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In Place Mode 785
In Place Mode
Create or select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout
> Expand rollout > Modes group > In Place button on In
Place flyout
In Place mode (page 3–1050) allows you to display
biped motion as if it were occurring on a treadmill.
Regardless of the distance the biped covers under
control of the current motion file, the biped stays
within the active viewport when you’ve turned on
In Place Mode.
In Place playback prevents lateral (XY) movement
of the biped center of mass during animation
playback; vertical motion along the Z-axis is
preserved.Bipedlimbs,footsteps,andcenterof
masskeyscanbeadjustedinthismode.When
thecenterofmassismovedontheXYaxesinthis
mode, the footsteps move.
Use this feature to view biped playback without
requiring a follow camera. In this view ing mode,
visible footsteps appear to slide under the biped.
For export to games, this feature is valuable,
as many game engines intelligently move the
character’s center of mass laterally according to
game play. In Place mode makes it easy to view,
tune, and export animation in a manner that is
complementarytogameengineplayback.
Note: Tr ajectories do not display using In Place
mode.
InPlaceModeOptions
The In Place Mode button is the default button on a
three-button flyout. There are two fu rt her options:
•
In Place X Mode—Locks center of mass
X-axis motion. Use this for game export where
the character stays in place but the swinging
motion of the hips and upper body along the
Y-axis is preserved.
• In Place Y Mode—Locks center of mass
Y-axis mot ion. Use this for game expor t where
the character stays in place but the swinging
motion of the hips and upper body along the
X-axis is preserved.
Using I n Pl ace Mode to Adj ust K eyf r ames
InPlaceModeisagoodwaytoadjustkeysona
biped that already has animation applied to it.
Rather than scrolling the view at different frames
tokeeparunningbipedvisible,turnonInPlace
Mode.Nowwhenyouscrubthetimeslider,oruse
the Next Key and Previous Key buttons, the biped
remainsvisible.Akeythatneedsadjustmentcan
be quickly spotted and corrected.
Tip: J udging lateral center-of-mass motion using
InPlacemodeisdifficult.InPlacemodelimits
center-of-mass motion on the XY axes; al l sense
of body momentum on these axes is suspended
duringplayback.YoumightwanttoturnoffIn
Place playback to gain a sense of lateral momentum
when setting or adjusting horizontal keys (Body
Horizontal Track) for the center of mass.
Procedure
To use In Pla ce mode to adju st k eyf rames:
1.
Select a biped that has animation, and
go to the M otion panel.
2. On the Biped rollout, click
the b ar at the bottom to expand the rollout.
(If the rollout is already expanded, the bar
showsaminussignattheleft,insteadofaplus.)
3. In the Modes group, click In Place Mode
to turn it on.
4. At the bottom of the3ds Max window,
turn on Auto Key.