8

732 Chapter 14: Character Studio
and timing. Leg and foot keys are set at each Touch
and Lift frame, and b etween footsteps.
Although the parts of the leg (thigh, calf, foot,
toes) can move and rotate separately, one key
dot appears on the Track Bar and in Track View
for each leg structure unless you have turned on
separate tracks in the
Keyframing Tools rollout
(page 2–816)
.
When the foot is not in a footstep, you can move
or delete keyframes, and animate or reposition
any part of the leg or foot. Simply turn o n Auto
K ey and move or rotate the leg or foot to its new
position.
Ani mati ng Legs and Feet in Foot steps
The leg keys create d at either end of each footstep
are
locked , meaning they cannot be moved or
deleted.Youcan,however,changetheanimation
at these frames, or add new keyframes within the
timespan of the footstep key.
When the foot is in a footstep, you can animate or
reposition the leg and foot to some degree:
• You can rotate the foot around its pivot point
w ithin the footstep.
• You can animate the pivot point with the Select
Pivot option in Key Info rollout > IK bar. See
Animating Pivots (page 2–763) .
• You cannot move a foot out of a footstep. If you
donotwantthefoottobeinthefootstepata
particular fr ame, change the timespan of the
footstepkeysoitdoesnotincludethatframe.
See
Editing Footstep Timing (page 2–727) .
Animating the Upper Body
When you use footsteps to animate the legs and
feet, animating the spine, neck, head, arms, and
other upper body parts is accomplished in the
same way as for f reeform animation. Simply t urn
on Auto Key and start moving and rotating body
parts. See
Animating by Moving Links (page
2–748)
and Animating by Rotating Links (page
2–749)
.
You can also click the Set Key button on
the
Ke y Info rollout (page 2–809) to set keys f or
selectedbodypartsatthecurrentframe. This
option allows you to move body parts as you like,
settingkeysonlywhenyouhavedecidedtodoso.
Wa rn in g: Do not use the 3ds Max Set Key
button to set keys for the biped.
Animation on the center of mass (COM) works
differently, depending on whether the biped is in a
footstep at that particular frame.
• If at least one foot is in a footstep, moving or
rotatingtheCOMwillanimatetheentirebody
along w ith the COM, except a foot that is in a
footstep. A foot in a footstep will stay planted in
the footstep and the leg will b e nd or straighten
as the COM is moved up or down.
• Ifthebipedisairborne(nofootstepsatthat
frame), the COM can be moved horizontally
and can b e rotated, but cannot be moved
vertically. This is because character studio
automatically calculates how high the biped can
go based on the biped’s height and the current
gravity setting. To make the biped jump higher
or lower during airborne periods, see
Freeform
Animation Between Footsteps (page 2–741)
.
Working with E xisting K eys
Because keys are created for the spine, arms, and
tail when footsteps are act ivated, you will want to
take care w hen creating new keyframes. As w ith
3ds Max animation, placing keyfr ames one or two
frames apart creates jerking or popping motions.
To av o i d p l a c i n g key f r a me s o n uppe r b o d y p ar t s
too close together, you can do one of the following: