped moves However you can override envelopes by manually assigning vertex properties For example you can remove the influence of inappropriate links from se...

Page 2073: ...vertices of the middle finger 1 Go to the Vertex sub object level 2 Turn on Select and select vertices in the viewports 3 In the Vertex Operations group turn on Remove From Link 4 Click a link in a viewport The vertices are removed from that link s influence NOTE You can click additional links to remove their influence as well 5 In the Vertex Operations group turn on Lock Assignments You must use ...

Page 2074: ...o influence the selected deformable vertices To override vertex assignments manually This technique is used when envelope assignments are inappropriate and you want to have specific vertices influenced by a specific link 1 Go to the Vertex sub object level 2 Make sure all three Vertex Type buttons are on and then select the vertices you want to reassign 3 In the Vertex Operations group click to tu...

Page 2075: ...roup click to turn on Assign To Link 4 Turn on Rigid Vertices green in the Vertex Type group and turn off Deformable and Root Vertices 5 Choose No Blending from the Blending Between Links drop down list This setting will disregard the effects of blending envelopes and vertex weights and let you assign the selection to any link manually 6 In a viewport click the link these vertices are to be assign...

Page 2076: ...Physique User Interface 4757 ...

Page 2077: ... Blending Between Links drop down list This list provides several options N Links Vertices within all overlapping envelopes are influenced While this option is active vertices can be assigned only to the envelopes they fall within Envelopes are used by Physique in this case to define the blended weight of each vertex No Blending Vertices are influenced by only one link as in character studio 1 Thi...

Page 2078: ...th limited blending Vertex Operations group Select Selects vertices using the selection tools on the main toolbar Select by Link Selects vertices by link Assign to Link Assigns the selected vertices to a link To assign the currently selected vertices to a link turn on Assign To Link and then click the link Assign To Link has a dependency on the envelopes defined for each link and you must set Blen...

Page 2079: ...sique notes the proximity of new vertices to the locked vertices It then locks the new vertices based on proximity Already locked vertices will not be unlocked Unlock Assignments Unlocks vertex assignments Click Unlock Assignments on selected locked vertices prior to reassigning them to another link or changing their blending settings Type In Weights Displays the Type In Weights dialog on page 471...

Page 2080: ... delegates on page 7951 helper objects that act as representatives You give the delegates overall guidelines on how to behave and the crowd simulation calculates their motion You set these guidelines by assigning behaviors on page 7920 to delegates A behavior specifies a particular type of activity such as moving toward an object in the scene avoiding obstacles following a path or surface and so f...

Page 2081: ...Crowd Helpers on page 4767 Adjusting Delegate Parameters on page 4772 Assigning Behaviors on page 4772 Directing Delegates on page 4777 Obstacle Avoidance on page 4780 Changing Delegate Orientation and Speed on page 4785 Solving the Simulation on page 4786 Linking Objects to Delegates on page 4787 Cognitive Controllers on page 4789 Biped Crowds on page 4793 Non Biped Crowds on page 4805 Creating a...

Page 2082: ...crowd helper is the controlling object for the entire crowd simulation 2 Create a Delegate helper on page 4767 object This is a prototype for your crowd a representative member Creating a Crowd System 4763 ...

Page 2083: ...turning limits for the delegate This is analogous to defining how a particular animal or object moves Is it a bird a fish a slug or an airplane 4 Make clones of the delegate either with 3ds Max clone tools or by scattering delegates on page 4767 4764 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2084: ...ors such as grids or objects to seek or avoid These objects often correspond to objects in your scene For example you could create a grid in an open doorway to attract delegates or a box at an obstacle to repel delegates Creating a Crowd System 4765 ...

Page 2085: ...6 Add one or more behaviors on page 4772 Modify each behavior s settings to be appropriate for the members of your crowd 7 Solve the simulation 4766 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2086: ...nd other factors Use bipeds and a motion flow network to animate the bipeds with delegates See Biped Crowds on page 4793 Creating Crowd Helpers The crowd system in character studio uses two helper objects Crowd and Delegate The first step in creating a crowd simulation is the creation of these helpers The crowd helper serves as the command center for setting up and solving crowd simulations while ...

Page 2087: ...create delegates you use the crowd helper to clone delegates and distribute the clones add behaviors apply behaviors to delegates link delegates to animated objects and much more 4768 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2088: ...e delegate per object to be animated by the crowd system You can add delegates one by one or use any of the standard 3ds Max methods for cloning objects including Shift clone and the Array function However the Crowd object offers a convenient Scatter Objects on page 4823 function that lets you clone delegates and distribute the clones over a surface or within a volume with options for orientation ...

Page 2089: ...t to point forward that is toward the positive Y direction in the World coordinate system you should create it in the Top viewport To clone and scatter delegates 1 Create a Crowd helper and a Delegate helper 2 Decide how to distribute the delegate clones and create an object to define how the clones are to be positioned a grid object a primitive box or sphere a shape or any object to serve as a su...

Page 2090: ...culated orientation 10 Click Generate Orientations 11 On the Scale tab for each axis specify Average Deviation and optionally Same As settings and a random seed 12 Click Generate Scales At this point you re basically finished However to create a series of randomized positions orientations and or sizes for clones follow the next two steps and repeat as necessary 13 On the All Ops turn on Positions ...

Page 2091: ...upward and downward And banking parameters describe how much and how quickly a delegate banks and its banking limit All of these parameters work together to describe different types of creatures A small fish for instance can turn more quickly than a large bird A fish s speed would not be effected when the fish traveled up or down but a bird s speed might be altered by its upward or downward direct...

Page 2092: ...arget or targets Space Warp Behavior on page 4885 Uses any dynamics oriented space warp to control movement including wind and gravity Vector Field a crowd specific space warp that lets delegates avoid irregularly shaped objects while following their contours is included with character studio Speed Vary Behavior on page 4886 Lets delegates change speed for more realistic movement Surface Arrive Be...

Page 2093: ...elegate is given a weight You can modify and or animate these weights to influence the simulation Behavior assignment weights can profoundly effect a simulation When applying two or more behaviors to the same delegate the weights define the relationship between the behaviors making one more or less powerful than the other One way to visualize a behavior assignment weight is to examine the behavior...

Page 2094: ...The Crowd panel displays only one Behavior rollout at a time To access a different one choose its name from the drop down list at the bottom of the Crowd object s Setup rollout As with most scene entities in 3ds Max it s a good idea to give behaviors custom names such as Seek Doorway or Follow Hilly Surface You do this by clicking the behavior s name in the Setup rollout and entering a new one fro...

Page 2095: ...out appears for the behavior you chose 6 If the behavior requires a target object or objects such as Seek click the None button and then select an object or click Multiple Selection and select several objects 7 Change other behavior settings as necessary 8 Create and modify additional behaviors as necessary 9 On the Setup rollout click the Behavior Assignment button 10 In the Assignment Design gro...

Page 2096: ... be animated and the delegates will follow it The Wall Seek behavior on page 4898causes delegates to seek a rectangular area Compare with the Seek behavior which causes delegates to seek an object s pivot point The Path Follow behavior on page 4876 is also useful for pushing delegates in a specified direction With this behavior delegates follow a path but can stray from the path by a specified dis...

Page 2097: ...behavior attracts delegates to the grid in the direction of grid s local Z axis With the grid still selected use the Local coordinate system to see the direction of the Z axis in viewports the axis arrow points in the direction of the positive Z axis Checking the Z axis direction will speed the process of setting up the behavior 3 Select the crowd object and add a Wall Seek behavior 4 In the Wall ...

Page 2098: ...e target surface to the scene NOTE If you use multiple objects delegates will arrive at the surface of the closest object 3 In the Surface Arrive Behavior rollout click None or Multiple Selection to designate the one or more target objects 4 Use the settings in the Location group to determine where the delegate will stop when it reaches a target object 5 Use the settings in the Approach group to d...

Page 2099: ...gular objects The Avoid behavior is unlike any other behavior in Crowd After all the other behaviors exert their forces on the delegates Avoid takes over and has the power to turn slow down and even stop a delegate in order to make it avoid an obstacle Use the Wall Repel behavior on page 4895 to cause crowd members to avoid broad flat objects such as walls and fences You can set a maximum distance...

Page 2100: ...force on the delegate that mimics the contours of the object It does not assure that the delegate will not pass through the surface of the obstacle You can use a Vector Field with both the Space Warp and Avoid behaviors to combine their effects Procedures To use the Avoid behavior 1 Add an Avoid behavior to the Crowd object 2 In the Avoid Behavior rollout use the None button or the Multiple Select...

Page 2101: ...lled from the Z axis side of the grid You can also choose Negative Axis to repel delegates from the opposite side of the grid or Both to repel them from both sides 6 If you want delegates to be attracted to the grid only when they are within a specified area in front of the grid rather than when they are anywhere in the scene turn on Use Distance Use the Inner Distance and Outer Distance parameter...

Page 2102: ... warp 3 Position and scale the space warp lattice so that it encloses the obstacle object The lattice should be significantly larger than the object The object should be located roughly at the lattice center 4 In the Lattice Parameters rollout increase the Length Segs Width Segs Height Segs settings so that the lattice segments intersect the object at reasonable intervals To determine appropriate ...

Page 2103: ...object at the point on the object s surface closest to the lattice point The vector force falls off with distance from the object as shown by the progressively shorter vector lines toward the grid perimeter 10 Add Crowd on page 4819 and Delegate on page 4811 helper objects 11 Select the Crowd object and open the Modify panel 12 In the Setup rollout Behaviors group click New 13 In the Select Behavi...

Page 2104: ...p a behavior you must use Behavior Assignments on page 4845 to assign the behavior to a delegate or team Procedures To use the Orientation behavior 1 Select the crowd helper and access the Modify panel 2 In the Setup rollout Behaviors group click New Choose Orientation Behavior from the pop up list The Orientation Behavior rollout appears below the Setup rollout 3 To restrict the heading orientati...

Page 2105: ...n after the solution is calculated correct behaviors or delegate parameters as necessary then solve again You can speed up the solution calculation time by decreasing the frequency of keyframes or screen updates You can also view the solution one frame at a time to help pinpoint trouble areas Procedures To solve a simulation 1 Set up a crowd simulation with a crowd helper delegates and behaviors S...

Page 2106: ...rt portions of your simulation when things don t go as expected 1 Move the time slider to the frame at which you want to start solving one frame at a time 2 Click Step Solve To use the keyboard shortcut for the Step Solve button turn on the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle and then press the T key to run a solution in step mode You can start at any frame Zoom in to examine the vectors of misbehav...

Page 2107: ...nting in the forward direction then clone the object 3 Select the crowd helper and access the Modify panel 4 On the Setup rollout on page 4820 click Object Delegate Associations The Object Delegate Associations dialog on page 4836 appears 5 Click Add under the Objects list to add objects to link with delegates 6 Click Add under the Delegates list to add delegates to link with the objects you added...

Page 2108: ... choose Associate Delegates With Closest Biped to associate each delegate with the biped nearest to it in the scene 9 Click Associate to make the associations and click Close Unlike regular objects bipeds are not aligned with delegates immediately Each biped will align with its respective delegate when the simulation is solved NOTE In order for a biped crowd simulation to solve correctly it must h...

Page 2109: ...esting an atmospheric property on page 4862 Testing the distance between two objects Testing a modifier parameter Testing another delegate s behavior on page 4863 See also Cognitive Controller Editor on page 4857 State Dialog on page 4859 State Transition Dialog on page 4861 Procedures To set up and use a cognitive controller This procedure describes a typical setup routine for creating and using ...

Page 2110: ...rs for each state 8 Click the Add button 9 In the Select Behaviors dialog choose one or more behaviors If you choose multiple behaviors you can specify different weights for each in the State editor For example you can combine a Seek behavior at full weight with a Wander behavior at half weight so that the delegate will meander slightly as it seeks the target 10 Close the Select Behaviors dialog a...

Page 2111: ...first when the transition is tested The script may contain any number of additional functions to be called from within a function in the script del Refers to the delegate to which the script is currently being applied The transition script is executed once per frame for each delegate team member the cognitive controller is assigned to Thus if you use del in the script rather than the name of a spe...

Page 2112: ...when you solve the software notifies you that it will use only the first assigned cognitive controller Using Motion Synthesis You can create advanced complex crowd simulations in character studio with motion synthesis which lets the software adjust the simulation results dynamically to account for differing conditions Two different forms of motion synthesis are available one for non bipedal crowds...

Page 2113: ...tion must be more than a fragmented collection of clips You must also consider how motions might be sequenced Which motion transitions are possible from a given motion clip To best understand this process study this topic and follow the procedure Using bipeds in a crowd simulation on page 4799 Motion Flow Network and Possible Scripts Biped s Motion Flow on page 4545 functionality provides the mech...

Page 2114: ... s footstep bending operation to straight line motion clips If the clips are motion captured you should employ footstep extraction during import in preparation for the bending operation Adding clips that turn slightly will let the biped crowd simulation make minute corrections in heading in order to achieve goal locations more precisely Motion flow graphs that work best incorporate fine tuned tran...

Page 2115: ...rowd object s Solve operation computes the script or path through the motion flow network that best meets the goals of the biped s delegate So in the walkers max sample the simulation will always choose the best available walking clip in the network that directs the biped s delegate toward the sphere Each biped s script evolves as the crowd Solve computes This is somewhat like a real time game eng...

Page 2116: ... of priority on page 4907 Thus the crowd interaction is accumulated with each successive biped added to the animation In other words each waits its turn to compute its complete animation which entails avoiding the bipeds that have been computed before it It follows that bipeds with the lowest priorities generally encounter the most collisions since they must steer around all the bipeds that have h...

Page 2117: ...owd having to correct transitions for each biped after the simulation is complete would be extremely time consuming It is much more efficient to ensure your transitions are correct before starting to solve the simulation One way to make this process easier is to set up all motions so each has an ideal transition of exactly the same number of frames such as 10 or 15 Then you can optimize transition...

Page 2118: ...ate NOTE These procedures assume you know how to animate bipeds with footsteps and keyframe methods and save the animations as BIP files To prepare for using Shared Motion Flow you should create and save a range of biped motions such as start walk turn right turn left stop and wait See Loading and Saving BIP Animation on page 4300 The first step is to create an appropriate motion flow graph and sa...

Page 2119: ...software add and optimize transitions automatically 6 Click the Synthesize Motion Flow Graph button This uses the first 30 percent and the last 30 percent of each motion to create transitions The graph now shows arrows to and from each clip as well as from each clip to itself If you like delete transitions that obviously don t belong such as the ones from the stop and start clips to themselves Alt...

Page 2120: ...n assigning a Random Start Probability of 60 to clip A and 30 to both clips B and C NOTE The Probability values are arbitrary what counts is their ratios For example values of 80 40 40 or 20 10 10 would work the same NOTE You can also set and change random starting clips and start probabilities in the Motion Flow graph after loading the MFE file into the Shared Motion Flow dialog described later i...

Page 2121: ...ect and click the Setup rollout Biped Delegate Associations button on page 4842 Use the dialog to connect the pairs and turn on Use Biped for each delegate See Linking Objects to Delegates on page 4787 6 Set the biped delegates to use a random start clip as the first clip You can set this simultaneously for multiple delegates with the Edit Multiple Delegates dialog on page 4839 To apply the shared...

Page 2122: ... then click the Set Shared Motion Flow Scale button to match the others scale to that biped Or you can click one of the Reset Wrong Scales buttons to rescale the wrong scale bipeds or just their legs Be sure to take one of these measures before proceeding One more step in the Shared Motion Flow dialog is necessary You must activate Motion Flow mode for all the bipeds sharing the motion flow A spec...

Page 2123: ...gly recommended that you use both options for most Crowd Biped simulations 1 Use the Priority rollout on page 4907 controls for assigning different priorities to your delegates Typically delegates at the head of the crowd should have the highest priorities that is the lowest Priority settings 2 In the Solve rollout Bipeds group turn on Biped Delegates Only then turn on Use Priorities and then turn...

Page 2124: ...h you use you toggle options on the Motion Clips tab of the Synthesis dialog In both cases you use crowd delegates driven by behaviors to motivate the creatures which are linked to those delegates NOTE To animate a model for motion synthesis apply modifiers to the model and animate their parameters Modifiers such as Bend Taper Wave and Xform produce animation you can use with motion synthesis Do n...

Page 2125: ...opies are linked to the delegates to create the complete animation The delegate handles the path and the clip controllers handle the looped animation You can create Master Motion Clip and Global Motion Clip in Track View by assigning a controller to the available controller under Block Control It is however simpler to use the Crowd helper controls on the Global Clip Controller rollout to apply and...

Page 2126: ...lti legged creature 1 Animate an object Create animation in one position like a bird s beating wings Create a variety of animation like a gliding motion wings still wings beating slowly and so on To animate the object apply modifiers and animate their parameters This will be the Global object from which animation clips will be derived 2 Using the Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout add a Crow...

Page 2127: ...the From Global Object and Remove Local groups Use these options only if your original object has lateral motion to coordinate with footsteps 10 On the Motion Clips panel click New This opens the MotionClip Parameters dialog which lets you set the name color and frame range for a motion clip 11 Choose a descriptive name and a frame range for the motion clip For example frames 0 through 10 might be...

Page 2128: ...ight associate the Glide clip with it 15 In the MotionClips group click Add Clip and in the Select MotionClip dialog highlight a clip and click OK 16 Repeat steps 14 and 15 for each state to be used in motion synthesis 17 Go to the Synthesis panel click New Master Motion Clip and add all of the cloned objects 18 Click Auto Blend All and then click Synthesize All The synthesis occurs as a progress ...

Page 2129: ...ncludes facilities for replicating and grouping objects and assigning behaviors on page 4845 to objects and groups The Crowd object works directly on delegate helper objects on page 4811 and indirectly on bipeds and other objects via delegates Cognitive controllers on page 4857 can change delegate behavior based on circumstances in the simulation Motion synthesis on page 4917 uses animation from t...

Page 2130: ...User Interface Dialog on page 7697 Description Shortcut Action Solves crowd simulation S Solve Step solves crowd simula tion Step Solve Delegate Helper Object Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Delegate The Delegate is a special helper object used in crowd animation It serves as an agent for motion created by a Crowd object on page 4819 and its behaviors The Crowd object controls a delegate ...

Page 2131: ...lowing rollouts Geometry Parameters Rollout on page 4813 Motion Parameters Rollout on page 4813 Also you can set parameters for multiple delegates simultaneously optionally with random variation using the Crowd object s Edit Multiple Delegates dialog on page 4839 See also Creating Crowd Helpers on page 4767 Crowd Helper Object on page 4819 4812 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2132: ... box extents Motion Parameters Rollout Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Delegate Motion Parameters rollout Select a Delegate object Modify panel Motion Parameters rollout The Motion Parameters rollout lets you specify a Delegate object s characteristics including speed acceleration and other factors It also lets you associate the delegate with a biped IMPORTANT When using delegates with bi...

Page 2133: ...ively These vectors are visible only during solution of the crowd simulation Show Velocity Uses the Velocity Color see above to draw a vector whose length depicts the delegate s relative speed This vector is visible only during the solution of the crowd simulation Default off Show Cog Control States During a solution a text label appears next to the delegate showing the name of the cognitive contr...

Page 2134: ...eter A value of 0 specifies no slowdown a value of 1 tells the delegate to stop Default 0 3 The algorithm computes a value d which goes linearly from 0 to 1 Decel Weight as the turn angle of the delegate goes from 0 to the Turn Angle specified by the user The speed of the delegate is then multiplied by d For example when the delegate turns at the Turn Angle or greater its speed will be multiplied ...

Page 2135: ... applied Default 90 0 Accel eration Weight Specifies how much the delegate should speed up when moving at a downward slant Default 0 1 See Decel Weight on page 4815 for a full explanation taking into account that Accel Weight produces a speedup effect rather than a slowdown Thus the effective acceleration weight is added to 1 not subtracted from it At Decline Angle Specifies the downward slant ang...

Page 2136: ...t can t fly straight up but can fly straight down you might set to Max Incline to 45 and Max Decline to 90 Banking group These parameters affect the delegate s banking behavior that is how it tilts around its front back axis as it changes direction while moving Banking typically applies to objects moving in the air or on water but can also apply to ground based objects such as one or two wheeled v...

Page 2137: ...ped to be associated with the delegate s motion You can select a biped by clicking its center of mass object e g Bip01 in a viewport or with the Pick Object dialog which you can open by pressing H or by clicking the toolbar button Select By Name you cannot use the Selection Floater Thereafter the name of the biped object appears on the button TIP When using the viewport the mouse cursor changes to...

Page 2138: ...random start clips have been designated an error message is generated Crowd Helper Object Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd The Crowd helper object acts as the command center for controlling crowd simulations in character studio In most cases you won t need more than one Crowd object per scene The Crowd object provides the following rollouts Setup Rollout on page 4820 Solve Rollout on...

Page 2139: ...rface Follow Behavior on page 4892 Wall Repel Behavior on page 4895 Wall Seek Behavior on page 4898 Wander Behavior on page 4901 See also Creating Crowd Helpers on page 4767 Delegate Helper Object on page 4811 Setup Rollout Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout The Setup rollout of the Crowd helper object contains controls for...

Page 2140: ...og on page 4842 Multiple Delegate Editing Opens the Edit Multiple Delegates dialog on page 4839 Behavior Assignments Displays the Behavior Assignments and Teams dialog on page 4845 Cognitive Controllers Displays the Cognitive Controller editor on page 4857 Behaviors group Use these controls for adding removing and renaming behaviors New Launches the Select Behavior Type dialog on page 4854 Choose ...

Page 2141: ...e 4898 Wander Behavior on page 4901 Delete Deletes the current behavior If the behavior is currently in use that is it s assigned to a delegate or team either directly in the Behavior Assignments and Teams dialog on page 4845 or indirectly through a cognitive controller a small dialog appears asking you to confirm the deletion If you delete a directly assigned behavior its assignment is removed fr...

Page 2142: ...from the list Scatter Objects Dialog Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout Scatter Objects Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout Scatter Objects The Scatter Objects dialog of the Crowd helper object includes facilities for creating crowds by cloning objects such as delegates It also lets you distribute the clones and other objects within a radial area along a shap...

Page 2143: ...Interface Clone panel Contains the basic options for cloning an object 4824 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2144: ... well Generate Clones Click this button to create the specified number of clones of the object whose name appears on the Object To Clone button Cloned objects are all created in the same location to distribute them you must set distribution options on the Position panel and then click the Generate Locations button After you generate clones the original object and its newly created clones are scatt...

Page 2145: ... a reference distribution object You can distribute objects randomly over the surface of a grid or other object along a shape or within the volume of a box or a sphere You can choose only one option from the first two group boxes 4826 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2146: ...Grid Box Sphere Surface Shape None Click this button and then select an object in the scene to be used as a reference object Listed objects are limited to the chosen category NOTE With the Grid Box and Sphere choices you can use only a grid helper object a primitive sphere or a primitive box as a reference object A primitive sphere or box that has been converted to a editable mesh object can t be ...

Page 2147: ...tance equal to or greater than the size of the bounding sphere Rand Seed Specifies a seed value for randomizing scatter objects locations If for example you use the same value for clones of a delegate and then a master object each pair ends up in the same place If a scene has more than one crowd each should use a different seed to avoid having identical configurations Generate Locations Click this...

Page 2148: ...lternative forward and up axes plus a target object toward which the objects will point In addition you can specify a source object when using both source and target objects the objects are rotated so they re parallel to the line between the two Crowd Animation User Interface 4829 ...

Page 2149: ...s are looking at a single target each is oriented differently To orient each object so that it s parallel to an imaginary line between two objects the from object and the to object choose Selected Object and specify the object with the None button None label When choosing Selected Object as the Look From object use this button to specify the from direction Click the button and then select an objec...

Page 2150: ...object is calculated at random based on the Deviation settings and the Rand Seed setting Range 0 0 to 180 0 Rand Seed Specifies a seed value for randomizing the scatter objects orientations based on the Deviation settings If you use the same value for clones of a delegate and then a master object each pair ends up with the same orientation If a scene has more than one crowd each should use a diffe...

Page 2151: ...ply uniform or non uniform scaling with optional per axis deviation for scaling variation Each axis group has a Same As option that lets you scale that axis by the same amount as another To prevent non uniform scaling set two axes to be 4832 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2152: ...ation of scaling For each scatter object Deviation is multiplied by a random number between 0 0 and 1 0 and then added to the Scale multiplier Same As X Z Lets you use the same scaling as on the X or Z axis whether explicit or randomized When you specify an axis the parameters group for that axis becomes unavailable Z group Scale Sets scaling on the Z axis as a multiplier Default 1 0 Deviation Set...

Page 2153: ...les the scatter objects using the new random seed Default on All Ops panel This panel lets you perform various permutations of cloning and transform operations in a single step with or without successive randomization Operations group Compute Clones Turn on to clone the object chosen with the Object to Clone button on page 4825 When you click the Scatter button the object is cloned and then any sp...

Page 2154: ...ing the Scatter button Clicking this button opens a version of the Select dialog that s unique to Scatter Objects functionality If you ve performed one or more cloning operations during the current session the results of the most recent cloning are selected by default including the original cloned object For example if you created 10 clones 11 objects are selected You can use the Select dialog to ...

Page 2155: ...s will be placed Object Delegate Associations Dialog Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout Associate Objects with Delegates Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout Associate Objects with Delegates You can use this dialog to link any number of delegate object pairs You can also use this dialog to align objects with delegates optionally matching scaling factors as wel...

Page 2156: ...ur selection and then click the Select button to add the objects to the Objects list Remove Deletes the highlighted object or objects from the list Shift Up Shift Down Use the arrow buttons between the two lists to move highlighted items higher or lower in the list When you click Align Objects With Delegates Link Objects To Delegates or Assign Delegate Controllers To Objects the software creates a...

Page 2157: ... its corresponding delegates This is useful if for example you ve randomized delegates sizes with the Scatter Objects Scale panel on page 4832 and want the associated objects to match Link Objects to Delegates Creates a hierarchy for each object delegate pair with the delegate as parent Association via Animation Replacement group Assign Delegate Controllers to Objects Copies each delegate s contro...

Page 2158: ...tes when you click the Apply Edit button Each numeric parameter has two Value settings and an associated Random check box which lets you specify a random value within a specified range for each member of the group By default Random is off and the Value 1 setting is applied for all parameters with SET turned on If you turn on Random for a parameter its Value 2 setting becomes available If you then ...

Page 2159: ...the Delegates To Edit group box controls to add delegates to or remove them from the current setting 5 Modify the remaining parameters as necessary Be sure to turn on the SET check box for any parameters that are to change 6 Click the Apply Edit button to make the changes and exit the dialog Interface 4840 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2160: ...hat averages are calculated correctly Animated Object Specifies an animated object Click this button and then choose the object from the list in the Select dialog Set After specifying the animated object click this button to apply its parameters to the delegate settings Also turns on the SET check box for any affected parameters General group Rather than numeric values the settings in this group a...

Page 2161: ...settings To store a combination choose a name from the list and then specify the delegates and settings To recall a combination choose its name from the list To rename a combination choose its name from the list and then highlight the name and edit it using the keyboard Check All Sets Click this button to turn on all SET check boxes This ensures that any changes you make in the dialog take effect ...

Page 2162: ... Interface Bipeds Lists bipeds available for linking specified using the Add function see following item You can select any number of objects from this list for shifting up or down or deleting To clear highlighted items control click them Add Click this to open the standard 3ds Max Select dialog which lists all bipeds in the scene that are not currently listed in the Associate Bipeds with Delegate...

Page 2163: ...ciate button character studio eliminates any delegate biped associations Makes the Bipeds list and buttons unavailable Make Specified Associations When chosen and you click the Associate button character studio associates each parallel delegate biped pair in the two lists That is the first delegate is associated with the first biped the second delegate with the second biped and so on Associate Del...

Page 2164: ... when you solve the software notifies you that it will use only the first assigned cognitive controller NOTE The Enable Flashing option helps you see which delegates are affected by different actions in this dialog When it s turned on and you perform any of the following the relevant delegates flash highlight briefly in the viewports Click a delegate or team in the Assignment Design group Click an...

Page 2165: ...e highlighted If any are Ctrl click them to clear the selections If assignments are highlighted the software assumes you want to modify the existing assignments 3 In the Assignment Design group select one delegate or team and one or more behaviors or one cognitive controller You can select only one item from either side of this group with the exception of behaviors If you choose multiple behaviors...

Page 2166: ... for all of them at once 2 To change assignees in the Assignment Design group select a delegate or team 3 To change the assigned behaviors in the Assignment Design group select a behavior or cognitive controller 4 Click the Reset Assignment button This is the vertical button to the right of the assignment Design group with five right pointing arrows 5 Change the Weight setting and Active status as...

Page 2167: ...choose only one item from either side of this group To assign the same behavior to more than one delegate the most efficient method is to use the Teams group on page 4853 to gather delegates into teams You can select multiple behaviors for a new assignment to a delegate or team When you click New Assignment the software creates a separate assignment for each highlighted behavior For changing assig...

Page 2168: ... Selections Deselects all highlighted items in the Assignment Design and Behavior Assignments groups Use this before modifying an assignment to avoid possible confusion New Behavior Opens the Select Behavior Type dialog on page 4854 which lets you add a behavior to the scene for use in an assignment To modify a new behavior use the facilities available in the Crowd object s rollouts NOTE If you ad...

Page 2169: ...ion Multiple behaviors can be highlighted If no item in the Behavior Assignments group is highlighted clicking the button creates a new assignment and adds it to the assignments list If one or more items in the Behavior Assignments group are highlighted clicking the button sets the highlighted assignments to use the highlighted delegate team and behavior cognitive controller combination 4850 Chapt...

Page 2170: ...or Cog name A dashed line appears before a list entry if it s the first item for that delegate or team To modify or delete an assignment choose it from the list whereupon the software highlights the assigned components in the Assignment Design group Make the changes using the remaining controls in this dialog NOTE You can select multiple assignments from the list by Ctrl clicking for non contiguou...

Page 2171: ...settings are available but shouldn t be used unless absolutely necessary NOTE The Weight setting is not relevant to the Avoid on page 4867 Orientation on page 4872 or the Surface Follow on page 4892 behavior and is thus unavailable for assignments using any of those three Active When on the assignment is currently in effect When off the assignment has no effect This check box is animatable Default...

Page 2172: ...No Teams Teams button below the Behavior Assignments group Drop down list Displays the name of the current team To view a different team choose it from the list To change a team name click in the box and then use the keyboard to edit the text List box Displays delegates in the current team Crowd Animation User Interface 4853 ...

Page 2173: ...on to update the members in the Named Selection Sets list Enable Flashing When on and you click a list item in the dialog or create modify a team the relevant objects highlight briefly in the viewports to indicate which are affected Default on See the introductory note on page 4845 for details OK Click this button to accept all changes and close the dialog No Teams Teams Toggles display of the Tea...

Page 2174: ...age 4895 Wall Seek Behavior on page 4898 Wander Behavior on page 4901 Select Delegates Dialog Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout Behavior Assignments Choose or add a team Add Members Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout Behavior Assignments Choose or add a team Add Members The Select Delegates dialog lets you designate delegates to be assigned to teams using t...

Page 2175: ...tes Invert Inverts the current selection Selection Sets Choose an item from this to select all members of the selection set You must first have created a selection set from one or more delegates OK Closes the dialog and implements changes Cancel Closes the dialog and ignores changes 4856 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2176: ...de You can load and save them separately as ms files but they are also stored within the max scene file in which they reside The editor interface consists of an icon based toolbar above a window that contains the state diagram When you first open the editor no state diagrams exist Begin by clicking the New button to create a new state diagram TIP If you find yourself consistently assigning two or ...

Page 2177: ...y a state s name and behaviors by editing the state To edit a state right click it This opens the State dialog on page 4859 Create Transition Lets you link states with transitions Click this button and then drag between two states to create the transition starting with the earlier state The transition appears as a black arrow pointing from the first state to the second Alternatively if you click a...

Page 2178: ...g the Ctrl key as you click Delete State Transition Lets you delete one or more states or transitions First select any combination of states and transitions to delete and then click this button Name Shows the name of the current state diagram To display and or edit another choose it from the list To change a state diagram s name click the name in the box and use the keyboard to edit the text New A...

Page 2179: ...he state To remove a behavior or change its weight click the behavior s name and then make the appropriate changes using the controls below the list NOTE The order of behaviors in this list is immaterial all behaviors execute simultaneously Add Opens the Select Behavior dialog which displays the names of all behaviors on page 4866 in the current Crowd object that are not associated with the curren...

Page 2180: ...ck a transition line These settings control how the software effects a transition from one state to another when using a cognitive controller on page 4857 For more detailed information see To set up and use a cognitive controller on page TheTransition Script The most important element of the transition is the MAXScript conditional script This is a script associated with the controller that is exec...

Page 2181: ...to modify and use in your own scenes NOTE See this topic in the online User Reference for sample code to test an object position test the distance between two objects and test a modifier parameter Testing a Particle System Parameter This sample script tests the number of particles emitted by particle system Spray01 and returns positive if the number equals 100 fn TestParticles del t if particleCou...

Page 2182: ...s an overview but to fully understand the setup you should examine the scene Study in particular the behavior assignments and cognitive controllers which use a total of eight different transition scripts Six delegates are confined in a room defined by four grids using a Wall Repel behavior Delegates 1 2 3 and 5 simply wander at random during the simulation However delegate 4 uses a cognitive contr...

Page 2183: ...cial function getBehaviorType that compares an input behavior against a list of known behaviors and on a match returns the known behavior In this case transfunc4 runs through the list of behaviors currently influencing Delegate04 testing each with getBehaviorType and if an Avoid behavior is in effect proceeds to check whether Delegate02 is an obstacle of that Avoid behavior Use of this function is...

Page 2184: ...ce over one with Priority 1 and so on Duration The number of frames the software takes to effect the transition between states Ease In The rate at which the transition begins Default 0 5 Range 0 to 1 0 Lower values cause a more abrupt transition while higher values cause a more gradual transition Ease Out The rate at which the transition ends Default 0 5 Range 0 to 1 0 Lower values cause a more ab...

Page 2185: ...elpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout New button Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout Choose a behavior The Behavior rollout appears in the Crowd object command panel after you first add a behavior to the scene using the Setup rollout The rollout s full name for example Avoid Behavior or Seek Behavior depends on the c...

Page 2186: ...fy panel Setup rollout New button Avoid Behavior The Avoid behavior lets you specify any object or objects that delegates must keep away from As delegates approach designated objects during the crowd simulation they steer clear of them while turning and or braking as necessary This behavior uses three different methods to let delegates avoid each other and other objects Steer To Avoid Repel and Ve...

Page 2187: ...of the Vector Field avoidance can constructed to form the shape of any object For example suppose you want to animate a school of fish swimming around a sunken ship In this case a vector field can be created so that it extends the shape of the ship into the surrounding space The field is computed by scan converting the ship s surface normals into a 3D lattice that surrounds the ship These normals ...

Page 2188: ...ection see next item the word Multiple appears on the button To see which objects are designated as targets click the Multiple Selection button Multiple Selection Opens the Select dialog to let you designate multiple targets When you have more than one target you can set delegates to move toward the closest target in the group or to a computed average of the target positions Crowd Animation User I...

Page 2189: ...egate s goal that delegate will steer to avoid rather than slow down and wait Default 360 Range 0 360 TIP To disable turning for avoidance thus allowing only braking set Detour Angle to 0 This forces delegates to remain directed toward their goal so that they must slow down and wait until there is a clearing in front of them much like an audience queuing to leave through an exit after a concert Br...

Page 2190: ...ided to travel perpendicular to the field s vectors When used with the Avoid behavior the delegate simply moves away in the direction of the vectors TIP Sometimes when using Avoid with a vector field the behavior might seem to be fighting with other behaviors such as Seek over delegate movement causing a halting and or wavering motion In such cases try reducing Brake Strength and or increasing Fal...

Page 2191: ... a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Orientation Behavior The Orientation behavior lets you control whether and how delegates rotate independent of their direction of motion Normally a delegate always faces in the direction it s moving You can use the Orientation behavior to specify limits to the delegate s rotational activity without affecting its path which is generated by other...

Page 2192: ...elegates turn on the vertical axis By default heading is absolute with 0 specifying the positive X axis in World coordinates Thus 90 would specify the negative Y axis 90 the positive Y axis and 180 or 180 the negative X axis Crowd Animation User Interface 4873 ...

Page 2193: ...ion behavior takes effect by turning on the Relative check box Relative When on Heading settings are applied relative to the delegate s heading at the time the behavior takes effect When off settings are absolute Default off Min Heading The minimum permissible heading This number should be lower than the Max Heading value Default 180 Range 180 to 180 Max Heading The maximum permissible heading Thi...

Page 2194: ...can incline or decline This number should be higher than the Min Pitch value Default 180 Range 180 to 180 Max Pitch Velocity Specifies how much the delegate s pitch can change per frame This controls angular acceleration and deceleration Default 180 Pitch Response Determines how quickly the pitch follows the direction the object is moving in A value of 1 0 indicates maximum responsiveness so that ...

Page 2195: ...e a specified path during a crowd simulation Delegates can move forward or backward along paths and when they reach the end they can loop back to the start or reverse direction or even continue in the same general direction If the delegate s start position isn t on the path at the start of the simulation it moves to the path before following the path During the solution character studio intermitte...

Page 2196: ...re than one spline or curve character studio uses the lowest numbered element usually the earliest created one NOTE You can assign a path object only from the Modify panel Radius The radial distance from the path in units within which the delegate stays while traversing the path Default 20 0 Range 0 0 to 99 999 0 Crowd Animation User Interface 4877 ...

Page 2197: ... 0 5 Range 0 0 to 1 0 NOTE You can vary behaviors among different Path Follow behaviors that use the same Awareness and Deviation settings by changing the Seed value Starting Point Determines where on the path the delegate begins to follow the path The default choice is Beginning of Path Hint To see a selected spline path s start point open the Modify panel and turn on any sub object level the sta...

Page 2198: ... Use this choice to simulate a back and forth patrol behavior Continue The delegate continues moving in the same direction it faced at the end of the path until the simulation ends or it s acted upon by another force or behavior Seed Specifies a seed value for randomizing Awareness Default 1 Color Swatch Shows the color used to draw the Path Follow force vector during the solution Click the box to...

Page 2199: ...vior on page 4883 If you want delegates to back away from an object as opposed to turning to face the direction they re moving use Repel in conjunction with the Orientation behavior on page 4872 NOTE Repel is set by default to work only within a specific radius around the source If you want it to work at any distance turn off Radius group Use Radii Interface None label Specifies a single source Cl...

Page 2200: ... locations Method group Determines whether delegate direction as influenced by the behavior is calculated by an angular method or a force method Default Force Angle Applies a force to the delegate based on the angle between the delegate s current direction and the direction it would need to take in order to be moving directly away from the source The magnitude of the force is greatest when the del...

Page 2201: ... the delegate s by the Repel behavior is drawn in the viewports as a vector during the simulation solution Scripted Behavior Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout New button Scripted Behavior Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Scripted Behavior The Scripted behavior lets you create custom behaviors using MAXScript A scripted behavior can incorporate ...

Page 2202: ...anel Setup rollout New button Seek Behavior The Seek behavior lets you specify any object or objects as a stationary or moving target for delegates Delegates move toward the target during the crowd simulation while turning as necessary Interface None label Specifies a single target Click this button and then click the target object in the viewport The target name then appears on the button Crowd A...

Page 2203: ...legate direction as influenced by the behavior is calculated by an angular method or a force method Default Angle Angle Applies a force to the delegate based on the angle between the delegate s current direction and the direction it would need to take in order to be moving directly toward the target The magnitude of the force is greatest when the delegate is moving away from the target and needs t...

Page 2204: ...se Radii is turned on the radii are also displayed when the force is active Space Warp Behavior Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout New button Space Warp Behavior Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Space Warp Behavior The Space Warp behavior lets space warps such as wind or gravity influence a crowd simulation You can use it to apply space warps in...

Page 2205: ...panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout New button Speed Vary Behavior Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Speed Vary Behavior The Speed Vary behavior is useful for objects whose velocity changes at random as they move such as sightseeing tourists Its parameters let you specify how often a delegate should change speed what speed range it should look at for a n...

Page 2206: ...h the delegate s calculated speed Average Speed Center should vary Each time a period ends character studio takes a random number between the negative and positive values of the Deviation setting multiplies it by the calculated speed and adds the result to the calculated speed Default 0 25 Range 0 0 to 99 999 0 Accel Period Specifies the rate at which the delegate s speed should change in relation...

Page 2207: ...lets you specify an object or objects as a stationary or moving target for delegates The principal difference is that Surface Arrive can cause delegates to stop when they reach the target You can also specify to some degree where the delegate will stop on the object and how it will approach the target before stopping An example of a use for this behavior would be birds flying over a row of telepho...

Page 2208: ...Interface Crowd Animation User Interface 4889 ...

Page 2209: ...which it will try to arrive A value of 1 0 means to use the full acceleration of the delegate Default 0 5 Deviation Adds random variation to the to the Rate setting The actual deviation is calculated by multiplying the Deviation setting by a random number between 1 and 1 and then multiplying the result by the Rate setting Default 0 0 Speed The speed at which to arrive relative to the speed of the ...

Page 2210: ...ff Every Frame is useful when the target object is rotating during the animation but requires more time for calculation Display Offset When on shows the Offset distance as lines emanating from each vertex in the surface object perpendicular to the surface Approach group The Height and Descent settings together specify the path the delegate will take for its arrival They allow for a wide range of b...

Page 2211: ...ings of X 0 Y 0 Z 1 means that the delegates will approach the target along the vertical world axis Seed Affects the random numbers used to calculate the Deviation settings For similar randomization among different Surface Arrive behaviors use the same Seed value Color Swatch Shows the color used to draw the target icon Default dark blue Display Target Enables display of the target icon which appe...

Page 2212: ...n following the upward slope You can override this with the Projection Vector option Interface None label Specifies a single target object to use as a surface Click this button and then click the target object in the viewport The target name then appears on the button If you ve selected multiple targets using Multiple Selection see next item the word Multiple appears on the button To see which obj...

Page 2213: ...m the specified vector rather than using the default X Y Z Specifies a vector using world coordinates Default X Y 0 Z 1 Range 1 0 to 1 0 If only one of these settings is not 0 then the projection vector is aligned with the non zero axis Combine non zero settings to create angled planes for Surface Follow For example to create a virtual plane that s rotated 45 degrees clockwise about world Y axis s...

Page 2214: ...epel behavior uses one or more grid objects to repel delegates When influenced by the Wall Repel force delegates turn until they re heading away from the grid It s useful for keeping objects inside a straight sided enclosure such as a room in a building You can set the grids to repel from either side or both sides and optionally specify a maximum distance for repelling You can also set the behavio...

Page 2215: ...og With multiple source grids the word Multiple appears on the large button Method group Determines whether delegate direction as influenced by the behavior is calculated by an angular method or a force method Default Force Angle Applies a force to the delegate based on the angle between the delegate s current direction and the direction it would need to take in order to be moving directly away fr...

Page 2216: ...ide Negative Axis The grid repels only from the negative axis side Both Axes The grid repels from both sides Distance group Use the distance settings to activate the Wall Repel behavior only when the delegates are within a specific distance from the target The relative strength of the behavior increases from 0 percent at the outer radius to 100 percent at the inner radius Use Distance When on the ...

Page 2217: ... draw the Wall Repel force during the solution Click the box to choose a different color Default violet Display Force The force when activated is drawn in the viewports as a wireframe rectangle during the simulation solution Default on Wall Seek Behavior Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Setup rollout New button Wall Seek Behavior Select a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New b...

Page 2218: ... an angular method or a force method Default Angle Angle Applies a force to the delegate based on the angle between the delegate s current direction and the direction it would need to take in order to be moving directly toward the target The magnitude of the force is greatest when the delegate is moving away from the target and needs to turn around It can be as little as 0 when the delegate is dir...

Page 2219: ...rom 0 percent at the outer distance to 100 percent at the inner distance Use Distance When on the behavior applies only to delegates closer to the target than the Outer Distance value Default on Inner Distance The distance from the target at which the force is applied at full strength Default 0 0 Outer Distance The distance from the target at which the force begins to be applied Default 10 0 Fallo...

Page 2220: ...a Crowd object Modify panel Setup rollout New button Wander Behavior The Wander behavior imparts a random motion to delegates letting you simulate meandering activity in which delegates move and turn in a haphazard manner It works by randomly picking a new direction and then turning and moving in that direction You can specify how often to pick a new direction how far to turn and how fast or slow ...

Page 2221: ...sult to Period Default 0 5 Range 0 0 to 1 0 Turning group Angle Specifies how far to turn when changing direction A small value means to change direction by only a small amount while as the value approaches 1 0 the delegate will turn randomly in any direction Default 0 5 Range 0 5 to 1 0 Turn Period Specifies how long over the current period it takes to turn A value of 0 0 means that the delegate ...

Page 2222: ...sed to draw the Wander force vector during the solution Click the box to choose a different color Display Force When on force exerted on the delegates by the Wander behavior is drawn in the viewports as a vector during the simulation solution Solve Rollout Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Solve rollout Select a Crowd object Modify panel Solve rollout Once you ve set up the crowd simu...

Page 2223: ... are assigned Solving a simulation overwrites any previous solutions To abort a solution in progress and save all keys generated up to that point press the Esc key Alternatively with complex simulations you can save time by pressing Shift Esc to abort a solution without saving keys 4904 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2224: ...p to that point will be correct NOTE If you set Start Solve to a frame number lower than the first frame of the active time segment character studio changes the first frame of the time segment to the Start Time value End Solve Specifies the last frame considered for the solution Default 100 NOTE If you set End Solve to a frame number higher than the last frame of the active time segment character ...

Page 2225: ... this feature you can write a script that dynamically selects the biped s next clip during the Crowd simulation based on which clip is currently being used the frame number the proximity of other bipeds or anything else that you can find out in a script Of course this scripting feature can be used for other purposes as well Use MAXScript When on a user specified script is executed at each frame du...

Page 2226: ...rities are used the Crowd simulation computes one biped at a time based on its priority setting from lowest to highest that is a lower Priority setting means a higher priority If the priorities of two biped delegates are the same the computation order of those two biped delegates is randomly determined This topic describes the six different ways of setting a delegate s priority and how priorities ...

Page 2227: ...roup start after or before the other you could use Increment Priorities to increment or decrement all the priorities in one group If none of the algorithms applies to your situation you need some way to set the priorities by hand It s useful to be able to set them visually That s what the Assign By Picking method is for Interface 4908 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2228: ...priority value using this method In such a case for more predictable behavior use Make Priorities Unique so that delegates don t share priorities Assign by Computation group This group provides five different methods for assigning priorities to delegates plus a button for selecting delegates to be affected by these methods Delegates to Prioritize Lets you use the Select dialog to specify delegates...

Page 2229: ...n a new priority value that differs from the rest Increment Priorities Increments the priorities of all selected delegates by the Increment value Increment Sets the value by which the Increment Priorities button adjusts delegate priorities Use a negative Increment value to decrement priorities Default 0 Set Start Frames Opens the Set Start Frames dialog on page 4910 for setting start frames based ...

Page 2230: ...7 such as the Pick Assign button or one of the Proximity options and then assign start frames with this dialog You can use the dialog to set a start frame for the highest priority delegate that is the delegate with the lowest Priority setting and then have start frames incremented randomly between two limits for the remaining delegates based on priority order For instance if you set Lowest Start F...

Page 2231: ...priority order and closes the dialog Cancel Closes the dialog without changing start frame values Smoothing Rollout Create panel Helpers Object Type rollout Crowd Smoothing rollout Select a Crowd object Modify panel Smoothing rollout Smoothing works on existing animation keys that is a solved simulation to create more natural looking animation Use these controls if solving a crowd simulation resul...

Page 2232: ...ed by the Select Objects To Smooth button shows only delegates When off it shows all scene objects Default on Whole Animation Smoothes all animation frames This is the default option Animation Segment Smoothes only the frame ranges specified in the From and To fields From When Animation Segment is chosen specifies the first animation frame for smoothing Crowd Animation User Interface 4913 ...

Page 2233: ...calculation can be affected These settings let you control the number of keyframes used and the extent of smoothing performed Filter When on smoothing is performed using the remaining settings in this group Past Keys The number of keys prior to the current frame used for averaging position and or rotation Default 2 Future Keys The number of keys after the current frame used for averaging position ...

Page 2234: ...de are highlighted in the collision color Only during collisions Colliding delegates are highlighted only in frames in which they actually collide Always Colliding delegates are highlighted in frames in which they collide and all subsequent frames Collision Color The color swatch indicates the color used to highlight colliding delegates To change the color click the swatch and use the Color Select...

Page 2235: ...al Clip Controllers rollout Use global clip controllers when assigning non biped animated objects such as a bird flapping its wings to delegates in a crowd simulation Applications include synthesis of animation activity based on a variety of criteria such as an object s speed acceleration and pitch This group of controls replicates the Track View controls for the same functionality For an in depth...

Page 2236: ...o the list click this button and then select the object in the Select dialog Edit To modify a Global Object s properties click its name in the list and then click this button This opens the Synthesis dialog on page 4925 Load Loads a previously saved Global Motion Clip ant file from disk Save Stores the current Global Motion Clip settings on disk in the ant file format Vector Field Space Warp Creat...

Page 2237: ...ct by traveling perpendicular to the vectors You can use the vector field as a Space Warp behavior on page 4885 as the source object for an Avoid behavior on page 4867 or both When used together delegates slow down when they approach a complex object and then go around it This guarantees that delegates will not pass through the obstacle s surface The vector field includes settings for strength fal...

Page 2238: ...ox Creates a standard box shaped space warp from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner with different settings for length width and height Lattice Parameters Rollout Create panel Space Warps Particles Dynamics Object Type rollout Vector Field Lattice Parameters rollout Select a Vector Field space warp Modify panel Lattice Parameters rollout Use these parameters to specify the Vector Field l...

Page 2239: ...vector field s forces only if they are bound to the field with a Crowd object For general usage guidelines see To use a Vector Field space warp on page Interface Display group The check boxes in this group let you enable and disable display of four different elements of the Vector Field space warp NOTE You can select a Vector Field space warp in the viewport by clicking any of its visible elements...

Page 2240: ...ld See Sample Resolution on page 4923 for more information VectorScale Scales the vectors so they re more visible or less obtrusive Default 1 0 NOTE This setting does not affect the strength of the vectors only their visibility Icon Size Adjusts the size of the Vector Field space warp icon a pair of crossed double headed arrows Increase the size for easier viewport selection Default size originall...

Page 2241: ... get farther away Parallel Perpendicular Sets whether the force generated by the vectors works parallel or perpendicular to the vector field Default Perpendicular Because the vectors are perpendicular to the object surface and you typically would want delegates to travel parallel to the surface you would normally use a perpendicular force Pull Adjusts objects position relative to the field Availab...

Page 2242: ... the Vector Field lattice resolution and or the Sample Res setting Sample Res olution Acts as a multiplier of the effective sampling rate used on the obstacle object s surface to calculate vector directions in the field Default 1 The basic sampling rate is determined by the program from the size of the lattice and the size of each polygon Use Flipped Faces Causes flipped normals to be used during ...

Page 2243: ...cent lattice points to blend on the X axis Default 1 Blend segs Y The number of adjacent lattice points to blend on the Y axis Default 1 Blend segs Z The number of adjacent lattice points to blend on the Z axis Default 1 Blend Click this button to implement the blending Motion Synthesis The Crowd system in character studio can use two different types of motion synthesis which lets the software adj...

Page 2244: ... be derived you also set up the motion clips here Controls on the State panel let you set up states and link clips to states The Synthesis panel controls let you blend clips and synthesize the motion for some or all crowd members The panels are Motion Clips Panel on page 4925 State Panel on page 4929 Synthesis Panel on page 4932 See also ClipState Dialog on page 4937 Procedures Usage of the Synthe...

Page 2245: ...Motion Clips panel On the Motion Clips panel you specify the global object from which the motion clips are to be derived You also set up the motion clips here See also Synthesis Dialog on page 4925 State Panel on page 4929 Synthesis Panel on page 4932 4926 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2246: ...Interface Global Object Click Global Object and pick the object that contains the animation all the clips in the Select Global Objects To Copy dialog Crowd Animation User Interface 4927 ...

Page 2247: ...If you animate a creature with many legs you should animate lateral motion as well a leg motion Then you create clips that record and then strip out the lateral motion that you created When the delegate approaches the speed and direction you created originally on the global object then the leg motion clip will be activated by the state leg motion will be accurate relative to speed preventing slidi...

Page 2248: ...Pick dialog on page 4936 The MotionClip Parameters dialog on page 4935 displays upon exiting the Track View Pick dialog Add Selected Creates a motion clip from only the selected tracks in Track View Delete Deletes the highlighted clip in the list Load Loads a motion clip file clp Displays the Load Motion Clip dialog Use the Save command to create a clp file Save Saves a motion clip into a clp file...

Page 2249: ...nthesis Panel on page 4932 Interface Synthesis States drop down list Displays the current state Choose a state to modify from the list You can change the state name by editing the text in the list window 4930 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2250: ...hosen Add Clip Displays the Select MotionClip dialog Highlight a clip and click OK to add a clip to the current state Remove Clip Removes the highlighted clip from the current state Precedence Sets the precedence for the current state Range 0 to 1000 If multiple states qualify for activation based on their properties character studio uses the clip associated with the one with the higher precedence...

Page 2251: ... dialog Synthesis Panel Select a Crowd object Modify panel Global Clip Controllers rollout New Choose a GlobalClip object Select the object in the list Edit Synthesis dialog Synthesis panel Open Track View Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog Synthesis panel Controls in the Synthesis panel are for adding objects to be synthesized selecting blend transition points and ...

Page 2252: ...ht any of these by clicking them and select multiple items with Ctrl click and Shift click Highlight all objects with the Select All button New Master Motion Clip Displays the Select Object To Copy dialog Use this to specify the objects to which the synthesized motion will be applied Crowd Animation User Interface 4933 ...

Page 2253: ...ss bar displays during synthesis When synthesis is completed the Synthesis dialog reappears and you can view the calculated minimum maximum and average values of delegate motion for the different state properties in the ClipState dialog You can use these values to fine tune the state properties State Select Seed Sets a seed value for random state selection During synthesis it s possible that sever...

Page 2254: ...end Start frames for all possible pairs of clips OK Accepts changes and closes the dialog MotionClip Parameters Dialog Open Track View Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog Motion Clips panel Click New in the From Global Object group Motion Clip Parameters dialog Select a Crowd helper Modify panel Global Clip Controllers rollout New Choose a GlobalClip object Select th...

Page 2255: ...View when displaying the clip TrackView Pick Dialog Select a Crowd helper Modify panel Global Clip Controllers rollout New Choose a GlobalClip object Select the object in the list Edit Synthesis dialog Motion Clips panel Track View group New Track View Pick dialog Track View Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog Motion Clips panel Track View group New Track View Pick d...

Page 2256: ... particular property or set of properties of a delegate s animation for example the period during which it is pitched upwards and is decelerating After determining the delegate s state the motion synthesis engine chooses a motion clip for animating the object or character linked to the delegate for example a bird When preparing a simulation that uses motion synthesis you use the ClipState dialog t...

Page 2257: ...egate motion For each of a state s active properties you can designate a range of values between which a state can be activated Alternatively you can specify a single unique motion value to be used when a state is active such as a speed of 50 units per frame In addition you specify the In and Out values of the parameter as it approaches and then passes through that unique value These values are an...

Page 2258: ...that contains lateral motion as well as looping motion If you turn on all the options in the Motion Clips panel Remove Local group then character studio creates a state that reflects the actual heading speed and acceleration of your creature When a delegate approaches the heading and speed contained in this state it triggers the appropriate motion clip This method prevents sliding feet when animat...

Page 2259: ...Interface 4940 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2260: ...u might set the unique value to 0 the In setting to Decreasing and the Out setting to Constant This means that the object has slowed down and then stopped and is now stationary Anything Speed before or after the target value is not relevant Decreasing Speed decreases before or after it reaches the target value Constant Speed before or after the target value is constant Increasing Speed increases b...

Page 2261: ...er Modify panel Global Clip Controllers rollout New Choose GlobalClip object Select object in list Edit Synthesis dialog State panel New State Edit Properties Clip State dialog Acceleration Panel Track View Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog State panel New State Edit Properties ClipState dialog Acceleration Panel To have delegate acceleration considered for motion ...

Page 2262: ...ngine consider delegate acceleration in determining whether to activate the state Range Choose Range to have the motion synthesis engine activate the clip when the delegate s acceleration falls inside the specified range Crowd Animation User Interface 4943 ...

Page 2263: ...alue Scale Playback Speed group These settings let you scale the rate at which the animation is played depending upon the acceleration of the delegate By default when Scale Animation is off the object animation will always play at its normal rate If you turn it on you can then set a Base Acceleration at which the animation should play at its normal rate plus a percentage to specify how much the an...

Page 2264: ...w Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog State panel New State Edit Properties ClipState dialog Pitch Panel To have delegate pitch considered for motion synthesis turn on Use Pitch choose Range or Unique and then make the appropriate settings Pitch is determined by the angle in degrees of the delegate about the world X axis In world coordinates the delegate s pitch is p...

Page 2265: ...Interface 4946 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2266: ... decreases before or after it reaches the target value Constant Pitch before or after the target value is constant Increasing Pitch increases before or after it reaches the target value Scale Pitch Orientation group These settings let you scale the pitch at which the animation is played depending upon the pitch of the delegate By default when Scale Pitch is off the animated object will pitch norma...

Page 2267: ...te s pitch velocity is 50 percent above its base pitch rate and the Scale Percentage value is 50 then the playback speed is scaled up by 25 percent Base Pitch Specifies the delegate pitch at which the animation should be played back at its normal rate PitchVelocity Panel Select a Crowd helper Modify panel Global Clip Controllers rollout New Choose GlobalClip object Select object in list Edit Synth...

Page 2268: ...Interface Crowd Animation User Interface 4949 ...

Page 2269: ...lue is met Anything Pitch velocity before or after the target value is not relevant Decreasing Pitch velocity decreases before or after it reaches the target value Constant Pitch velocity before or after the target value is constant Increasing Pitch velocity increases before or after it reaches the target value Scale Playback Speed group These settings let you scale the rate at which the animation...

Page 2270: ...ect object in list Edit Synthesis dialog State panel New State Edit Properties Clip State dialog Heading Velocity Panel Track View Global Tracks Block Control GlobalClip Properties Synthesis dialog State panel New State Edit Properties ClipState dialog Heading Velocity Panel To have delegate heading velocity considered for motion synthesis turn on Use Heading Velocity choose Range or Unique and th...

Page 2271: ...Interface 4952 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2272: ...e value is met Anything Heading velocity before or after the target value is not relevant Decreasing Heading velocity decreases before or after it reaches the target value Constant Heading velocity before or after the target value is constant Increasing Heading velocity increases before or after it reaches the target value Scale Playback Speed group These settings let you scale the rate at which t...

Page 2273: ...el The script state option lets you create a MAXScript script that takes two parameters node and time The script typically tests one or more values and then returns 1 if the condition the result of the test is true or 0 if it s false This result determines whether or not the state is to be activated Scripts used by the clip controller are similar to those used by the cognitive controller on page 4...

Page 2274: ...face Use Script Turn this on to use a MAXScript script to control a clip Script Enter the name of the function defined by the script also found at the start of the script Crowd Animation User Interface 4955 ...

Page 2275: ...out See Copying and Pasting Postures and Poses on page 4281 and Copying and Pasting Tracks on page 4311 MFE Motion Flow Graph file Contains the motion flow graph and a motion flow script if one was present for the biped upon saving See Saving Loading and Appending Motion Flow Graphs on page 4521 MIX Motion Mixer file Contains clip data tracks and trackgroups transitions between clips track clip we...

Page 2276: ...ported to a BIP file on page 4301 To load biped motion from an existing BIP file on page 4301 To preview biped motion using biped playback stick figure on page 4317 To preview biped motion using the full biped model on page 4317 Animating the Biped with Freeform To use pivots on page 4276 To make a hand or foot follow an object on page 4278 To anchor a hand or foot on page 4279 Animating the Biped...

Page 2277: ...03 To scale keys in time on page 4204 To prevent keys from changing when active footsteps are edited on page 4206 To turn off Scale Stride mode on page 4303 To display footstep tracks on page 4239 To display footstep keys in Track View on page 4203 To change the display of numbers of footstep keys on page 4204 To convert an airborne period to freeform mode on page 4228 To convert between footsteps...

Page 2278: ... 4292 To edit keys on the Center of Mass trajectory on page 4292 To edit biped trajectory keys in a viewport on page 4321 To use In Place mode to adjust keyframes on page 4319 Motion Capture Data To import a motion capture file on page 4586 To import a marker file on page 4579 To use Fit To Existing to import a motion capture file on page 4593 To use Convert From Buffer on page 4585 To compare raw...

Page 2279: ...ng multiple bipeds on page 4537 To apply a shared motion flow to a different group of bipeds on page 4541 To load a Motion Flow scene from another system on page 4543 Posing the Biped To link a mechanical character to the biped without Physique on page 4174 To fit biped legs to the skin on page 4164 To fit the spine to the skin torso on page 4164 To fit both arms using copy paste on page 4165 To p...

Page 2280: ...tex assignments on page 4754 To remove deformable vertices from a link s influence on page 4754 To override vertex assignments manually on page 4755 To make vertices rigid on page 4756 To have a spline influence a mesh on page 4678 To apply Physique to an FFD to animate the entire mesh on page 4669 To use an FFD to complement the effects of Physique on a portion of a character mesh on page 4669 To...

Page 2281: ... section on page 4690 Links andTendons To adjust joint intersection parameters on page 4735 To create and attach a tendon on page 4653 To attach a tendon to another link on page 4654 To delete a tendon on page 4655 Saving and Reusing Physique Information To save Physique data on page 4673 To load Physique data on page 4673 To merge a skinned biped on page 4304 To clone a skinned biped on page 4307...

Page 2282: ...apse the transforms of a prop on page 4259 Controllers and Biped To add a controller to a biped object on page 4253 To collapse a controller on page 4253 To add controllers to multiple biped parts at the same time on page 4254 To animate the weights of an added controller on page 4255 Miscellaneous To load a file created with different system units on page 4658 To hide the finger toe and head dumm...

Page 2283: ...ts to delegates on page 4788 To associate bipeds with delegates on page 4789 To edit multiple delegates on page 4839 To group delegates into a team on page 4845 Behaviors To create a new behavior assignment on page 4846 To use assign behaviors to delegates on page 4776 To modify an existing behavior assignment or assignments on page 4847 To use the Avoid behavior on page 4781 To use the Orientatio...

Page 2284: ... 4790 Testing a Modifier Parameter Testing a Particle System Parameter on page 4862 Testing an Atmospheric Property on page 4862 Testing an Object Position Testing Another Delegate s Behavior on page 4863 Testing the Distance Between Two Objects Motion Synthesis To use Motion Synthesis with non bipedal creatures on page 4807 Procedures Using Bipeds in a Crowd Simulation on page 4799 Motion Mixer G...

Page 2285: ...page 3713 To move all clips horizontally on one track on page 3713 To move a clip to another track on page 3714 To change the length of a clip without changing its speed on page 3722 To change the speed of an entire clip on page 3724 To prepare to warp a clip s time on page 3734 To warp a clip s time on page 3734 To add multiple time warps to a clip on page 3736 Trackgroups To add a new trackgroup...

Page 2286: ...47 To add clips to the Reservoir on page 3747 To replace a clip in the Reservoir on page 3748 To save an instanced clip to a new clip on page 3748 To save multiple instanced clips from the Reservoir on page 3748 To remove clips not used in the Motion Mixer from the Reservoir on page 3749 Workbench General To display a biped body part curve in the Workbench do one of the following on page 4489 To h...

Page 2287: ...To filter a track on page 4503 4968 Chapter 17 character studio ...

Page 2288: ...ts provide illumination for the geometry of a scene they can light the scene from offstage or with a little extra work they can appear within the scene itself Standard lights are simple and easy to use Photometric lights are more complex but provide a physically accurate model of real world lighting The Daylight and Sunlight systems create outdoor 18 4969 ...

Page 2289: ...e the scene providing a controllable point of view You can animate camera movement Cameras can simulate some aspects of real world photography such as depth of field and motion blur See also Lights on page 4970 Cameras on page 5194 Lights Create panel Lights Create menu Lights Nighttime scene with artificial lighting 4970 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2290: ...is to convert the default lighting into light objects by using the command Add Default Lights To Scene on page 170 NOTE A scene s lighting is also affected by the Ambient Light setting on the Environment And Effects dialog Environment panel on page 6689 Types of Lights 3ds Max provides two types of lights standard and photometric All types are displayed in viewports as light objects They share man...

Page 2291: ...adjust lights other than omni lights To simulate sunlight use a daylight or sunlight system on page 5139 which allows you to set the date time and geographic location of your model The daylight system is photometric while the sunlight system uses a standard directional light NOTE The standard Skylight on page 5065 light is distinct from the photometric daylight lights The Skylight light is for use...

Page 2292: ...n rollout on page 5037for photometric lights or the Intensity Color Attenuation rollout on page 5083 for standard lights Procedures To change the color of a light s geometry 1 Create or select a light in your scene 2 In the Name and Color rollout click the color swatch to open a Color Selector on page 391 3 Choose a new color and click OK To change the name of a light 1 Create or select a light in...

Page 2293: ...ed maps See the Projector Map group in the Advanced Effects rollout on page 5108 To help model a source of illumination in the scene such as a flashlight Light objects don t render so to model a source of illumination you also need to create geometry that corresponds to the light source Use a self illuminating on page 8122 material to make the geometry appear as if it s emitting light To create li...

Page 2294: ...To Scene works only if you have used the Viewport Configuration dialog on page 7817 to have the scene use two default lights You can turn the display of light objects on and off with an option in the Display panel on page 7665 See the Procedures section below You can change the renderability of lights in your scene using the Renderable option on the General panel on page 305 of the Object Properti...

Page 2295: ...If you delete all lights in the scene the default lighting is restored 5 Set the creation parameters Like all objects lights have a name a color and a General Parameters rollout To create shadows do one of the following 1 In the General Parameters rollout make sure On is checked in the Shadows group Adjust shadow parameters in the Shadow Parameters rollout and the additional Shadow Map on page 513...

Page 2296: ...on page 7594 and Zoom Extents All on page 7588 includes the lights in the zoom TIP To control whether a light casts light in the scene you can use its On toggle or you can toggle its Renderable property on the light s Object Properties dialog on page 305 To change a light s parameters 1 Select the light TIP Lights can be hard to select by clicking Use the keyboard shortcut H to select the light by...

Page 2297: ...rts that show the face you chose and when you render those views Place Highlight on page 1018 works with any kind of selected object You can also use Place Highlight with a selection set of multiple objects All objects maintain their initial distance from the face NOTE For materials highlight rendering depends on the material s specular properties and the type of rendering you use Properties of Li...

Page 2298: ...ulb Angle of Incidence The more a surface inclines away from a light source the less light it receives and the darker it appears The angle of the surface normal relative to the light source is known as the angle of incidence When the angle of incidence is 0 degrees that is the light source strikes the surface perpendicularly the surface is illuminated with the full intensity of the light source As...

Page 2299: ...This effect is known as attenuation In nature light attenuates at an inverse square rate That is its intensity diminishes in proportion to the square of the distance from the light source It is common for attenuation to be even greater when light is dispersed by the atmosphere especially when there are dust particles in the atmosphere or fog or clouds 4980 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2300: ...reflects can illuminate other objects The more light a surface reflects the more light it contributes to illuminating other objects in its environment Reflected light creates ambient light Ambient light has a uniform intensity and is uniformly diffuse It has no discernible source and no discernible direction Using Lights 4981 ...

Page 2301: ...te light and sunlight is yellow white Light color also depends on the medium the light passes through For example clouds in the atmosphere tint daylight blue and stained glass can tint light a highly saturated color Light colors are additive colors the primary light colors are red green and blue RGB As multiple colored lights mix together the total light in the scene gets lighter and eventually tu...

Page 2302: ...with the equivalent hue number from the HSV color description If you use these hue numbers for lights in a scene set the value to full 255 and then adjust the saturation to meet the needs of your scene Mentally we tend to correct light color so that objects appear to be lit by white light usually the effect of color temperature in a scene should be subtle Hue Color Temper ature Light source 1 3 0 ...

Page 2303: ...t full value 255 the light is at its brightest at 0 the light is completely dark NOTE See Designing Materials on page 5260 for more information about material color and how it interacts with light intensity The intensity of a photometric light is set by a real world intensity value measured in either lumens candelas or lux See Intensity Color Attenuation Rollout Photometric Lights on page 5037 Ang...

Page 2304: ...ere Effects on page 6687 In an indoor setting attenuation is useful for low intensity light sources such as candles Photometric lights always attenuate using an inverse square falloff as in nature In the case of the IES Sun Light its great intensity makes its attenuation hardly apparent Reflected Light and Ambient Light Rendering with the default renderer and standard lights does not calculate the...

Page 2305: ... light source can make the rendered scene appear to be tinted oddly Use the light source values as a general guideline only Guidelines for Lighting The guidelines for lighting used by photographers filmmakers and stage designers can also help you set up the lighting for scenes in 3ds Max Your choice of lighting depends on whether your scene simulates natural or artificial illumination Naturally li...

Page 2306: ...e or brownish tint At sunrise and sunset the color can be more orange or red than yellow 3ds Max provides several daylight systems to simulate the sun See Sunlight and Daylight Systems on page 5139 A single daylight system is appropriate as the main light source for sunlit scenes When rendering with mental ray you can gather skylight from a daylight system efficiently into an interior with the mr ...

Page 2307: ...ition to the key light position one or more other lights to illuminate the background and the side of the subject These are known as fill lights Fill lights are less bright than the key light When you use only one fill light the angle at ground level between it the subject and the key light should be approximately 90 degrees Key and fill lighting emphasizes the subject of a scene It also emphasize...

Page 2308: ...re any light sources are taken into account and is the dimmest any portion of the scene can ever become Ambient light is most often used for exterior scenes when the sky s broad lighting produces an even distribution of reflected light to surfaces not in direct sun A common technique for deepening the shadows is to tint the ambient light color to be the complement of the scene s key light Unlike t...

Page 2309: ...pherical light with projection causes the projected image to rotate Scale Scaling Point Linear or Area lights has no effect Using Scale on page 963 with spotlights and directional lights changes the size of their light beam and attenuation ranges Scaling omni lights changes only the attenuation ranges Scaling photometric lights changes their attenuation rate Light viewports on page 7614 are anothe...

Page 2310: ... their initial distance from the face Previewing Shadows inViewports You can preview shadows in shaded viewports To do so you must be using the Direct3D driver see Graphics Driver Setup Dialog on page 7790 and your system must have a graphics card that supports the SM Shader Model 2 0 or 3 0 standard TIP You can check whether your system supports interactive shadows by choosing Help menu Diagnose ...

Page 2311: ...the viewport display There is one exception to this viewport shadows don t check a light s Exclude Include list and so excluded objects can cast shadows in viewports Procedure To view shadows in viewports 1 Right click a viewport and from the Display upper right quadrant of the quad menu choose Viewport Lights And Shadows Viewport Shading Good or Best The Good option is for SM2 0 and the Best opti...

Page 2312: ...sa Best Displays shadows at the SM3 0 level with opacity mapping Good Displays shadows at the SM2 0 level Off Lights viewports without shadows Unlock Selected Lights Unlocks the selected lights Lock Selected Lights Locks the selected lights To lock a light means that the light will stay on until it is unlocked whether or not the light casts shadows When a light is locked choosing Display Only Sele...

Page 2313: ...hen on light from selected lights is automatically displayed in shaded viewports Default off This option is equivalent to the same option in the Lighting And Shadows tab on page 7836 for viewport configuration changing the setting here changes the active setting in the preferences dialog and vice versa Display Only Selected Lights Turns off the display of all selected lights except for lights that...

Page 2314: ... the scene Ambient Only When on the light object affects only ambient light in viewports Affect Specular When on the light object affects specular color in viewports Affect Diffuse When on the light object affects diffuse color in viewports Viewport Shadows When on shaded viewports display shadows from the light Using Lights 4995 ...

Page 2315: ...olated between keyframes Moving and Rotating Light Objects You can use the following methods to move and rotate light objects Move an omni light on page 5063 when it s a practical light within a scene a light that appears in the scene itself Combine the light with a self illuminating geometric object If you want to move a target type of light select both the light and its target to animate them to...

Page 2316: ...e or Filter Color parameter To change the color of a light over time animate its color parameters Use a smooth tangent on page 3129 for color change keys unless you want the color to change abruptly To make a standard light flash on and off set its Multiplier to 0 in repeated keyframes and assign a step tangent on page 3129 to this parameter Light Include ExcludeTool By default the Light Include E...

Page 2317: ...t Lister on page 5000 Procedures To exclude an object from receiving light 1 In the scene select the object or objects to exclude 2 Open the Light Incl Exl dialog See the path annotation above To use the Light Include Exclude tool you have to create a custom keyboard shortcut quad or menu item or toolbar button 3 In the Geometry group choose Exclude 4 Click the Assign To Light button 5 In the scen...

Page 2318: ...particular light object Default include Assign to Light Activates selection so you can choose the light you want to use You can only choose one light at a time List Light Properties group These controls let you view and edit the include exclude status of objects on a light by light basis Using Lights 4999 ...

Page 2319: ...ings that affect every light in your scene To display information this dialog requires at least one light object in your scene For a selected light this dialog is a shortcut to the same functionality available on the Modify panel Parameters rollout Global settings are duplicated on the Environment panel on page 6689 NOTE The Light Lister cannot control more than 150 unique light objects at a time ...

Page 2320: ... the Lights rollout change the settings for any light on the list See Interface below Some changes show up immediately in the viewport Interface Configuration rollout Chooses which lights and controls to affect and lets you update light settings All Lights The Lights rollout shows all lights in the scene subject to the 150 light restriction described above Selected Lights The Lights rollout shows ...

Page 2321: ...lights this changes the filter color not the color temperature Shadows When on affected lights cast shadows When off they don t cast shadows Shadow type drop down list Selects the shadow type for affected lights Map Size Sets the size in pixels squared of the shadow map used by affected lights Bias Setting depends on which shadow type is selected In general bias moves the shadow toward or away fro...

Page 2322: ...e and Rectangle lights See Shape Area Shadows Rollout on page 5040 Width For photometric lights Sets the Width value for Rectangle lights See Shape Area Shadows Rollout on page 5040 Global Tint Adds a color tint to all lights in the scene except ambient light Click to use the Color Selector on page 391 The tint is in addition to the global light color or the color of individual lights The default ...

Page 2323: ...it Check box Turns the light on or off Default on Name Shows the name of the light object If there are multiple instances of a light only one entry appears in the Light Lister and the Name field becomes a drop down list The list lets you see the names of all instances but it has no other effect parameter changes made in the Light Lister affect all instances of the light Multiplier Standard lights ...

Page 2324: ...ets the Shadow Quality See Advanced Ray Traced Parameters Rollout on page 5118 or Area Shadows Rollout on page 5122 Default 2 Decay Standard Lights only Sets the type of decay None Inverse or Inverse Square See Attenuation Parameters on page 5083 Default None Start Standard lights only Sets the start range for decay See Attenuation Parameters on page 5083 Default 0 0 Length Photometric lights only...

Page 2325: ... Capabilities of Photometric Lights You can choose how a photometric light is distributed This can model how the light is generated and how it is mounted There are four options Uniform Spherical on page 5025 Uniform Diffuse on page 5026 Spotlight on page 5027 Photometric Web on page 5028 The drop down list that lets you choose the distribution type appears on the General Parameters rollout on page...

Page 2326: ...circular porthole Sphere Objects cast shadows as if the light were emitted from a sphere like a globular lighting fixture Cylinder Objects cast shadows as if the light were emitted from a cylinder like a tubular lighting fixture You choose the light shape on the Shape Area Shadows rollout on page 5040 Lights from Older Scenes Prior to Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 there were several types of photometric l...

Page 2327: ...cribed in the following topics Name and Color Rollout Lights on page 4972 Shadow Parameters on page 5099 Atmospheres and Effects for Lights on page 5104 Advanced Effects Rollout on page 5108 mental ray Indirect Illumination Rollout for Lights on page 5112 mental ray Light Shader Rollout on page 5115 Other photometric specific topics include IES Standard File Format on page 5034 Example of Photomet...

Page 2328: ...k At target You can use the controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target NOTE When you rename a Target Point light the target is automatically renamed to match For example renaming TPhotometricLight01 to Klieg causes TPhotometricLight01 Target to become Klieg Target The target s name must have the extension Target Renaming the target object ...

Page 2329: ... and then click the target Clicking the line that connects the light and its target selects both objects To adjust the light and target position 1 Select the light or target or both 2 On the Main toolbar click Move Drag the selection to adjust the light You can also right click the light and choose Move from the quad menu Transform quadrant Because the light is always aimed at its target you can t...

Page 2330: ... name of the light you want The viewport now shows the light s point of view You can use the Light viewport on page 7614 controls to adjust the light TIP The default keyboard shortcut for Light viewports is Free Light Photometric Create panel Lights Photometric Free Light button Create menu Lights Photometric Lights Free Light A free light has no target sub object You can aim it by using transform...

Page 2331: ...Move or Rotate Drag the selection to adjust the light You can also right click the light and choose Move or Rotate from the quad menu Transform quadrant TIP You can also adjust the light s position with the Place Highlight on page 1018 command To change a viewport to a light view NOTE This is only available for lights with Spot distribution 1 Right click the viewport label The viewport right click...

Page 2332: ...to using an existing 3ds Max scene we recommend that you do one of the following Choose a light from the template list Download a light description from a lighting manufacturer s Web site See Web Distribution Photometric Lights on page 5028 Use the lights provided with the model that was created in AutoCAD Revit or another application that provides photometric lights Interface Select a Template Us...

Page 2333: ...st displays a description of the light If you choose a category heading instead of a light type the text area prompts you to choose an actual light Common LampValues for Photometric Lights The following table lists some commonly used lamps values that you can use as a guide for defining photometric lights The information in the table is approximate however you can refer to manufacturer s documenta...

Page 2334: ... 75 A 19 Med 139 Point 100 A 19 Med M16 LowVoltage Lamps Field Beam Intensity Type Watts Class 12 6 3300 Spot 20 Narrow Beam 25 12 9150 Spot 50 Narrow Beam 50 25 3000 Spot 50 Medi um Beam 75 38 460 Spot 20 Wide Beam 75 38 1500 Spot 50 Wide Beam Photometric Lights 5015 ...

Page 2335: ...00 Spot 25 Narrow Beam 15 10 8900 Spot 50 Narrow Beam 60 30 1300 Spot 50 Medi um Beam 75 36 250 Spot 25 Wide Beam 75 39 600 Spot 50 Wide Beam Par56 LineVoltage Lamps Field Beam Intensity Type Watts Class 15 9 68000 Spot 300 Narrow Beam 5016 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2336: ...Medi um Beam 36 18 47500 Spot 500 Medi um Beam 60 30 10000 Spot 300 Wide Beam 60 30 18000 Spot 500 Wide Beam Par38 LineVoltage Lamps Field Beam Intensity Type Watts Class 28 14 4700 Spot 45 Nar row Beam 25 12 5200 Spot 75 Nar row Beam 28 14 10500 Spot 150 Nar row Beam Photometric Lights 5017 ...

Page 2337: ... um Beam 60 30 1860 Spot 75 Medi um Beam 60 30 4000 Spot 150 Medi um Beam R40 LineVoltage Lamps Field Beam Intens ity Type Watts Class 50 22 5400 Spot 150 Narrow Beam 130 76 1040 Spot 150 Wide Beam 130 76 1950 Spot 300 Wide Beam 5018 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2338: ...n On the Modify panel the General Parameters rollout also lets you control the light s target object and change the light from one type to another The General Parameters rollout also lets you turn shadow casting on or off for the light and choose which type of shadow the light uses See Shadow Types and Shadow Controls on page 5117 and Shadow Parameters on page 5099 Procedures To turn a light on an...

Page 2339: ...er shadow casting lights in the scene that have Use Global Settings set Changing the affected parameters for one light with Use Global Settings set changes them for all lights with Use Global Settings set To set a light s shadow parameters individually On the General Parameters rollout turn off Use Global Settings The settings revert to the individual settings for the light By default Shadow Map i...

Page 2340: ...ties To cast advanced ray traced shadows Advanced ray traced shadows are similar to ray traced shadows however they provide control over antialiasing on page 7904 letting you fine tune how shadows are generated On the General Parameters rollout choose Advanced Ray traced Shadows from the drop down list Use controls on the Advanced Ray traced Params rollout on page 5118 to adjust the shadow propert...

Page 2341: ...adjust the shadow offset if necessary To keep an object from casting shadows 1 Select the object 2 Right click the object to display the quad menu and choose Properties from the Transform quadrant The Object Properties dialog on page 305 is displayed 3 Turn off Cast Shadows and then click OK Now when you render the scene the object casts no shadows To make an object not receive shadows 1 Select th...

Page 2342: ... transforms This toggle lets you change the light from a target light to a free light or vice versa Target Distance Shows the target distance For a target light this field simply displays the distance For a free light you can enter a value to change the distance Shadows group On Determines whether the current light casts shadows or not Default on Shadow Method drop down list Determines whether the...

Page 2343: ...page 5130 mental ray shadow maps See mental ray Shadow Map Rollout on page 5128 Ray traced shadows See Ray Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout on page 5133 Shadow maps See Shadow Map Parameters Rollout on page 5135 TIP Use ray traced or advanced ray traced shadows when you want shadows cast by opacity mapped objects Shadow mapped shadows don t recognize the transparent portions of the mapping and as ...

Page 2344: ...e 5046 opens on the command panel Uniform Diffuse on page 5026 Uniform Spherical on page 5025 Uniform distribution whether diffuse or spherical has no additional settings so these choices don t display a special Distribution rollout Uniform Spherical Distribution Photometric Lights Create panel Lights Photometric Lights Click Target Light or Free Light General Parameters rollout Light Distribution...

Page 2345: ...k Target Light or Free Light General Parameters rollout Light Distribution Type group Choose Uniform Diffuse from the drop down list Uniform diffuse distribution emits diffuse light in one hemisphere only as if the light were emitted from a surface Uniform diffuse distribution obeys Lambert s cosine law the light has the same apparent intensity when viewed from any angle 5026 Chapter 18 Lights and...

Page 2346: ...distribution casts a focused beam of light like a flashlight a follow spot in a theater or a headlight At the light s beam angle intensity has fallen to 50 per cent At the field angle the intensity fades to a value near zero NOTE The beam angle is similar to the hotspot angle for standard lights but all of a hotspot is at 100 per cent intensity The field angle is similar to the falloff angle for s...

Page 2347: ...ppear on the Distribution Spotlight rollout on page 5046 Photometric Web Distribution Photometric Lights Create panel Lights Photometric Lights Click Target Light or Free Light General Parameters rollout Light Distribution Type group Choose Photometric Web from the drop down list 5028 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2348: ... files that model their products these are often available on the Internet A web file can be in the IES on page 5034 LTLI on page 8029 or CIBSE on page 7935 format Controls for assigning the web file are on the Distribution Photometric File rollout on page 5044 Example of web distribution Viewport representations of lights with various web distributions Photometric web file settings appear on the ...

Page 2349: ...LM 63 1991 standard file format on page 5034 or in the LTLI or CIBSE formats for photometric data You can load photometric data files provided by various manufacturers as web parameters In viewports the light object changes to the shape of the photometric web you choose To describe the directional distribution of the light emitted by a source 3ds Max approximates the source by a point light placed...

Page 2350: ... a source varies with the vertical angle However the horizontal angle is fixed and unless the distribution is axially symmetric more than one goniometric diagram may be needed to describe the complete distribution In the 3ds Max user interface web files are displayed as thumbnail diagrams Photometric Lights 5031 ...

Page 2351: ...etric diagram to three dimensions so that the dependencies of the luminous intensity on both the vertical and horizontal angles can be examined simultaneously The center of the photometric web represents the center of the light object The luminous intensity in any given direction is proportional to the distance between this web and the photometric center measured along a line leaving the center in...

Page 2352: ...ibution A sphere centered around the origin is a representation of uniform spherical distribution also known as isotropic distribution All the points in the diagram are equidistant from the center and therefore light is emitted equally in all directions Photometric Lights 5033 ...

Page 2353: ...onent either positive or negative so less light is cast laterally from the light source IES Standard File Format You can create a photometric data file in the IES format using the IES LM 63 1991 standard file format for photometric data IES stands for Illuminating Engineering Society However only the information relevant to 3ds Max is described here For a complete description of the IES standard f...

Page 2354: ...acter sequence Longer lines can be continued by inserting a carriage return line feed character sequence Each field in the file must begin on a new line and must appear exactly in the following sequence 1 IESNA91 2 TEST the test report number of your data 3 MANUFAC the manufacturer of the luminaire 4 TILT NONE 5 1 6 The initial rated lumens for the lamp used in the test or 1 if absolute photometry...

Page 2355: ...s axially symmetric If it is 90 the distribution is symmetric in each quadrant If it is 180 the distribution is symmetric about a vertical plane If it is greater than 180 and less than or equal to 360 the distribution exhibits no lateral symmetries All other values are invalid 16 The set of candela values First all the candela values corresponding to the first horizontal angle are listed starting ...

Page 2356: ...el Intensity Color Attenuation rollout Create panel Lights Photometric Lights Create a light Modify panel Intensity Color Attenuation rollout The Intensity Color Attenuation rollout lets you set the color and intensity of the light You can also optionally set a limit for its attenuation Interface Photometric Lights 5037 ...

Page 2357: ...White approximates a midday sun in western or northern Europe D65 is a white value defined by the International Commission on Illumination CIE Kelvin Set the color of the light by adjusting the color temperature spinners The color temperature is displayed in degrees Kelvin The corresponding color is visible in the color swatch next to the temperature spinners Filter Color Use a color filter to sim...

Page 2358: ... the footcandle fc which is equivalent to 1 lumen per square foot To convert from footcandles to lux multiply by 10 76 For example to specify an illuminance of 35 fc set illuminance to 376 6 lx To specify the illuminance of a light set the lx value on the left and then in the second value field enter the distance at which that illuminance is measured NOTE You can obtain these values directly from ...

Page 2359: ...or these lights can prevent their negligible illumination from being calculated when you render the theater as a whole Use Enables far attenuation for the light Show Displays the far attenuation range settings in viewports For spotlight distribution attenuation ranges appear as lens shaped sections of the cone For other distributions the ranges appear as spheres By default Far Start is light brown...

Page 2360: ...ther controls Line Calculates shadows as if the light were emitted from a line The Linear shape has a Length control Rectangle Calculates shadows as if the light were emitted from a rectangular area The Area shape has Length and Width controls Disc Calculates shadows as if the light were emitted from a disc The Disc shape has a Radius control Sphere Calculates shadows as if the light were emitted ...

Page 2361: ...ting by turning on the Shape Visible To Renderer option in the Shape Area Shadows rollout on page 5040 When you turn on Shape Visible To Renderer by default 3ds Max turns off Specular in the Advanced Effects rollout on page 5108 This prevents unwanted effects if the area of the photometric light is small Small lights have a high luminance and also are hard for specular rays to find the result can ...

Page 2362: ...location This doesn t pose a problem unless you create a radiosity solution on page 6168 that uses Final Gather Final Gather treats the self illuminated material as an additional diffuse light source and the resulting rendering is too bright The intended effect of the light alone Photometric Lights 5043 ...

Page 2363: ...ghts Create a photometric light General Parameters rollout Choose Photometric Web File as the distribution type Distribution Photometric File rollout Create menu Lights Photometric Lights Create a photometric light General Parameters rollout Choose Photometric Web File as the distribution type Distribution Photometric File rollout The Distribution Photometric File rollout is displayed on the Modif...

Page 2364: ... webs a darker red outline shows the less bright field Choose Photometric File Click to select a file to use as a photometric web The file can be in the IES LTLI or CIBSE format Once you have chosen a file this button displays the file name without the ies ltli or cibse name extension While you browse for a photometric web file the file dialog also shows the thumbnail for the highlighted file Phot...

Page 2365: ...distribution type Distribution Spotlight rollout Create menu Lights Photometric Lights Create a photometric light General Parameters rollout Choose Spotlight as the distribution type Distribution Spotlight rollout These parameters control hotspots and falloff on page 8007 for spotlights Procedures To see the spotlight cone in viewports The cone is always visible while the light is selected This se...

Page 2366: ... a viewport as described in the procedure that follows By default the field angle is always constrained to be at least two degrees or two units greater than the beam angle The size of this constraint is a preference that you can change in the Rendering panel on page 7768 of the Preferences dialog The falloff value can range from 0 to 10 000 units When the beam angle and field angle values are clos...

Page 2367: ...at the end of this topic Interface Cone visible in viewport when unselected Turns display of the cone on or off NOTE The cone is always visible when a light is selected so turning off this check box has no apparent effect until you deselect the light Hotspot Beam Adjusts the angle of the cone of a light The Beam value is measured in degrees For photometric lights the Beam angle is the angle at whi...

Page 2368: ...he mouse over a manipulator the manipulator turns red to show that dragging or clicking it will have an effect Also a tooltip appears showing the name of the object the parameter and its value TIP When you select multiple spotlights all their manipulators are accessible For more information on using the spotlight manipulators see the Procedures section at the top of this topic Beam manipulator In ...

Page 2369: ...types These are described in the following topics General Parameters Rollout Standard Lights on page 5076 Intensity Color Attenuation Rollout Standard Lights on page 5083 Advanced Effects Rollout on page 5108 Shadow Parameters on page 5099 mental ray Indirect Illumination Rollout for Lights on page 5112 Spotlights and Directional lights have rollouts specific to them Spotlight Parameters on page 5...

Page 2370: ...t on page 5118 Area Shadows Rollout on page 5122 Optimizations Rollout on page 5130 mental ray Shadow Map Rollout on page 5128 Ray Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout on page 5133 Shadow Map Parameters Rollout on page 5135 Target Spotlight Create panel Lights Standard Target Spot button Create menu Standard Lights Target Spotlight Standard Lights 5051 ...

Page 2371: ... on page 3199 to it with the light s target object assigned as the Look At target You can use the controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target See also Lights on page 4970 Name and Color Rollout Lights on page 4972 General Parameters Rollout Standard Lights on page 5076 Intensity Color Attenuation Rollout Standard Lights on page 5083 Advance...

Page 2372: ...you can t rotate it about its local X or Y axis However you can select and move the target object as well as the light itself When you move either the light or the target the light s orientation changes so it always points at the target NOTE The target s distance from the light does not affect the attenuation or brightness of the light To select the target The target displayed as a small square is...

Page 2373: ... of view You can use the Light viewport on page 7614 to adjust the light The default keyboard shortcut for switching to a Light viewport is Interface When you rename a target spotlight the target is automatically renamed to match For example renaming Light01 to Klieg causes Light01 Target to become Klieg Target The target s name must have the extension Target Renaming the target object does not re...

Page 2374: ...ater or a headlight Unlike a targeted spotlight a Free Spot has no target object You can move and rotate the free spot to aim it in any direction See also Lights on page 4970 Name and Color Rollout Lights on page 4972 General Parameters Rollout Standard Lights on page 5076 Intensity Color Attenuation Rollout Standard Lights on page 5083 Standard Lights 5055 ...

Page 2375: ...ion with Move and Rotate or by using a Light viewport 4 Set the creation parameters To change a viewport to a Light view 1 Right click a viewport label The viewport right click menu is displayed 2 Choose Views The name of each spotlight or directional light is displayed in the Views list 3 Choose the name of the light you want The viewport now shows the light s point of view You can use the Light ...

Page 2376: ...light the Targeted parameter is adjustable on the General Parameters rollout on page 5076 This is a fixed value for target lights Targeted When on 3ds Max sets a point to use as an invisible target about which the Free Spot can orbit The spinner adjusts the distance to the target The target distance is animatable Target Directional Light Create panel Lights Standard Target Direct button Create men...

Page 2377: ... light the software automatically assigns a Look At controller on page 3199 to it with the light s target object assigned as the Look At target You can use the controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target NOTE Direct lights are supported in a radiosity solution on page 6168 only if they are pointed downwards outside the boundary box of the s...

Page 2378: ...the drag is the location of the light and the point where you release the mouse is the location of the target The light is now part of the scene 4 Set the creation parameters To adjust the light s direction move the target object To change a viewport to a Light view 1 Right click the viewport label The viewport right click menu is displayed 2 Choose Views The name of each spotlight or directional ...

Page 2379: ...ht the target is automatically renamed to match For example renaming Light01 to Sol causes Light01 Target to become Sol Target The target s name must have the extension Target Renaming the target object does not rename the light object Free Directional Light Create panel Lights Standard Free Direct button Create menu Standard Lights Directional Light 5060 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2380: ...Standard sun in your Daylight system on page 5139 Because directional rays are parallel directional lights have a beam in the shape of a circular or rectangular prism instead of a cone NOTE Direct lights are supported in a radiosity solution on page 6168 only if they are pointed downwards outside the boundary box of the scene geometry NOTE The mental ray renderer assumes that all directional light...

Page 2381: ...t of the scene It points away from you in the viewport you clicked 4 Set the creation parameters To adjust the light s direction you can rotate it as you would any object To change a viewport to a Light view 1 Right click the viewport label The viewport right click menu is displayed 2 Choose Views The name of each spotlight or directional light appears in the Views list 3 Choose the name of the li...

Page 2382: ... a fixed value for target lights Targeted When on 3ds Max sets a point to use as an invisible target about which the Free Direct light can orbit The spinner adjusts the distance to the target This parameter also affects the length of the light s cone display Omni Light Create panel Lights Standard Omni button Create menu Standard Lights Omni Light Standard Lights 5063 ...

Page 2383: ...vironment coordinates the map is projected in the same way as it would be mapped to the environment When you use the Screen Environment coordinates or Explicit Map Channel Texture coordinates six copies of the map are projected radially TIP Omni lights can generate up to six quadtrees on page 8100 so they generate ray traced shadows more slowly than spotlights Avoid using ray traced shadows with o...

Page 2384: ...sing the mouse to fix its position The light is now part of the scene 4 Set the creation parameters To adjust the light s effect you can move it as you would any object Skylight Create panel Lights Standard Skylight button Create menu Lights Skylight The Skylight light models daylight It is meant for use with the Light Tracer on page 6154 You can set the color of the sky or assign it a map The sky...

Page 2385: ...ith a Skylight convert the material to an Advanced Lighting Override material on page 5734 and then reduce the Indirect Light Bump Scale value Using a Map with the Skylight If you use a map with a Skylight the following guidelines can improve its effect Make sure that the mapping coordinates are spherical or cylindrical For light tracing make sure you use sufficient samples A good rule of thumb is...

Page 2386: ...e 1448 Use the Wall command on page 516 to create walls The Wall command is programmed to make sure corners are constructed of solid objects instead of leaving a single thin edge Ensure that floor and ceiling objects extend beyond walls Floor objects need to extend under walls and ceilings need to extend over walls By building your 3D model using these guidelines light leaks will not occur when yo...

Page 2387: ...te the scene When off the light is not used in shading or rendering Default on Multiplier Amplifies the power of the light by a positive or negative amount For example if you set the multiplier on page 8055 to 2 the light will be twice as bright Default 1 0 Using this parameter to increase intensity can cause colors to appear burned out It can also generate colors not usable in videos In general l...

Page 2388: ...he Sky Color TIP For best results use an HDR File on page 7334 for illumination The map has no effect unless light tracing is active Render group NOTE If the renderer is not set to Default Scanline or if the Light Tracer is active these controls are disabled Cast Shadows Causes the skylight to cast shadows Default off NOTE The Cast Shadows toggle has no effect when using radiosity or the light tra...

Page 2389: ...230 an area omni light emits light from a spherical or cylindrical volume rather than from a point source With the default scanline renderer the area omni light behaves like any other standard omni light NOTE In 3ds Max area omni lights are created and supported by a MAXScript script Only the mental ray renderer uses the parameters on the Area Light Parameters rollout See Enhancements to Standard ...

Page 2390: ...no gizmo appears while you rotate the light To convert a standard 3ds Max light to an area light 1 Select one or more lights 2 Go to the Utilities panel 3 On the Utilities rollout click MAXScript The MAXScript rollout is displayed 4 On the MAXScript rollout choose Convert To mr Area Lights from the Utilities drop down list The Convert To mr Area Lights rollout is displayed 5 On the Convert To mr A...

Page 2391: ...light The choices are Sphere for a spherical volume and Cylinder for a cylindrical volume Default Sphere TIP You can use Rotate to adjust the orientation of a cylindrical area omni light However no gizmo appears while you rotate the light Radius Sets the radius of the sphere or cylinder in 3ds Max units Default 20 0 Height Available only when Cylinder is the active type of area light Sets the heig...

Page 2392: ...rea spotlight emits light from a rectangular or disc shaped area rather than from a point source With the default scanline renderer the area spotlight behaves like any other standard spotlight NOTE In 3ds Max area spotlights are created and supported by a MAXScript script Only the mental ray renderer uses the parameters in the Area Light Parameters rollout See Enhancements to Standard Features on ...

Page 2393: ...ting the value To convert a standard 3ds Max light to an area light 1 Select one or more lights 2 Go to the Utilities panel 3 On the Utilities rollout click MAXScript The MAXScript rollout is displayed 4 On the MAXScript rollout choose Convert To Area Lights from the Utilities drop down list The Convert To Area Lights rollout is displayed 5 On the Convert To Area Lights rollout click Convert Selec...

Page 2394: ...t 20 0 Height and Width Available only when Rectangle is the active type of area light Set the height and width of the rectangular light area in 3ds Max units Default 20 0 for both Height and Width While you use these spinners to adjust the size of the area light a gizmo yellow by default appears in viewports to show the adjusted size This gizmo disappears once you finish adjusting the value Sampl...

Page 2395: ... Parameters rollout also lets you control the light s target object and change the light from one type to another The General Parameters rollout also lets you turn shadow casting on or off for the light and choose which type of shadow the light uses See Shadow Types and Shadow Controls on page 5117 and Shadow Parameters on page 5099 Procedures To turn a light on and off Turn the On toggle on or of...

Page 2396: ...al Settings is on the other shadow controls are set to the values used by all other shadow casting lights in the scene that have Use Global Settings set Changing the affected parameters for one light with Use Global Settings set changes them for all lights with Use Global Settings set To set a light s shadow parameters individually On the General Parameters rollout turn off Use Global Settings The...

Page 2397: ...To cast advanced ray traced shadows Advanced ray traced shadows are similar to ray traced shadows however they provide control over antialiasing on page 7904 letting you fine tune how shadows are generated On the General Parameters rollout choose Advanced Ray traced Shadows from the drop down list Use controls on the Advanced Ray traced Params rollout on page 5118 to adjust the shadow properties T...

Page 2398: ...st the shadow offset if necessary To keep an object from casting shadows 1 Select the object 2 Right click the object to display the quad menu and choose Properties from the Transform quadrant The Object Properties dialog on page 305 is displayed 3 Turn off Cast Shadows and then click OK Now when you render the scene the object casts no shadows To make an object not receive shadows 1 Select the ob...

Page 2399: ...ve selected a photometric light type on page 5005 you can change the light to a point linear or area light This parameter is available only in the Modify panel Targeted When on the light is targeted The distance between the light and its target is displayed to the right of the check box For a free light you can set this value For target lights you can change it by turning off the check box or by m...

Page 2400: ...and Optimizations Rollout on page 5130 Area shadows See Area Shadows Rollout on page 5122 and Optimizations Rollout on page 5130 mental ray shadow maps See mental ray Shadow Map Rollout on page 5128 Ray traced shadows See Ray Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout on page 5133 Shadow maps See Shadow Map Parameters Rollout on page 5135 TIP Use ray traced or advanced ray traced shadows when you want shado...

Page 2401: ...e Advanced Effects Rollout on page 5108 To display the manipulator select the light right click it and then click Roll Angle Manipulator Toggle on the Tools 2 lower left quadrant of the quad menu Roll angle manipulator on a target light Drag the circular portion of the manipulator to rotate the light by an arbitrary number of degrees Click one of the red or green clock hands of the manipulator to ...

Page 2402: ...direct control over how lights fade in or fade out NOTE With no attenuation an object can paradoxically appear to grow brighter as it moves away from the light source This is because the angle of incidence more closely approaches 0 degrees for more of the object s faces Two sets of values control attenuation for objects The Far attenuation value sets the distance at which the light drops off to ze...

Page 2403: ...ghts are attenuated the light might be too bright on near surfaces or too dim on far surfaces If you see this in renderings exposure control can help correct the problem It adjusts the larger dynamic range of the simulated physical scene into the smaller dynamic range of the display See Environment Panel on page 6689 for additional information on exposure control Procedures To choose the color of ...

Page 2404: ...nsity over distance To see the attenuation range in viewports Set Show for far or near attenuation You can preview the effect of attenuation in shaded viewports only if you turn this on as an option in viewport preferences on page 7753 Interface Multiplier Amplifies the power of the light by a positive or negative amount For example if you set the multiplier on page 8055 to 2 the light will be twi...

Page 2405: ...to choose from None The default Applies no decay The light maintains full strength from its source to infinity unless you turn on far attenuation Inverse Applies inverse decay The formula is luminance R0 R where R0 is the radial source of the light if no attenuation is used or the Near End value of the light if attenuation is used R is the radial distance of the illuminated surface from R0 Inverse...

Page 2406: ...ndering time dramatically TIP If your scene has a large number of lights use Far Attenuation to limit the portion of the scene each light illuminates For example if an office area has rows of overhead lights you could set Far Attenuation ranges to keep the lights illumination from being calculated when you render the reception area instead of the main office As another example a staircase might ha...

Page 2407: ...and the falloff region is outlined in dark gray The cone is always visible while the light is selected TIP The hotspot and falloff borders are not visible in shaded viewports Use the cone values to adjust hotspot and falloff in the viewport Render the scene to see the full effect of the light s border To adjust the hotspot and falloff Use the Hotspot and Falloff spinners to increase or decrease th...

Page 2408: ...light s aspect ratio 1 Choose Rectangle as described above 2 Change the Aspect value to the aspect ratio that you want The Bitmap Fit button is another way to set the aspect ratio It is mainly used with projections Interface Light Cone group These parameters control hotspots on page 8007 and falloff on page 8007 for spotlights Show Cone Turns display of the cone on or off NOTE The cone is always v...

Page 2409: ... doorway Aspect Sets the aspect ratio on page 7914 for the rectangular light beam The Bitmap Fit button lets you make the aspect ratio match a specified bitmap Default 1 0 Bitmap Fit If the light s projection aspect is rectangular sets the aspect ratio to match a particular bitmap This is useful when you are using the light as a projector light on page 8099 Spotlight Parameters Create a standard T...

Page 2410: ...spot and Falloff are expressed in degrees Use manipulators to adjust hotspot and falloff by dragging in a viewport as described in the procedure that follows By default falloff value is always constrained to be at least two degrees or two units greater than the hotspot value The size of this constraint is a preference that you can change in the Rendering panel on page 7768 of the Preferences dialo...

Page 2411: ...d falloff constrain each other as their spinner controls do Spotlight manipulators are described at the end of this topic To set the shape of the light beam 1 Choose either Rectangle or Circle The shape of the light s cone changes to reflect the shape you chose 2 If you chose Circle you are done If you chose Rectangle you can now adjust the aspect ratio on page 7914 of the rectangular light in the...

Page 2412: ...justs the angle of a light s cone The Hotspot value is measured in degrees Default 43 0 Falloff Field Adjusts the angle of a light s falloff The Falloff value is measured in degrees Default 45 0 For photometric lights the Field angle is comparable to the Falloff angle It is the angle at which the light s intensity has fallen to zero You can manipulate the hotspot and falloff by dragging manipulato...

Page 2413: ...ect Also a tooltip appears showing the name of the object the parameter and its value TIP When you select multiple spotlights all their manipulators are accessible For more information on using the spotlight manipulators see the Procedures section at the top of this topic Hotspot manipulator In a viewport drag the hotspot circle to adjust the hotspot value Falloff manipulator In a viewport drag th...

Page 2414: ...adows ignore the light s ordinary shadow map settings for other 3ds Max objects IMPORTANT The settings on this rollout apply only to buffer rendered hair the default rendering method set in the Hair And Fur render effect The geometry and mr prim methods use the light s ordinary shadow settings Interface Light hair When on the light can illuminate and cast shadows from the hair NOTE The light must ...

Page 2415: ...lement in the list Matte Texture Element rollout Include button The Exclude Include dialog determines which objects are not illuminated by a selected light or which objects are considered in a Matte render element on page 6336 Although light exclusion does not occur in nature this feature is useful when you need exact control over the lighting in your scene Sometimes for example you ll want to add...

Page 2416: ... highlight its name and click the arrow pointing to the left To remove all objects from this list click Clear 6 Click OK Now when you shade or render the scene the light will have no effect on the objects you chose The object still appears lit in shaded viewports Exclusion takes effect only when you render the scene To include objects that were excluded 1 Click Exclude The Exclude Include dialog i...

Page 2417: ...Illumination Excludes or includes illumination of the object s surface NOTE This control has no effect on the matte render element Shadow Casting Excludes or includes creation of the object s shadow NOTE This control is not available with the matte render element Both Excludes or includes both of the above NOTE This control is not available with the matte render element 5098 Chapter 18 Lights and ...

Page 2418: ...have to ungroup them before you use this dialog Search field The edit box below the Scene Objects list searches for objects by name You can enter names that use wildcards Display Subtree Indents the Scene Objects list according to the object hierarchy Case Sensitive Uses case sensitivity when searching object names Selection Sets Displays a list of named selection sets on page 239 Choosing a selec...

Page 2419: ...hadow types It lets you set shadow colors and other general shadow properties The controls also let atmospheric effects cast shadows See also Advanced Ray Traced Parameters Rollout on page 5118 Area Shadows Rollout on page 5122 mental ray Shadow Map Rollout on page 5128 Optimizations Rollout on page 5130 5100 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2420: ...meters Rollout on page 5135 Interface Color Displays a Color Selector on page 391 to choose a color for the shadows cast by this light Default black You can animate the shadow color Dens density Adjusts the density of shadows Common Lighting Rollouts and Dialogs 5101 ...

Page 2421: ...ve Density render dark shadows though the quality of these is not as good as a dark shadow color and positive Density You can animate the Density value Map check box Turn on to use the map assigned with the Map button Default off Map Assigns a map to the shadows The map s colors are blended with the shadow color Default none Light Affects Shadow Color When on blends the light s color with the shad...

Page 2422: ...ff NOTE This control is independent of the On toggle for normal Object Shadows A light can cast atmospheric shadows but not normal shadows or vice versa It can cast both kinds of shadows or neither Opacity Adjusts the opacity of the shadows This value is a percentage Default 100 0 Color Amount Adjusts the amount that the atmosphere s color is blended with the shadow color This value is a percentag...

Page 2423: ...t appears only in the Modify panel it doesn t appear at creation time Adding an atmosphere or effect associates that atmosphere or effect with the light object This rollout is a shortcut to either the Environment panel on page 6689 or the Effects panel on page 6585 on the Environment And Effects dialog Procedures To add a new atmosphere or rendering effect 1 In the Atmospheres Effects rollout clic...

Page 2424: ...e light Its settings are initially identical to the atmosphere or effect you chose You can adjust them using Setup To delete an atmosphere or rendering effect In the Atmospheres Effects rollout choose the name of an atmosphere or effect in the list then click Delete To set up the parameters for an atmosphere or rendering effect In the Atmospheres Effects rollout choose the name of an atmosphere or...

Page 2425: ...t If the item is an atmosphere clicking Setup displays the Environment panel on page 6689 If the item is an effect clicking Setup displays the Effects panel on page 6585 Add Atmosphere or Effect Dialog Modify panel Select light object Atmospheres Effects rollout Add button The Add Atmosphere or Effect dialog lets you associate an atmosphere or a rendering effect with the light The list shows eithe...

Page 2426: ...ng effects All Lists both atmospheres and rendering effects New or existing group These radio buttons choose between new or existing effects New Lists only new atmospheres or effects Existing Lists only atmospheres or effects that have been already assigned to the light Adding an existing atmosphere or effect creates a new atmosphere or effect whose settings are initially identical to the previous...

Page 2427: ...t object on page 4970 into a projector by choosing a map for the light to project A projected map can be a still image or an animation Casting a projection with a light NOTE If your scene includes animated bitmaps including materials projector lights environments and so on the animation file is reloaded once per frame If your scene uses multiple animations or if the animations are large files this...

Page 2428: ...urn off Projector to test rendering the scene without the projected image An alternative is to click the Map button This displays the Material Map Browser on page 5290 which lets you choose the map type At this point the light behaves as a projector To assign a map or adjust its parameters you need to use the Material Editor NOTE Lights project maps only within their cone even if Overshoot is turn...

Page 2429: ...se the same bitmap you chose for the standalone map and then click OK You can also choose a bitmap other than the one the light projects Interface Affect Surfaces group Contrast Adjusts the contrast between the diffuse and ambient areas of the surface Leave this set to 0 for normal contrast Increase the value to increase the contrast for special effects for example the harsh light of outer space D...

Page 2430: ...by using the Diffuse and Specular check boxes you can have one light color the specular highlights of an object while not coloring its diffuse area and then have a second light color the diffuse portion of the surface while not creating specular highlights Ambient Only When on the light affects only the ambient component of the illumination This gives you more detailed control over the ambient ill...

Page 2431: ...e renderer or on advanced lighting the light tracer or a radiosity solution These settings control how the light behaves when it generates indirect illumination that is caustics on page 6255 and global illumination on page 6261 TIP By default each light uses the global settings found in the Light Properties group on the Render Setup Dialog Indirect Illumination panel Caustics and Global Illuminati...

Page 2432: ... Multiplies the global Energy value to increase or decrease the energy of this particular light Default 1 0 Caustic Photons Multiplies the global Caustic Photons value to increase or decrease the count of photons used to generate caustics by this particular light Default 1 0 GI Photons Multiplies the global GI Photons value to increase or decrease the count of photons used to generate global illum...

Page 2433: ...e indirect illumination effects without changing the light s other effects in a scene such as providing diffuse illumination Default 50000 0 Decay Specifies how photon energy decays as it moves away from the light source Range 0 0 to 100 0 Default 2 0 inverse square physically correct falloff This value is applied as an exponent to the distance r between the light source and each indirectly illumi...

Page 2434: ...p used for global illumination Increasing this value increases the accuracy of global illumination but also increases the amount of memory used and the length of render time Decreasing this value improves memory usage and render time and can be useful for previewing global illumination effects Default 10000 mental ray Light Shader Rollout Select a light Modify panel mental ray Light Shader rollout...

Page 2435: ...ese are the light shaders provided with 3ds Max Library Shader base Ambient Reflective Occlusion base Light Infinite base Light Point base Light Spot Photon Emitter Shader Click the button to display a Material Map Browser on page 5290 and choose a shader Once you have chosen a shader its name appears on the button NOTE No photon emitter shaders are provided with 3ds Max This option is for users w...

Page 2436: ...he light and choose which type of shadow the light uses The following table describes the advantages and disadvantages of each shadow type Disadvantages Advantages Shadow Type Slower than shadow maps Does not sup port soft shad ows Supports trans parency and opacity map ping Uses less RAM than standard Advanced Ray Traced Processes at every frame ray traced shad ows Recommended for complex scenes ...

Page 2437: ...y and opacity map ping Processes only once if there are Raytrace Shad ows no animated objects Uses a lot of RAM Does not Produces soft shadows Processes only once if there are Shadow Maps support objects with transpar no animated objects ency or opacity maps Fastest shadow type See Also Shadow Parameters on page 5099 Advanced Ray Traced Parameters Rollout Create panel Lights Create or select a lig...

Page 2438: ... traced shadows cast by an area light Interface Basic Options group Mode Selects the type of raytracing for generating shadows Simple Casts a single ray of light toward the surface No antialiasing on page 7904 is performed Antialias 1 Pass Casts a bundle of rays The same number of rays is cast from each illuminated surface The number of rays is set using the Pass 1 Quality spinner Shadow Types and...

Page 2439: ...hadows When on backfaces are not ignored when calculating shadows Objects seen from the inside are not lit by lights from the outside This costs a bit more render time When off backfaces are ignored Rendering is quicker but outside lights illuminate object interiors The faces inside the sliced sphere do not cast shadows if 2 Sided Shadows is not selected Antialiasing Options group Shadow Integrity...

Page 2440: ...to cast a shadow This prevents blurred shadows from affecting surfaces they shouldn t NOTE As you increase the blur value you should also increase the bias Jitter Amount Adds randomness to the ray positions The rays are initially in a very regular pattern which can show up in the blurry part of the shadow as regular artifacts Jittering will convert these artifacts to noise which is generally less ...

Page 2441: ... the properties of the light match the properties in the Area Light Dimensions group of the Area Shadows rollout TIP Area shadows can take a fair amount of time to render If you want to create a quick test or draft rendering you can use the Area Linear Lights as Point Lights toggle in the Common Parameters rollout on page 6121 of the Render Setup dialog to speed up your rendering When this toggle ...

Page 2442: ...A Penumbra soft area B Shadow Area shadow cast by a point light Interface Shadow Types and Shadow Controls 5123 ...

Page 2443: ...ation is performed Rectangle Light Casts rays from the light in a rectangular array Disc Light Casts rays from the light in a circular array Box Light Casts rays from the light as if it were a box Sphere Light Casts rays from the light as if it were a sphere The shape of the area shadow array affects how shadows are cast Left Rectangle Right Box 5124 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2444: ...adow Integrity Sets the number of rays in the initial bundle of rays cast These rays are projected from every surface that receives light from the light source The number of rays is as follows 1 4 rays 2 5 rays 3 to N NxN rays For example setting Shadow Integrity to 5 generates 25 rays This is the primary control for finding small objects and thin spaces between objects If the shadows are missing ...

Page 2445: ...tialiased edge of the shadow to smooth it out The number of rays is as follows 2 5 rays 3 to N NxN For example setting Shadow Quality to 5 generates 25 rays The Shadow Quality value should always be greater than the Shadow Integrity value This is because the software overlays the secondary rays atop the first pass s rays using the same algorithm Increase Shadow Quality to fix banding in the penumb...

Page 2446: ...he minimum distance that an object must be from the point being shaded in order to cast a shadow This prevents blurred shadows from affecting surfaces they shouldn t NOTE As you increase the blur value you should also increase the bias Jitter Amount Adds randomness to the ray positions The rays are initially in a very regular pattern which can show up in the blurry part of the shadow as regular ar...

Page 2447: ...Width Sets the width of the area shadow Height Sets the height of the area shadow mental ray Shadow Map Rollout Create panel Lights Create a light General Parameters rollout Shadows group Select mental ray Shadow Map shadows mental ray Shadow Map rollout Choosing mental ray Shadow Map as the shadow type tells the mental ray renderer on page 6230 to generate shadows using the mental ray shadow map ...

Page 2448: ...p as specified by Samples Default 0 0 If you set Sample Range to be greater than zero you must also set Samples to be greater than zero to obtain a soft shadow effect Directional lights require Sample Range to have a greater value than spotlights require Samples Sets the number of samples to remove from a shadow map when generating soft shadows Default 1 Use Bias When on changes the map bias on pa...

Page 2449: ...ate a pixel in the shadow map Higher values increase the quality and detail of the shadow at a cost of render time Default 5 If a mapped shadow appears to be aliased on page 7904 increase the value of Samples Pixel This setting is especially useful when shadows are cast by finely detailed geometry Optimizations Rollout Create panel Lights Create a light General Parameters rollout Shadows group Sel...

Page 2450: ...sparent Shadows group On When checked transparent surfaces will cast a colored shadow Otherwise all shadows are black NOTE Shadows will generate faster with this value turned off Shadow Types and Shadow Controls 5131 ...

Page 2451: ...d decreasing the value will increase the sensitivity improving quality Antialias Suppression group Supersampled Material When on only pass 1 is used during 2 pass antialiasing when shading a supersampled on page 8141 material NOTE When off rendering time can increase without resulting in a better image Reflect Refract When on only pass 1 is used during 2 pass antialiasing when shading reflections ...

Page 2452: ... Shadow Parameters Rollout Create a light General Parameters rollout Shadows group Choose Ray Traced Shadows Ray Traced Shadow Params rollout Ray traced shadows The Ray Traced Shadow Parameters rollout appears when you have chosen raytracing as the shadow generation technique for a light You select this in the General Parameters rollout on page 5076 For greater control of ray traced shadows use Ad...

Page 2453: ... When on backfaces are not ignored when calculating shadows Objects seen from the inside are not lit by lights from the outside This costs a bit more render time When off backfaces are ignored Rendering is quicker but outside lights illuminate object interiors Default on The faces inside the sliced sphere do not cast shadows if 2 Sided Shadows is not selected Max Quadtree Depth Adjusts the depth o...

Page 2454: ... your scene requires this Shadow Map Parameters Rollout Create a light General Parameters rollout Shadows group Choose Shadow Map Shadow Map Params rollout The Shadow Map Parameters rollout is displayed when you have chosen shadow mapping as the shadow generation technique for a light You select this in the General Parameters rollout on page 5076 Interface Bias Map Bias on page 8031 moves the shad...

Page 2455: ...t all This value depends on whether Absolute Map Bias is on or off When Absolute is off the default Bias is calculated based on the scene extents and then normalized to one This provides similar default shadow results regardless of scene size User adjustments to Bias are typically low decimal values near 1 0 for example 1 2 When Absolute is on Bias is a value in 3ds Max units User adjustments to B...

Page 2456: ...s value fixes the problem Size Sets the size in pixels squared of the shadow map that s computed for the light The shadow map size specifies the amount of subdivisions for the map The greater the value the more detailed the map will be Shadow Types and Shadow Controls 5137 ...

Page 2457: ...s how soft the edge of the shadow is Range 0 01 to 50 0 Increasing the Sample Range blends the shadow edges and creates a smooth effect hiding the granularity of the map Absolute Map Bias When on the bias for the shadow map is not normalized but is instead based on a fixed scale expressed in 3ds Max units This value 5138 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2458: ...hidden and so on the normalized bias value might become inappropriate causing shadows to flicker or disappear If this happens turn on Absolute Map Bias You will have to set the Bias control to a value appropriate for the scene As a rule of thumb try a Bias value that is the distance between the light and the target object divided by 100 2 Sided Shadows When on backfaces are not ignored when calcul...

Page 2459: ...ts It is appropriate to use them if you are creating a rendering that uses radiosity on page 6168 with exposure control on page 6732 The mr Sun and mr Sky lights are also photometric but are intended for use with the mental ray Sun and Sky on page 5161 solution The Standard light and Skylight are not photometric It is appropriate to use them if your scene uses standard lighting Sunlight with its D...

Page 2460: ...rrectly Specifically the diameter of the hotspot is set to 65 per cent of the longest diagonal length of the scene extents on page 8117 Procedures To create a Sunlight or Daylight system 1 On the Create panel click Systems and then click Sunlight or Daylight Alternatively you can create a Daylight system from the Create menu Lights or Systems submenu This method is actually preferable because the ...

Page 2461: ...kylight These lists also offer you the options of choosing no sunlight or no skylight Controls for the geographic location and time of day are on the Motion panel The default time is noon and the default date and time zone are based on your computer s local settings The default location is San Francisco CA The directional light created by the system is managed by two special controllers Solar Date...

Page 2462: ...tting to a start time in early morning such as 6 5 Click the Go To End button 6 Set Hours to a time in the late afternoon such as 18 7 For a complete view of your environment and its shadows render an animation from a Top viewport or a view above your scene Interface Daylight Parameters rollout Daylight system only The Daylight Parameters rollout lets you define the daylight system s sun object Yo...

Page 2463: ...o Sunlight No sunlight is simulated Active Turns sunlight on and off in the viewport Skylight Choose an option for skylight in your scene IES Sky Uses an IES Sky on page 5157 object to simulate skylight mr Sky Uses the mr Sky light on page 5176 to simulate the sun Skylight Uses a Skylight on page 5065 object to simulate skylight No Skylight No skylight is simulated Active Turns skylight on and off...

Page 2464: ...le When chosen daylight derives the angle and intensity of the sun from a weather data EPW file Setup When Manual or Date Time And Location is chosen opens the Motion panel on page 7663 allowing you to adjust the time location and site of your daylight system When Weather Data File is chosen opens a Configure Weather Data dialog on page 5148 so you can choose which weather data you want the daylig...

Page 2465: ...n your scene as well as the intensity value of the sun object Date Time and Location When chosen daylight uses the geographically correct angle and movement of the sun over the earth at a given location NOTE When Date Time And Location is active adjusting the light s intensity has no effect 5146 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2466: ...e sun s azimuth and altitude accordingly during the summer months Hours Mins Secs Specify the time of day Month Day Year Specify the date Time Zone Time zones range from 12 to 12 If you re uncertain about a time zone you can look them up in Window s Date Time Properties dialog available through My Computer Control Panel Date Time Click the Time Zone tab and then display the list of world locations...

Page 2467: ...acy of the system depends on this correspondence Model Scale group Orbital Scale Sets the distance of the sun the directional light from the compass rose Because a directional light casts parallel beams this distance has no effect on the accuracy of the sunlight However the light must point toward your model not away from it and the light s hotspot and falloff do have an effect The best way to ens...

Page 2468: ...to unload a file you have loaded Location and time fields When a weather data file is loaded these fields show the location where the file was recorded the start and end dates how often the data was recorded Data Period and the total number of periods saved in the file Use Weather Data group Use Specific Date Time The default Chooses a specific date and time to use By default this is the first ent...

Page 2469: ...n omits the hours between the two values using a 24 hour clock Default off Skip Weekends When on skips weekends Default off One Frame Per Choose the time unit by which the animation is subdivided The options are Period Day Week Month Season Default Period Total Frames Displays the total number of frames that 3ds Max will generate based on the period settings you have chosen Match Timeline Click to...

Page 2470: ...d in the weather data file Select from the range ofTime Periods in theWeather Data File group Period Selector Drag this slider to browse the time periods available in the file Increment Period Selector by Use the Months Days Hours or Minutes spinner controls to move the Period Selector by the corresponding unit of time If the file does not contain increments at that time level the spinner has no e...

Page 2471: ...cation 3ds Max displays a small cross at the location you picked If Nearest Big City is on it places the cross at the nearest large city on the list and highlights the city s name in the list 4 Click OK to set the Latitude and Longitude to the location of the cross To choose a city by name 1 Choose a map from the Map list The City list updates to show cities in the region of the map 2 Choose the n...

Page 2472: ... world Nearest Big City When on clicking the map moves the cross to the nearest listed city which becomes highlighted in the list When off clicking the map places the cross exactly where you clicked and its position generates the Latitude and Longitude values for that position regardless of any cities that might be nearby IES Sun and Sky The IES Sun and IES Sky objects are photometric light object...

Page 2473: ...onjunction with a daylight system on page 5139 its values are set automatically based on geographic location time and date IES stands for Illuminating Engineering Society see IES Standard File Format on page 5034 Outdoor scene illuminated by the IES Sun light The mental ray renderer gives physically accurate results for IES Sun and renderings that use it will appear similar to renderings done with...

Page 2474: ...rns sunlight on and off in the viewport Targeted Applicable only when you add the IES Sun light directly rather than as part of a Daylight system on page 5139 When on the light is targeted and you can change the target distance by moving the target The distance between the light and its target is displayed to the right of the check box When off you can set this value directly Cast Shadows Sets whe...

Page 2475: ...ticular light When Use Global Settings is on the shadow parameters switch over to show you what the current global setting is This data is shared by every other light of this class When Use Global Settings is off the shadow parameters are specific to that particular light Exclude Excludes selected objects from the effects of the light Click this button to display the Exclude Include dialog on page...

Page 2476: ...iffuse and Specular check boxes you can have one light color the specular highlights of an object while not coloring its diffuse component and then have a second light color the diffuse component of the surface while not creating specular highlights Optimizations rollout This rollout is identical to the Optimizations rollout on page 5130 for advanced ray traced and area shadows IES Sky Light Photo...

Page 2477: ...with the light type you want to use IES Sky works correctly only when the sky object is pointing down from the Z axis meaning that it points down when looking from the Top view When using the default scanline renderer IES Sky produces the best results when used in conjunction with one of the advanced lighting options on page 6153 radiosity or light tracing 5158 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2478: ... tracer you cannot separate the direct indirect and shadow channels of the light All three elements of the IES Sky lighting are output to the Indirect Light channel See also IES Sun Light Photometric on page 5154 Interface On Turns the sky light on and off in the viewport Multiplier Adjusts the intensity of the skylight When this is set to 1 0 the intensity will be physically accurate based on ang...

Page 2479: ...ot important in your model you can disable them and save substantial amounts of processing time However the results will not be as realistic NOTE The Cast Shadows toggle has no effect when using radiosity or the light tracer NOTE IES Sky objects will not cast shadows in an ActiveShade rendering on page 6102 Rays per Sample The number of rays used to calculate skylight falling on a given point in t...

Page 2480: ...he mental ray Sun Sky solution is designed to enable physically plausible daylight simulations and accurate renderings of daylight scenarios In 3ds Max this is achieved through the use of two special photometric lights and an environment shader that all work together The mr Sun photometric light is responsible for the sunlight the direct light from the sun The scene is lit by mr Sun only The mr Sk...

Page 2481: ...nvironment shader is responsible for the visible representation of the sun disk and the sky both to the camera and in reflections and refraction as well as for the virtual ground plane gray in the following illustration 5162 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2482: ...equires the mr Photographic Exposure Control on page 6744 to be enabled In some of the mental ray rendering presets on page 6114 such as those starting with mental ray daylight this is done automatically Also when you add a Daylight System from the Create menu you have the option to activate the exposure control automatically Using Sun Sky with SSS Materials To use a mental ray fast SSS material o...

Page 2483: ...e spot mr Sky and as long as Inherit From mr Sky is on for both mr Sun and mr Physical Sky you re sure to obtain consistent results Procedures To use mental ray Sun Sky 1 Make sure mental ray on page 6230 is the active renderer 2 From the Create menu choose Lights Daylight System You can also find Daylight System on the Create menu under Systems NOTE The Daylight System is also available from Crea...

Page 2484: ... parameters rollouts for mr Sun and mr Sky now appear on the Modify panel 7 Open the Environment dialog on page 6689 press 8 and make sure Common Parameters Environment Map is set to mr Physical Sky Exposure Control on page 6732 is set to mr Photographic Exposure Control Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5165 ...

Page 2485: ... button from the Environment panel Common Parameters rollout to a material slot sample sphere in the Material Editor When prompted for the copy method choose Instance 8 Open the Render Setup dialog on page 6067 F10 to the Indirect Illumination panel and turn on Enable Final Gather Choose the Draft preset as a starting point 5166 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2486: ...Motion panel Control Parameters settings or turn on Manual Override to place the sun by hand TIP Adjust the Brightness and Contrast of the Logarithmic Exposure Control for a pleasing image To see the sun and sky in the viewport The ability to display the mental ray Sun Sky solution in the viewport lets you adjust parameters interactively so that you can visualize the results immediately without ha...

Page 2487: ... adding mental ray Sun Sky to your scene 2 Open the Viewport Background dialog Views menu Viewport Background 3 In the Background Source group turn on Use Environment Background 4 At the bottom of the dialog make sure Viewport is set to Perspective and then turn on Display Background in the lower right group of controls 5168 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2488: ...5 Click OK After a moment the viewport background changes to show the environment 6 If necessary orbit the Perspective viewport so you get a view of the horizon Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5169 ...

Page 2489: ...hange the Time group Hours or Month setting using the spinner control As you adjust the setting the sky light reflects the change 8 Adjust the hour so the sun is near the horizon and then if necessary orbit the viewport so the sun is visible 5170 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2490: ... As you adjust the settings the viewport shows the changes Interface Interface common parameters The most important common parameters are those that drive the entire shading and colorization model NOTE mr Sun and mr Physical Sky can inherit parameters from mr Sky even if the latter is off Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5171 ...

Page 2491: ...sibly below the viewer This parameter allows tuning the position of the horizon Note that this horizon doesn t actually exist at a specific height in 3D space it is a shading effect for rays that go below a certain angle This parameter tweaks that angle The total range available range is somewhat extreme reaching from 10 0 the horizon is straight down to 10 0 the horizon is at the zenith In practi...

Page 2492: ...arkens the contribution from Night Color is unaffected and remains as the base light level Red Blue Tint Gives artistic control over the redness of the light The default value of 0 0 is the physically correct value calculated for a 6500K whitepoint but can be changed with this parameter which ranges from 1 0 extremely blue to 1 0 extremely red Saturation Also an artistic control where 1 0 is the p...

Page 2493: ...nly when you add an mr Sun light directly to the scene via Create panel Lights Photometric rather than as part of a Daylight system on page 5139 When on the light is targeted and you can change the target distance by moving the target The distance between the light and its target is displayed to the right of the check box When off you can set this value directly Default on Shadows group On Toggles...

Page 2494: ...nherit From mr Sky is off Red Blue Tint Provides artistic control over the redness of the sky light The default value of 0 0 is the physically correct value calculated for a 6500K whitepoint but can be changed with this parameter which ranges from 1 0 extremely blue to 1 0 extremely red Saturation Provides artistic control over saturation of the sky light The default value of 1 0 is the physically...

Page 2495: ...on parameters unique to this component A number of mr Sky parameters are common to all three Sun Sky components For some of those parameters this topic provides a brief explanation plus a link to the main topic with additional details TIP You can view the Sun Sky combination in a viewport which makes adjusting parameters fully interactive For details see this procedure on page 5167 See also mental...

Page 2496: ... Some sky models neglect the influence of bounce light from the ground assuming only the sky is illuminating the scene To compare the output of mr Sky with for example the IES Sky model set Ground Color to black Sky Model Lets you choose the sky model to use There are three choices Haze Driven on page 5179 Perez All Weather on page 5179 CIE on page 5180 Use the Perez or CIE model when you want lig...

Page 2497: ...ol over the redness of the sky light The default value of 0 0 is the physically correct value calculated for a 6500K whitepoint but can be changed with this parameter which ranges from 1 0 extremely blue to 1 0 extremely red Saturation Provides artistic control over saturation of the sky light The default value of 1 0 is the physically calculated saturation level Possible values range from 0 0 bla...

Page 2498: ...ze The amount of particulate matter in the air Possible values range from 0 0 a completely clear day to 15 0 extremely overcast or a sandstorm in the Sahara Default 0 0 You can animate this value Perez All Weather Sky Model Create a Daylight system Choose mr Sky as the sky light Choose Perez All Weather as the sky model mr Sky Perez Parameters rollout The Perez All Weather sky model is a physicall...

Page 2499: ...alues appear as footcandles fc rather than lux lx CIE Sky Model Create a Daylight system Choose mr Sky as the sky light Choose CIE as the sky model mr Sky CIE Parameters rollout The CIE sky model is a physically accurate sky model recognized as an industry standard CIE stands for Commission Internationale de l Éclairage the International Lighting Commission It is controlled by two illuminance on p...

Page 2500: ...e values appear as footcandles fc rather than lux lx mr Physical Sky Daylight system Modify panel Daylight Parameters rollout Skylight drop down list mr Sky Confirm prompt The mr Physical Sky shader is intended primarily for use in the mental ray Sun Sky combination This topic mainly provides information on parameters unique to this component A number of mr Physical Sky parameters are common to al...

Page 2501: ... map or apply an mr Physical Sky shader as an environment map on page 6689 or in the Camera Shaders group of the Camera Effects rollout on page 6283 2 Open the Material Editor on page 5284 and choose a sample slot 3 Click the Get Material button This opens the Material Map Browser dialog on page 5290 4 On the Material Map Browser in the Browse From group on the left side choose Scene The Browser l...

Page 2502: ...s the rollout follow the above procedure Sun Disk Appearance group Use these settings to adjust the visible appearance of the sun in the sky Disk Intensity The brightness of the sun Glow Intensity The brightness of the glow surrounding the sun Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5183 ...

Page 2503: ...on For further information see Common Parameters on page 5164 Haze The amount of particulate matter in the air Possible values range from 0 0 a completely clear day to 15 0 extremely overcast or a sandstorm in the Sahara Default 0 0 For details see Haze on page 5172 To apply a map or shader to this parameter click the None button Horizon and Ground group Horizon Height The vertical position of the...

Page 2504: ...To apply a map or shader to this parameter click the None button Saturation Provides artistic control over saturation of the sky light The default value of 1 0 is the physically calculated saturation level Possible values range from 0 0 black and white to 2 0 extremely high saturation To apply a map or shader to this parameter click the None button Aerial Perspective group NOTE This parameter is f...

Page 2505: ...coloring from the environment IMPORTANT For mr Sky Portal to work correctly the scene must contain a Skylight component This can be an IES Sky light on page 5157 an mr Sky light on page 5176 or a Skylight on page 5065 Procedures Example To use the mr Sky Portal object 1 Make sure mental ray is the active production renderer on page 6135 2 Create a scene with a windowed interior Set up a camera in ...

Page 2506: ...light object to mr Sun and the Skylight object to mr Sky see mental ray Sun and Sky on page 5161 For best results position the sun so it s not shining directly into the interior or turn it off Otherwise the direct lighting could overwhelm the indirect lighting from the portal especially when using final gathering and or global illumination Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5187 ...

Page 2507: ...object is a wireframe rectangle with a central perpendicular arrow showing the direction of light flow or flux Make each portal slightly larger than its respective opening and position it immediately outside or inside the opening 5188 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2508: ... illumination from the overlapping area to be doubled Adding the Sky Portal object with AutoGrid on Note the Light Flux Direction arrow pointing outward 5 Make sure all portals arrows are pointing inside If a portal s arrow points outside toggle its Flip Light Flux Direction check box on the mr Skylight Portal Parameters rollout Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5189 ...

Page 2509: ...ion on the arrow points inward 6 Turn on Final Gather on page 6295 and render the scene If the image looks grainy increase the Shadow Samples setting on the mr Skylight Portal Parameters rollout 5190 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2510: ...Scene lit by mr Sky Portal with final gather at Draft preset no diffuse bounces Sunlight and Daylight Systems 5191 ...

Page 2511: ...controls TIP To change the arrow size use the Preferences Viewports panel Viewport Parameters group on page 7755 Non Scaling Object Size setting Flip Light Flux Direction Determines the direction in which light flows through the portal The arrow must point toward the interior for the portal to cast light from the sky or environment If it points outside toggle this setting Shadows On Toggles shadow...

Page 2512: ...g outside objects which can help if they re overexposed To avoid recoloring the outside view use a shade of gray such as R G B 0 5 Color Source Sets the source of the light from which the mr Sky Portal derives its illumination Use existing Skylight Uses the skylight By default with the mr Sky light using the mr Physical Sky environment map at their default values this tends to give a bluish illumi...

Page 2513: ... parameters as well For example you can animate the camera s field of view to give the effect of zooming in on a scene The Display panel s Hide By Category on page 178 rollout has a toggle that lets you turn the display of camera objects on and off A convenient way to control the display of camera objects is to create them on a separate layer on page 7438 You can hide them quickly by turning off t...

Page 2514: ...era you see a singe icon representing the camera and its field of view The camera icon appears the same as a target camera icon but there is no separate target icon to animate Free cameras are easier to use when the camera s position is animated along a path An example of a camera in a scene Cameras 5195 ...

Page 2515: ...ons on page 7604 You use the Modify panel in conjunction with a camera viewport to change the camera s settings While you use the navigation controls for a camera viewport you can constrain Truck Pan and Orbit movement to be vertical or horizontal only with the Shift key You can move a selected camera so its view matches that of a Perspective Spotlight or another Camera view Choosing a Camera forV...

Page 2516: ...et cameras on page 5205 create a double icon representing the camera a blue box intersecting a blue triangle and the camera target a blue box Free cameras on page 5203 create a single icon representing the camera and its field of view A free camera has no target A target camera has a target sub object You cannot shade camera objects However you can render their icons using Animation menu Make Prev...

Page 2517: ...e camera s parameters do not update Non Uniform Scale and Squash will change the size and shape of a target camera s icon but have no visible effect in the viewport mental ray Camera Shaders When you use the mental ray renderer on page 6230 you can apply shaders to the camera used to render the scene Specifically you can assign shaders to modify the camera s lens its output or its volume effective...

Page 2518: ... camera output shaders are provided with 3ds Max You might have access to light map shaders if you have obtained them from other shader libraries or custom shader code See also Common Camera Parameters on page 5210 Characteristics of Cameras on page 5207 Using Transforms to Aim a Camera on page 5221 Using Clipping Planes to Exclude Geometry on page 5222 Using the Horizon to Match Perspective on pa...

Page 2519: ...then use the Truck Orbit and Dolly Camera buttons Alternately you can select the camera components in another viewport and use the move or rotate icons If you do this while the Auto Key button on page 7549 is on you animate the camera 4 Render the camera viewport To change a viewport to a Camera view 1 Right click the viewport label The Viewport Properties menu is displayed 2 Choose Views The name...

Page 2520: ...E This also changes the size of light icons helper objects and other non scaling objects in the scene To use the Modify panel in conjunction with a Camera viewport 1 Select the camera in any viewport 2 Right click the Camera viewport to activate the viewport without deselecting the camera The Camera viewport becomes active but the camera is still selected in the other viewports 3 Adjust the camera...

Page 2521: ...d in three concentric boxes The outermost safe frame matches the render output resolution The safe frame on page 8110 matches the render output resolution Boxes in the viewport indicate safe frames To match a camera to a viewport 1 Optional Select a camera 2 Activate a Perspective viewport 3 If no camera was selected 3ds Max creates a new target camera whose field of view matches the viewport If y...

Page 2522: ... target and the camera free cameras are represented by a single icon making them easier to animate Free cameras can be used when the camera s position is animated along a trajectory on page 8154 as in a walkthrough of a building or when the camera is attached to a moving vehicle The free camera can bank as it travels along the path If the camera needs to be directly overhead in a scene use a free ...

Page 2523: ...to move the camera before you can see objects in its Camera viewport Check the camera s position from several viewports to correct Procedures To create a free camera 1 From the Create menu choose Cameras Free Camera or click Cameras on the Create panel then click Free on the Object Type rollout 2 Do one of the following Choose Create Menu Cameras Free Camera Click Cameras on the Create panel then ...

Page 2524: ...e center of interest You can animate both the target camera and its target to create interesting effects To animate both the target and camera along a path it is best to link them both to a dummy object then animate the dummy NOTE When you add a target camera 3ds Max automatically assigns a Look At controller on page 3199 to it with the camera s target object assigned as the Look At target You can...

Page 2525: ...get Camera From the Tool Palettes window select the Cameras tab and select Target Camera 2 Drag in a Top or Perspective viewport The initial point of the drag is the location of the camera and the point where you release the mouse is the location of the target The camera is now part of the scene It is aimed at the target which is a separate object 3 Set the creation parameters 5206 Chapter 18 Ligh...

Page 2526: ... have the extension Target Renaming the target object does not rename the camera object Clicking the line that connects the camera and its target selects both objects However region selection doesn t recognize the link line If a target camera is already selected you add its target to the selection by right clicking the camera and then choosing Select Target from the quad menu Tools1 quadrant Or yo...

Page 2527: ... scene but show greater detail of more distant objects Focal length is always measured in millimeters A 50mm lens is a common standard for photography A lens with a focal length less than 50mm is called a short or wide angle lens A lens with a focal length longer than 50mm is called a long or telephoto lens Field ofView FOV The field of view FOV controls how much of the scene is visible The FOV is...

Page 2528: ...to the viewer Upper left Long focal length narrow FOV Lower right Short focal length wide FOV The perspective associated with 50 mm lenses appears normal partly because it is close to what the eye sees and partly because such lenses are so widely used for snapshots news photos cinema and so on Differences Between Camera Objects and Real World Cameras Many other controls on real world cameras such ...

Page 2529: ... size Common Camera Parameters Create panel Cameras Target button or Free button Parameters rollout Most of the camera controls are common to both kinds of cameras This topic describes those controls Procedures To view a wider area do either of the following 1 Use the FOV spinner to increase the camera s field of view 2 Click a button with a shorter focal length Use the Lens spinner to give the fo...

Page 2530: ...ize or custom Aperture Width in the Render Setup dialog on page 6067 will change the camera s Lens setting To match a camera to a film or video format 1 On the Render Setup dialog in the Output Size groupOutput Size group on page 6124 choose the type of output you want Use either of the following methods Choose a preset such as HDTV video from the drop down list The Aperture Width is locked to the...

Page 2531: ...f the camera s Lens parameter is based on the new Aperture Width value To display a camera s cone Turn on Show Cone The camera s field of view cone appears outlined in light blue NOTE A camera s cone is always visible while the camera object is selected regardless of the Show Cone setting To display a camera s horizon line Turn on Show Horizon A dark gray line appears at the level of the horizon i...

Page 2532: ...or Far Range By default the Near Range 0 0 and the Far Range equals the Far clipping plane value Environment ranges determine the near and far range limits for atmospheric effects you set in the Environment dialog To see the environment ranges in viewports Turn on Show The environment range displays as two planes The plane closest to the camera is the near range and the one farthest from the camer...

Page 2533: ... position the far clipping plane Objects farther from the camera than the Far distance are not visible to the camera and aren t rendered You can set the Near clipping plane close to the camera so that it doesn t exclude any geometry and still use the Far plane to exclude objects Similarly you can set the Far clipping plane far enough from the camera that it doesn t exclude any geometry and still u...

Page 2534: ...with 3ds Max by default 3 In the Multi Pass Effect group turn on Enable and choose Depth Of Field 4 Use the Depth Of Field Parameters rollout on page 5230 or the Motion Blur Parameters rollout on page 5234 to set the values for the effect you chose 5 Activate a camera viewport 6 In the Multi Pass Effect group click Preview to preview the effect in the camera viewport The Preview button has no effe...

Page 2535: ...Interface 5216 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2536: ...72 When FOV Direction is horizontal the default the FOV parameter directly sets the arc of the camera s horizon on page 8005 measured in degrees You can also set the FOV Direction to measure FOV vertically or diagonally You can also adjust the field of view interactively in a camera viewport on page 7604 by using the FOV button Orthographic Projection When on the camera view looks just like a User...

Page 2537: ... in a camera viewport Show Horizon Displays the horizon line A dark gray line appears at the level of the horizon in the camera s viewport Environment Ranges group Near Range and Far Range Determine the near and far range limits for the atmospheric effects set on the Environment panel on page 6689 Objects between the two limits fade between the Far and Near values Show Displays rectangles within t...

Page 2538: ...is not displayed To override this use Clip Manually Near Clip and Far Clip Sets near and far planes Objects closer than the near clipping plane or farther than the far clipping plane are invisible to the camera The limit of the Far Clip value is 10 to the power of 32 With manual clipping on the near clipping plane can be as close to the camera as 0 1 unit WARNING Extremely large Far Clip values ca...

Page 2539: ...lusive Because they rely on multiple rendering passes applying both to the same camera could be prohibitively slow If you want to use both depth of field and motion blurring in the same scene use multi pass depth of field using these camera parameters and combine it with object motion blur on page 8063 Enable When on previewing or rendering uses the effect When off the effect is not rendered Previ...

Page 2540: ...t so that you can orbit a camera around that point With a target camera indicates the distance between the camera and its target UsingTransforms to Aim a Camera You can use transforms to aim a camera and change its orientation in the scene Move on page 959 adjusts the position of the camera object or the position of a target camera s target on page 5205 Because the target is displayed as a small s...

Page 2541: ...lipping Planes to Exclude Geometry Clipping planes let you exclude some of a scene s geometry and view or render only certain portions of the scene Each camera object has a near and a far clipping plane Objects closer than the near clipping plane or farther than the far clipping plane are invisible to the camera Clipping planes are useful for rendering selected portions of a scene that has a lot o...

Page 2542: ...is constrained to be less than the far value If the clipping plane intersects an object it cuts through that object creating a cutaway view How much of the cutaway object is visible depends on whether the object s material is two sided or not You can also use clipping planes in non camera viewports Simply right click the viewport label and choose Viewport Clipping on page 7576 WARNING If you use t...

Page 2543: ...ntrol is in the camera s Parameters rollout on page 5210 The horizon line can help you match the perspective of your scene to the perspective of a still image In general matching perspective involves the following steps 1 Display the horizon line Use it to help you adjust the camera and target so they are level 2 Display the image in the camera viewport Use Views Viewport Background and choose Fil...

Page 2544: ...nt keyframes while the Set Key or Auto Key button is on The program interpolates camera transforms and parameter values between keyframes as it does for object geometry See Auto Key Animation Mode on page 7549 and Track View on page 3503 for further descriptions of animation This topic summarizes some possibilities and suggests some techniques In general it s best to use a free camera on page 5203...

Page 2545: ...rget camera its previous target is ignored If the camera is a free camera it effectively becomes a target camera While the LookAt constraint assignment is in effect the free camera cannot rotate around its local X and Y axes and can t be aimed vertically because of the up vector constraint An alternative is to link on page 3343 a target camera s target to the object Panning You can animate the pan...

Page 2546: ...nging the focal length of the lens It differs from dollying which physically moves the camera but leaves the focal length unchanged You can zoom by animating the value of the camera s FOV parameter on page 5210 Creating Animated CutawayViews You can animate the creation of a cutaway view by animating the location of the near or far clipping planes on page 5222 or both Multi Pass Rendering Effects ...

Page 2547: ... frame with slight camera movement between each rendering The multiple passes simulate the blurring that film in a camera would register under certain conditions Although it is not a multi pass effect the choices in the drop down list also let you specify the depth of field value for the mental ray renderer on page 6230 See Depth of Field Parameter mental ray Renderer on page 5229 5228 Chapter 18 ...

Page 2548: ...s but the controls are not on the camera s Parameters rollout use the Motion Blur toggle on the Object Properties dialog for camera objects This setting has no effect on the default 3ds Max scanline renderer NOTE When you use the mental ray renderer reflected or refracted light rays do not always respect a camera s clipping planes set in the Clipping Planes group of the Parameters rollout Also lar...

Page 2549: ... is in the middle distance near and far objects are blurred Bottom left Focus on near objects far objects are blurred Bottom right Focus on far objects near objects are blurred Cameras can generate depth of field effects Depth of field is a multi pass effect on page 6227 You turn it on in the Parameters rollout on page 5210 for cameras Depth of field simulates a camera s depth of field by blurring...

Page 2550: ... on page 5229 TIP To reduce the visible effect of multiple camera passes try setting the antialiasing filter to Blend with a Width value in the range 4 0 to 5 0 and a Blend value in the neighborhood of 0 1 You choose the antialiasing filter and adjust its settings in the Default Scanline Renderer rollout on page 6141 Also try reducing the Dither Strength value in the effect s Pass Blending group t...

Page 2551: ...are animatable Focal Depth group Use Target Distance When on uses the camera s target distance as the point about which to offset the camera for each pass When off uses the Focal Depth value to offset the camera Default on 5232 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2552: ...ed to generate the effect Increasing this value can increase the effect s accuracy but at a cost of rendering time Default 12 Sample Radius The radius by which the scene is shifted to generate blurriness Increasing this value increases the overall blurriness of the effect Decreasing it reduces the blurriness Default 1 0 Sample Bias Weights the blurring toward or away from the Sample Radius Increas...

Page 2553: ...ls let you disable antialiasing or antialias filtering when you render the multi pass scene Disabling these rendering passes can improve render time These controls apply only to renderings of the depth of field effect not to previews in viewports Disable Filtering When on disables the filtering pass Default off Disable Antialiasing When on disables antialiasing Default off Multi Pass Motion Blur P...

Page 2554: ...ameras can generate motion blur effects Motion blur is a multi pass effect on page 6227 You turn it on in the Parameters rollout on page 5210 for cameras Motion blur simulates the motion blur of a camera by offsetting rendering passes based on movement in the scene You can preview motion blur in viewports Multi Pass Rendering Effects 5235 ...

Page 2555: ...e 6248 TIP To reduce the visible effect of multiple camera passes try setting the antialiasing filter to Blend with a Width value in the range 4 0 to 5 0 and a Blend value in the neighborhood of 0 1 You choose the antialiasing filter and adjust its settings on the Default Scanline Renderer rollout on page 6141 Also try reducing the Dither Strength value in the effect s Pass Blending group to the n...

Page 2556: ... the final result This control has no effect on previewing motion blur in camera viewports Default on Total Passes The number of passes used to generate the effect Increasing this value can increase the effect s accuracy but at a cost of rendering time Default 12 Duration frames The number of frames in the animation to which the motion blur effect will be applied Default 1 0 Multi Pass Rendering E...

Page 2557: ...ffect not to previews in viewports Normalize Weights Passes are blended with random weighting to avoid artifacts such as streaking When Normalize Weights is on the weights are normalized giving a smoother result When off the effect is a bit sharper but usually grainier Default on Dither Strength Controls how much dithering is applied to the rendered passes Increasing this value increases the amoun...

Page 2558: ... The camera is also listed by name in the Cameras list If the camera is not visible in any viewport zoom out to see it Additional rollouts are also displayed in the floater NOTE You can rename the camera with a more descriptive name from the Modify panel To set the camera path 1 After the camera is created create a path in the scene using the desired spline shape or NURBS curve NOTE Text and Secti...

Page 2559: ...llout move the slider in the Turn Head group to position the camera head towards the desired object in the scene 4 Use the numerical spinner for Head Tilt Angle to change the angle of the camera head TIP You can also use Select and Rotate to position the camera head 5 Play the animation or scrub the time slider to see how the camera presents the scene To adjust the camera controls 1 In the Advance...

Page 2560: ...may experience unexpected results such as spinning where the camera completely rotates about its Z axis Go to Track View and adjust the rotation keys for the camera to correct this To render a preview In the Render Preview rollout click the Render Preview button to see a preview of what the camera sees NOTE The current renderer settings such as mapping and shadows will affect the preview To create...

Page 2561: ...ject If you had selected a path the target would move to the path 6 Click the Set Viewport to Camera button The viewport label changes to reflect the current camera name and displays what the Targeted camera sees 7 Click the Play Animation button or scrub the time slider to view the animation 5242 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

Page 2562: ...cene Cameras are named Walkthrough_Cam Cameras List Lists cameras in the scene by name Targeted Controls whether a selected camera in the Camera list is targeted or free Turning on Targeted for a free camera will change it to targeted turning it off for a targeted camera will change it to a free camera Walkthrough Assistant 5243 ...

Page 2563: ... camera from the selected path Move Path to Eye Level When turned on moves the path to the height set for Eye Level When turned off it moves the path to its original height when created Eye Level Allows you to specify a precise height of the path that either raises or lowers the camera view Render Preview rollout Click to Render Preview Renders a preview The preview appears in the small window in ...

Page 2564: ...ates the illusion that you are tilting your head up or down as you walk through the scene To animate use the Auto Key button This creates X Rotation keys that can be adjusted in Track View NOTE The Turn Head and Head Tilt Angle controls use a Bezier controller for rotation of the walkthrough camera If you create too many keys or place them too closely together you can experience unexpected results...

Page 2565: ...bject the camera s target will use Pick Target Path Press this button to select a path or object in the scene Click the Clear Path button to disassociate the camera s target from the selected path or object Advanced Controls rollout Camera Controls group Field of View Adjusts the amount of the scene visible in the viewport and the perspective flare Extreme values will create distortion in the view...

Page 2566: ...path Camera Correction Modifier Select a camera Right click Tools 1 upper left quadrant of the quad menu Apply Camera Correction Modifier Select a camera Modifiers Menu Cameras Camera Correction The Camera Correction modifier applies two point perspective to a camera view By default camera views use three point perspective in which vertical lines appear to converge with height In two point perspec...

Page 2567: ... and when you render this view 2 Apply the Camera Correction modifier 3 On the 2 Point Perspective Correction rollout click Guess The Camera Correction modifier creates a first guess Amount value for the two point perspective 4 Adjust the Amount and Direction to get the effect you want In the viewports the camera s field of view cone distorts or moves to show the perspective adjustments 5 Render t...

Page 2568: ...r set a first guess Amount value Camera Match Utility Tools menu Camera Match Utilities panel Utilities rollout Camera Match button The Camera Match utility uses a bitmap background photo and five or more special CamPoint objects to create or modify a camera so that its position orientation and field of view matches that of the camera that originally created the photo Procedures The general proces...

Page 2569: ...curate results 5 Position these CameraPoints to correspond to points in your photo You can use the Transform Type In on page 944 to position the points in the correct locations in 3D space 6 Use the Camera Match utility to assign the CameraPoints to pixel locations on the bitmap 7 Choose Create Camera and a camera is created to match the one that took the picture If there are errors and the camera...

Page 2570: ...h Bitmap 5 Make sure Display Background is turned on and then choose OK The background appears in the viewport NOTE You can click the Use Environment Background button but then you don t have the Aspect Ratio controls To create CamPoint objects 1 In the Helpers group of the Create panel open the list and select Camera Match 2 Choose Create menu Helpers CamPoint 3 On the Object Type rollout click t...

Page 2571: ... Match utility to specify the screen coordinate points one for each CamPoint object and generating a camera position based on the data To use the Camera Match utility 1 On the Utilities panel click the Camera Match button The Camera Match utility appears listing the CamPoint objects 2 Select the first CamPoint object and click the Assign Position button 3 Place the cursor over the corresponding fe...

Page 2572: ...ays a list of the CamPoint helper objects in the scene You select the CamPoint objects from this list to assign screen coordinate points Note that if you select a CamPoint object in the viewport it s highlighted in this list as well Input Screen Coordinates X Y Fine tunes the position of the screen coordinate points in 2D space Use This Point Turns off a specific coordinate point without deleting ...

Page 2573: ...ir associate CamPoint objects Camera Match rollout Create Camera Creates a camera in the scene whose position orientation and field of view is based on the current location of the CamPoint helpers and the assigned screen coordinate points Modify Camera Modifies the position orientation and FOV of an existing selected camera based on the CamPoint helpers and assigned screen coordinate points Iterat...

Page 2574: ...mage This allows you to view your scene from the same perspective as the background image which is a key step to mixing computer generated and photographically generated images in a single composited shot Camera point objects are placed in the scene at locations that will be visible in the background photograph By comparing the X Y Z position of several camera point objects to their analogous posi...

Page 2575: ...t is active You are now ready to create a camera point 3 Choose Create menu Helpers Camera Point 4 Click in the viewport to create a CamPoint helper object Alternatively you can use the keyboard to create a CamPoint object by expanding the Keyboard Entry rollout entering values in the fields and then clicking Create To position camera match points in your scene do one of the following 1 Create you...

Page 2576: ...e you create it If you want to name it after you create it change its name in the Modify panel Keyboard Entry rollout X Y Z Let you enter the X Y and Z coordinates where a CamPoint object will be inserted Field values reflect the current Unit setup Camera Match Utility 5257 ...

Page 2577: ...era point object Default on Axis Length Controls the length of the axis tripod When Show Axis Tripod is on you can watch the tripod change length in the viewport while you adjust the spinner arrows When Show Axis Tripod is off you can still make adjustments the Axis Length value but the axis tripod won t be displayed 5258 Chapter 18 Lights and Cameras ...

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