8

ChoosingaFrameRateandPlaybackSpeed 283
Using the T ime Sl ider
Thetimeslidershowsyouthecurrenttime,and
lets you move to any time in your active time
segment.
To change the cur rent time using the time slider, do
one of the f ollowing:
•Dragthetimeslider.
• Click in the empty track to either side of the
time slider.
• Click the increment arrows at either end of the
time slider.
When you click in the slider track, the time slider
jumps to the time where you clicked. This is
a faster method of moving through time than
draggingthetimeslider.
The time slider displays the current time , followed
by a slash (/), followed by the total time in the
active time seg ment. For example 25/100 means
frame 25 of 100 frames. The current time also
appears in the current time field. If your scene has
been animated, it’s played b ack in all viewports as
you drag the time slider.
Yo u c a n u s e t h e < and > keys on the keyboard to
advance the time slider a f rame at a time. When
Key mode is on, this will advance to the next
keyframe.
Moving to an Ex act T ime
The Current Time field always displays the current
time. You can also enter a t ime value and press
ENTERtomovetothattime.
Using the T ime Contr ol B uttons
You use the Time Control buttons to move forward
and backward in t ime and to play your animation
in one or more viewports. They work like VCR
cont rols that you use to move through frames and
to start and stop animation playback. The Time
Control buttons include f our buttons for moving
through time and a center flyout for controlling
animation playback:
Go To Start (page 3–765)
Previous Frame/Key (page 3–766)
Play/Stop (page 3–766)
Next Frame/Key (page 3–767)
Go To End (page 3–767)
They work like VCR controls that you use to move
through frames and to st art and stop animation
playback.
ChoosingaFrameRateand
Playback Speed
The frame rate of an animation is expressed in
frames per second (FPS). This is the number of
frames the software d isplays and renders for every
second of real t i me.
Because the program stores your animation k eys
using real time using an internal precision of
1/4800 of a second, you can change the frame rate
for your animation at any time without affecting
your animation timing.
For example, if y ou create three seconds of
animation using the NTSC video frame rate of 30
FPS, you will hav e a 90-frame animation. If you
later discover you need to output to PAL video, at
25 frames per second, you can switch to that frame
rate, and your animation is now set to 75 frames of
output. No change in the timing of your animation
has occur red. Only the number of frames that
3dsMaxwilldisplayandrenderhaschanged.
Setting the Frame Rate
Yo u u s e t h e s e t t i n g s i n t h e Time Configuration
dialog (page 3–768)
> Frame Rate group to switch
back and forth between frame rates at any t ime.