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814 Chapter 14: Character Studio
Head group
TheHeadgroupletsyoudefineatargetobjectfor
the target to look at.
Target Blend—Determines the extent to which the
target blends with the head’s existing animation.
A setting of 1.0 causes the head to look directly at
the target, 0.5 causes the head to blend half of its
existing anim ation with looking at the target, and
a setting of 0.0 causes the head to ignore the target,
maintaining its existi ng animation.
Select Look At Tar get—Click to select an object
for the head to look at.
Note: When an object is selected, its name is
displayed next to the button.
Body group
These parameters apply to the biped center
of mass and are used by character studio to
calculate the biped’s airborne trajectory based on
gr av ity (GravAccel) and time between footsteps,
theamountofkneebendonlanding(Ballistic
Ten s i o n ) a nd h ow t h e b i p e d o b j e c t s a d ap t to
maintain balance (Balance Factor).
Balance Factor—Position the biped’s weight
anywhere along a line that extends from the
center of mass to the biped’s head. This center of
mass (Bo dy Horizontal tr ack) parameter can be
keyframed. To activate Balance Factor select the
Horizontal Tr ack (in the Track Selection rollout),
set a key and enter a value in the Balance Factor
field.
For example, to create a
sit then walk sequence, you
could shift the biped’s weight (balance) between 0
(the character is supported by the chair) for the sit
key and 1 for the stand key (the character’s pelvis
shifts to maintain balance).
Ifacharacterisseated,andreachesacrossthetable,
leave Balance Factor at 0; however the character
leans, he w i ll pivot from the center of mass. The
pelvis w ill not move back to maintain ba lance.
In a wa lking motion, a value of 2 will swing the
hipsandkeepthebipedheadsteady;avalueof0
will keep the hips steady and swing the upper body.
ABalanceFactorvalueof0inthefirstimagecausesthe
biped not to compen sate for weight.
A Balance Factor value of 2 in the secon d image ca uses
the biped pelvis to move away from the Center of Mass to
compensate for weight.