8

Animation Concepts 273
record the beginning and end of each animated
sequence. The values at these key frames 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,
suchasaBendangleoraTaperamount,material
parameters, such as the color or transparency o f
an object, and much more.
Once you have specified your animation
parameters, the renderer takes over the job of
shading and rendering each frame. The result is a
high-quality animation.
The object’s position at 1 and 2 are the keyfra m e d models
at different times. The computer generates the in-between
frames.
Compar i ng Fra mes and Ti me
Traditional animation methods, and early
computer animation programs, are rigidly locked
to the concept of producing animation 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 pre c ise time.
U nfortunately, animation comes in many formats.
Two of the more common formats are film at 24
frames per second (FPS) and
NTSC v ideo (page
3–1074)
at 30 FPS. Also, the need for accurate
time-based animation versus frame-based
animationiscriticalasanimationbecomesmore
common for scientific and legal presentation.
Different animation formats have differing frame rates.
3ds Max is a t ime-based animation program. It
measures time, and stores your animation values,
with an internal precision of 1/4800 of a second.
Yo u c a n c o n f i g u r e t h e p r o g r a m t o d i s p l a y t i m e
in a format best suited for your work, including
traditional f rames format. See
Time Configuration
(page 3–768)
.
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.
Identi fy ing Animat ion Tools
You can locate the basic animation tools in the
following areas of the interface:
Track Vi ewProvides detailed animation editing
capabilities in several floating or dockable
windows. See
Tr ack View (page 2–483)
.