8

Creating Animation
You can animate almost anything in 3ds Max
scenes. The program provides a number of
different ways to create animation, and a wealth of
tools for manag ing and editing animation.
See also
Animation Concepts and Methods (page 2–271)
Working with Controllers (page 2–284)
Animation Controllers (page 2–302)
Animation Constraints (page 2–375)
Wire Parameters (page 2–393)
Hierarchies and Kinematics (page 2–398)
Tr ack View (page 2–483)
Animation Utilities (page 2–630)
Sav ing and Loading Animation (p age 3–477)
Animation Concepts and
Methods
W ith 3ds Max, you can create 3D computer
animation for a variety of ap plications. You can
animate characters or vehicles for computer
games, or you can animate specia l effects for film
or broadcast . You can create animation for serious
purposes such as medical illustration or forensic
presentation in the courtroom. Whatever reason
you have to animate, you’ll find 3ds Max a capable
environment for achieving your goals.
The basic way to animate is quite simple. You
animate t he transform parameters of any object to
change its position, rotation, and scale over time.
Turning on the
Auto Key (page 3–760) button,
then moving the t ime slider places you in a state in
which any changes you make will create animation
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 almo st any parameter sett ing that
affectsanobject’sshapeandsurface.Youcanlink
objects for hierarchical animation, using both
for ward and inverse k inematics, and you can edit
your animation in
Track View (p age 2–483) .
Animation