8

Posing the Biped 707
Chan g in g t h e Bi pe d Stru ct u re
Bipeds don’t have to appear human. You can
change their elements and form to create other
kinds of characters. Although you can change
some initial aspects of the biped’s structure in the
Create panel, you use Figure mode to change all
aspects of the biped’s structure after its creat ion.
Bipeds don’t have to be human ...
or even walk on two legs.
Any number of bipeds can be in Figure mode at
the same time, though you can only work on one
biped at a time. When you select a biped, the
Figure mode button indicates whether or not the
biped is in Figure mode.
In Figure mode you can:
• Specify the number of links in each part of the
biped.
• Definethepositionofthebaseofthefingers,
toes, clavicles, spine, t ail, ponytails, and props
relative to the body.
• Define the position of the feet relative to the
ankles.
• Definethedefaultposeofthebipedbefore
animation is applied to it, for example define
a h unchback.
• Scale the biped and its various parts.
• Simultaneously scale and position biped parts
using
Rubber Band mode (page 3–1097) .See
Rubber-Banding Arms and Legs (page 2–710) .
• Create natural links for Physique using Triangle
Pelvis.
• Use forearm links to transfer twist ing animation
to the biped’s associated mesh.
For more information on adjusting the biped’s
proportions see
Posing the Biped (page 2–706) .
Wor k ing with B oth Ar ms or Legs
Asyouposeyourbiped,therearetwodifferent
methods for posing b oth arms or legs symet rically.
The first method involves using Symmetr ical
on the
Tr ack Selection rollout (page 2–800) to
select both limbs simultaneously. With both l imbs
selected, you can rotate and scale the objects, and
they wil l maintain a mirror-image relationship.
You can also move the limbs, however they wil l
not retain a symmetrical pose (w ith respect to the
body) if you move them laterally.
The second metho d involves posing only one
side of the biped, then copying the po sture to the
corresponding limbs on the other side.
Note: You can scale biped limbs only in Figure
mode (page 2–835)
.