8
774 Chapter 14: Character Studio
Loa ding, S av ing, a nd
Displaying Biped Motion
Working with B iped Motion Files
character studio uses a variety of file formats to
save, load, and edit motion.
•BIPfile(.
bip)
The native character studio file format for
saving biped motion. A BIP file saves
all
information about biped motion: footsteps,
keyfr ame settings including limb rotation,
the scale of the biped, the active gravity
(GravAccel) value, and prop animation. IK
Blend values for the keys and Object Space
settings are also saved.
See
Loading and Sav ing BIP Animation (page
2–774)
.
•BVHfile(.
bvh)
The BioVision motion capture format.
Typically, BVH files are obtained f rom motion
capturehardwarethatrecordsthemovements
of a human performer. Data saved in a BVH file
includes both skeletal data, and information
about limb and joint rotations.
Note: FortheBVHfilespecification,seethe
BVH.rtf
document on the program disc.
•CSMfile(.
csm)
The Character Studio Marker format. This is an
alternative format for recording motion capture
data. It stores positional data for various
markers on a biped figure.
See
Motion Capture Rollout (page 2–916)
.
Note: For the CSM file specification, see the
CSM.rtf
document on the progra m disc.
•MIXfile(.
mix)
A MIX file con tains data from the Motion
Mixer, such as trackgroups, t r acks, and
transitions.
See
Working with the Motion Mixer (page
2–581)
.
•MFEfile(.
mfe)
The Motion Flow Editor format saves scripts
you create in the Motion Flow Editor, including
clip references and transitions.
See
Motion Flow Mode (page 2–894)
.
•MNMfile(.
mnm)
TheMarkerNameFileformatmatchescustom
marker names in a CSM or BVH file with the
standard, preset marker names used by a biped.
Note: For BVH and CSM file specifications, see
the
BVH.rtf
and
CSM.rtf
documents on t he
program disc.
•STPfile(.
stp)
TheStepfileformatsavesfootstepdata.Unlike
a BIP file, it does not save keys for the feet or
upperbody.STPfilesareASCIIfiles.Themain
purpose for this format is to enable developers
to write programs that generate step files.
Bipedcanlaterbeusedtocreatekeysforthe
software-generated footsteps.
See
Loading and Saving STP Files (page 2–779)
.
Loadi ng a nd S av ing B I P Ani mati on
Biped motion (BIP) files have a .
bip
file name
extension. They save all information about biped
motion: footsteps, keyframe settings including
limb rotation, the scale of the biped, and the active
gravity (GravAccel) value. IK Blend values for the
keys and Object Space settings are also saved.
IK objects, pro ps and other objects in the scene
can also be saved with the
.bip
file.