8

Creating Footsteps Manually 721
walking, running, or jumping footstep patterns,
see
Creating Footsteps Automatically (page
2–720)
.
Therearetwowaystocreatefootstepsmanually:
•
You can start creating footsteps at the
current f rame w ith Create Footsteps (at current
frame) in the
Footstep Creation rollout (page
2–841)
. Any footsteps added subsequently will
extend in time from the first footstep. If you
attempttocreateafootstepatthesametimeas
an existing footstep on the same side, an alert
appears and you are not allowed to create the
footstep.
•
Yo u c a n a l s o a p p e n d fo o t s t e p s o nt o
the end of the existing footsteps with Create
Footsteps (append) in the
Footstep Creation
rollout (page 2–841)
. Then Biped computes
the frame at which the first footstep should
be created based on the chosen gait and the
existing footsteps. This option is disabled if
there are no existing footsteps.
As with all footsteps, any footsteps you create
withthesemethodsareinactiveuponcreation.
You must activate them with Create Keys for
Inactive Fo otsteps in order to make the biped
move through them.
Preparing to Create Footsteps Manually
Before placing footsteps, you must choose the gait,
then set parameters for the gait in the
Footstep
Creation rollout (page 2–841)
.
Footstep creation and gait buttons
When you select the Wal k, Run, or Jump gait,
parametersforthatgaitappearontheFootstep
Creation rollout. See
Choosing a Gait (page
2–719)
for information on gaits and parameters.
Switching B etween Left a nd Right
Footsteps
By default, manually placed footsteps alternate
left, right, left, right. The footstep cursor, w hich
appearsduringindividualfootstepcreation,shows
you whether a left or right footstep will be placed
next.
If you want to change the footstep side that w ill
be placed when you next click, press Q to toggle
between them. Pressing Q also changes the cursor,
showingyouwhichfootstepsidewillbeplaced
next.
Automatic T ime Ex tension
During manual footstep creation, your display
remainsatthecurrentframe.However,footsteps
are created sequentially in time. If the footsteps
you create require more frames than are in the
act ive time segment, the footstep creation process
extends the active time segment, which can create
new frames .
Creat ing New Footsteps B et ween
Existing Footsteps
If inactive footsteps exist, you can only create new,
inactive footsteps within or directly before or after
thetimeoftheinactivefootsteps.Ifyouneedto
add more footsteps near a time where there are
only ac tive footsteps, deac tivate all footsteps first,
then add footsteps and activate them again. See
Deactivating Footsteps (page 2–723) .