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712 Chapter 14: Character Studio
These controls allow you to quickly turn on and off
the biped bones, objects and footsteps, twist links
andlegstates,aswellasfootstepnumbersand
trajectories. There is also a Display Preferences
dialog accessed from here that lets you cont rol
which bipeds are visible during Biped Playback.
Note: The Display group is hidden by defau lt. To
display the group, click t he expansion bar on the
Biped rollout.
Procedure
To change biped di splay :
1.
Go to the Motion panel.
2. On the Biped rollout > Display group, click a
button corresponding to the display choices
you want.
Note: The Display group is hidden by default.
To display the group, click the expansion bar
on the Biped rollout.
Deleting a Biped
You can quickly and easily delete an entire biped
from a scene.
Procedure
To delete a biped:
1.
Use any selec tion tool to select the entire biped
or any part of the biped.
2. Press DEL or DELETE on your keyboard.
Linki ng Cha r acter B ody Parts to
the B iped
WiththePhysiquecomponent,youcanuseBiped
to animate a deformable skin, usually a mesh
object. However , some animations don’t require
deformation. For example, a knight clad entirely
in rigid metal armor doesn’t need to deform as
skin does. Also, figures seen from a distance don’t
require the same degree of realism as figures seen
close up.
Jointed character linked with biped skeleton
Characters available commercially often come
in two varieties: jointless and jointed. Jointless
characters have a seamless mesh at limb joints.
Jointless characters should be attached to the biped
using Physique. A jointed character has separate
objects with ball joint geometry for the limbs, and
lendsitselftothelinkingtechniquedescribedin
this topic.
Linking objects and other geometry to the biped
canalsobeusedincasessuchasthefollowing:
• Link a weapon or a flower to the biped hand.
• Link eyeballs or teeth to the biped head.