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Creating a Biped 703
Creati ng a B iped
A biped model is a two-legged figure: human
or animal or imaginary. Each biped is an
armature designed for animation, created as a
linked hierarchy. The biped skeleton has special
propert ies that make it insta ntly ready to animate.
Like humans, bipeds are especially designed to
walk upright, although you can use bipeds to create
multi-legged creatures. The joints of the biped
skeleton are limited to match those of the human
body. The biped skeleton is also specially designed
to animate with character studio footsteps, w hich
help solve the common animation problem of
locking the feet to the ground.
The parent object of the biped hierarchy is the
biped’scenterofmassobject,whichisnamed
Bip01 by default.
Cr e at ing a Bi p e d
A button for creating a Biped appears in the
Create panel under Systems. You create a biped
by clicking this button and then dragg ing in the
active viewport. You interactively define the height
ofthebipedasyoumovethecursor.
During biped creation, you can change any of the
defaultsettingsthatareusedtodefineitsbasic
str ucture. The default settings, for Arms, Neck
Links, Spine Links, and s o on, are for a human
figure.
If you turn on Most Recent .fig File, the biped you
make will use the parameters stored in the last FIG
(figure) file you’ve loaded.
Changing B iped Parameters
Like other 3ds Max objects, you can change biped
parametersontheCreatepanelatcreationtime.
However, to modify or animate a biped, you
use par ameters on the Motion panel. For more
information on changing biped parameters, see
Structure Rollout (page 2–837) .
Creating a B iped Using AutoGrid
The AutoGrid feature lets you create objects on
the surface of other objects, rather than on the
home grid. AutoGrid automatically creates a grid
for construction. When you turn AutoGrid on, a
tr ipod cursor is displayed in the viewport. As you
move your mouse over the geometry in the scene,
the tripod cursor rotates to match the orientation
of the face it’s touching. A grid is created at that
spotandisusedtocreatethebiped.
By turning on AutoGrid in the Create Panel >
Object Type rollout, biped creation will respect
the AutoGrid, letting you build bipeds with their
feet on top of geometry.