8

754 Chapter 14: Character Studio
To rotate all links in the spine, neck , or ta il:
1.
On the Bend Links rollout, turn on Bend
Links Mode.
2. Select and rotate a single spine, neck, or tail
link. The other links in the spine, neck, or tail
rotate to match the single link’s rotation.
3. On the Bend L inks rollout, turn on Twist
Links Mode.
4. Rotate the link in local X. The other links in the
spine, neck, or t ai l twist properly to match t he
single link’s rotation in X.
Tip: You can use Bend Links mode either to pose
thebipedortoanimatethespine,neck,ortail
while in
Keyframe mode (page 3–1054) .
Tip: You can also use the other Tw ist Links tools
in the
Bend Links rollout (page 2–807) to further
control the links’ rotation.
Usi ng Cont rol ler s
character studio now provides the ability to add
3dsMaxcontrollerstothebipedobjecttracks.
This allows you to mix the biped animation with
standard 3ds Max animation techniques.
Why Add Controllers
Addingcontrollerstobipedbodypartsletsyou
make animation previously difficult in character
studio. For example, you can create “stretchy”
cartoon arm or leg animation by adding a Scale
controller to animate the bipeds arms and legs.
You could make a character shaking by using a
Noise con troller for its limb rotations or for a Scale
controller on the spine objects to make a character
breathing. An Audio controller could be used to
synchronize movement with sound
Biped SubAnims
Different controllers can be added together,
blended or sequenced in a list called a Biped
SubAnim.Thesearethesameastheweighted
list controllers in 3ds Max. By animating the
controller weights you can increase or decrease the
effects of the different controllers. You can enable,
disableorcollapsethelistcontrolleranimation
tracks. If you collapse the track, you can then
bring them into the Motion Mixer, Motion Flow,
orLayereditororexportthemtoagameengine.
Note: Biped SubAnims exhibits different behaviors
based on whether you assign a controller or a
constraint as the SubAnim. A SubAnim with
a con troller assigned will layer the controller
animation with the existing biped animation. If
you use a constraint, however, this will
replace the
existing Biped Animation.
Tip: SubAnims are best used when combined
w ith f reeform animation. You can use them with
footstep animations but you may experience
unexpected results. If this happens, simply convert
the footstep animation to freeform before applying
the SubAnims.
Assigning SubAnims
BipedSubAnimscanbeappliedseveraldifferent
ways. You can assi gn controllers to the Biped
SubAnim in the
Assign Controller (page 2–789)
rollout of the Motion panel.
Controllers can also be added in the
Animation
Workbench (page 2–864)
using the Controller
button to display the controller list. Right-click
and choose Assign Cont roller from the r ig ht-click
menu. You can assign controllers to multiple
objectsbyusingtheSubAnimsfilter.