8
Bulge Sub-Object 993
The following paragraphs elaborate these steps.
Above: Default bulge angle at the initial p ose.
Below: Bicep bulges at the custom bulge angle of 90
degrees.
The new bulge angle has been assigned a red color.
To create a biceps bulge angle, go to the Bulge
sub-object level. In the Selection Level group,
turn on Link. Select the upper arm link, then
click Insert Bulge Angle; the bulge angle name
increments from 0 to 1 in the Current Bulge Angle
field, indicating that a new bulge angle has been
created. Type a descriptive name for the new
bulgeangleintheCurrentBulgeAnglefield;for
example,
Arm at 90
.
Click Bulge Angle Color and select a color for the
newly created bulge angle. When S elect 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 between the biceps and forearm, not the
frame number where that angle occurs. The bulge
will occur at
any
framewheretheelbowisatthe
bulge angle.
In the Selection Level group, click Cross Sect ion.
Then in the Cross Sect ion Parameters rollout, click
Insert. In a viewport, position the cursor over the
upper arm link, and click to place the new cross
section for the biceps.
On the Selection Level rollout, click Control Point.
Toshapethecrosssection,movethecrosssection
control points in the viewports, creating a bulge.
Click Play. The biceps should grow as the angle
of the character’s arm approaches 90 degrees. If
Select Nearest Bulge Angle is active, the bulge
anglegizmoschangecolors,dependingonwhich
angle has the greatest influence.
GototheLinkselectionlevelanduseCopy,Paste,
and Mirror to create an identical bulge angle for
the opposite arm.
Tip: When y ou use Physique with a biped, load a
.
bip
file that wil l rotate the character’s limbs. Turn
onInPlacemodebeforeyouscrubthetimeslider
to locate appropriate limb angles. This keeps the
character (the biped) in the viewports.
Bulge Editor
The
Bulge Editor (p age 2–965)
duplicates many
of the controls 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 creat ing , selecting, and editing
cross sections. Rather than editing cross section
control points in the viewports to "bulge" the
mesh, you might prefer to open t he Bulge Editor
and move control points in the Bulge Editor’s
Cross Sec tion view.
Procedures
To cr eate a new bulge angle on a selected link :
1.
With Bulge sub-object ac tive, turn on Lin k
in the Selection Level group.
2. Selectalinkinaviewport.