8

286 Chapter 12: Animation
include high-level Transform controllers, such
as
PRS (page 2–341) ,the Euler XYZ Rotation
controller (page 2–312)
,the Transfor m Script
controller (page 2–364)
,andthe List controller
(page 2–326)
.
A compound controller appears in the Hierarchy
list as a controller icon with subordinate-level
branches of other controllers.
Controllers and Constrain ts
In addition to controllers, the software can animate
using constraints. These items are located in the
Anim ation > Constraints menu. The constraints
include the following: Attachment, Surface, Path,
Link, Position, Orientation, and LookAt.
When you assign a controller in the Motion panel
or in Tr ack View, you will see these constraints
appearing in the list of available con trollers. You
can assign them the same as the other controllers,
but they are also assignable from the Animation >
Constraints submenu. For more information, see
Animation Constraints (page 2–375) .
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 t he list
controller . This is different than controllers that
are applied via the Motion panel.
V iewing Controller Types
You can view the controller type assigned to a
parameter in both the Curve Editor and in the
Motion panel. Before you can view the controller
types in Track View, you must do the following:
1.
On the Curve Editor toolbar, click the
Filters icon. Then in the Filters dialog > Show
group, turn on Controller Types.
You can then see the name of the Controller
type in the Hierarchy view.
2.
Assign controllers to parameters. You can
do this on the Assign Controller rollout of the
Motion panel, or through the right-click menu
in the Hierarchy list in Track View.
The Parameters mode of the Motion panel a lways
displays the transform controller types for the
selected object.
R eading Contr oll er Ty pes
You can tell a lot about how a par ameter is
animated by looking at the controller type.
Pa ramete r Na me : Is always visible and is always
to the right of the controller icon. It tells you what
is animated.
Inter polation Ty pe: Usually follows the parameter
name. It tells how animation values are calculated.
The label Diffuse: Bezier Color indicates a Diff use
color parameter using Bezier interpolation with
Color data.
Data Ty pe: Usually follows the interpolation type.
Ittellswhattypeofdataisused.ThelabelHeight:
Linear Float indicates a Height parameter using
Linear interpolation with a floating point value.
Changing Controller Properties
Some controllers, such as procedural ones, do not
create keyf rames. For these type of controllers, you
can analyze and change your animation by editing
controller properties. These controllers display a
properties dialog where you can change animation
values. Whether or not a controller displays a
properties dialog, and the type of information
displayed, depends on the controller type.
Using Curve Editor you can view controller
properties dialogs for mu ltiple tracks
simultaneously. The follow ing r ules gover n
viewingmultiplecontrollerpropertiesdialogs: