User’s Reference Volume II AUTODESK 3DS MAX 9 ® ®
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toc Contents 10 Precision and Drawing Aids ........................ 1 Precision and Drawing Aids........................................ 1 Tools for Precision ....................................................... 1 Helpers ........................................................................ 2 Using Units .................................................................. 2 Using Grids.................................................................. 4 Using the Home Grid ..............................
iv Contents Path Follow Space Warp ............................................ 71 Gravity Space Warp................................................... 73 Wind Space Warp...................................................... 75 Displace Space Warp ................................................. 76 Deflectors ................................................................ 78 POmniFlect Space Warp ........................................... 78 PDynaFlect Space Warp......................................
Contents Non-Event-Driven Particle Systems ....................... 237 Using Particle Systems ......................................... 238 Particle System Usage .............................................. 238 Creating a Particle Emitter ...................................... 239 Using Materials with Particle Array ........................ 239 Achieving Particle Motion Blur .............................. 240 Using Mapped Materials with Particle Systems ......
vi Contents Transform Script Controller.................................... 379 Waveform Controller .............................................. 381 XRef Controller ....................................................... 383 IK Methods ............................................................ 439 Controller Subdialogs .......................................... 386 IK Solvers................................................................. 440 Audio Controller Dialog ..............................
Contents Object Parameters Rollout (HD Solver) ................ 491 Position/Orientation/Bind to Follow Object (HD Solver) .......................................................... 492 Precedence (HD Solver).......................................... 494 Copying, Pasting, and Mirroring Joint Parameters (HD Solver) ....................................... 495 Sliding and Rotational Joints Rollouts (HD Solver)...................................................................
viii Contents Select Time .............................................................. 566 Delete Time ............................................................. 567 Cut Time ................................................................. 567 Copy Time .............................................................. 568 Paste Time ............................................................... 568 Reverse Time .......................................................... 569 Insert Time ................
Contents Requirements for Camera Tracking........................ 669 Camera Tracker: Movie Rollout.............................. 670 Camera Tracker: Movie Window............................ 671 Camera Tracker: Motion Trackers Rollout ............. 673 Camera Tracker: Movie Stepper Rollout ................ 676 Camera Tracker: Error Thresholds Rollout ............ 677 Camera Tracker: Batch Track Rollout..................... 678 Camera Tracker: Position Data Rollout..................
x Contents 14 character studio ....................................... 831 character studio....................................................... 831 What is character studio? ........................................ 831 What You Should Know to Use character studio.... 832 Understanding Biped .............................................. 833 Understanding Physique ......................................... 834 Understanding Track Editing.................................. 836 Understanding the Workbench..
Contents Motion Panel (Biped).............................................. 933 Center of Mass......................................................... 933 Motion Panel Rollouts (Biped)............................. 934 Assign Controller Rollout (character studio) ......... 934 Biped Apps Rollout ................................................. 935 Biped Rollout ........................................................ 936 Biped Rollout...........................................................
xii Contents Working with Both Deformable and Rigid Envelopes .............................................................1091 Adjusting Link Parameters.....................................1091 Partial Blending and Weight Assignments.............1092 Bulges .................................................................. 1093 Bulges......................................................................1093 Creating Bulges.......................................................1094 Setting Bulge Angles..
Contents Space Warp Behavior .............................................1221 Speed Vary Behavior ..............................................1222 Surface Arrive Behavior .........................................1223 Surface Follow Behavior.........................................1226 Wall Repel Behavior ...............................................1227 Wall Seek Behavior .................................................1229 Wander Behavior....................................................
xiv Contents mental ray Light Shader Rollout ............................1345 Additional Rollouts for Standard Lights ........... 1345 Intensity/Color/Attenuation Parameters ...............1345 Directional Parameters ..........................................1348 Atmospheres and Effects for Lights .......................1349 Add Atmosphere or Effect Dialog..........................1351 Hair Light Attr(ibutes) Rollout ..............................1351 Additional Rollouts for Photometric Lights .....
Contents Go Forward to Sibling ...........................................1447 Material/Map Navigator ........................................1447 Pick Material From Object (Eyedropper) .............1448 Name Field (Materials and Maps)..........................1448 Type Button (Materials and Maps) ........................1449 Opacity ...................................................................1488 Diffuse Level ...........................................................1489 Roughness ..............
xvi Contents Cutout Mapping .....................................................1542 mental ray Materials .......................................... 1543 mental ray Materials...............................................1543 mental ray Material ............................................ 1544 mental ray Material ................................................1544 Material Shaders Rollout (mental ray Material) ....1544 Advanced Shaders Rollout (mental ray Material) ...................................
Contents Custom Shaders for 3ds Max .................................1711 mental images Shader Libraries .............................1712 Shaders in the LumeTools Collection ....................1713 Connect Parameter to Shader Dialog (mental ray).......................................................................1713 3ds Max Custom Shaders ................................... 1714 3D Displacement Shader (mental ray)...................1714 Bump Shader (mental ray) .....................................
xviii Contents
Precision and Drawing Aids 3ds Max provides tools that give you control over the positioning and alignment of objects in 3D space. With these tools, you can do the following: Using Grid Objects (page 2–5) • Choose display units from the most common real-world measuring systems or define your own. Aligning Normals (page 2–10) • Use the home grid as a construction plane, or use grid objects to position custom construction planes.
2 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids planes. The software constructs objects using the orientation and position of the active grid. While the home grid is fixed in world space, you can rotate grid objects and place them anywhere in a scene, and align them to other objects and surfaces. You can also give each grid object its own spacing, and display any grid as a dedicated viewport. • Set or vary snap settings as needed in your work.
Using Units the physical world. You define the units you want to use from the Units Setup dialog (page 3–848). • You can specify units in a different system, and they are converted on the fly. For example, if you enter 18/3cm, the result is 0’2.362". Changing Display Units When you change display units, 3ds Max displays measurements in the new unit for your convenience. All dimensions are displayed in the new unit. Essentially, you’re using a new "measuring stick." No object is changed in this process.
4 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Using Grids • You can use any view of the home grid as a construction plane by drawing in the viewport in which the grid’s view appears. See Viewing and Navigating 3D Space (page 1–21) for a complete introduction to the home grid. Grid objects—A grid object is a helper object you can create whenever you need a local reference grid or construction plane somewhere other than the home grid.
Using Grid Objects For example, if you use a grid spacing of one centimeter, you might use a value of 10 so the major grid divisions represent one decimeter. Setting Color and Intensity To improve grid visibility, you can change the intensity or color of the home grid. Choose Customize menu > Customize User Interface > Colors panel (page 3–799).
6 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids To activate a grid object: Setting the Display Plane 1. Create a grid object. 2. Choose Views > Grids > Activate Grid Object. You can adjust the visible plane of a selected or activated grid object on the Modify panel. To deactivate a grid object, do one of the following: To set the display plane: • Select and activate another grid object. 1. Open the Modify panel to display the • Choose Views > Grids > Activate Home Grid. • Delete the grid object.
AutoGrid • Choose Views > Grids > Activate Home Grid. • Delete the grid object. When you deactivate a grid object, any viewports based on that grid switch to the corresponding orthographic view. For example, a Grid (Front) viewport becomes a Front viewport. A Grid (Display Planes) viewport always switches to Top view, regardless of the currently displayed plane.
8 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids 2. On the Create panel > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout, click Box. 3. Turn on AutoGrid. 4. Move your cursor over the object to which you want to orient the box you are about to create. The cursor includes an X,Y,Z tripod to help you orient the position of the new object. As you move over the object, the cursor aligns the Z axis to the surface normal. 5.
Aligning Objects Reference Coordinate System—Determines the axes used for positional alignment and the size of the bounding box for maximum and minimum positions. To align objects using active grid axes: • Choose Grid as the reference coordinate system from the list on the toolbar. To align two objects using their own axes: • Choose Local as the reference coordinate system. Alignment is then strictly between the two objects. Object bounding boxes determine maximum and minimum positions.
10 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Aligning Multiple Objects Aligning multiple objects to the arrow object (each photo is adjusted in a different correction) When you select multiple objects for alignment, the same settings apply to all of them. However, the effect on each source object can be different. In practice, you’re aligning separate objects at the same time with the same settings. To align a collection of objects as a single unit, select the objects and group (page 1–96) them.
Setting Standard Snaps Align to View—Orients a local axis of an object or sub-object selection with the current viewport. Options on the dialog are interactive, as they are on the Normal Align dialog. See Align to View (page 1–468). Place Highlight—Orients a face normal to a light. See Place Highlight (page 1–467) and Lighting in 3ds Max (page 2–1279). Setting Standard Snaps session to session without your having to modify the maxstart.max file.
12 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Snap Override Snap Override bypasses currently selected snaps. You use a keyboard-mouse combination or a keyboard shortcut to define a new snap for the next click. You can override on the fly, one snap at a time. dialog or choose Customize menu > Grid And Snap Settings, then click the Options tab. For example, while creating a spline between grid points, you might need to snap to a vertex or midpoint of an object. This is the general procedure: 1.
Measuring Distances Angle (deg)—A global setting, in degrees, that determines the angle of rotation for a number of features in the program, including the standard Rotate transform. As you rotate an object (or group of objects), the object moves around a given axis in the increment you set. Angle snap also affects the following: • Pan/Orbit camera controls • FOV and Roll camera settings • Hotspot and Falloff light angles For more information, see Angle Snap (page 2–37).
14 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids locking a tape measure to a set length. You can position the tape object and snap to its ends. 4. On the Create panel, click the Helpers button, then click Tape. Move the cursor over the first measurement point until the snap cursor appears, then click and drag to the other measurement point. 5. Read the length of the tape on the Parameters rollout. Protractor The pyramid icon is the tape helper object; the cube is the helper object’s target.
Measure Distance Tool radius of the compass rose. Like all helper objects, this object is for reference only and does not render. Measure Utility The Measure Utility (page 2–52) provides measurements of a selected object or shape. Measure Distance Tool Tools menu > Measure Distance The Measure Distance tool lets you quickly calculate the distance between two points, using just two clicks. The calculated distance is displayed in display units (page 3–848) in the status bar.
16 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Cone Angle Manipulator (page 2–27) Dummy Helper (page 2–16) Plane Angle Manipulator (page 2–29) Crowd Helper (page 2–1187) Slider Manipulator (page 2–31) Delegate Helper These features have manipulators built in, which you can use to change parameters on these objects: Expose Transform Helper (page 2–17) IK Solver Properties Rollout (HI Solver) (page 2–456) Reaction Controllers (page 2–358) Target Spotlight (page 2–1289) Target Direct Light (page 2–1292)
Expose Transform Helper of different objects to it. When you rotate the dummy, all of its linked children rotate with it. A dummy is often used this way to animate linked motion. Another common usage of a dummy object is in the animation of target cameras. You can create a dummy and position a target camera within the dummy object. Then you can link both the camera and its target to the dummy, and animate the dummy with a path constraint. The target camera will follow the dummy along the path.
18 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids A sample result of this is “$ExposeTransform01.localPositionX”. 3ds Max interprets this as the local position, on the X axis, of the Expose Node object. angle. Click the button, and then select the object. Available only when Parent is off. By default, this is the parent object, but you can turn off Parent and then specify a different object.
Expose Transform Helper Display rollout Exposed Values rollout Lets you specify how the helper object appears in the viewports. By default, the display type is set to Cross only, and Size is set to 20.0. You can activate multiple display settings if you like. Center Marker—Displays a small X marker at the center of the helper object. Axis Tripod—Displays a tripod axis indicating the position and orientation of the helper object. Cross—Displays an axis-aligned cross.
20 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids button to copy the MAXScript associated with the value to the clipboard, which you can then paste into a script. Display Exposed Values—When on, transform values for the Expose Node object appear on this rollout, and update as the values change. When off, values don’t appear, but the M buttons still function normally. Local Euler Angles—Rotation values with respect to the parent or Local Reference Node object.
Grid Helper These are available by a cascading Grid menu that provides Left, Right, Front, Back, Top, Bottom, and Display Planes. Each of the orthographic directions is local to the grid object, regardless of its orientation in the scene. When you choose a specific orthographic grid viewport (as opposed to the Display Planes viewport), the construction of objects in that viewport is on the plane specified in the viewport title regardless of the displayed plane of the grid object.
22 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Only one grid can be active for construction at a time, whether it’s the home grid or a grid object. Activating a user grid "deactivates" the home grid. Activating a grid object enables options to reactivate the home grid on the Views menu > Grids submenu and the Quad menu. If you have more than one grid object in your scene, you have to activate each one separately. Select the grid object you want to make active and follow the same procedure.
Point Helper Interface Active Color group Determines the color used to draw the grid in viewports when it’s not selected. Gray—The active grid object is two shades of gray. Object Color—The main grid lines use the assigned object color, while the secondary lines use a lighter intensity. Home Color—The grid object uses the home grid color assigned via the Customize User Interface dialog (page 3–792).
24 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids 4. Move the cursor to where you want the point object and release the mouse button. The point object appears using the display setting you chose. You can move and rotate the point as needed using standard transformation methods. Interface Center Marker—Displays a small X marker at the center of the point object. Axis Tripod—Displays a tripod axis indicating the position and orientation of the point object.
Tape Helper Selection You can select a tape-measure object from either end, or from the middle. When you click the connecting line, both ends of the tape object become selected so you can move them as one. Note that the same is true of target cameras and lights. Note: Line selection is available only when clicking with the mouse. Region selection doesn’t work for this.
26 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids World Space Angles group To X/Y/Z Axis—Displays the angle of the tape object relative to each axis in world space. To XY/YZ/ZX Plane—Displays the angle of the tape object relative to each of these home planes. Protractor Helper Create panel > Helpers > Standard > Object Type rollout > Protractor Create menu > Helpers > Protractor Protractor measures the angle between a point and any two objects in your scene.
Compass Helper Compass Helper Create panel > Helpers > Standard > Object Type rollout > Compass Create menu > Helpers > Compass Compass displays as a non-rendering compass rose, with indicators for North, South, East, and West. A compass is part of a Daylight or Sunlight system (page 1–418); you create a compass automatically when you create sunlight. In a Sunlight system, the orientation of the compass indicates the orientation of the scene, relative to the path of the sun (the ecliptic).
28 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids 3. Drag the base of the cone angle manipulator’s cone. The Angle value changes as you drag the manipulator. This value can range between 0.0 and 360.0. To select a cone angle manipulator: Cone angle manipulator 1. Cone angle manipulators are used by a spotlight’s Hotspot and Falloff controls. Turn on Select Object. You can also use Select And Move, Select And Rotate, and the scale options on a cone angle manipulator.
Plane Angle Manipulator 5. In the pop-up menu, choose Object, then the name of the parameter you want to manipulate. The Parameter Wiring dialog (page 2–412) appears. 6. In the Parameter Wiring dialog, make sure the direction goes from the manipulator to the object (or both directions), and then click Connect. 7. Close the Parameter Wiring dialog. Now when you turn on Select And Manipulate and use the manipulator, the object updates under the manipulator’s control.
30 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Procedures To create a plane angle manipulator: 1. In the Create panel, go to Helpers and choose Manipulators from the drop-down list. 2. If you don’t turn off Select And Manipulate, you adjust the manipulator’s Angle value without affecting its properties. 3. Adjust the properties of the selected manipulator. 2. Click to turn on Plane Angle. 3. Drag in a viewport, and then release the mouse.
Slider Manipulator Interface Angle—The angle of the manipulator, from 0.0 to 360.0 (both values are perpendicular in the Y axis of the viewport where you created the manipulator, unless you have rotated the manipulator object). Default=0.0. Using a Slider Manipulator Slider manipulator components: 1. Label 2. Value Distance—The length of the manipulator, in 3. Move 3ds Max units. Default=the distance of mouse drag when the manipulator was created. 4.
32 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Procedures The square turns red when the mouse is over it and it is able to be dragged. To create a slider manipulator: 3. Drag the box to move the slider. 1. In the Create panel, go to Helpers and choose Manipulators from the drop-down list. 2. Click to turn on Slider. Unlike angle manipulators, transforms have no effect on sliders. To connect a slider manipulator so it controls another object: 3. Click a viewport.
Grid Commands Interface Snap Value—The increment used by the slider when Snap is on. Default=0.01. Hide—When on, hides all of the slider except for the label and the move and show/hide components. Default=off. Grid Commands Views menu > Grids The Grids submenu provides functions to manipulate the home grid (page 3–952) and grid objects (page 3–951). Label—The slider name that appears in viewports. Default=none. Value—The value of the slider, based on the position of the slidable triangle. Default=0.0.
34 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Show Home Grid (page 2–34) Activate Home Grid (page 2–34) Activate Grid Object (page 2–34) Align Grid to View (page 2–35) Show Home Grid Activate Home Grid Activate a grid other than the Home grid. > Views menu > Grids > Activate Home Grid This command activates the home grid (page 3–952) as the construction grid, and deactivates the active grid object (page 3–951). Views menu > Grid > Show Home Grid Procedure Right-click a viewport label.
Align Grid to View Align Grid to View Angle Snap Toggle (page 2–37) Activate a grid object. > Views menu > Grids > Align Grid to View Percent Snap Toggle (page 2–38) This command aligns a grid object (page 3–951) with the current view. The grid object is aligned so that it’s coplanar with the view and oriented with the top of the grid at the top of the view.
36 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Transforming Around Snap Points To use snaps to move a relative distance: When snapping is on and Auto Key (page 3–717) is off, rotations and scales occur about the snap point. For example, if you’re using Vertex snapping and you’re rotating a box, you can rotate it about any of its corner vertices. See To use snaps to move an absolute distance: (page 2–36) below. 1.
Angle Snap Toggle 2D Snap—The cursor snaps only to the active construction grid, including any geometry on the plane of that grid. The Z axis, or vertical dimension, is ignored. 2.5D Snap—The cursor snaps only to the vertices or edges of the projection of an object onto the active grid. Suppose you create a grid object (page 3–951) and make it active. You then position the grid object so you can see through the grid to a cube further off in 3D space. Now with 2.
38 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids 3. Turn on Use Snap. Percent Snap Toggle Main toolbar > Percent Snap Toggle Keyboard > Ctrl+Shift+P Percent Snap Toggle increments scaling of objects by the specified percentage. Interface The snap percent increment is set in the Grid And Snap Settings dialog. The default is 10 percent. Right-click the Percent Snap Toggle button to display the Grid and Snap Settings dialog (page 2–41).
Polar Snapping Mode Note: If you hold down the Alt key in Ortho mode, the next point becomes doubly constrained by both the previous point and the first point of the current object. This allows you to close splines precisely. In this mode, two compasses are displayed; one each at the first and previous points. 3. Move the mouse cursor around in the viewport. The line jumps to 90-degree angle increments on the local X axis, while the compass reading updates to show the current angle. 4.
40 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids • Polar applies primarily to the creation of line splines and wall objects. It can be used while creating other objects, but results are likely to be unsatisfactory. Polar mode displays a compass that provides a readout of the current angle of the input relative to the positive direction of the local X axis. Note: If you hold down Alt in Polar mode, the next point becomes doubly constrained by both the previous point and the first point of the current object.
Grid and Snap Settings Grid and Snap Settings Snap Settings Customize menu > Grid and Snap Settings Customize menu > Grid And Snap Settings > Grid And Snap Settings dialog > Snaps tab Right-click any snap button Main toolbar > Right-click a snap button This command displays the Grid and Snap Settings dialog. This modeless dialog establishes settings and options for snaps, the home grid (page 3–952), and user-defined grids.
42 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids home grid or grid objects, since grids don’t have a Z axis. Procedures Settings are stored in the 3dsmax.ini (page 1–18) file. The state of the snap settings persists from session to session. 1. Turn on the 3D Snap Toggle button to activate Snaps and Axis Constraints Snaps take precedence over axis constraints. If you highlight an axis constraint, such as Restrict to X, you can move the object only in X.
Snap Settings • Hold Shift and right-click in the viewport, and then choose Options > Transform Constraints from the Snap quadrant. Override—This label changes to display the temporary snap type used by the Override system. For more information, see Snap Override (page 2–45). Example: To use 3D snaps and rotation transformations together: Clear All—Turns off all of the Snaps check boxes. 1. Create a box. Note: The layout of the Grid And Snap Settings 2. Select the box and choose Lock Selection. 3.
44 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Bounding Box—Snaps to one of the eight corners of an object’s bounding box. Perpendicular—Snaps to the perpendicular point on a spline, relative to the previous point. Tangent—Snaps to a tangent point on a spline, relative to the previous point. Vertex—Snaps to vertices of mesh objects or objects that can be converted to editable meshes. Snaps to segments on splines. Keyboard shortcut= Alt+F7 .
Snap Override Surf Normal—Snaps to a point on a NURBS surface normal to previous point. This snap operates only while you are creating a new object. Surf Edge—Snaps to the edge of a NURBS surface. The Grid And Snap Settings dialog > "Override OFF" label changes to display the first available override snap type, chosen from the active snap types. If the Snaps toolbar is open, and the override snap type is available on the toolbar, the override snap type is visible there as well. 4. Press Alt+S repeatedly.
46 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Interface In addition to the available snap types, the snap quad menu contains these items: Snap Options Customize menu > Grid and Snap Settings > Grid and Snap Settings dialog > Options panel Snap Options quadrant—Lets you set the following options: • Grid and Snap Settings: Toggles display of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog. • Snaps To Frozen Objects: Turn this on to enable snapping to frozen objects. Default=off.
Snap Options 11. Continue moving the cursor toward the grid 3. On the main toolbar, click the Snaps Toggle button to turn on snapping, and then right-click the button to open the Grid And Snap Settings dialog to the Snaps panel. The default Snaps setting is Grid Points only; if this is not the case, make it so. A grid point is the intersection of two grid lines. 4. On the dialog, click the Options tab. In the General group, Snap Preview Radius is set to 30 pixels and Snap Radius is set to 20 pixels.
48 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids context. If, instead, you then continue to move the cursor toward the potential snap point so that it comes within a distance equal to or less than the Snap Radius value, the snap takes place. Tip: For best results, keep the Snap Preview Radius value 10 pixels or more higher than the Snap Radius value. This lets you preview any snap before it actually occurs.
Home Grid Settings Angle—Sets the increment at which objects are rotated about a given axis (degrees). Percent—Sets the percentage increment for scale transforms. Snap to Frozen Objects—When on, snapping to frozen objects is enabled. Default=off. This option is also available from the Snaps shortcut menu, accessed when you hold Shift and right-click in any viewport, as well as from the Snaps toolbar (page 2–42). Keyboard shortcut= Alt+F2 .
50 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids For example, if you use a grid spacing of one centimeter, you might use a value of 10 so the major grid divisions represent one decimeter. In perspective viewports, you can set a fixed size for the displayed home grid. If Inhibit Perspective View Grid Resize is turned off however, the grid size adjusts as you zoom in or out. To set view update options: 1. From the menu bar, choose Customize menu > Grid And Snap Settings. 2. Click the Home Grid tab. 3.
User Grids Settings Inhibit Grid Subdivision Below Grid Spacing—Causes 3ds Max to treat the grid as a fixed set of lines when you zoom in on the home grid. In effect, the grid stops at the grid space setting. If you keep zooming, the fixed grid is lost from view. Zooming out is not affected. When you zoom out, the home grid expands indefinitely to maintain the major grid divisions. Default=on. Interface Note: The layout of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog is generated at runtime.
52 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Interface Drawing Aid Utilities The utilities listed here are additional aids to drawing and precision. The Measure utility returns the measurements of a selected shape or 3D object. The Rescale World Units utility rescales either a selection or an entire scene. Use the Utilities panel (page 3–778) to open a drawing aid utility and make it active.
Rescale World Units Utility Center Of Mass—Displays the world coordinates of the location of the center of mass for the object or the center of mass of the selected objects. Create Center Point—Creates a point helper object at the center of mass. Shapes group Displays information about shape objects. Length—Displays the sum of the length of all splines in all selected shapes. Dimensions group Displays the dimensions of the object, as they appear in world space.
54 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids Affect— • Scene—Applies the scale to the entire scene. • Selection—Applies the scale only to the current selection. OK—Applies the scale. Cancel—Cancels the operation.
Space Warps and Particle Systems Space warps and particle systems are additional modeling tools. Space warps are “force fields” that deform other objects, creating the effect of ripples, waves, blowing wind, and so on. Particle systems generate particle sub-objects for the purpose of simulating snow, rain, dust, and so on. (You use particle systems primarily in animations.) rather than object space, as geometric modifiers do.
56 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems When you bind multiple objects to a space warp, the space warp’s parameters affect all the objects equally. However, each object’s distance from the space warp or spatial orientation to the warp can change the warp’s effect. Because of this spatial effect, simply moving an object through warped space can change the warp’s effect. You can also use multiple space warps on one or more objects.
Space Warp Objects If particles are moving fast and the deflector is in a particular position (for example, it might be too close to the emitter) many particles can leak through defectors. Sometimes you can fix this leakage by changing the particle system’s Subframe Sampling setting or the particle speed. Other times you must reposition the deflector farther away from the emitter.
58 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Displace Space Warp (page 2–76) Conform Space Warp (page 2–103) Bomb Space Warp (page 2–105) Modifier-Based These are space-warp versions of object modifiers (see Modify Panel (page 3–758)). Read more about these in Modifier-Based Space Warps (page 2–107). Bend Modifier (page 1–560) Bind to Space Warp Main toolbar > Bind to Space Warp Use the Bind to Space Warp button to attach the current selection to a space warp (page 3–1014) or vice versa.
Push Space Warp Forces Push Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Forces > Object Type rollout > Push Create menu > Space Warps > Forces > Push Push viewport icon Procedure To create a Push space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Forces from the list, and then on the Object Type rollout, click Push. 2. Drag in a viewport to define the size. The Push warp appears as a hydraulic jack icon.
60 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface Strength Control group Basic Force—The amount of force exerted by the space warp. Newtons/Pounds—This option specifies the units of force used by the Basic Force spinner. A pound is about 4.5 Newtons, and one newton is one kilogram-per-second-squared. When Push is applied to particle systems, these values have only subjective meaning because they depend on the built-in weighting factors and time scaling used by the particle system.
Motor Space Warp Enable—Turns on the variations. Period 1—The time over which the noise variation makes a full cycle. For example, a setting of 20 means one cycle per 20 frames. Amplitude 1—The strength of the variation (in Motor Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Forces > Object Type rollout > Motor Create menu > Space Warps > Forces > Motor percent). This option uses the same types of units as the Basic Force spinner. Phase 1—Offsets the variation pattern.
62 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Procedure To create a motor space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps > Forces > Motor. Choose Forces from the list, then on the Object Type rollout, click Motor. 2. Click and drag in a viewport to define the size. The Motor warp appears as a box-shaped icon with an arrow indicating the direction of the torque. Interface measurements of torque.
Vortex Space Warp Periodic Variation group Particle Effect Range group Lets you restrict the Motor effect’s range to a specific spherical volume. This affects particles systems only; it has no effect on dynamics. Enable—When on, limits the range of the effect to a sphere, displayed as a tri-hooped sphere. The effect falls off increasingly as the particles near the boundary of the sphere. Range—Specifies the radius of the range of the effect, in units.
64 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems If you want the particles to spiral around the particle emitter, place both at the same location. Interface Particle stream caught in a vortex Procedure To create a Vortex space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Forces from the list, and then click Vortex. 2. Determine which world axis you want the vortex to spiral around, and then drag in the appropriate viewport to create the space warp.
Vortex Space Warp Timing group Time On/Time Off—The frame numbers at which the space warp becomes active and becomes inactive. For subtle effects, use values of less than 10%. For more overt effects, try using higher values that increase to 100% over the course of a few frames. Orbital Speed—Specifies how quickly the particles rotate. Vortex Shape group Taper Length—Controls the length of the vortex, as well as its shape.
66 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Display group Procedure Icon Size—Specifies the size of the icon. To create a Drag space warp: 1. Drag Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Forces > Object Type rollout > Drag Create menu > Space Warps > Forces > Drag The Drag space warp is a particle motion damper that reduces particle velocity by a specified amount within a specified range. The damping can be applied linearly, spherically, or cylindrically.
Drag Space Warp Interface Timing group Time On/Time Off—The frame numbers at which the space warp becomes active and becomes inactive. Damping Characteristics group This group lets you choose Linear Damping, Spherical Damping, or Cylindrical Damping, plus a set of parameters for each. Unlimited Range—When on, Drag exerts full damping strength over an unlimited range. When off, the Range and Falloff settings for the current damping type take effect.
68 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems is applied for each vector within a spherical volume whose radius is set by the Range setting, when Unlimited Range is off. plane that governs the range of Axial damping. Takes effect only when Unlimited Range is turned off. Radial/Tangential—Radial specifies the Falloff—Specifies the distance beyond the Radial/Tangential/Axial Range within which Linear Damping is applied.
PBomb Space Warp Flow, use a Force operator (page 2–204) to apply the space warp to the particle system. • Adjust the parameters of both the PBomb and the particle system. 2. Create a PArray and use Pick Object to assign the object to blow up as the PArray object-based emitter. 3. In the Basic Parameters rollout > Viewport Display group, choose Mesh to display the fragments as mesh objects in the viewports. 4. On the Particle Generation rollout of PArray, set Speed and Divergence to 0.0.
70 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems decrease Range enough, the bomb no longer affects all or part of the object (depending on the placement of the PBomb icon). Test the three Blast Symmetry settings by placing the bomb in the center of the object and then seeing the different blast patterns. Once you get an explosive effect you like, you can return to the PArray settings, add spin or thickness to the fragments, and so on.
Path Follow Space Warp a portion of the particle system, only that part of the system is affected. If you turn on Range Indicator (see following), the extent of the range is indicated by a tri-hooped sphere. If you choose Unlimited Range, this parameter has no effect. 2. Click and drag in a viewport to define the size. The Path Follow warp appears as a box-shaped icon containing curved lines that indicate hypothetical paths. To set up and use Path Follow: 1. Create a shape consisting of a single spline.
72 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface Current Path group Lets you choose the path for the particles, and specify the range of influence of the Space Warp. Object—Displays the name of the currently assigned path. Pick Shape Object—Click this, and then click a shape in the scene to select it as a path. You can use any shape object as a path; if you select a multiple-spline shape, only one the lowest-number spline is used. You can also use NURBS curves as paths.
Gravity Space Warp Along Offset Splines—The distance between the particle system and the path alter the effect of the particle motion. If the first vertex of the spline is at the birthplace of the particle, the particle follows the spline path. If you move the path away from the particle system, the particles are affected by the offset. Along Parallel Splines—Particles follow a copy of the selected path, parallel to the particle system.
74 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Force group Gravity effect on snow Procedure To create gravity: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Forces from the list, then on the Object Type rollout, click Gravity. 2. Drag in a viewport. Strength—Increasing Strength increases the effect of gravity; that is, how objects move in relation to the Gravity icon’s direction arrow. Strength less than 0.
Wind Space Warp Wind Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Forces > Object Type rollout > Wind Create menu > Space Warps > Forces > Wind Procedure To create wind: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Forces from the list, then on the Object Type rollout, click Wind. 2. Drag in a viewport. The wind icon appears. For planar wind (the default), the icon is a wireframe square with a direction arrow coming out of one side. For spherical wind, the icon is a wireframe sphere.
76 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems repels particles moving in the same direction and attracts particles moving in the opposite direction. When Strength is 0.0, the Wind warp has no effect. Decay—When Decay is set to 0.0, the Wind warp has the same strength throughout world space. Increasing the Decay value causes wind strength to diminish as distance increases from the position of the Wind warp object. Default=0.0.
Displace Space Warp particle systems, a large number of geometric objects at once, or an object relative to its position in world space. Interface For geometry, the detail of the displacement depends on the number of vertices. Use the Tessellate modifier to tessellate faces you want to show in greater detail. Displace space warp on a patch and the bitmap it uses Procedures To create a Displace space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps.
78 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems the Displace space warp object. Values less than 0.0 displace geometry toward the warp. Default=0.0 Planar—Projects the map from a single plane. Decay—By default, the Displace warp has the same around the cylinder. strength throughout world space. Increasing Decay causes displacement strength to diminish as distance increases from the position of the Displace warp object. Default=0.
POmniFlect Space Warp Interface POmniFlect viewport icon Procedure To create a POmniFlect space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Deflectors from the list, then on the Object Type rollout, click POmniFlect. 2. Drag in a viewport to create the planar icon. Note: Because particles bounce off the icon, the size of the icon affects particle deflection. 3.
80 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Timing group The two spinners specify the start frame and end frame of the deflection effect. Time On/Off—Time On specifies the frame at which the deflection begins, and Time Off specifies the frame at which the deflection ends. Reflection group These options affect the reflection of particles from the space warp. The POmniFlect can reflect or refract particles, or perform a combination of the two.
PDynaFlect Space Warp Distortion angle by the Diffusion angle. This effectively scatters the particles into a hollow cone. Variation—Specifies a range of variation of the Diffusion value. Pass Vel—Specifies how much of the particle’s initial speed is maintained after passing through the POmniFlect. Variation—Specifies the variation of the Pass Velocity setting applied to the range of particles. Common group Friction—The amount by which particles are slowed as they move along the deflector surface.
82 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 3. Do either of the following: • If using a PDynaFlect or SDynaFlect, position the space warp icon where the particles strike (or will strike) the object. Resize and orient it as needed. Also, link the PDynaFlect or SDynaFlect as a child of the object. This step isn’t absolutely necessary, but allows the deflector to follow the object as it moves.
PDynaFlect Space Warp Interface This affects both the particles and the dynamics reaction of the object struck by the particles. The more particles that strike the affected object, the more force applied to that object. If set to 0.0, the particles have no effect on the object. Bounce—This is a multiplier that specifies how much of the initial speed of the particle is maintained after collision with the PDynaFlect. Using the default setting of 1.
84 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems For example, if Inherit Vel is 1.0, particles with no motion that are hit by a moving PDynaFlect inherit the speed of the PDynaFlect at the point of collision. Physical Properties group passing through the SOmniFlect hits its outside surface first, and then its inside surface.
SDynaFlect Space Warp 5. Adjust the SOmniFlect parameters as necessary. SDynaFlect Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Deflectors > Object Type rollout > SDynaFlect The SDynaFlect space warp is a spherical dynamics deflector. It’s like the PDynaFlect (page 2–81) warp, except that it’s spherical, and its Display Icon spinner specifies the icon’s Radius value.
86 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems • 6. If using a non-event-driven particle system (page 2–237), bind (page 2–58) the particle system to the deflector icon. The procedures and options for using UDynaFlect are the same as for PDynaFlect (page 2–81), with the following changes and additions. On the Modify panel > Parameters rollout > Object-Based OmniFlector group, click Pick Object, and then select the object to use as a deflector. 7.
SDeflector Space Warp Interface SDeflector Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Deflectors > Object Type rollout > SDeflector Create menu > Space Warps > Deflectors > SDeflector The SDeflector space warp serves as a spherical deflector of particles. SDeflector viewport icon (with particle system on the left) Object-Based DynaFlector group Lets you choose the object to use as a deflector. Item—Displays the name of the selected object.
88 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Note: Because particles bounce off the perimeter of the spherical icon, the size of the icon affects particle deflection. 3. Apply the deflector to the particle system using the appropriate method: • If using Particle Flow (page 2–109), specify the deflector in the Collision test (page 2–212) or Collision Spawn test (page 2–215) parameters. Variation—The amount by which each particle can vary from the Bounce setting.
UDeflector Space Warp UDeflector Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Deflectors > Object Type rollout > UDeflector Create menu > Space Warps > Deflectors > UDeflector • If using a non-event-driven particle system (page 2–237), bind (page 2–58) the particle system to the deflector icon. 5. Position the UDeflector icon to interrupt the particle stream. 6. Adjust the UDeflector parameters as necessary.
90 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Variation—The amount by which each particle can vary from the Bounce setting. Chaos—The amount of variation from the perfect angle of reflection (found when Chaos is set to 0.0). 100% induces a variation in reflection angle of up to 90 degrees.
FFD(Box) Space Warp • If using Particle Flow (page 2–109), specify the deflector in the Collision test (page 2–212) or Collision Spawn test (page 2–215) parameters. • If using a non-event-driven particle system (page 2–237), bind (page 2–58) the particle system to the deflector icon. Interface 0.0). 100% induces a variation in reflection angle of up to 90 degrees Friction—The amount by which particles are slowed as they move along the deflector surface. A value of 0% means they’re not slowed at all.
92 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The FFD(Box) space warp is a box-shaped lattice FFD object similar to the original FFD modifiers. This FFD is available as both an object modifier and a space warp. For information on the object-modifier version, see FFD (Box/Cylinder) Modifiers (page 1–685). You create FFD space warps as separate objects similarly to the way you create standard primitives: by dragging the mouse in the viewport. The result is a lattice of control points.
FFD(Box) Space Warp 4. Determine the relative placement of the lattice to the object. If the lattice is to be outside of the object, turn on All Vertices. To affect only those vertices inside the lattice, choose Only In Volume, and position the lattice accordingly. 5. In the modifier stack display, choose Control Points as the sub-object level for FFD(box). 6. Adjust the control points.
94 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface height of the lattice. To create the space warp, you drag the mouse in the same way that you would to create a standard Box primitive. Note that these spinners don’t exist in the object-modifier version of the FFD. Label—Displays the current number of controls points in the lattice (for example: 4x4x4). Set Number of Points—Displays a dialog containing three spinners labeled Length, Width, and Height, plus OK/Cancel buttons.
FFD(Cyl) Space Warp Only In Volume—Only vertices that lie inside the source volume are deformed. Vertices outside the source volume are not affected. All Vertices—All vertices are deformed regardless of whether they lie inside or outside the source volume, depending on the value in the Falloff spinner. The deformation outside the volume is a continuous extrapolation of the deformation inside the volume. The deformation can be extreme for points far away from the source lattice.
96 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Procedures Example: Create an animated tablecloth: 2. In the Top viewport, create a cylindrical FFD space warp, centered on the table top, with a radius of 45 and a height of 5. 3. Click the Set Number of Points button and, in the Set FFD Dimensions dialog, set Side points to 12, Radial points to 5, and Height points to 2. 4. Move the entire FFD lattice up until it’s just over the surface of the table, as seen from the Front viewport.
FFD(Cyl) Space Warp 5. Because All X is on, all control points for the two rings will be selected.) In this next series of steps, you’ll bind the tablecloth to the FFD lattice, and then animate it to move over the table. On the status bar, click the Selection Lock Toggle button to lock the selection. In the Front viewport, drag the selected points halfway down the height of the table. 1. In the stack display, click the FFD(cyl) entry 6.
98 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 9. As you move the time slider back and forth and Interface examine the animation, you might find that the bottom of the tablecloth is deformed to the point where it’s hanging below the floor. To fix this, turn off Auto Key, go to frame 100, select the lower ring of control points, and move them up until the tablecloth is at the height you want it. You can also adjust the position of the other control points to create drapes, and so on. 10.
FFD(Cyl) Space Warp Cylinder primitive. Note that these spinners don’t exist in the object-modifier version of the FFD. Label—Displays the current number of controls points in the lattice (for example: 4x8x4). Set Number of Points—Displays a dialog containing three spinners labeled Side, Radial, and Height, plus OK/Cancel buttons. Specify the number of control points you want in the lattice, and then click OK to make the change. Side—The number of control points around the perimeter of the lattice.
100 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems along the local dimension specified by the button are selected as well. By turning on two buttons, you can select all control points in two dimensions. About—Displays a dialog with copyright and licensing information. Wave Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > Geometric/Deformable > Object Type rollout > Wave Create menu > Space Warps > Geometric/Deformable > Wave The Wave space warp creates a linear wave through world space.
Wave Space Warp 3. Release the mouse button to set the icon size; then move the mouse to define the initial amplitude of the wave. 4. Click to set the wave amplitude. Interface Wave Length—Sets the length of each wave along the wave’s local Y axis, in active units. Phase—Offsets the phase of the wave from its origin at the wave object’s center. Whole values have no effect; only fractional values do. Animating this parameter makes the wave appear to travel through space. Decay—When set to 0.
102 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems behaves the same as the Ripple modifier (page 1–783). Use the Ripple space warp when you want the ripple to affect a large number of objects, or to affect an object relative to its position in world space. See also Wave Space Warp (page 2–100) Procedure To create a Ripple space warp: 1. Flexibility—Makes the bound object more or less responsive to the wave by multiplying the amplitude by this value. On the Create panel, click Space Warps.
Conform Space Warp The amplitude value set by dragging applies equally in all directions. The ripple’s Amplitude 1 and Amplitude 2 parameters are initially equal. Set these parameters to unequal values to create a ripple whose amplitude varies relative to the local X and Y axes of the space warp. Flexibility parameter (Modify panel) The Ripple space warp also has a Flexibility parameter that you can adjust individually in each bound object’s stack, at the Ripple Binding level.
104 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems the travel direction (toward the target object). The vertices of the deformed object move until they hit the target object. There is also a Conform compound object (page 1–324) that provides additional methods of conforming one object to another. The coin/disk moves from one corner of the terrain to the other. The terrain will become the target object, and the cylinder the deformed object.
Bomb Space Warp The disk floats 20 units above the terrain. Next, change the affected vertices. Wrap To Object group 4. Select the disk/cylinder. These options provide controls to select the target object. 5. In the modifier stack display, click the Cylinder Pick Object—Click this, and then select an object item so it’s highlighted in gray. 6. Apply a Mesh Select modifier. 7. At the Vertex sub-object level, in the Front viewport, region-select the bottom cap vertices of the cylinder. 8.
106 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface Right: Bomb viewport icon Left: Torus knot Effect of exploding the torus knot Procedure To create a Bomb space warp: 1. On the Create panel, click Space Warps. Choose Geometric/Deformable from the list, and then on the Object Type rollout, click Bomb. 2. Create mesh objects to be exploded. 3. On the toolbar, click the Bind to Space Warp button. 4. Drag the mouse between each object and the Bomb space warp. 5.
Modifier-Based Space Warps of a tall cylinder with many height segments, and adjust Falloff to be less than the height of the cylinder. Also, if the bomb object is in motion during the blast, the result is not physically correct. Falloff On—Turn on to use the Falloff setting. The falloff range appears as a yellow, tri-hooped sphere. Fragment Size group These two parameters define the number of faces per fragment.
108 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface Gizmo Parameters rollout Gizmo Size group Length/Width/Height—Let you adjust the warp object’s dimensions. Deformation group Particle Systems Particle systems are useful for a variety of animation tasks. Primarily, they’re employed when animating a large number of small objects using procedural methods; for instance, creating a snowstorm, a stream of water, or an explosion.
Particle Flow Particle Flow Using Particle Flow Particle Flow is a new, extremely versatile and powerful particle system for 3ds Max. It employs an event-driven model, using a special dialog called Particle View (page 2–125). In Particle View, you combine individual operators (page 3–985) that describe particle properties such as shape, speed, direction, and rotation over a period of time into groups called events (page 3–935).
110 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems meet these conditions, they become eligible for redirection to the next event. Particle Flow provides a number of tools for determining where in the system particles currently reside, including the ability to change particle color and shape on an event-by-event basis. You can also easily enable and disable actions and events, and determine the number of particles in each event.
The Life of a Particle 1. Particle immediately after creation, with no speed. 2. The Speed operator sets the particle in motion. 3. The particle continues moving until acted upon by another action. The second way that particles move is logically, from event to event through the particle diagram, as constructed in Particle View (page 2–125). Each event can contain any number of operators that can affect, in addition to motion, a particle’s surface appearance, its shape and size, and others.
112 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Introductory Tutorial The best way to understand Particle Flow is by using it. This tutorial will acquaint you with some of the basic methods of working with Particle Flow. Create the Particle Flow system: 1. Start 3ds Max or reset the program. 2. On the Create panel > Geometry category, click the drop-down list and choose Particle Systems. 3. On the Object Type rollout, click PF Source. 4. In the Perspective viewport, drag out a rectangle.
Introductory Tutorial The rendered particles appear in a window. The default particle shape is a tetrahedron, a four-sided triangular solid. Its geometry is very simple, so the system can handle many particles quickly and efficiently, but it gives a good idea of how particles are behaving. Other basic shapes are a low-poly sphere and a cube; Particle Flow also lets you use any scene object as particle geometry. Modify the particle system in Particle View: 1. Press the 6 key to open Particle View.
114 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 2. In the global event, PF Source 01, click the name of the Render 01 (Geometry) operator to highlight it and access its parameters. Be sure to click the text area; clicking the icon simply toggles the operator’s active state. Because this operator is in the global event, it affects the entire particle system. Any operator you place here does likewise.
Introductory Tutorial Before you release the mouse button, make sure you see a solid blue line in Event 01 under the Display operator. If the line is red and goes through an existing operator, the Age Test will replace that operator. If you drop the Age Test outside of Event 01 it will create a new event. The test type is Particle Age, so this means that all particles that have existed for more than 15 frames will test True, and be passed on to the next event.
116 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The actual location of an event in the event display doesn’t matter; the recommended placement is for the sake of convenience when wiring the events. It also helps to make sense of complex schematics if the events are arranged logically. You can move an event by dragging its title bar. Next, you’ll perform the actual wiring of the Age Test to the new event. 5. Position the mouse cursor over the blue dot at the left end of the Age Test’s test output.
Introductory Tutorial pressing the Delete key. Feel free to try this now, but undo any changes when you’re finished. 7. Click the Shape 02 operator and set Shape=Cube. Also, click the Display 02 operator and set Type=Geometry. View the wiring results: 1. Play the animation. Adjust the viewports so you can see the entire particle stream, if necessary.
118 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems change the Speed and Direction settings. When you change a setting, the change is reflected in the viewports in real time, even during playback. Try right-clicking actions and events and using Rename to give them custom names. Even with a custom name, an action’s tooltip reveals its type. Another facility of the right-click menu is to add comments to actions and events. Once you do so, a small red triangle indicates the comment’s presence.
Particle Flow FAQ How can I make all particles appear in the first frame while giving them different ages? (page 2–123) How can I specify the time frame in which animated parameters are applied to particles? (page 2–123) How can I apply bubble motion to particles? (page 2–123) How can I branch an event to several other events? (page 2–123) Does it matter which order I put actions in an event? (page 2–123) How can I tell which particles are in a certain event? (page 2–124) Why do my particles lose their mat
120 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems the total number of particles, separately for viewport display and rendering. Tip: To speed up animation playback when you’re not adjusting parameters, use the Cache operator (see the following item). Is there a way to pre-calculate portions of a particle simulation, as in "baking" the animation? Yes.
Particle Flow FAQ Can I use more than one object as instanced geometry? Yes. With the Shape Instance operator (page 2–178), you can use groups, hierarchies, and objects consisting of multiple elements, with each members of the combined object constituting a separate particle. These objects can be emitted in a specific order, or in a random order. For example, you can use a text object, with the letters emitted in the order in which they appear in the text.
122 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems global and local (per-event) basis gives you much greater control over how space warps affect the particles than with previous systems. How do I make particles follow a path? You can use the Speed By Icon operator (page 2–162) or the Find Target test (page 2–218), assigning the icon or target to a spline path. You’ll find illustrative procedures in both topics. Can I use Snapshot or dynamics with Particle Flow? No.
Particle Flow FAQ How can I make all particles appear in the first frame while giving them different ages? Use a negative frame range in the Birth operator (page 2–143). For example, to get a particle-age spread of 30 frames, set Emit Start to -29 and Emit Stop to 0. How can I specify the time frame in which animated parameters are applied to particles? You can animate many of the Particle Flow parameter values with keyframing.
124 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems will be primarily controlled by the test, in general, even if the operator comes after the test. However, the operator’s settings will still have some influence over particle behavior, particularly if its Speed value is significantly higher than that of the test. For a list of actions’ effective time frames, see Action Time Frames (page 2–141). global event (page 3–949) with a Material operator (page 2–186) or a Shape Instance operator (page 2–178).
Particle View Particle Flow User Interface Particle View Select a Particle Flow source icon > Modify panel > Setup rollout > Click Particle View (or press 6). Create panel > Geometry > Particle Systems > Object Type rollout > Click PF Source. > Setup rollout > Click Particle View (or press 6). wiring defines the schematic, or flow, of the particle system. By default, the name of each operator and test in an event is followed by its most important setting or settings in parentheses.
126 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems • The parameters panel contains rollouts for viewing and editing parameters of any selected actions. Basic functionality is identical to that of rollouts on the 3ds Max command panels, including usage of the right-click menu. To toggle display of the parameters panel, choose Display menu > Parameters. • The depot contains all Particle Flow actions, as well as several default particle systems. To see an item’s description, click its entry in the depot.
Particle View Menu Bar Interface Turn On Selected—Turns on any highlighted, Edit menu turned-off actions or events. Available only when one or more highlighted items are turned off. Turn Off Selected—Turns off any highlighted, turned-on actions or events. Available only when one or more highlighted items are turned on. Make Unique—Converts an instanced action to a copy that’s unique to its event. Available only when one or more instanced actions are highlighted.
128 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems For the results of pasting multiple copied items, see Paste, above. Delete—Deletes any highlighted items. Keyboard equivalent: Delete . Deleting an event also deletes all of its actions. Rename—Lets you enter a new name for any single highlighted item in the event display. Available only when one action or test is highlighted Select menu between Particle View and the viewports. This also applies to use of the Views menu > Shade Selected command.
Particle View Menu Bar Also, if an action references an object (for example, a Shape Instance operator (page 2–178) uses a geometry object), and the action or its parent event is highlighted when you use Save Selected, then the reference object is saved as well. Get Selection From Viewport—Highlights global events whose source icons are selected in the viewports. Assign Selection To V iewport—Transfers an event selection to the viewports. Use this to render only particles in specific events.
130 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Options menu This menu contains a number of options useful in analyzing and debugging particle systems. Default Display—Determines whether the Display operator is applied locally or globally to new particle systems and events. Default=Local. • Global—When you create a new particle system, Particle Flow adds a single Display operator to the global event. It does not add a Display operator to each new event.
Particle View Event Display real-time playback might skip a greater number of frames. To see all frames, turn off Time Configuration > Real Time. Use Dynamic Names—When on, action names in the parameters panel is hidden; to display it, choose Display menu > Parameters. • events are followed by their most important setting or settings, in parentheses. When off, only the names appear. Default=on. Particle View Event Display Select a Particle Flow source icon.
132 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems operators and tests, although you cannot turn the operators and tests back on individually. The event’s items do not affect the particle system, and appear as gray in the event list. All particles entering a turned-off event are immediately passed on to the next event, if any. • To make a test result always True or False, click its icon’s left or right side, respectively.
Event Display Right-Click Menu drag the action to an empty space in the event display, it will form a new event, and, by default, the system will add a new Display operator. Note: Particle Flow doesn’t let you perform illegal operations. For instance, a Birth operator must always be the first item in a birth event (page 3–916); the system doesn’t let you position it elsewhere.
134 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems If you right-click over a highlighted, instanced action, Make Unique affects all such actions. Wire—Wires one or more highlighted tests to a highlighted event, or one or more highlighted global events to a highlighted birth event. Available only when one or more tests and a single event are highlighted, or when one or more global events and a single birth event are highlighted, and when you right-click over an eligible, highlighted item.
Particle Flow Source Use Script Wiring—Lets you use a script to specify certain parameters in the Force operator (page 2–204) and Keep Apart operator (page 2–172). This command appears only when you right-click either of the specified, highlighted operators in an event. Comments—Lets you add comments to each action and event, and view existing comments. Available only when the mouse cursor is over an action or the title bar of an event. Choosing Comments opens a window for entering text from the keyboard.
136 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The particle source icon is roughly equivalent to the corresponding global event (page 3–949) in Particle View. They have the same name, but selecting one does not select the other. If you delete a particle source icon from the scene, the software converts the global event to an isolated local event in Particle View, retaining its operators with their settings intact. Any other events in the system remain in Particle View, along with their wiring.
Particle Flow Source particles produced in the viewports and when rendering. These settings affect only the viewport display of these items; they have no effect on the particle system. Emitter Icon group Logo Size—Sets the size of the Particle Flow logo, which appears at the center of the source icon, as well as the arrow that indicates the default direction of particle motion. By default, the logo size is proportional to that of the source icon; with this control, you can make it larger or smaller.
138 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Selection rollout Selected particles appear in the viewports in red (if not geometry), in the form designated by the Display operator > Selected setting. Select by Particle ID group Each particle has a unique ID number, starting with 1 for the first particle and counting up. Use these controls to select and deselect particles by their ID numbers. Available only at the Particle selection level.
Particle Flow Source System Management rollout per animation frame). Range=1/8 Frame to Frame. Render—Set the integration step at render time. Default=Half Frame (twice per animation frame). Range=1 Tick to Frame. There are 4,800 ticks in a second; thus, at the NTSC video rate of 30 frames per second, there are 160 ticks per frame. Script rollout Use these settings to limit the number of particles in the system, and to specify the frequency of updating the system.
140 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems integration step, because otherwise the final position would be quite different. Enable Script—Turn on to cause a script in memory to be executed at each integration step. You can modify this script by clicking the Edit button, or load and use a script file with the remaining controls in this group. The default script modifies particle speed and direction, causing particles to follow a wavy path.
Actions Description instantaneous or continuous basis, depending on their settings. The tables below list each action with its time frame. Toggles active status of all particle systems. Operators Operator Time Frame Toggles Particle View dialog.
142 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Tests Most tests in Particle Flow function only as tests. At each integration step, they check each particle for the specified conditions, and then return the test result: True or False. So, as tests, they work on a continuous basis.
Birth Operator Material Frequency Operator (page 2–189) Material Static Operator (page 2–187) Birth and Death Position Icon Operator (page 2–147) Position Object Operator (page 2–148) Rotation Operator (page 2–153) Birth Operator Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Birth in an event or add a Birth operator to the particle system and then select it.
144 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 1. Start or reset the software, and add a new PF Source object to the scene. 2. Press 6 to open Particle View. The default particle system contains a Birth operator as the first action in the birth event. 3. Try to drag the Birth operator elsewhere in 10. Drag a Speed operator to an empty area of the event display. Particle Flow creates a new event, Event 03. 11. Wire the test output of Event 01 to the event input of Event 03. 12.
Birth Script Operator Note: The Emit Start and Emit Stop values are tied to the system frame rate. If you change the frame rate, Particle Flow automatically adjusts the Emit values accordingly. For example, if you set Emit Start to 120 and Emit Stop to 300 using the default NTSC frame rate (30 fps), and then switch to PAL (25 fps) using the Time Configuration dialog, you’ve reduced the frame rate to 5/6 of the original value.
146 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The default script (3dsmax\scripts\particleflow\ example-scriptbirth.ms) emits particles for 100 frames in a wavy, circular path. To see this, turn off or delete any Speed and Position operators in the event. See also Birth Operator (page 2–143) Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel, on the right side of the Particle View dialog.
Position Icon Operator The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of maximum particle age using the By Particle Age > Variation setting. All Particles—Deletes all particles in the event immediately. Selected Particles Only—Deletes particles selected at the Particle sub-object level in the event immediately. See Selection rollout (page 2–138). By Particle Age—Deletes particles in the event after they’ve existed for a specific length of time, with an optional random variation.
148 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems effect, they’re “glued” to the emitter. When off, each particle’s birth position is determined by the emitter’s current location. Default=off. Inherit Emitter Movement—When on, the software sets each particle’s rate and direction of motion to that of the emitter at the time of birth. When off, the emitter movement doesn’t affect that of the particles. Available only when Lock On Emitter is off. Default=off.
Position Object Operator Use the Position Object settings to control the initial placement of particles on the emitter. You can set the emitter to emit particles from its surface, volume, edges, vertices, or pivot, or from a sub-object selection. You can also control particle emission with a material applied to the object. Alternatively, you can use the Position Icon operator (page 2–147) to emit particles from the Particle Flow icon.
150 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface each particle’s birth position is determined by the emitter’s current location. Default=off. Inherit Emitter Movement—When on, the software sets each particle’s speed and direction of motion to those of the emitter at the time of birth. When off, the emitter movement doesn’t affect that of the particles. Available only when Lock On Emitter is off. Default=off.
Position Object Operator (total number of particles/number of objects). But if you set Location to any other option, each object emits a number of particles proportionate to the number of available emission points per object. For instance, if you set Location to Volume, then a larger object will emit more particles than a smaller one. Similarly, with Location set to Vertices, an object with 100 vertices will emit twice as many particles as an object with 50.
152 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems object surface. The Min value cannot exceed the Max value, and vice-versa. If you try to raise Min above Max, or lower Max below Min, both values change equally. Density by Material—Varies emission over the emitter surface based on properties of the material applied to the emitter. For example, if the object is assigned a black-and-white checkered diffuse map and you choose the Grayscale option, particles are emitted only from the white checks.
Rotation Operator Total—Sets the number of emission points. Available only when Distinct Points Only is on. Default=10. three explicit. For some options you can set a degree of random variation or divergence from the specified orientation. If Location Is Invalid group To cause particles to spin, use the Spin operator (page 2–154). Delete Particles—When on, if the software cannot place a particle according to the current option, it deletes the particle.
154 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Speed Space—The coordinate space for particle orientation is determined by the particles’ direction upon entering the event. Divergence Axis—Use the X/Y/Z settings to set By default, using the Speed operator (page 2–159) > Along Icon Arrow option, particles are aimed straight down when born. To specify one of the world axes, set the corresponding parameter to any non-zero value, and the others to 0. A negative value flips the axis.
Spin Operator Interface Speed Space—The coordinate space for particle orientation is determined by the particles’ direction upon entering the event. The X axis is aligned with the particle direction, while the Z axis is perpendicular to the X axis and is pointed upward with respect to world space as much as possible. Use the X/Y/Z settings to specify the orientation for all particles.
156 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Divergence—Defines the range of variation (in 3. Add a new Scale operator to the event display, degrees) for spin-axis orientation. The actual deviation is calculated at random within this range. Unavailable for the Random 3D option. Default=0. Range=0 to 180. creating a new event. Set the new event’s Display operator to Geometry, and make sure it’s a different color than the one in Event 01. 4. Wire the Send Out test in Event 01 to Event 02.
Scale Operator 14. Copy and paste the Age Test as an instance from Interface Event 03 to Event 04. In this event, particles shrink from full size to 10 percent of their original size over 30 frames. 15. Play the animation. Next, you’ll use a Noise controller to cause the particles in Event 03 to pulsate in size. 16. Add a second Scale operator to Event 03, below the existing Scale operator. Set it to Relative Successive, and set Sync By to Event Duration. The name of this operator should be Scale 04.
158 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems should be specified with a previous Scale operator, the Scale setting in the Shape operator (page 2–176), or a Shape Instance operator (page 2–178). For instance, if you previously used Scale with Overwrite Once to scale particles’ birth size within a range, and then want to scale them to half their previous size, use Inherit Once and set Scale Factor to 50%.
Speed Operator the current event, or to each particle based on its age. For instance, if you set Sync By to Particle Age, and set Scale Factor keys at frames 0 and 30, then the software will animate the scaling factor for each particle between its birth and its 30th frame of existence, if the particle is in the scaling event or a prior event. Following this example, any particle that has already reached its 30th frame of existence before reaching the event will enter the event fully scaled.
160 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems See also 10. Add a Send Out test at the end of Event 02. Speed By Icon Operator (page 2–162) 11. Create a new event using an Age Test. Click the Keep Apart Operator (page 2–172) Age Test to display its parameters, and then set the following: Procedure • Event Age Example: To change particles’ speed: • Test Value=1 The Speed operator works on an instantaneous basis: It sets each particle’s speed once only, when it enters the event.
Speed Operator Interface Default=Along Icon Arrow. In most cases, the actual direction also depends on the icon orientation. The primary exception is when Position > Location is set to Pivot. Particle movement is always in a straight line unless influenced by other factors. Along Icon Arrow—Particles move parallel to the icon arrow. Rotate the icon to change the direction. Icon Center Out—Each particle moves along an imaginary line drawn between the particle’s location and the icon center.
162 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems If you choose Inherit Previous but no direction was previously specified, the speed and direction are undefined; the particles don’t move. Reverse—When on, the direction is reversed. Default=off. Using Reverse is the equivalent of multiplying the Speed value by -1. This option is unavailable if Random 3D or Random Horizontal is chosen. Divergence—When on, spreads out the particle Speed By Icon operator icon stream.
Speed By Icon Operator as Path Constraint. See the following procedure for an example of this. The particles’ motion is now under the influence of the animated icon. 3. Set the Speed By Icon parameters. With the icon selected, you can do this in the Modify panel. In general, the default Icon Animation > Sync By setting, Event Duration, works best. It causes the icon animation to be applied to the particles within the time frame of the event containing the Speed By Icon operator.
164 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Tip: The best way to view the results is from the Top viewport. The particles follow the path fairly closely, but diverge noticeably at the end of the path, where the turns are tightest. Correcting divergence in tight turns typically requires an increase in the acceleration limit. The endpoints now coincide. 13. Drag the time slider again. The particle stream diverges from the path at its endpoint. 10. Stop at frame 100.
Speed By Icon Operator 1. Reset the software, and then add a Particle Flow system in the Perspective viewport. Set its position to the world origin: (0,0,0). 2. Open Particle View and click the Birth operator. Set Emit Stop=0. This causes all particles to appear at frame 0. 3. Click the Speed operator and press the Delete key to delete it. 4. Drag a Speed By Icon operator from the Depot to the end of Event 01. 10. Drag the time slider again. This time the particles move in an arc around the icon. 11.
166 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems particles’ speed can change in order to match the speed of the operator icon. Default=100.0. If the operator icon changes speed or direction rapidly, increase this value to let the particles follow it more closely. Tip: Use a lower Accel Limit value for smooth motion, and a higher value when greater accuracy is needed, such as when the particles should hit a small target.
Speed By Surface Operator • Particle Age—Any keys set for parameters are applied at the corresponding frames of each particle’s existence. • Event Duration—Any keys set for parameters are applied to each particle relative to the frame at which it first enters the event. Icon Animation group The software can begin applying animation of the Speed By Icon operator icon to all particles as of the start frame of the animation or the first frame of the current event, or to each particle based on its age.
168 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems world origin (X/Y/Z=0), and set the icon’s Length and Width values both to 30. 2. Add a Cylinder primitive to the scene. Position it above the source icon: X/Y=0 and Z=30. Set Radius=20 and Height=40. 3. Play the animation, and then stop. The particles move downward, using the default starting setup. 4. Open Particle View and add a Speed By Surface operator to the end of Event 01.
Speed By Surface Operator 14. Click the Speed By Surface operator. Set Speed to 300 if necessary. In the Direction group, choose Out Of Surface, and then drag the time slider. After exiting the emitter, the particles always move away from the nearest surface, with the result that they end up milling about in the center of the cylinder. 15. Gradually increase the Speed value, up to 1,000 or so. The particles start to spread out vertically, and eventually start moving so fast that they escape the cylinder.
170 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The user interface appears in the parameters panel, on the right side of the Particle View dialog. objects as Surface Geometry that your system uses as emitters. The first setting lets you choose whether the operator controls speed once or continuously.
Speed By Surface Operator must have Show Map In Viewport turned on in the Material Editor. The options are as follows: • Grayscale Multiplier—Lets material luminance control speed, with darker areas producing slower particles and lighter areas producing faster ones. The software multiplies the luminance of the material near each particle, converted to a percentage, by the particle’s current speed. A luminance of 0 converts to 0%, of 128 converts to 50%, and of 255 converts to 100%.
172 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Parallel To Surface—Each particle travels parallel to the nearest face. To make particles orbit an object, use this with Control Speed Continuously, and set appropriate Continuous Speed Control values (see the following section). Divergence—When on, spreads out the particle stream. Use the numeric setting to define the extent of the divergence. Range=0 to 180. Default=0. The value can be animated.
Keep Apart Operator to cause them to separate, in order to prevent or minimize collisions among particles. Alternatively, you can use a negative force to keep particles from separating too much. The operator works by controlling particle speed and acceleration. Interface Note: Keep Apart doesn’t use particle geometry; rather, it creates a spherical force field centered on the pivot of each particle. You can adjust the size of the force field by changing the particle size.
174 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems or negative values to move them closer together. Default=100.0 Accel(eration) Limit—When on, lets you set a maximum acceleration value that can be applied to particles’ motion. When off, the software uses any necessary acceleration. Default=on, 1000.0. Tip: Use a lower Accel Limit value for smooth motion, and a higher value when greater accuracy is needed, such as when the particles should hit a small target.
Keep Apart Operator 3–942). The particles not in the current event are not influenced by the Keep Apart operator. When used globally, keeps apart and influences all particles in the current flow. Selected Events—Keeps particles in the current Wiring. Thereafter, a check mark appears next to the Use Script Wiring in the right-click menu, and the rollout appears whenever you highlight the operator. To turn off script wiring, choose Use Script Wiring again from the right-click menu.
176 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Shape • Sphere—Creates spherical particles. The sphere has the most polygons of the rendering particle shapes, and its orientation isn’t obvious. Shape Operator Size—Sets the overall size of the particles in system units. Default=10.0 Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Shape in an event or add a Shape operator to the particle system and then select it. Setting Size=0 makes the particles invisible.
Shape Facing Operator Interface Look At object. The mouse cursor changes to a cross shape when positioned over a valid object. Use Parallel Direction—When off, all particles continuously rotate to stay facing toward the Look At object. Each particle’s orientation varies because its location differs from those of the others. When on, all particles face in the same direction, defined by an imaginary line between the Particle Source gizmo center and the Look At object. Default=off.
178 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Variation %—Sets the percentage by which particle size can vary. Default=0. Pivot At—Specifies the part of the particle around which rotation is performed when maintaining the facing direction. The choices, available from the drop-down list, are Top, Center, and Bottom. Default=Center. With Top and Bottom, the center of the corresponding side is used as the particle center for rotation.
Shape Instance Operator example, if you scale an object non-uniformly using the View reference coordinate system, the result might skew the object’s shape. Because the skewing is the by-product of a rotational transform, it wouldn’t be reflected in the particles’ shape. However, modifiers and comparable functions that contain transformations applied to the reference object are reflected in the instanced particles.
180 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface include multi-shape objects such as groups and hierarchies; see Separate Particles For group (page 2–181). After picking a reference object, its name appears on the button. You can use almost any geometry object as a reference object. By default, the operator automatically converts closed splines to rendering geometry by “filling in” the area defined by the shape outline.
Shape Instance Operator Selecting an open group will add only the group member you click, not the entire group. For group are on, in which case this displays the number of resulting different shapes. Separate Particles For group Scale (%)—Specifies a uniform scaling factor for all particles. Range=0 to 100000. Default=on, 100. 3ds Max provides a number of methods for combining disparate objects into single entities, including grouping, building hierarchies with linking, and attaching.
182 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Multi-Shape Random Order—When on, assigns shapes to particles in random order. When off, Particle Flow emits each shape in the multi-shape object as a single particle, in the order of the shape’s X coordinate. In other words, the shape with the lowest X-axis coordinate is emitted first, then the one with the next highest, and so on. The option is available only if at least one of Separate Particles For group check boxes is on. Default=off.
Shape Mark Operator New—Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula. With these settings, faces are no longer coplanar, and the mental ray renderer gives better results. See also Shape Mark Operator Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Shape Mark in an event or add a Shape Mark operator to the particle system and then select it. Use the Shape Mark operator to replace each particle with either a rectangle or a box cut out from the particle geometry with an image mapped onto it.
184 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface Contact Object group Use this control for defining the object on which marks are to be left. [button]—Click this button, and then select an object in the scene to use as the contact object. The mouse cursor changes to a cross shape when positioned over a valid object. After picking a contact object, its name appears on the button.
Shape Mark Operator • Particle X/Y/Z—The Length direction is parallel to the projection of the particle’s local coordinate axis X, Y, or Z, respectively, as the particle moves toward the contact object. For example, if a drop of paint hits a surface perpendicularly, it creates a circular mark, but if it hits the surface at a lower angle, the resulting shape is an ellipse. • Random—Uses a random Length direction in the contact plane.
186 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Offset Variation—Specifies the maximum extent of a random variation in the actual surface offset among particles. Default=0.0. Adjusting this value can help to alleviate rendering artifacts with overlapping marks. Particles falling onto a two-element cylinder Left: Allow Multiple Elements is off; Right: Allow Multiple Elements is on.
Material Static Operator to color the particles. By animating the mapping coordinates, you can cause the particles to change color over time. This is particularly effective with a gradient material. The Bitmap map (page 2–1631), used in conjunction with Material Dynamic, lets you assign different frames from an image sequence to particles based on the particle age, among other effects.
188 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems See also Materials and Mapping in Particle View (page 2–186) Material Frequency Operator (page 2–189) Assign Material ID—When on, the operator defines a material ID number for each particle. Default=off. Show In V iewport—When on, the material is shown applied to the particles in the viewports.
Material Frequency Operator If this value is the same as the rate at which particles enter the event, then one ID is assigned per particle. If it’s lower, then multiple particles are given the same ID, or if it’s higher, then the software increments the assigned ID faster than 1 per particle. Sub-Materials=9. For Rate, use the default settings of Per Particle and 1.0. Lastly, turn off Loop.
190 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface In general, this should remain on. Particle Flow uses the material ID with compound materials to know which sub-material to assign to a particle. Show In V iewport—When on, the material is shown applied to the particles in the viewports. # Sub-Materials—Displays the number of sub-materials in the assigned material. Material ID #1–10—Specifies the relative likelihood of particles to be assigned the corresponding material ID.
Material Dynamic Operator Material Dynamic Operator Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Material Dynamic in an event or add a Material Dynamic operator to the particle system and then select it. The Material Dynamic operator lets you give particles material IDs that can vary during the event. It also lets you assign a different material to each particle based on its material ID.
192 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 11. Click the Shape Facing operator, and in its rollout, click the Look At Camera/Object button, and then select the camera. 12. In the Size/Width group, increase In World Space > Units to about 15. 13. Add a Material Dynamic operator to Event 01, and assign it the material from the beginning of this procedure. 14. Turn on Show In Viewport. 15. In the Animated Texture group, make sure Same As Particle ID is chosen, and turn on Reset Particle Age.
Material Dynamic Operator If it isn’t, the particles all change color at the same time. Interface There’s no need to turn on Show In Viewport; the Particle Age map doesn’t appear in the viewports. 9. Render the animation, or a few representative frames. As each particle falls, it gradually changes color, with the oldest particles changing first. Tip: You needn’t actually delete the particles to use this method. There are several ways to avoid this.
194 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Assign Material ID—When on, the operator Randomize Age Offset—When on, the software defines a material ID number for each particle. Default=on. varies the difference between the particle age and the starting material ID at random. The maximum difference is determined by the Max Offset parameter. In general, this should remain on.
Mapping Operator assigned per particle. If it’s lower, then multiple particles are given the same ID, or if it’s higher, then the software increments the assigned ID faster than 1 per particle. For instance, if particles enter the event at intervals of 1/60 of a second, and Per Second=30, then each pair of particles will be assigned the same ID. Or if particles enter the event at intervals of 1/15 of a second, and Per Second=30, then the ID is incremented (or changed randomly) twice per particle.
196 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Procedure Example: To animate particle coloring using the Mapping operator: 1. Open the Material Editor, and create a material that uses Gradient Ramp as the Diffuse map. 2. On the map’s Gradient Ramp Parameters rollout, make sure Gradient Type is set to Linear. 3. Create a colorful gradient. The Mapping operator uses the colors in left-to-right order as the U value increases from 0.0 to 1.0. 4. Add a Particle Flow Source object to the scene. 5.
Cache Operator upper-left corner of the map, and W is useful only with three-dimensional maps, in which context it specifies depth. Sync By—Choose the time frame for applying animated parameters. For further information, see Animation Offset Keying group (page 2–158). • Absolute Time—Any keys set for parameters are applied at the actual frames for which they’re set. • Particle Age—Any keys set for parameters are applied at the corresponding frames of each particle’s existence.
198 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems times as many frames per second, and the Cache operator has stored four times as many frames per second, the two are synchronized. If the real-time playback speed is set to 2x or 4x, set the Viewport Integration Step to Frame. Procedure Example: To use the Cache operator: 1. Start or reset the software, and then add a Particle Flow system. 2. Open Particle View. 3. In Particle View, go to Options menu > Track Update and turn on Update Progress.
Cache Operator 14. Click the Cache operator, and in the Manual Interface Update group, click Update. The software closes Particle View, updates the cache for the active segment, and then reopens Particle View. The cached data is now accurate. Other manual update options let you update the cache for the entire animation or a custom frame range. As you can see, the Cache operator is quite powerful.
200 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems This setting determines whether Particle Flow should update the cache automatically, or let you do it manually. Default=Always. you use a Cache operator locally, and specify a frame range during which no particles are present in the event, Particle Flow won’t use the cache.
Cache Operator and is able to jump to an arbitrary frame without the need for test results. Save Cache with File—When on, the software Includes the cached data with scenes that you save to disk. This can significantly increase the size of saved files, but saves the time of recalculating the particle motion upon reloading the file. Default=off. Normally, the cache data is saved only in disk files that you create with the Save or Save As commands.
202 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Memory Used (K) group The Cache operator stores data in system memory; you can specify an upper limit for the amount of memory it uses. If the Limit setting and the amount of cached data exceeds the available free memory, the computer system might use virtual (hard disk-based) memory instead, which slows down the caching. If Particle Flow fills the cache, any remaining frames are calculated on the fly.
Display Operator particles will actually render, in three dimensions; Lines shows speed and direction of motion; and Bounding Boxes reflects scale and orientation. In the following list, each choice’s description is preceded by the number of dimensions used by each particle representation: • None—Particles do not appear in the viewports. • Dots—(0D) Each particle appears as a single pixel. • Ticks—(2D) Each particle appears as a + sign. • Circles—(2D) Each particle appears as a small circle.
204 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Force Operator Particle View (page 2–125) > Click a Force operator in an event or add a Force operator to the particle system and then select it. Procedure To affect particle motion with force space warps: 1. Add one or more force space warps to the scene, and set them up as necessary. 2. In Particle View, add a Force operator to any The Force operator lets you influence particle motion with one or more space warps from the Forces category.
Force Operator If you delete a listed space warp from the scene, its name is replaced in the list by the entry “”. Influence—Specifies the strength with which the Note: Particle Flow applies the forces to particle A negative Influence value reverses the force effects. motion in the order in which the space warps appear in the list; the effect is cumulative in top-to-bottom order.
206 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Script wiring lets you use a script to control parameters that you normally specify in the operator’s parameters. Place a Script operator (page 2–208) before the Force operator in the event, and then use it to define values in the particleFloat channel. You’ll find an example script below. Interface Use Script Float As—Choose either of the following: • Not Used—Particle Flow uses the Influence setting specified in the Parameters rollout.
Render Operator Interface Lower this value for faster rendering of complex particle systems. You can also reduce the number of particles in the system at render time with the Quantity Multiplier > Render setting (page 2–137). Render Result group Type—Lets you render particles as bounding boxes or geometry, or disable the particle system at render time, or enable the particle system but prevent it from sending renderable particles to the 3ds Max renderer. Default=Geometry.
208 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems This is a compromise method of operation, and can be used with renderers that cannot handle all particles in a single mesh, but can deal with groups of particles of a certain size. Mesh Count—The maximum number of mesh objects that Particle Flow will send to the renderer. Particles p/Mesh—The number of particles that each mesh object will comprise. Mesh Per Particle—Sends the renderer a separate mesh for each particle.
Empty Flow Empty Flow (page 2–209) Standard Flow (page 2–209) Standard Flow Particle View (page 2–125) > depot See also Operators (page 2–142) Tests (page 2–210) Empty Flow Particle View (page 2–125) > depot Empty Flow provides a starting point for a particle system consisting of a single global event containing a Render operator. This lets you build a system completely from scratch, without having first to delete the default operators provided by the Standard Flow system.
210 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Tests The basic function of a test in Particle Flow is to determine whether particles satisfy one or more conditions, and if so, make them available for sending to another event. When a particle passes a test, it is said to “test True.” To send eligible particles to another event, you must wire the test to that event. Particles that don’t pass the test (“test False”) remain in the event and are repeatedly subjected to its operators and tests.
Age Test Age Test Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Age Test in an event or add Age Test to the particle system and then select it. Age Test lets the particle system check whether a specific amount of time has passed since the start of the animation, or how long a particle has existed, or how long a particle has been in the current event, and branch accordingly. Interface age test succeeds or fails.
212 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Uniqueness group Procedure The Uniqueness setting enables randomization of the test value variation. Example: To test for particles slowing down after one or more collisions: Seed—Specifies a randomization value. New—Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula. Collision Test Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Collision in an event or add Collision to the particle system and then select it.
Collision Test In the next step, you’ll see what happens when actions in an event are not in the right order. Interface 9. In Event 01, move the Collision test above the Force operator, and then play the animation. Quite a few particles leak through the deflector. This happens because the software first tests the particles for a collision, and then applies the Gravity force.
214 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Add—Click this button, and then select a Deflector space warp in the scene to add it to the list. By List—Click this button, and then use the Select Deflectors dialog to add one or more space warps to the list. The space warps must already exist in the scene. Is Fast After Collision(s)—The test succeeds if, after collision, particle speed is greater than the Speed Max value.
Collision Spawn Test Collision Spawn Test Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Collision Spawn in an event or add Collision Spawn to the particle system and then select it. Collision Spawn creates new particles from existing ones that collide with one or more Deflector space warps. You can specify different post-collision behavior for the colliding particles and their offspring. Each spawned particle is born at the same location as its parent, and has the same orientation and shape.
216 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel, on the right side of the Particle View dialog. In the context of Collision Spawn, a parent is the original particle from which new particles are spawned. Test True for group These check boxes let you specify which particles, if any, should become eligible for redirection to the next event upon satisfaction of the test conditions.
Collision Spawn Test Add—Click this button, and then select a Deflector space warp in the scene to add it to the list. By List—Click this button, and then use the Select Deflectors dialog to add one or more space warps to the list. The space warps must already exist in the scene. Remove—Highlight a deflector in the list, and then click this button to remove it from the list. Any removed space warps remain in the scene. with five parent particles, Offspring #=1, and Spawnable=80.
218 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems set a Divergence so they eventually spread out. Default=Inherited. Parent—Specify the parent’s behavior. Available only when Delete Parent is off. • Bounce—The speed and direction after collision is determined by the deflector properties. • Continue—Particle speed and direction are unaffected by the collision. Offspring—Specify the behavior of the newly spawned particles.
Find Target Test moving toward the target. You can also specify where on the target the particles should go. Interface Alternatively, you can use Find Target as a simple proximity test: If a particle comes within a certain distance of its target, it becomes eligible for redirection to the next event. Find Target icon When you add a Find Target test to the particle system in Particle View (page 2–125), a spherical Find Target icon appears in the scene at the world origin (0,0,0).
220 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Control By ...—The drop-down list at the top of the parameters panel lets you choose whether to send particles to a target by specifying the speed and acceleration, or by specifying the amount of time they should take. Alternatively, by choosing No Control, you can test particles’ distance from a target. • Control By Speed—Specify speed and acceleration settings for the particles to follow while traveling to the target.
Find Target Test is needed, such as when the particles should hit a small target. You can animate this setting (use Sync By > Event Duration) to specify different appropriate values, depending on the required results. Control By Time group Ease In %—Controls the rate by which particles slow down when it approaches the target point. The software calculates the final speed with this formula: (100% - Ease In) * Speed.
222 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems value. For example, if Time=60 and Variation=20, then the time to target for each particle would be between 40 and 80 frames. Mesh Objects—Use one or more scene mesh Subframe Sampling—Turning this on helps avoid particle "puffing" by timing particles at a much higher subframe resolution (that is, throughout each frame), rather than using the relatively coarse frame resolution. Default=on.
Find Target Test Follow Target Animation—Turn on to allow particles to follow a moving target; that is, a target whose location is animated. This requires more computation, because the destination must be updated at every integration step. Point—Lets you specify where on its target a particle should land. • Random—Each particle targets a random point on the target. • Closest Surface—Each particle targets the nearest point of the target’s surface.
224 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems • Along Icon Arrow—The final direction is the same as the Find Target icon arrow. Note: When using this option, arrows appear on the Find Target icon to indicate the direction particles will use for docking. You can change the docking direction by reorienting the icon. This applies even when using mesh objects as targets. • Icon Spherical—The final direction points toward the center of the operator icon.
Go To Rotation Test To set a target orientation, place the Go To Rotation test before an orientation-type operator (Rotation (page 2–153) or a Script operator (page 2–208) if it defines the rotation channel) in the same event. In this situation, the Go To Rotation test can grab the particle rotational component before the orientation-type operator overwrites it. The Go To Rotation operator modifies the particle orientation and spinning in the post-evaluation cycle. For an example, see the procedure below.
226 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface The possible options are: • Absolute Time—Time refers to the overall time of the system. Each particle will reach its target orientation at the frame number specified by Time. • Particle Age—Time refers to the time elapsed since the birth of the particle. Each particle will reach its target orientation when its age reaches the value specified by Time. • Event Duration—Time refers to the time elapsed since the particle entered the current event.
Scale Test Changing—Defines that the orientation-type operator sets a changing rotation for a particle. At each frame the desirable final rotation may be different. For example, if you use the test with a Rotation operator set to Speed Space Follow, the test will adjust the particle rotation constantly to aim at the changing final rotation. Target Rotation Spin group Defines the angular velocity for each particle when it reaches the target orientation.
228 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Interface • PreScale Size—Tests the size before scaling. • PostScale Size—Tests the size after scaling. • Scale—Tests the scaling percentage. Axis—Choose the axis to measure. Default=Average. • Average—Obtains an average measurement by adding the sizes on all three axes and then dividing by three. • Minimum—Uses the smallest dimension. • Median—Uses the middle dimension in order of size.
Script Test number between -1.0 and 1.0, and then adds the result to the Test Value setting. For example, if Test Value=10 and Variation=5, then the tested value for each particle would be between 5 and 15. New—Calculates a new seed using a randomization formula. Script Test Scale group These settings are available when Type is set to Scale. Test Value—The specific scaling factor to test for. Default=100%. Variation—The amount by which the value tested for can vary randomly. Default=0.0%.
230 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Send Out Test Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Send Out in an event or add Send Out to the particle system and then select it. The Send Out test simply sends all particles to the next event, or, conversely, keeps all particles in the current event. Use Send Out when you simply want to send particles to another event without any conditions. Tip: You can temporarily convert any test to Send Out.
Spawn Test Interface Once—Particles spawn one time only. For each existing particle, one new one is born. Delete Parent—When on, deletes each original particle from which a new one is spawned. Available only with the Once option. Per Second—Lets you specify a number of particles to spawn every second. For example, if you use the default Rate setting of 10.0, at 30 fps a new particle is born every three frames. Rate—The number of particles to spawn per second. Available only with the Per Second option.
232 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems For example, if Offspring #=20 and Variation=10, then the actual number of offspring for each particle would be between 18 and 22. Sync By—Choose the time frame to use when animating Rate, Step Size, Offspring #, and Variation: • Absolute Time—Any keys set for parameters are applied at the actual frames for which they’re set. • Particle Age—Any keys set for parameters are applied at the corresponding frames of each particle’s existence.
Speed Test Speed Test Particle View (page 2–125) > Click Speed Test in an event or add Speed Test to the particle system and then select it. Speed Test lets the particle system check particle speed, acceleration, or the rate of circular travel, and branch accordingly. The test provides a number of variants that let you test speed or acceleration on specific axes, or simply whether the particle is accelerating or decelerating. Interface velocity on the world Z axis is positive.
234 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems • True When Decelerates—Returns a True value when the particle velocity is decreasing in value. Test True if Particle Value—Lets you specify whether the test passes particles on to the next event if the speed test succeeds or fails. Available for all tests except True When Accelerates/Decelerates. Default=Is Greater Than Test Value.
Split Selected Test Interface First N Particles—Splits off the number of particles specified as the N value (below), starting with the first particle to enter the event, and retains the rest. Particles After N First—Splits off all particles starting with the first one after N particles, as specified with the N parameter (below). All particles starting with the first to enter the event up to N are retained in the event.
236 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Note: This test considers only particles selected at the Particle sub-object level. To use all particles in an event at a specific frame, go to that frame, go to the Event sub-object level, and highlight the event. Then go to the Particle sub-object level, and on the Selection rollout, click Get From Event Level. Interface Interface The user interface appears in the parameters panel, on the right side of the Particle View dialog.
Non-Event-Driven Particle Systems Interface Non-Event-Driven Particle Systems Create panel > Geometry > Particle Systems Create menu > Particles Snowstorm created as a particle system This topic describes only the general properties of particle systems. Other plug-in particle systems might be available in your configuration.
238 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Note: Particles can participate in dynamics simulations. See also Particle System Usage (page 2–238) Creating a Particle Emitter (page 2–239) Particle Flow (page 2–109) Using Particle Systems You create particle systems when you want to model an object or effect that can best be described as a large collection of similar objects behaving in a similar fashion.
Creating a Particle Emitter metaparticles. The metaparticles blob together forming a stream. Add a Path Follow (page 2–71) space warp to send the stream down a trough. You can choose whether Particle Cloud uses its icon or another selected object as the emitter. Procedures Explosions To create emitter icons: Particle Array (PArray) (page 2–256) uses another object as its particle emitter. You can set the particle type to use fragments of the emitter object to simulate the object exploding.
240 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems surface properties of the material, regardless of which object is used as the source of the material. Achieving Particle Motion Blur Particle motion blur is actually the result of varying the opacity and the length of particles based on their speed. To accomplish this requires coordination between material assignment and the settings in the particle systems.
Using Mapped Materials with Particle Systems where the particle emerges, then the particle is yellow. Again, Tetra particles are an exception and the distribution-object material is mapped from head to tail. Fragment particles use the same technique, with additional options when the Thickness setting is greater than 0. When Thickness is 0, all faces in the fragment are mapped the same as the portion of the object surface from which they’re derived.
242 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Using Multi/Sub-Object Materials with Particle Systems just like the source object. When used with other particle types, the particles are assigned sub-materials in the same way as when Icon is chosen. Note: Instanced objects with Multi/Sub-Object materials cannot be image motion blurred. Using Spawned Particles The examples in this topic start you out with a very simple spawning using the Super Spray particle system.
Using Interparticle Collision Example: Adding spawning effects: 1. On the Particle Spawn rollout, choose Spawn Using Interparticle Collision on Death. 2. Leave Spawns spinner at 1, and set the Multiplier to 2. 3. Set the Direction Chaos spinner to 50. 4. Drag the time slider slowly over frames 8 to 25 (approximately). At frame 10, two pyramids appear at the death of the original particle (because of the Multiplier setting), and move off in different directions (because of the Direction Chaos setting).
244 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 3. Drag the time slider so you can see the particle Tip: To animate particles following a path through spheres bounce off the deflector. Note that the rebounding particles move through each other. space, use the Path Follow space warp (page 2–71). 4. On the Rotation & Collision rollout, turn on Enable in the Interparticle Collisions group. View the animation again. This time, the particles bounce off each other.
Spray Particle System Interface • When the number of particles reaches the Render Count value, particle creation is suspended until some particles die. • When enough particles die, particle creation resumes until Render Count is reached again. Drop Size—Size of a particle in the active units. Speed—Initial velocity of each particle as it leaves the emitter. Particles travel at this speed unless they are affected by a particle system space warp.
246 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems is based on the Render Count and the lifetime of each particle. To be precise: maximum sustainable rate=Render Count/Life Because the number of particles in a frame never exceeds Render Count, if the Birth Rate exceeds the maximum rate, the system will run out of particles, pause until some die off, and then start again, generating particles in bursts or spurts. Start—Number of the first frame where particles appear.
Snow Particle System Interface Kinds of Snow Note: Blizzard (page 2–251) is a more powerful and advanced version of Snow. It provides all the functionality of Snow, plus additional features. Tip: To animate particles following a path through space, use the Path Follow space warp (page 2–71). Procedure To create snow: 1. In the Create panel, make sure the Geometry button is active and Particle Systems is selected from the object category drop-down list, then click Snow. 2.
248 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Works in combination with the particle system’s timing parameters. • When the number of particles reaches the Render Count value, particle creation is suspended until some particles die. Facing particles always face the camera (or the user’s perspective). They are provided especially for use with material maps. Use with an appropriate opacity map for bubbles or snowflakes.
Super Spray Particle System Turning Constant off does not mean that the birth rate varies automatically; the birth rate remains constant unless you animate the Birth Rate parameter. Tip: To animate particles following a path through space, use the Path Follow space warp (page 2–71). Emitter Group The emitter specifies the area where particles appear in the scene. It has a geometry you can display in viewports, but it isn’t renderable.
250 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems spray (based on the orientation of the emitter icon and indicated by the icon arrow) depends on the viewport in which you create the icon. Generally, the particles spray toward you when created in an orthographic viewport, or spray upward when created in a Perspective viewport. Basic Parameters rollout > Particle Formation group 3. Adjust the various parameters to alter the spray effect.
Blizzard Particle System Variation—Applies a percentage of variation to the Procedures speed of emission for each particle. To create a blizzard particle system: Blizzard Particle System Create panel > Geometry button > Choose Particle Systems from the drop-down list. > Object Type rollout > Blizzard Create menu > Particles > Blizzard This is an advanced version of the original Snow particle system. Tip: To animate particles following a path through space, use the Path Follow space warp (page 2–71).
252 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Basic Parameters rollout > Display Icon group Particle Generation rollout > Particle Motion group Specifies the number, size, and motion of particles. The emitter specifies the location where particles are generated in the scene. It has a geometry you can display in viewports, but it isn’t renderable. The emitter is displayed as a rectangle with a vector pointing out of one side. The vector shows the direction in which the system emits particles.
PCloud Particle System Tumble—Amount of random rotation of the particles. Tumble Rate—Speed at which the particles rotate. Particle Type rollout > Mat’l Mapping and Source group PCloud Particle System Create panel > Geometry button > Choose Particle Systems from the drop-down list. > Object Type rollout > PCloud Create menu > Particles > PCloud Use the PCloud (or Particle Cloud) particle system when you want a "cloud" of particles that fill a specific volume.
254 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems The emitter appears with a letter "C" representing the particle cloud. 3. Adjust the various parameters on the command panel. Interface PCloud viewport icon (object-based emitter) This section describes the Object-Based Emitter, Particle Formation, and Display Icon groups in the Basic Parameters rollout, and the Particle Motion group in the Particle Generation rollout. These are the only controls unique to PCloud.
PCloud Particle System Basic Parameters rollout Box Emitter—Chooses a box-shaped emitter. Sphere Emitter—Chooses a sphere-shaped emitter. Cylinder Emitter—Chooses a cylindrical emitter. Object-Based Emitter—Chooses the object selected in the Object-Based Emitter group. Note: With regard to animation of the object-based emitter, the particles will properly fill a deformed object at frame 0, but they can’t stay with the emitter while it’s moving.
256 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Particle Generation rollout > Particle Motion group Variation—Applies a percentage of variation to the direction when you choose either the Direction Vector or Reference Object option. This spinner is unavailable and has no effect when you choose Random Direction. PArray Particle System Create panel > Geometry button > Choose Particle Systems from the drop-down list.
PArray Particle System 2. On the Create panel, make sure the Geometry button is active and Particle Systems is chosen in the object category list, then click PArray. 3. Drag anywhere in a viewport to create the particle-system object; see Creating a Particle Emitter (page 2–239). 4. On the Basic Parameters rollout, click Pick How particles can be distributed on an object: Left: Edges Center: Vertices Right: Faces • You can use it to create sophisticated object explosions.
258 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 4. Select the PArray icon. 5. On the Particle Type rollout in the Mat’l Mapping And Source group, choose Picked Emitter. 6. In the Particle Type rollout > Particle Types group, turn on Object Fragments. 7. Make sure the three spinners in the Fragment they let you specify the initial distribution of the particles in relation to the geometry of the distribution object, and the initial velocity of the particles from the distribution object.
Basic Parameters Rollout (PArray) object-based emitter, and is used either as the source geometry over which particles form, or the source geometry used to create particles that appear to be fragments of the object. if Use Selected SubObjects is on and Particle Formation group > At Face Centers is on, the particles will stream only from the top cap of the cylinder. Default=off.
260 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Viewport Display group Interface Specifies how the particles are displayed in the viewports. Dots—Displays the particles as dots. Ticks—Displays the particles as crosses. Mesh—Displays the particles as mesh objects. This results in slower viewport redraws. BBox—For instanced geometry only, this displays each instanced particle, whether a single object, a hierarchy, or a group, as a bounding box.
Particle Generation Rollout Use Rate—Specifies a fixed number of particles Emit Stop—Sets the last frame at which particles emitted per frame. Use the spinner to set the number of particles formed per frame. are emitted. This setting has no effect if you choose the Object Fragments particle type. Use Total—Specifies a total number of particles Display Until—Specifies the frame at which all formed over the life of the system. Use the spinner to set the number of particles formed per frame.
262 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems to most. Thus, Emitter Rotation is more costly than Emitter Translation, which is more costly than Creation Time. Particle Size group These spinners specify the size of the particles. Particle Type Rollout Create panel > Geometry button > Choose Particle Systems from the drop-down list. > Object Type rollout > SuperSpray/Blizzard/Parray/PCloud > Particle Type rollout Select a SuperSpray/Blizzard/Parray/PCloud emitter.
Particle Type Rollout Interface choose, different controls become available in the lower portion of the Particle Type rollout. Standard Particles—Uses one of several standard particle types, such as triangle, cube, tetra, and so on. MetaParticles—Uses Metaball particles. These are particle systems in which the individual particles blend together in blobs or streams. Object Fragments—Creates particles out of fragments of an object. Object Fragments is available only with Particle Array.
264 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems single object, and each particle array can emit a different type of particle. Tip: Image motion blur, described in Object Properties (page 1–117) > Motion Blur group, is known not to work properly with instanced particles. Use object motion blur with instanced particles, or use image motion blur with standard particles. The default alignment of the tetra particles depends on the particle system type and emitter setup.
Particle Type Rollout of the particles, and the viewport coarseness is set to about twice that of the rendering coarseness. One Connected Blob—When off (the default), all particles are calculated; when on, a shortcut algorithm is used that calculates and displays only those particles that are adjoining or contiguous to each other. Note: One Connected Blob mode speeds particle calculations, but you should use it only when your metaparticles form one connected blob, as the label indicates.
266 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Instancing Parameters group • Animation of object-space modifiers, such as the Angle setting of a Bend modifier (page 1–560). • Transform animation of a hierarchical object’s children. Transform animation of the top-level parent and non-hierarchical objects is not supported.
Particle Type Rollout and the first particle is born at frame 30, when the object is at 45 degrees, then that particle, and all subsequent particles will be born starting at a bend of 45 degrees. overwrite the currently assigned material with an instance of the source material. Random—This option is the same as None when Note: The Time and Distance options are available only when you choose this option. Frame Offset is set to 0.
268 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems specific submaterial, you can assign it by changing the Outside ID number. Interface Edge ID—Specifies which submaterial ID number is assigned to the edges of the fragments. Backside ID—Specifies which submaterial ID number is assigned to the back sides of the fragments. Rotation and Collision Rollout Create panel > Geometry button > Choose Particle Systems from the drop-down list.
Object Motion Inheritance Rollout Spin Axis Controls group Interparticle Collisions group These options determine the spin axis for the particles, and provide a partial method of applying motion blur to the particles. These options enable collisions between particles, and control how the collisions occur. Note that this involves intensive calculation, particularly when large numbers of particles are involved. Random—The spin axis for each of the particles is random.
270 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems 3. Play the animation while observing it from the Top viewport. The emitter stops at frame 15, while the particles it has emitted up to that point continue moving along the diagonal between the emitter’s path and that of the particles. The remaining particles move straight out from the emitter. 4. On the Object Motion Inheritance rollout, set Influence to 50. 5. Play the animation again.
Particle Spawn Rollout Variation—The percent of Amplitude variation Interface applied to each particle. Period—The cycle time for one complete oscillation of a particle through the bubble "wave." A recommended value might be 20 to 30 intervals. Note: Bubble motion is measured in time, not in rate, so a very large Period value means the motion takes a long time to complete. Thus, there is no motion, effectively.
272 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems depending on Particle Bounce settings in the deflector, and on death they disappear. Die After Collision—Particles disappear when they strike a deflector to which they’re bound, such as the SDeflector. Affects—Specifies the percentage of particles that will spawn. Reducing this reduces the number of particles that produce spawned particles. Multiplier—Multiplies the number of particles spawned at each spawning event.
Particle Spawn Rollout Scale Chaos group Lifespan Value Queue group These options let you specify a list of alternative lifespan values for each spawned generation of particles. The spawned particles use these lifespans rather than the lifespan specified for the original particles in the Life spinner on the Particle Generation rollout (page 2–260). List window—Displays a list of lifespan values.
274 Chapter 11: Space Warps and Particle Systems Pick—Click this, and then select an object in the Interface viewport to add to the list. Note that the type of object you use is based on the settings in the Instancing Parameters group of the Particle Type rollout. For example, if you’ve turned on Subtree in that group, you can pick object hierarchies. Likewise, if you’ve picked a group, you can use groups as your spawned particles. Delete—Deletes the currently highlighted object in the list window.
Animation 3ds Max gives you a variety of different ways to create animation, and a wealth of tools for managing and editing animation. See the following links for documentation of some of the animation methods in 3ds Max: • Animation Concepts and Methods (page 2–275) provides information about basic animation with 3ds Max. • Animation in 3ds Max is accomplished by means of controllers; Working with Controllers (page 2–289) gives you an overview of how they work.
276 Chapter 12: Animation The basic way to animate is quite simple. You animate the transform parameters of any object to change its position, rotation, and scale over time. Turning on the Auto Key (page 3–717) button, then moving the time slider places you in a state in which any changes you make will create animation for the selected objects in the viewport. Animation is used throughout 3ds Max.
Animation Concepts The frames marked 1,2, and 3 are key frames. The other frames are tweens. The 3ds Max Method This program is your animation assistant. As the master animator, you create the keyframes that record the beginning and end of each animated sequence. The values at these keyframes are called keys. The software calculates the interpolated values between each key to produce the completed animation. 3ds Max can animate just about any parameter in your scene.
278 Chapter 12: Animation for function curve editing. See Track Bar (page 3–703). Motion Panel—Use this panel to adjust transform controllers that affect all position, rotation, and scale animation. See Working with Controllers (page 2–289). Hierarchy Panel—Use this panel to adjust all parameters governing the linkage of two or more objects. These include inverse kinematics parameters and pivot point adjustments. See Hierarchy Panel (page 3–773).
Using Auto Key Mode key is also created at time 0 to hold the parameter’s original value. whether or not the object or parameters have been animated yet. Keys are not created at time 0 until you create at least one key at another time. After that, you can move, delete, and re-create keys at time 0. • If you create a new object, or change an object parameter that has not been animated yet, you can work at any time with Auto Key off. The changes you make are constant through the entire animation.
280 Chapter 12: Animation can be animated is just to try it. Usually, if you want to animate a parameter, it can be animated. Sometimes you need to know in advance if you can animate a parameter. If so, you can use Track View. The Track View Hierarchy list displays every parameter that can be animated. You might also need to add a controller to a track before it can be animated. See Track View (page 2–501) and Animation Controllers (page 2–307).
Using Set Key Mode out poses in the viewport (transform the objects, change parameters, and so forth). When you like what you see, click the large Set Keys button or press K on the keyboard to set a key. If you don’t do this, no keys are set. If you move to another point in time, your changes are lost and have no effect on your animation.
282 Chapter 12: Animation When the button is red you are now in Set Key mode. This is a mode where you can try out ideas before you commit to them. 2. Open Track View (either Curve Editor or Dope When the button turns red, it sets a key which appears on the time ruler. The keys are color coded to reflect which tracks are being keyed. Sheet). 3. Click the Show Keyable button on the Track View toolbar. 4. Turn off all the other tracks you don’t want to keyframe.
Viewing and Copying Transform Keys between various object parameters. It also allows you to show the parameter in Track View (page 2–501) or in the Parameter Wiring dialog (page 2–412). Interface With the exceptions of Undo and Select All, each of the following commands takes effect on the parameter you right-click. It’s not necessary to first click in the value field. open the menu. For best results, first click in the field, and then right-click the field and choose Select All.
284 Chapter 12: Animation Use the Track View to view all key types. You can also see all keys for the current selection in the track bar (page 3–703). key values, right-click the time slider to display the Create Key dialog. For example, suppose you animate a sphere by moving it at frame 20, and scale and rotate it at frame 50. When you drag the time slider, white brackets appear around the sphere at frames 50, 20, and 0, and keys appear at the same frames in the track bar.
Controlling Time Creating Position Lock Keys and Rotation Lock Keys Creating a lock key creates a key with Linear interpolation. If you create the lock key while an existing key is selected, it changes that key’s interpolation from Smooth to Linear. (Different types of interpolation are described in Bezier Controllers (page 2–310).) You can create a lock key for position or for rotation.
286 Chapter 12: Animation For example, 2:16:2240 represents 2 minutes, 16 seconds, and 2,240 ticks. Setting Time Segments The active time segment specifies a block of working time. You might think of it as a window in time that you use to focus on a specific part of your animation. Specifying an Active Time Segment You specify the active time segment by setting the Start Time and End Time for the segment on the Time Configuration dialog (page 3–725).
Moving Through Time • Scale all animation in the active time segment to fit within a new time range. • Move the entire animation to a new time. Click Re-scale Time and then enter new Start Time and End Time values on the Re-scale Time dialog. When you click OK all the animation in the active time segment is moved and scaled to fit the new Start Time and End Time settings. Any animation outside the active time segment is moved to match the new active time segment boundaries.
288 Chapter 12: Animation through time and a center flyout for controlling animation playback: NTSC: U.S. and Japanese video standard of about 30 frames per second. Go To Start (page 3–722) PAL: European video standard of 25 frames per second. Previous Frame/Key (page 3–723) Play/Stop (page 3–723) Next Frame/Key (page 3–724) Film: Movie standard of 24 frames per second. Custom: Frame rate set in the FPS parameter.
Working with Controllers display mode, and so on. The worst case is a camera move in shaded mode, in which the viewport is filled with detailed geometry. In such cases, it’s best to simplify the viewport display, using either wireframe display or, in extreme cases, box display mode. The default controller for Rotation is Euler XYZ, which breaks the rotation down into three individual Bezier Float tracks. The default controller for Position is Position X,Y,Z. The Scale controller default is Bezier.
290 Chapter 12: Animation • Storing animation key values. • Storing procedural animation settings. • Interpolating between animation key values. Most animatable parameters don’t receive a controller until you animate them. As soon as you change an animatable parameter at any frame other than 0 with the Auto Key button on, or click in its track using Curve Editor > Add Keys, a default controller is assigned to the parameter.
Changing Controller Properties 1. On the Curve Editor toolbar, click the Filters icon. Then in the Filters dialog > Show group, turn on Controller Types. You can then see the name of the Controller type in the Hierarchy view. 2. Assign controllers to parameters. You can do this on the Assign Controller rollout of the Motion panel, or through the right-click menu in the Hierarchy list in Track View.
292 Chapter 12: Animation single parameter controllers such as a Bezier Float controller for Height or TCB for Rotation. These controllers use a Key Info dialog that contains settings for one of more selected keys. using the Auto Key button in the viewports and using the tools in the Curve Editor Keys and Curves menus, and in the track bar. To view key information in the Curve Editor: Assigning Controllers • Right-click a key to display the Key Info dialog.
Assigning Controllers Noise Rotation discards the Smooth Rotation animation values. Assigning Controllers in the Motion Panel You can assign controllers on the Motion panel by selecting an object and then, on the Assign Controller rollout, choosing a controller and clicking the Assign Controller button. You can change the controllers of only one selected object. Assigning Controllers Using the Animation Menu You can assign controllers using the Animation menu.
294 Chapter 12: Animation Paste Target: Replace All Instances—When selected, all instances of the target controller receive the paste controller, whether or not they are selected. This keeps all instances of the target controller as instances. When off, the target controller is made unique and the remaining instances are unchanged. Specifying Default Controller Values You can specify the default settings for many controller types, or reset controllers to their factory settings on the Preferences dialog.
General-Purpose Controllers General-Purpose Controllers The following controllers are general purpose in that you can apply them to parameters of different data types, yet they behave in essentially the same way for those different parameters. Within certain general-purpose controllers there might be variations according to the data type used by a parameter. See Animation Controllers (page 2–307) for detailed descriptions of controller properties.
296 Chapter 12: Animation You can adjust the interpolation between keys using the Key Info dialog. For hands-on experience using weighted list controllers see the bouncing ball exercise in the tutorials. Audio Controllers The Audio controller (page 2–309) converts the amplitude of a recorded sound file or real-time sound wave into values that can be used by an animated parameter. Use the Audio controller to synchronize parameter values with a sound file.
Explicit Axis Keys Explicit Axis Keys The XYZ controllers assign an individual track to the X, Y, and Z components of the position, rotation, or scale of an object. However, the controllers always assign three keys (one for each axis), by default. In previous versions of the software, you had to manually edit the keys in order to create explicit axis keys.
298 Chapter 12: Animation Waveform was originally created to control blinking lights. Use it for any value that you want to vary in a regular, oscillating pattern. Controlling Transforms Transform controllers are compound controllers. They set the type and behavior of the controllers used for Position, Rotation, and Scale. You assign Transform controllers using either Track View — Curve Editor or the Motion panel. Compound Transform controllers do not display properties in Track View.
Controlling Rotation Controlling Rotation • You can directly rotate objects in the viewports to change rotation values. Below the Transform controller is the Rotation controller. Rotation is a data type that can use most of the standard controllers such as TCB, Linear, and Noise. • You cannot display controller or key properties, or function curves. Rotations in 3D are very complex. Even the standard controller types behave differently when used for rotation.
300 Chapter 12: Animation Point3: A general-purpose, three-component data type that works with RGB color values. It uses most of the standard controllers. Color: A special data type designed specifically for working with RGB and HSV color values. Color uses the Bezier and RGB controllers. Color Point3 Controller You can assign any of a variety of Point3 controllers to a material’s color channels, including Point3 Expression, Point3 List, Color RGB (described later in this topic), and so on.
Trajectories You can also click Add Keys in Track View to create new Barycentric Morph keys. The added keys contain interpolated values for all targets. • Convert the path to a spline object. • Derive a new path from a spline object. • Collapse transforms. Values under Sample Range are used in the Spline Conversion and Collapse Transform functions.
302 Chapter 12: Animation To add a key to a trajectory: 1. Select an object. 2. Display the trajectory by following the previous steps. 4. Select one or more keys and use the transform tools on the Main toolbar to move, rotate, or scale the selected keys. Interface 3. In the Motion panel, click Trajectories. 4. Click Sub-Object to activate Keys and enable editing. 5. Click Add Key. The button highlights. 6. Click the trajectory. Wherever you click the trajectory a key will be added. 7.
PRS Parameters Rollout Samples—Sets the number of samples for the conversion. When converting in either direction, the source is sampled at regular intervals, and keys or control points are created on the target object. Collapse—Collapses the transform of the selected object. Position, Rotation, Scale—Specifies which transforms you want to collapse. You must choose at least one check box to activate the Collapse button.
304 Chapter 12: Animation Interface controller. The Key Info controls for a TCB position controller are different. See also Key Info (Advanced) Rollout/Dialog (page 2–306) Procedure To set the tangent type for a key: 1. Select an object and open the Key Info (Basic) rollout. Create Key/Delete Key—Creates or deletes a move, rotate, or scale key at the current frame. These buttons become active or inactive depending on the existence of a key type at the current frame.
Tangent Types Note: In the Key Info dialog for the Bezier Scale controller, a Lock button is displayed beside the X Scale spinner. If you click Lock X, only the X value affects all three axes of scale. The Y and Z values are ignored and their function curves are not displayed. When X is locked, the Y and Z values aren’t affected by changes in the X value. If you click Lock X when all three axes are at identical values, alter the X value, and then unlock X.
306 Chapter 12: Animation when you want to animate On/Off switching or instantaneous changes from one value to the next. Slow—Causes the interpolated rate of change to slow down around the key. A slow In tangent decelerates as it approaches the key. A slow Out tangent begins slow and accelerates as it leaves the key. Key Info (Advanced) Rollout/Dialog Select an object > Motion panel > Parameters > Key Info (Advanced) rollout Select an animated object in the viewport. > Right-click a key in track bar.
Animation Controllers Interface Free Handle—Used for automatically updating the length of the tangent handle. When this is turned off, the length of the tangent is at a fixed percentage from its neighboring key. As you move a key, the handles adjust to stay the same percentage away from the neighboring keys. When this is turned on, the handle lengths are based on time lengths. Animation Controllers Track View > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
308 Chapter 12: Animation • Point3 controllers: for animating three-component values such as colors or 3D points Motion Capture Controller (page 2–347) • Position controllers: for animating positions of objects and selection sets Noise Controller (page 2–353) • Rotation controllers: for animating rotation of objects and selection sets Orientation Constraint (page 2–409) • Scale controllers: for animating the scale of objects and selection sets • Transform controllers: for animating general transform
Audio Controller Audio Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Audio Graph Editors > Track View – Curve Editor > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Audio Use the Audio controller to drive the animation of almost any parameter in the software.
310 Chapter 12: Animation Morpher Modifier (page 1–729) The Barycentric Morph controller represents each key as a series of weights for all targets. One barycentric key represents a new object which is a blending of all targets. You can adjust each morph key to various percentages of the available morph targets. This lets you create subtle adjustments in the animation. Bezier Controllers Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
Bezier Controllers 2. On the Motion panel, in the Key Info (Advanced) rollout, click Normalize Time. The key is moved in time to average the velocity through the key. Interface Motion panel > Parameters > Key Info (Basic) rollout A Key Info dialog with identical parameters to this rollout is available by right-clicking a key in Track View or the track bar. See Tangent Types (page 2–305) for detailed information on each of the available tangent choices.
312 Chapter 12: Animation Motion panel > Parameters > Key Info (Advanced) rollout Normalize Time—Averages the position of the keys in time and is applicable to any consecutive blocks of selected keys. Useful if you want to smooth out the motion and have an object that speeds up, slows down, speeds up, and slows down. Constant Velocity—Interpolates values between a key and the next one in a way that makes the object move at a constant velocity across that curve segment.
Block Controller Block Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Expand Global Tracks in the Track View hierarchy. > Block Control Graph Editors > Track View – Curve Editor > Expand Global Tracks in the Track View hierarchy. > Block Control Master Block Parameters Dialog After assigning a Master Block, right-click the MasterBlock track to display the Master Block Parameters dialog (page 2–390). This is the first step in creating a block.
314 Chapter 12: Animation Procedures Example: To create a block: 1. Animate two objects moving in the viewports. Make the final keyframe for the objects frame 10. 2. Open Track View — Dope Sheet. 3. On the Track View hierarchy, expand Global Tracks, expand Block Control, and then select Available. Available is the track below the Block Control track. 4. From the Track View toolbar, choose Controller menu > Assign, select Master Block in the dialog, and then click OK.
Block Controller To remove an inserted block: MasterBlock Subtracks • Click to select the block, then press Delete . Below the main MasterBlock track are subtracks. The first of these is always Blend. The remaining subtracks are initially copies of the tracks used to create the block. Interface Blend track—Lets you animate the influence of the block. You can reduce the block’s influence by creating Blend keys with values less than 1.0. Default=1.0.
316 Chapter 12: Animation Boolean Controller float or boolean class controller, such as sphere’s Hemisphere or Smooth track. Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track containing a float value in the Track View hierarchy > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Boolean controller Boolean controller key values can be changed in on of two ways: through Track View’s Dope Sheet editor or through MAXScript.
Color RGB Controller (Point3 XYZ Controller) To change Boolean controller key values via MAXScript: The Bezier Float controller is a single parameter controller. • Enter the following into either the MAXScript Listener or Mini Listener:..keys[].
318 Chapter 12: Animation There are actions available from the Customize User Interface dialog (page 3–792) that let you create explicit axis keys. See Bezier Controller (page 2–310) for a description of these parameters. The Gimbal reference coordinate system (page 1–443) is meant for use with this controller. With other coordinate systems, rotating about one axis always changes at least two tracks.
Euler XYZ Rotation Controller This sets the Amplitude setting to 5729.598 (the number of degrees in 100 radians). Euler Rotation and the Noise Float Controller When a Noise Float controller is applied to an Euler axis, the default Strength setting is 286.479 or 50 percent of 10 radians in degrees (maximum deflection). Euler Rotation and the MIDI Motion Capture Controller When a MIDI Motion Capture controller is applied, the Parameter Scaling is taken in radians so that the Max. default setting of 1.
320 Chapter 12: Animation 8. In the Rotation List rollout, highlight Euler XYZ in the Layers window, then click Set Active. Expression Controller 9. In the Euler Parameters rollout, change the Axis Order to ZYX. Now you can animate the rotation independent of the LookAt rotation control. It should now behave the same as the Local Euler controller that was available in versions 4 and earlier. Interface Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
Expression Controller Scene element Controller Creation parameters Any numeric creation parameter Transforms Position [X, Y, Z] X Rotation Y Rotation 2. Click Assign To Controller. The Track View Pick subdialog is displayed, showing the track hierarchy. The dialog display is similar to the Track View hierarchy. 3. Highlight the track for the variable to use, and then click OK.
322 Chapter 12: Animation 8. Play the animation. The sphere moves in a circle about the world origin (0,0,0). The radius of the circular path is 100 units. Example continued: To change the radius of the circle: The two 100s in the position expression from the previous procedure specify the radius. To adjust the radius of the circle’s path, create a symbolic variable to represent the radius. The variable has a constant value that is easy to edit. 1.
Expression Controller Tip: You can resize the dialog by dragging an edge or a corner. Create Variables group Name—The variable name. Scalar/Vector—Choose the type of variable to Function List—Displays a list of Expression controller functions. In the list, p, q, and r represent scalar values or scalar expressions; V and W represent vector values or vector expressions. create. Save—Saves an expression. Expressions are saved as files with a ..xpr file name extension.
324 Chapter 12: Animation Expression Controller Techniques This topic summarizes some useful expression techniques. The following topics review trigonometric functions and vector arithmetic. If you’re familiar with these subjects you can skip the review topics. Use these expressions when you have applied an Expression controller using the Assign Controller rollout in the Motion panel. Commonly Used Expressions This topic lists some expressions that you might find useful in situations when you animate.
Layer Controller The values in the second argument are chosen so that as the distance decreases toward the threshold of 35, the number of segments increases toward MaxSegs. The addition "3+" ensures that the cylinder always has at least three segments, even when the division rounds to zero (Segments is an integer). Note: To the expression, it doesn’t matter whether the camera is moving, or the cylinder, or both. recommended if the objects are to be returned to 3ds Max.
326 Chapter 12: Animation Delete—Deletes the highlighted controller. A confirmation dialog prompts you before. Copy—Copies the highlighted controller’s data and enables Paste. Paste—Puts the copied content onto the highlighted controller. Weight—Sets the effects of the highlighted Layer controller Average Weights—When on, the weight values of all the controllers in the list. Available only when you assign a Layer controller to a position track. Default=off.
Animation Layers Base Layer), preserving any animation data it may already contain. Diffuse Color track), or at a branch level (such as a Position track). Note: The Base Layer is not a new layer; it is on the same level as any other controller track. Note: If you layer-enable a controller but do not see a Layer controller appear in the Track View hierarchy window, open and close the Enable Anim Layers dialog again. The Layer controller affects a point 3 branch.
328 Chapter 12: Animation Note: You cannot nest a Layer controller within a List controller or another Layer controller. • You can turn on or off any layer in the expanded list by clicking its light bulb icon. Turning off a layer hides its animation without deleting it. Working with Animation Layers The animation layers list works as follows (Refer to the procedure section below (page 2–329) for common workflow examples): • The list displays all existing layers for the selected object.
Animation Layers • the two controllers are of similar types (Bezier, Float, TCB, etc.). • they have the same tangent type. • the Blend Euler As Quat option of the Layer Controller dialog (page 2–325) is turned off. However, many factors can cause a collapse per frame (that is, setting a key on every frame): • If one controller type is TCB (Quaternion) and the other is Bezier (Euler).
330 Chapter 12: Animation 5. On the Enable Anim Layers dialog, turn on drop-down list. The new Layer controller now nests your teapot’s animation. The list currently contains both the original base layer and Noise Layer from the previous procedure. Example: To add a layer and change its controller type: This continues from the previous procedure, in which you enabled layers for an animated object. 1. 1. On the Animation Layers toolbar, expand the only the Position track, and click OK. 2.
Animation Layers 5. A dashed line appears. Click the teapot and Try including and excluding both layers in the list to see the results. choose the X Output Track from the pop-up menu. Example: To copy and paste a layer and update an active layer: This procedure continues from the previous procedure and focuses solely on the teapot. 1. Make sure the teapot is selected and choose Base Layer from the animation layers list to make it active. 6.
332 Chapter 12: Animation 2. Click Collapse Anim Layer on the Animation Layers toolbar. This merges the layer onto the next available one (Base Layer), skipping Noise Layer, which is off. Note: Once you turn on a track, you can turn it off only by disabling the respective Layer controller. If you enable animation layers for an object that has animation loaded in the Motion Mixer (page 2–604), the following dialog opens: 3. Turn Noise Layer back on in the list.
Layer Properties Dialog Note: You cannot paste a copied layer from one Select Active Layer Objects—Selects all object onto another’. objects in your scene containing the active layer. [animation layer list]—Displays all existing layers Paste New Layer—Creates a new layer with for the selected object. Each layer in the list contains toggle icons to turn it on or off, as well as include or exclude it from the controller’s output track. See Working with Animation Layers (page 2–328) for more details.
334 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Start/End—Sets the collapse range boundaries. Collapse To Keys Only, When Possible—When you collapse a layer, the keys are merged only when the respective controllers are of the same type, same tangent types, and Blend Eulers As Quats is on. Default=on. Mute Layers Above Active Layer—When on, you see the effects of the layers only up to the active layer, inclusively. This is similar to the Visible Before/After options of the biped Layers rollout (page 2–974).
Limit Controller Note: All animation layer names persist in the Layer Name list even after you delete their host object. Resetting the scene clears the list. [controller type]—Determines the controller type to assign to each track within the animation layer. • Duplicate the Active Controller Type—The new layer’s controller type becomes the same as the one from the active layer, on a per-track basis.
336 Chapter 12: Animation Use Cases Following is a brief list of examples of specific uses for the Limit controller: • Select the Y Rotation tracks of all finger bones in a character’s hands and assign a Limit controller. Use Set Key mode to pose the fingers at the extremes of their ranges of motion and then use the right-click menu (page 2–340) > Set Upper/Lower Limit commands to limit the fingers’ motion. Note: Limits are included for Set Key via the Other category.
Limit Controller indicate that it’s now a Limit controller, and is expandable (see illustration in following step). 3. Expand the track. The hierarchy contains a child track, named Limited Controller, and a new, expandable child branch named Limits. 4. Click the X Position track and then the Limited Controller track to compare them. Because the original X-axis movement falls within the default limits, the two tracks are identical. The graph curve is now clipped below the lower limit.
338 Chapter 12: Animation 13. Highlight the X Position track, and then right-click and choose Limit Controller > Copy Limit Only. 14. Highlight the Y Position track, and then right-click and choose Limit Controller > Paste Limit Only. When the Paste dialog opens, click OK to confirm the paste as a copy. In this example, we’ve set it at about 13. The graph curve is now clipped above the upper limit and below the lower limit. The resulting motion is likewise constrained. 8. Scrub the animation.
Limit Controller Float Limit Controller dialog Note that there’s an upper limit to this value; in this case, it’s 34.434. This limit is determined by the values of the other three settings on the dialog. 19. Try increasing the Lower Limit group > Smoothing Buffer. It’s not possible with the upper smoothing value at its maximum. 20. Decrease the upper smoothing value, and then increase the lower smoothing value.
340 Chapter 12: Animation You can animate this value via keyframing and other standard methods, and manipulate this animation in Track View via the Upper Limit track in the controller’s Limits branch. Smoothing Buffer—Specifies a smoothing value, so that clipped values at the beginning and end of a clipped range gradually increase and decrease instead of leveling off abruptly. The maximum total smoothing is determined by the Upper and Lower Limit values.
Linear Controller Toggle Limit—Turns the Limit controller on and off. This is the same as the Enable check box on the Float Limit Controller dialog. Set Upper Limit—Sets a value/key in the Upper Limit track at the current frame equal to the value at the current frame of the limited track. If there is only one key, the value of the limit is constant over time. Set Lower Limit—Sets a value/key in the Lower Linear Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
342 Chapter 12: Animation You can also assign this controller in Track View. Interface No Properties dialog is available for Linear controllers. You can, however, move keys in Track View to change the animation. Time—Change linear key time. Move keys horizontally in Track View Edit Keys or Function Curves mode. Value—Change linear animation values by moving keys vertically in Track View Function Curves mode, change the parameter value in the viewport with Auto Key on.
List Controller 7. Click the track named Available and then click the Assign Controller button. 8. Choose Noise Position in the Assign Controller dialog, and then click OK. The Noise Controller dialog opens. 9. Play the animation. The box follows the original animated path but vibrates randomly. Experiment with different Weight settings for each controller and see the results.
344 Chapter 12: Animation controller in the list will blend to and from that pose (controller in list). If the last weight is 100.0, then adjusting the weights of the previous poses in the list won’t have any effect because the last pose has full effect. This is a stack-based approach that is best used for nonlinear animation (NLA) effects. You can paste motion clips or even single-frame poses onto new layers and use the weights to blend the poses together.
Look At Controller orientation setting that can be controlled directly by the user is Roll, or bank. Interface Example: To prevent flipping of targeted objects during rotation: 1. Add a Target Camera object (page 2–1371). 2. Activate the Move tool and use the coordinate display (page 3–708) to position the camera and target at 0,0,0 and 80,0,0, respectively. 3. Add a Dummy object (page 2–16) and position it at 0,0,0. 4.
346 Chapter 12: Animation Axis—Specifies the local axis that looks at the target. The Flip check box is used to flip the directions of the axis. Use Target as Up Node—When turned on, the controller forces the object on which it acts (source node) to keep one of its local axes aligned with the look-at direction (the vector between the source node and the target node). it also prevents the source node from rotating around the look-at direction, to avoid flipping about the object’s local Z axis.
Motion Capture Controller 7. Right-click the sphere, and select Curve Editor in the dialog. Track View — Curve Editor is displayed with the sphere at the top of the Controller window. 8. Change modes to Dope Sheet and expand all the sphere tracks in the Track View hierarchy. The Master Point Controller track is displayed, with tracks for the animated vertices below it. Motion Capture Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
348 Chapter 12: Animation 4. In the Utilities panel, access the Motion Capture utility. You can test and record your motion for any combination of tracks over any range of frames. 5. When you assign a Motion Capture controller, the previously assigned controller is maintained as a child of the Rotation controller. You can continue to adjust the rotation of the object using standard transform controls, while still making motion-capture control available.
Motion Capture Controller This rollout controls animation using the horizontal or vertical motion of the mouse. The available settings include: List—Open the list to select a key. Envelope Graph group motion drives the animation. The Envelope Graph group displays a representation of the amplitude curve over time. Scale—Scales the relative effect of the mouse Envelope Parameters group Horizontal/Vertical—Specifies which mouse movement to the animation response.
350 Chapter 12: Animation 1, 2, 3, 4—Specifies one of four buttons in the Sidewinder joystick. They work similarly to the Point-of-View Hat, except that each button increases a direction value only while pressed. When you release the button, the value returns to zero (centered). X, Y, Z—Specifies which joystick direction drives the animation. (Standard joysticks provide X and Y axes only. The Sidewinder provides the Z axis when you twist the joystick.
Motion Capture Controller Note: The items in this group are only available when Accumulate is selected in the Joystick Axis group. MIDI Device rollout Controller—Assigns a Rotation Motion Capture controller where the direction will be derived. Typically, this would be the Rotation controller of the camera you’re moving. Note: You can only use a Rotation Motion Capture controller here. Clear—Removes the assigned controller. Direction X/Y/Z—Specifies the local axis that will be used as the direction.
352 Chapter 12: Animation the Min value specified in the Parameter Scaling group. When the note is at the top of the range, the value takes on the Max value from the same group. Anything in between is interpolated between the Min and Max values. (Note that Min doesn’t have to be less than Max.) The generated value will slide around as different keys are pressed. The harder a key is pressed, the faster the value changes. Speed—Defines how fast the value changes as keys are pressed.
Noise Controller MIDI Note group The 11 Octave buttons let you select which octave you want to view. When a note is played in that octave, a corresponding progress bar lights up in the Note column. MIDI Controller—When using a different type of MIDI controller, such as a slider box, you can specify a note event, and then watch the corresponding progress bar light up when you activate that event.
354 Chapter 12: Animation 2. In the Motion panel > Parameters > Assign Controller rollout, select the rotation track in the list window. 3. Click Assign Controller. 4. Select Noise rotation from the list of controllers. The Noise Controller dialog automatically opens. 5. Play the animation. The box rotates randomly around all three axes. Because the non-modal Noise Controller dialog is still open, you can adjust parameters and see the results in real time.
On/Off Controller On/Off Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > On/Off Graph Editors > Track View – Curve Editor > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > On/Off Procedure Example: To use the On/Off controller to control an object’s visibility: 1. Create a cylinder, and open Track View. 2.
356 Chapter 12: Animation Position XYZ Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a position track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Position XYZ 6. Click Assign Controller, and then select Noise Float. 7. Play the animation. The sphere moves around the keys that were created earlier. The random up and down movement in the Z axis is generated by the noise controller on the Z track.
PRS Controller PRS Controller Interface Motion panel > PRS Parameters rollout Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a transform track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Position/Rotation/Scale Graph Editors > Track View – Curve Editor > Select a transform track in the Track View hierarchy.
358 Chapter 12: Animation Reaction Controllers Track View > Highlight a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Assign a Reaction-type controller (e.g., Position Reaction). Select an object. > Motion panel > Assign Controller rollout > Highlight a track. > Click Assign Controller > Choose a Reaction-type controller (e.g., Position Reaction). ground plane. Feet can rotate as their heels are lifted from the floor. A particle system can be triggered by any given event.
Reaction Controllers 5. On the Assign Controller rollout, click the Assign Controller button. 6. On the Assign Position Controller dialog, click Position Reaction to highlight it, and then click OK. This is an example of the basis of the control mechanism used by the Reaction controller: For each master/slave combination, you can specify any number of states defined by values for the master and slave tracks.
360 Chapter 12: Animation 13. On the Reaction Manager dialog, click the Sphere01 / Position entry to highlight it, if necessary, and then click the Edit Mode button. 14. Position the sphere at (0,0,100). The position updates in the Sphere01 / Position line under State02. Also, the Reaction Manager graph shows the change in values of the slave’s (sphere) X and Z position values as the master box’s X position changes. On the graph, as in Track View, red=X, green=Y, and blue=Z. 15.
Reaction Manager Dialog Interface 2. In the Perspective viewport, add a box and a sphere object. Also add a Slider manipulator (page 2–31), and give it the label Slider. After assigning a Reaction controller, right-click the track and then choose Properties, or choose Animation > Reaction Manager, to open the Reaction Manager dialog (page 2–361).
362 Chapter 12: Animation 7. On the upper toolbar, click Add Slave, and then click the box in the Perspective viewport. 8. On the pop-up menu that appears, choose Transform > Position > X Position. In the Reactions list, the slave entry Box01 / X Position appears under the master entry. Also, a new state appears in the States list for the newly added slave track. This simply says that, when the slider value is 0, the box’s X position should be what it is currently.
Reaction Manager Dialog Note: Your value probably differs from that shown in the illustration. 22. In the Reactions (upper) list, click the Box01 / X Position entry to highlight it, and then move the box about -50 units on the X axis, to about X=-100. 16. Drag upward to increase the value, or downward to decrease the value. Change the value to about -50.0. Highlighting the slave entry lets you manipulate the slaved value interactively in the viewport while Create Mode is on.
364 Chapter 12: Animation 27. On the Modify panel, set Hemisphere to 0.75. 28. In the Perspective viewport, drag the slider all 32. the way to the right. 29. Click Create State. Reaction Manager adds a third state, State03, with the state (slider) value at 100.0 and the Sphere01 / Hemisphere value at 0.750. Click the Add Point button, and then click the middle of the graph curve (it’s the red, diagonal line). This adds a new point to the curve and a new state in the States list. 33.
Reaction Manager Dialog the graph. Each has its own toolbar or toolbars. Each list contains rows and columns; the column headings employ standard Windows functionality. To resize a column, drag the divider to the right of its heading, or auto-size a column to fit its widest entry by double-clicking the right-side heading divider.
366 Chapter 12: Animation right-click the highlighted “Unassigned” label, and then choose Replace Master from the context menu. Finally, choose the master track. Add Slave—Places you in Add Slave mode, letting you assign a slave track to the currently highlighted master in the Reactions list. Highlight a master and then click Add Slave. Click an object in a viewport, and then use the pop-up menu to choose an animation track to use as slave.
Reaction Manager Dialog in the States list, click the field to toggle the X. Available for slaves only. States list adjust values for the current reaction (master and slaves) in the viewports, and then click Create State. You can repeat this to create any number of new states quickly and efficiently.
368 Chapter 12: Animation As you manipulate the object, the value is updated immediately and the new value is displayed in the States list. If slaves in multiple states are highlighted, values are updated for those in the first state only. Set State—Updates the highlighted state (master track) to its current value. To use this option, highlight the master track in the Reactions list and the state in the States list.
Using Manipulators with Reaction Controllers dialog interface. To open the right-click menu, right-click anywhere on the Reaction Manager dialog except in the graph section. Set State—Updates the highlighted state (master track) to its current value. For details, see Set State. Add Master—Places you in Add Master mode. States list. Delete State—Deletes any highlighted items in the Click an object in a viewport, and then use the pop-up menu to choose an animation track to use as master.
370 Chapter 12: Animation Tip: Use the reactor manipulators in a wireframe viewport. (See Viewport Right-Click Menu (page 3–731).) Also, for the Position Reaction controller, you might have to change viewports to see a particular manipulator clearly. The specific manipulators and their use are described below. Manipulators for Reactor Controllers Reaction controllers for position and rotation tracks have graphic manipulators to help you adjust their settings.
Scale XYZ Controller Scale XYZ Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a scale track in the Track View hierarchy > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Scale XYZ Graph Editors > Track View – Curve Editor > Select a scale track in the Track View hierarchy > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Scale XYZ Track View - Curve Editor opens with the sphere as the first item in the hierarchy. 3. In the Track View hierarchy, click the Scale track. 4.
372 Chapter 12: Animation Refer to the MAXScript Reference for a complete explanation of this scripting language. Script Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy. > Track View menu bar > Controller menu > Assign > Script Graph Editors > Track View - Curve Editor > Select a track in the Track View hierarchy.
Script Controller you use the Script controller variable toolset to create variables to assign to any particular node or controller track. This way, if you decide to later on rename your scene objects, the script controllers using these objects are preserved because the variables maintain the link to the nodes. Otherwise, if you assign, for example, a node to a variable manually in the dialog’s Expression window, that link becomes broken as soon as you rename that particular node.
374 Chapter 12: Animation Note: The Time Offset has no effect on variables that are assigned a constant. Assign Controller—Lets you assign a track to the highlighted variable. Variables List—Lists all available variables in the Assign Node—Lets you assign a node to the highlighted variable. controller.
Spring Controller functions the same as Linear Rotation, but uses non-adjustable curved interpolation, and has the following characteristics: • Displays no controllers, key properties, or function curves while increasing the dampening smoothes out jitters in the motion. You can add external forces like Gravity (page 2–73) and Wind (page 2–75) to affect the motion, and also add additional objects whose motions act as springs.
376 Chapter 12: Animation Point group Mass—The mass of the object to which the Spring controller is applied. Increasing the mass causes the "bouncing" spring motion to become more exaggerated. Drag—Acts as air friction on the spring motion. A low Drag setting results in a greater "bouncing" effect, while a high Drag results in subdued bouncing. Default=1. Range=0 to 10.
TCB Controllers affect the object’s motion. To finish adding space warps, click Add again, right-click in a viewport, or press Esc . Remove—Removes highlighted space warps from the list. (List)—Lists all spring space warps by name. Calculation Parameters group Start Frame—The frame at which the Spring controller first takes effect. Default=0. Iterations—The accuracy of the controller application. If you get unexpected results, try increasing this setting. Default=2. Range=0 to 4.
378 Chapter 12: Animation Interface The following descriptions refer to both the TCB graph and the function curve as the animation curve. Note: When you are changing the properties of a selection of multiple keys, the TCB graph is blank unless all properties are equal. Ease To—Slows the velocity of the animation curve as it approaches the key. Default=0. High Ease To causes the animation to decelerate as it approaches the key. The default setting causes no extra deceleration.
Transform Script Controller similar to high tension except without the Ease To and Ease From side effect. The default setting creates a smooth continuous curve at the key. Bias—Controls where the animation curve occurs with respect to the key. Default=25. High Bias pushes the curve beyond the key. This produces a linear curve coming into the key and an exaggerated curve leaving the key. Low Bias pulls the curve before the key.
380 Chapter 12: Animation time with the standard MAXScript variable, current Time. You can also reference scene property values at other times by using "at time" expressions in your scripts, as in regular MAXScript programming. Interface Assign Nodes and Tracks to Variables When you need to refer to nodes in your scene or to animation tracks, it is recommended that you use the Script controller variable toolset to create variables to assign to any particular node or controller track.
Waveform Controller Assign Constant—Opens a dialog which lets you Debug—Opens the Script Controller Debug assign a constant to the highlighted variable. Window, which displays the value of all variables used in your script. Evaluate—Evaluates the script expression. The evaluation is computed for the current position of the time slider. Close—Compiles and checks the controller script Value expression—Enter any MAXScript value (such as an integer, a float, an array, etc.) or expression.
382 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To use the Waveform controller to animate the visibility of a sphere: Insert—Inserts a new waveform before the selected waveform slot. Remove—Deletes the selected waveform. This is 1. Create a sphere. not available when only one waveform remains. 2. Open Track View, and select the Sphere track. Move Up and Move Down—Shifts the selected 3. On the Tracks menu choose Visibility Track > waveform up and down in the list, allowing the waveform order to be altered.
XRef Controller Centered—Centers the waveforms vertical bias about zero. For example, a 100 unit amplitude waveform would range from -100 to 100. Auto > 0—Shifts the waveform above the zero line. waveform curve. The graph automatically scales vertically to fit the waveform output curve, and scales horizontally to two times the period of the longest-period waveform. Auto < 0—Shifts the waveform below the zero line. Manual—Lets you set the waveform manually by adjusting the spinner.
384 Chapter 12: Animation You can create an XRef controller with or without an XRef object: • You can externally reference a source object’s animation without the object itself by assigning an XRef controller to your current selection (page 2–384). • You can create an XRef object, which automatically nests the source object’s Transform controller in an XRef controller. The XRef Objects dialog’s XRef Entities list (page 3–402) lists both XRefs as separate entries. 4.
XRef Controller To add and reset a Transform offset to an XRef Object’s Animation Interface 1. Create a sphere at [0,0,0] and animate it from [0,0,0] to [5,5,5] 2. Save your scene, then choose File > Reset. 3. Choose File > XRef Objects. 4. In the XRef Objects dialog, make sure Merge Transforms is off, then click the Create XRef Record From File and select the scene you just saved. The sphere appears in your master scene at [0,0,0]. 5. Move the sphere to [10,10,10].
386 Chapter 12: Animation Object Name display—Displays the file name of the Interface source object. Path button—Opens an XRef Merge dialog (page 3–406) pointing to the scene in the XRef File Name field. Here, you can specify a different object to be used as the XRef object. status line—Displays status information regarding the XRef controller: • “Unresolved XRef, File Not Found”: Cannot find the scene file containing the specified object name.
Audio Controller Dialog The maximum potential amplitude for an 8-bit file is 128; for a 16-bit file, it’s 32768. Real Time Control group Use this group to create interactive animation that’s driven by sound captured from an external audio source, such as a microphone. Use these options only for interactive presentations. You can’t save the real-time sound or save the animation produced by the controller. Enable Real Time Device—Sets whether sound is captured from an external audio source.
388 Chapter 12: Animation Attach Controls Dialog (Block Controller) system attempts to match the controls based on their names. Delete—Deletes a track from the list. Track View > Global Tracks > Block Control > Click and then right-click MasterBlock track. > Properties > Load > Choose a file. > OK > Attach Controls dialog Move Up, Move Down—Move tracks up and down Track View > Global Tracks > Block Control > Double-click MasterBlock track. > Properties > Load > Choose a file.
Block Parameters Dialog (Block Controller) Interface values can be negative as well as greater than 100 percent. Constrain to 100%—Limits total weight of all targets to 100 percent. As you increase or decrease the percentage of a selected target, the other targets adjust accordingly. The adjustment takes the form of balancing all of the target percentages so that their relative weights remain the same.
390 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Interface Name Field—Names the block. Start, End—Set the range of the block in frames. Color—Selects a color for the Block. Displays a color selection dialog. OK—Saves the parameters and closes the dialog. Cancel—Closes the dialog without saving the parameters. Master Block Parameters Dialog (Block Controller) Track View > Global Tracks > Block Control > Master Block > Click and then right-click the Master Block track.
Master Track Key Info Dialog (Master Point Controller) Master Track Key Info Dialog (Master Point Controller) Track View - Dope Sheet > Right-click a master track key in the Dope Sheet Key window. > Master Track Key Info dialog With Track View in Dope Sheet mode, right-click a green master key of a Master Point controller (page 2–346) to display the Master Track Key Info dialog. Interface selected, if the corresponding sub-object level is active.
392 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Select tracks in the dialog that you want to include in a Block. Valid tracks are darker. Interface Add New Link—Adds a link. Displays the Add New Cancel—Exits the Track View Pick dialog with no Link dialog with available tracks. Click a track and then click OK. changes. Remove Link—Removes the highlighted link. Collapse Control—Collapses the Slave controller to a standard controller.
Attachment Constraint For example, to quickly animate an airplane flying along a predefined path, you can use a Path constraint (page 2–398) to restrict the airplane’s motion to a spline. You can use keyframe animation to toggle the constraint’s binding relationship with its targets over a period of time.
394 Chapter 12: Animation Procedures Example: To attach a cone to a bending cylinder: 1. In the Perspective viewport, create a cylinder with a radius of 20, a height of 30, and 10 height segments. 2. In the Perspective viewport, create a cone with a radius 1 of 15, a radius 2 of 5, and a height of 30. 3. Select the cylinder, apply a Bend modifier, and set the bend angle to -70 degrees. 4. Turn on Auto Key, move to frame 100, and set the bend angle to 70 degrees.
Attachment Constraint Attach To group Key Info group Object Name text—Specifies the target object to which the source object is attached. Pick Object—Selects and picks the target object in the viewports for the attachment. Align to Surface—Fixes the orientation of the attached object to the face where it’s assigned. When this is turned off, the orientation of the attached object is not affected by the orientation of the face on the target object.
396 Chapter 12: Animation TCB group Surface Constraint Animation menu > Constraints > Surface Constraint Animation menu > Track View > New/Open Track View > Select a position track in Track View Hierarchy. > Track View toolbar > Assign Controller > Surface All of the items in this group are the same as in other TCB controllers (page 2–377). The orientation of the source object is also interpolated and affected by these settings.
Surface Constraint example, the controlled object will position itself as if the missing portion were still there. Since the Surface constraint only works on parametric surfaces, if you apply a modifier that converts the object to a mesh, the constraint will no longer work. For example, you can’t use it with a cylinder with a bend modifier applied. Interface The Surface Constraint Parameters rollout is on the Motion panel. Procedure Example: To animate a sphere over the surface of a cylinder: 1.
398 Chapter 12: Animation Align to U—Aligns the local Z axis of the controlled object with the surface normal of the surface object, and the X axis with the U axis of the surface object. Align to V—Aligns the local Z axis of the controlled object with the surface normal of the surface object, and the X axis is aligned with the V axis of the surface object. Flip—Flips the alignment of the local Z axis of the controlled object. This check box is not available if No Alignment is turned on.
Path Constraint 4. Open the Assign Controller rollout and select the Position controller. 5. Click the Assign Controller button. 6. Choose Path Constraint from the Assign Position Controller dialog. 7. On the Motion panel, click Parameters. 8. In the Path Parameters rollout, click Add Path. 9. In the viewport, select the Circle. To edit weight values: 1. Open the Create > Shapes panel and create a Line that is about 120 units long. Tip: Use the diameter of the Circle to gauge the length of the Line.
400 Chapter 12: Animation Interface the Path Parameters rollout with the constraint settings, double-click Path Constraint in the list. Add Path—Adds a new spline path that influences the constrained object. Delete path—Removes a path from the target list. Once removing the path target, it will no longer influence the constrained object Weight—Assigns and animates weight values for each target. % Along Path—Sets the percent that the object is positioned along the path.
Position Constraint Allow Upside Down—Turn on to avoid the situation in which an object flips when going around a vertically oriented path. organic joint, or worn mechanical joint, moving or rotating freely in the middle of its range of motion but moving less freely at the extremes of its range. Constant Velocity—Provides a constant velocity From and To Spinners—Determine for path limits. Use in conjunction with the Limited function. along the path.
402 Chapter 12: Animation Multiple Targets and Weighting A constrained object can be influenced by several target objects. When using multiple targets, each target has a weight value that defines the degree by which it influences the constrained object, relative to other targets. Using Weight is meaningful (and available) only with multiple targets. A value of 0 means the target has no influence.
Link Constraint 5. To edit the weight values, select the box. 6. Open the Motion panel and view the Position Constraint rollout. 7. Click the Cylinder’s name in list of targets. 8. Using the Weight spinner, change the value from 50 to 20. As the value decreases, the box moves closer to the sphere. 9. In the Top viewport. select the cylinder and move it around. 10. In the Top viewport, select the sphere and move it around. The sphere has more influence over the box’s movement than the cylinder.
404 Chapter 12: Animation An example of using a link constraint is to pass a ball from one hand to another. Assume that at frame 0 the ball is in the right hand. The hands are animated to meet at frame 50, where the ball is passed to the left hand, and then spread apart until frame 100. Procedures Example: To assign a Link constraint: 1. In the Top viewport, create a sphere and a box. 2. Select the sphere. 6. Select the Transform: Position/Rotation/Scale controller. 7. Click Assign Controller. 8.
Link Constraint Interface Start Time—The start time spinner is used to assign or edit the frame value of a target. Select one of the target object names in the list window and see the frame where the object becomes a parent. You can adjust the value to change when the link transfer takes place. Key Mode group Note: The options Key Nodes and Key Entire Hierarchy have no effect unless the object you are constraining is already part of a hierarchy.
406 Chapter 12: Animation LookAt Constraint Animation menu > Constraints > LookAt Constraint 0 causes the target to influence the constrained object relative to other targets’ Weight settings. For example, a target with a Weight value of 80 will have twice the influence of a target with a Weight value of 40. Procedures To assign a LookAt constraint: 1. Select the object you want to constrain. This is the object that will be always looking at its target. 2.
LookAt Constraint 3. Click a target from the list. Interface 4. Turn on the Auto Key button. 5. Use the Weight spinner or enter a numerical value to adjust the weight value. Once you assign a LookAt constraint, you can access its properties on the LookAt Constraint rollout on the Motion panel.
408 Chapter 12: Animation and animate target weight values, and adjust other related parameters. Note: When you assign a LookAt constraint via the Animation menu, 3ds Max assigns a Rotation List controller to your object. In the list on the Rotation List rollout, you will find LookAt Constraint, which is the constraint you assigned. To view the LookAt Constraint rollout, double-click the LookAt Constraint entry in the list. Add LookAt Target—Use to add new targets that influence the constrained object.
Orientation Constraint Upnode Control group: Lets you quickly flip between LookAt Upnode Control and Axis Alignment. LookAt—When selected the Upnode matches the LookAt target. Axis Alignment—When this is selected the Upnode Aligns to the object axis. Choose which axis (X, Y or Z) in the Source Upnode Alignment group directly below Upnode Control. Source/Upnode Alignment group Source Axis—Chooses the constrained object’s axis that is to be aligned to the Upnode Axis.
410 Chapter 12: Animation 2. On the Motion panel > Rotation list, Interface double-click Orientation Controller. The Orientation constraint parameters are located on the Orientation Constraint rollout. To edit weight values: 1. Select the constrained object. 2. Open the Motion panel > Orientation Constraint rollout. 3. Click a target from the list. 4. Use the Weight spinner or enter a numerical value to set the weight value. To animate weight values: 1. Select the constrained object. 2.
Wire Parameters of influence that the world target has on the constrained object as you would any other target object. parameters. By wiring parameters, you can set up custom constraints directly without having to go to Track View and assign controllers. Delete Orientation Target—Remove targets. Once Parameter wiring is accessible from the Animation menu and the quad menus (page 3–694). The Wire Parameters command is available only if a single node is selected.
412 Chapter 12: Animation parameter-wiring setup, so that you could potentially set up a chain of controlled parameters. A pop-up menu displays the parameters to which you can link. For two-way wiring, the software assigns Wire controllers of the appropriate kinds to each of the parameters and they are cross-linked so that changing either parameter cause linked changes in the other. 5. Choose the parameter you want to link from Note: You should establish all object hierarchies 6.
Parameter Wiring Dialog and Custom Attributes (page 1–129) to objects, materials, and modifiers. 3. Choose the first slave parameter in the other Note: Parameter Wiring is a modeless dialog (page 3–973), and you can have several dialogs open at the same time. 4. Click the arrow pointing toward the slave Procedures Example: To use an expression with wire parameters: 1. Create a box and a sphere in your scene. 2. Right-click the box, and from the quad menu choose Transform quadrant > Wire Parameters. 3.
414 Chapter 12: Animation 10. Click Connect. You can repeat this cycle, continuing to alternate slaves to masters as many times as you like. The result is a “daisy chain” of parameter wires, so that as you modify the original master parameter, each slave parameter maintains a constant relationship with the next in a line of parameters. Interface Tree Views The dialog presents two tree views that display the animatable parameters of all of the visible objects in the scene.
Parameter Wiring Dialog • One-way connection: left parameter controls right parameter [right arrow]—The left parameter controls the right parameter. Note: You can change the direction of a wire at any time by clicking the desired direction button and then clicking Connect or Update. Connect/Update—The Connect/Update button changes its label depending on whether clicking it would add a new wire to previously unwired parameters (Connect) or change an existing wire’s expressions or direction (Update).
416 Chapter 12: Animation Hierarchies and Kinematics Hierarchies When animating characters, mechanical assemblies, or complex motion, you can simplify the process by linking objects together to form a hierarchy (page 3–951) or chain. In a linked chain, the animation of one member can affect some or all of the others, making it possible to animate a number of objects or bones at once. The term kinematics (page 3–960) describes the movement or animation of the chain.
Hierarchies Common Uses for Hierarchies • Link a large collection of objects to a single parent so they can be easily animated and transformed by moving, rotating, or scaling the parent. • Link the target of a camera or light to another object so it tracks the object through the scene. • Link objects to dummy objects to create complex motions by combining multiple simple motions. • Link objects to simulate jointed structures to animate characters or mechanical assemblies.
418 Chapter 12: Animation The strategy behind linking objects into a hierarchy can be reduced to two main principles: • The hierarchy follows a logical progression from parent to child. • Parent objects move less than their descendants. Within these two principles you have almost unlimited flexibility as to how you link your objects. If you think about how you intend to use the hierarchy, and link it with that use in mind, you will rarely have a problem. 1. Root 2. Leaves 3.
Linking Strategy Parents Move Less Than Descendants Because of the way transforms are inherited from parent to child, small adjustments to a parent object might require you to adjust all of its descendants. The typical approach to linking is to choose as your root object the object that moves the least. Objects close to the root should move very little, and leaf objects should move the most.
420 Chapter 12: Animation Linking Objects After Animation When you link an object to another, the link relationship between the child and its parent is determined by the position, rotation and scale of the parent and child objects when the link is made. Imagine linking a stationary sphere to an animated box. • At frame 0 the box is beside the sphere. • At frame 50 the box is 20 units away. 1 and 2 each represent the root of the characters. Both structures are suitable for forward kinematics.
Linking and Unlinking Objects • Unlink on frame 25, and the sphere stops at 3 o’clock. • Unlink on frame 75, and the sphere stops at 9 o’clock. Left: Ball linked at frame 0 follows the box on the side. Right: Ball linked at frame 50 follows the box 20 units away. Unlinking Objects After Animation When you unlink a child, its frame 0 transforms are taken from the transforms of its parent at the frame when the link is removed. Imagine a sphere linked to a box moving around the face of a clock.
422 Chapter 12: Animation 150%, the size of its children and the distance between the children and the parent are also scaled by 150%. Unlinking Objects Click Unlink Selection to remove the link from selected objects to their parents. Any children of the selected object are unaffected. You link from the currently selected object (child) to any other object (parent). You can link an object to a closed group. When you do, the object becomes a child of the group parent rather than any member of the group.
Adjusting Pivots Tip: You can also link and unlink hierarchies in Schematic View (page 3–640). Procedure To unlink a child object from a parent object: 1. Select the child object you want to unlink. 2. Click Unlink Selection. Adjusting Pivots You can think of an object’s pivot point as representing its local center and local coordinate system. The pivot point of an object is used for a number of purposes: • As the center for rotation and scaling when the Pivot Point transform center is selected.
424 Chapter 12: Animation the geometry of the object or its descendents. The descendents shift position because of the scaled or rotated links. Use this technique to adjust the offset relationship between linked objects. Use this technique to adjust the offset relationship between linked objects and for adjusting bones to match geometry. Alignment is disabled when Affect Hierarchy Only is active. Center to Object/Pivot—Moves the object, or pivot, so the pivot is at the center of the object.
Viewing and Selecting Hierarchies is that you can control the view by collapsing and expanding branches of the hierarchy. Selecting Hierarchy Members: Ancestors and Descendants Once you have selected one or more objects in a hierarchy, you can select its direct ancestor or descendant with the Page Up and Page Down keys. • Page Up deselects the object and selects the object’s parent. • Page Down deselects the object and selects all its immediate children, but not all descendants down the chain.
426 Chapter 12: Animation Take, for example, the asymmetrical hierarchy of dummy helper objects shown below: arm object selected usually results in selecting the opposite arm object. When using these commands, hidden (page 3–951) and frozen (page 3–945) objects can’t be selected, but are considered part of the hierarchy when deciding what is and is not a sibling. Also, if a selection filter (page 1–68) is active, siblings that don’t meet the filter’s criteria cannot be selected.
Animating with Forward Kinematics to be aware of a few special issues for animating hierarchies. How Links and Pivots Work Once two objects are linked together, the child object maintains its position, rotation, and scale transforms relative to its parent object. These transforms are measured from the pivot of the parent to the pivot of the child. For example, consider the two boxes in the following figure. The larger box is the parent of the smaller.
428 Chapter 12: Animation scale animates the parent and the subtree attached to the parent. Animating a parent’s modifiers or creation parameters has no effect on its descendants. Moving the last child object does not affect any of the previous objects in the hierarchy. Moving the root parent moves the whole hierarchy. Rotating a child object in the middle of the hierarchy affects all the descendants but none of the parents. Rotation of a parent object is passed to all the child objects.
Using Dummy Objects Using Dummy Objects The primary use of dummy helper objects (page 2–16) is to assist in creating complex motions and building complex hierarchies. Because dummies are invisible when rendered, they are an excellent choice for offset joints, connectors between objects, and handles for complex hierarchies. Dummies and Points (page 2–23) can act as null objects that function as controls for transforming parts of an IK chain.
430 Chapter 12: Animation Using a Dummy as a Handle You might want to move and animate a selection of objects individually but also have the ability to transform them as a single object. A good example of this is a camera on a tripod. You want to adjust both the camera and its target individually but also want to move them together as a single unit. Procedures To create a complex bounce motion using a dummy object: 1.
Animating Links Link to World You can also link an object to the world using the Link to World button. This will keep the object stationary without the use of a dummy object. Just click Link to World and the world is automatically entered as a Target. Key Modes You can choose between three different key modes, which determine how keyframes are written on the linked objects as part of the link constraint. These options provide the following: No Key Mode—No keys are created any of the objects involved.
432 Chapter 12: Animation If you change the animation of the second hand at frame 75, it affects the position of the hand relative to the ball at the time of the link (frame 50). This change in relative position affects the ball over all frames where it is linked to the second hand. Therefore, as you change the position of the hand at frame 75, the child’s position will also change, possibly in a counter-intuitive way. However, when playing back the animation the above three rules will hold true.
Locking Object Transforms 2. Select the sphere and click Reset XForm. The sphere remains the same size but its child reverts to its original size and position. Here’s what has happened: The 200% scale has been placed in an XForm modifier on the sphere’s modifier stack. The sphere has a true radius of 40 units, Creation Parameters report a radius of 20 units, and absolute local scale is 100%. The sphere’s child object now sees only the 100% local scale so it reverts to its original size and position.
434 Chapter 12: Animation Align to Surface selected, you can always rotate the source object to orient it the way you want in relation to the target object. If you were to align trees on an uneven terrain, you would turn off Align to Surface so that all of the trees grew upright, regardless of the angle of the terrain surface. Animating Attachment Position You can move to any frame and click Set Position to animate the source object moving across the surface of the target object.
Link Inheritance (Selected) Utility Link Inheritance (Selected) Utility Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > More button > Utilities dialog > Link Inheritance (Selected) Animating with Inverse Kinematics (IK) The Link Inheritance (Selected) utility constrains the links between multiple objects in a selection set for any axis of position, rotation, or scale.
436 Chapter 12: Animation goal and the root, without keys being applied to the individual chain objects. With inverse kinematics you can quickly set up and animate complex motions. The basic procedure involves these tasks: • Building a model. It could be a jointed structure or many pieces or a single continuous surface. • Linking the jointed model together and defining pivot points, as described in Hierarchies (page 2–416).
IK Terminology program calculates the position and orientation of the end of the chain. The final position of the hierarchy, after all of the calculations have been solved, is called the IK solution. There are a variety of IK solvers that can be applied to a hierarchy. Inverse kinematics starts with linking and pivot placement as its foundation and then adds the following principles: definitions of these components follow; details are provided in other topics.
438 Chapter 12: Animation that you specify as a terminator for the chain. The kinematic chain is defined when you apply an IK solver to a chain, or when you create a bone chain with an IK solver automatically applied. Goal—The goal is used by the HI Solver to manipulate the end of the chain. When the goal is animated, the IK solution attempts to match the end effector (pivot point of the last child in the chain) to the goal position.
Inverse Kinematics Methods IK for FK pose—(HI Solver) When this button is turned on, moving the goal automatically sets rotation keys for the bones. In effect, this lets you use IK manipulation to create your pose, setting FK keys. IK Methods Inverse kinematics builds on the concepts of hierarchical linking. To understand how IK works, you must first understand the principles of hierarchical linking and forward kinematics.
440 Chapter 12: Animation animation keys. Applied IK works with any linked hierarchy of objects except for bones that use the HI Solver or the IK Limb Solver. It can combine forward kinematics with inverse kinematics on the same objects. You can apply it automatically to a range of frames, or interactively to single frames. Applied IK is fast and accurate, but it creates keys for every object in the kinematic chain, on every frame.
IK Solvers reposition the end effector to coincide with the goal. to define a direction for rotation, so the elbow or knees bend correctly. • HD (History-Dependent) Solver (page 2–461) The HD Solver is a solver well-suited to use for animating machines, especially ones with sliding parts that require IK animation. It lets you set up joint limits and precedence. It has performance problems on long sequences, so ideally use it on short animation sequences.
442 Chapter 12: Animation to define a direction for rotation, so the elbow or knees bend correctly. It also allows you to switch between IK and FK by keyframing IK Enabling, and it has a special IK for FK pose function so you can use IK to set FK keys. • Spline IK Solver (page 2–473) The Spline IK solver uses a spline to determine the curvature of a series of bones or other linked objects. A bones system is a jointed, hierarchical linkage of bone objects.
IK Solvers when the geometry is hidden and displayed only at links. You can display any object as a bone object. Select the object and then choose Bone Tools from the Animation menu. This opens the Bone Tools floater. On the Object Properties rollout, turn on Bone On. Then go to the Display panel, and on the Link Display rollout turn on Display Links and Link Replaces Object, which displays the bones instead of the object. This can be useful if you have a geometrically intensive hierarchy to animate.
444 Chapter 12: Animation These settings are found on the Link Display rollout on the Display panel. This can be useful if you have a geometrically intensive hierarchy to animate. The interactive viewport response is faster when the geometry is hidden and displayed only at links. Advantages of Animating Bones with IK It is possible to animate a character’s motion through forward kinematics, rotating each limb into position from the shoulder to the fingers, and the hips to the toes.
IK Solvers the limbs. When a goal is selected, the IK panel is blank. HD Solver—Select the end effector of an HD IK chain. In the Hierarchy panel, click IK. The controls that appear affect the HD Solver. You will also find the tools to bind to follow objects, and set precedence and joint limits, damping and spring back. • Spline IK Solver for improved control of intricate, multiple-bone structures 4. Click where you want the IK chain to end.
446 Chapter 12: Animation History-Independent (HI) IK Solver The HI (History-Independent) Solver does not rely on IK solutions calculated in previous keyframes in the timeline, so it is just as fast to use at frame 2000 as it is at frame 20. The HI Solver uses a goal to animate a chain. You animate the goal and the IK solver attempts to move the end effector (the pivot point of the last joint of the chain) to match the position of the goal.
History-Independent (HI) IK Solver Another good use for overlapping HI IK chains is to keep the goals at the bottom of the hierarchy firmly rooted in place. In the case of the leg example, the ankle, ball and toe of the foot would not move until the upper portion of the hierarchy had reached its full stretch. Overlapping chains make the toe stick to the ground Don’t try to overlap chains with different kinds of IK solvers or you might get unpredictable results.
448 Chapter 12: Animation Creating Control Objects To create control objects to animate the goals, create dummies, points, splines or other objects near the goal, then link the goal to the control object. For example in a human leg, you might have a goal at the ankle, ball of the foot, and the toe. You then create three splines under the foot, one for the heel, one for the ball and one for the toe. Link each goal to each spline, then you can animate the goals using these splines.
White Paper: Swivel Angle of the HI IK Solver Controlling HI IK Precision When you are animating with HI Solvers, if you find the animation of the limbs is not smooth, you should try doubling the Iterations in the Solutions group of the HI Solver Properties rollout (page 2–456). You can also try reduce the Thresholds value to smooth the animation.
450 Chapter 12: Animation axis, the solver plane should be fixed. Therefore, the Zero Plane Map defines a vector field on a sphere. Given a point on the sphere, it produces a tangential unit vector to be interpreted as the normal to the zero plane. The pose when all the joint angles assume preferred angles is particularly important. Let’s call it the preferred pose. We use the solver plane at the preferred pose as the horizontal plane.
White Paper: Swivel Angle of the HI IK Solver Default Zero Plane Map When not provided by plug-in solvers, (the IK Solver itself is implemented as a plug-in solver) the IK system will provide a default one. This map is defined by the following rules: • A: For each point on the equator, the intersection of the horizontal plane and the sphere, the normal vector is defined as the vertical vector, pointing to the same direction as the normal of the solver plane at the preferred pose.
452 Chapter 12: Animation The parent space of the IK chain contains a rotation when the IK solver is assigned. The IK chain is parented (via the start joint) at object A. Assume this is the pose when the IK solver is assigned. So, this is the preferred pose. The plane on that the joints are laid out is the horizontal plane of the (Zero Plane Map) sphere. • A: Parent Space is Start Joint. In this case, the sphere is parented to A.
IK Solver Rollout (HI Solver) Example 3 This example describes what happened when Start Joint is reassigned. Suppose we have an IK chain of four bone nodes. 1. Bone01 2. Bone02 3. Bone03 4. Bone04 The Start and End Joints are Bone01 and Bone04, respectively. Suppose the pose shown in the figure is the preferred pose and Bone01 contains a rotation. If we parent Bone02 directly to the world, the hierarchy from Bone02 will appear as in the right figure.
454 Chapter 12: Animation The preferred angle can also be considered as the initial angle; that is, the angle at which the link was rotated at the time the solver was applied. The IK solution takes place in a plane, known as the solver plane. The angle of the solver plane is controlled by a parameter called the swivel angle. Procedures To turn off IK on a chain: 1. Select the goal of a chain with an HI Solver. 2. In the Motion panel IK Solver rollout, turn off Enabled.
IK Solver Rollout (HI Solver) Interface Enabled is turned off, the FK values are used. You can animate Enabled On and Off. Use this to turn off the chain control by the goal, when you want to do forward rotations. IK for FK Pose—Lets you turn on IK in middle of FK manipulation. When Enabled is off and IK for FK Pose is on, moving the goal will turn on IK automatically in the middle of an FK manipulation. The result of this is that all the FK subcontrollers receive values from the IK solution.
456 Chapter 12: Animation Rotational Joint rollout of the Hierarchy|IK panel. This is useful for establishing a perfect match frame (page 3–969) when transitioning between forward and inverse kinematics. Assume Pref Angles—Copies the X, Y, and Z preferred angle channels of each bone and places them into its FK rotation subcontroller. This essentially performs the inverse operation of the Set As Pref Angles function. Bone Joints group Allows you to change the ends of the IK chain.
IK Solver Properties Rollout (HI Solver) 3. Play or render the animation. 4. You can also adjust the Position and Rotation Thresholds to a smaller value. Interface Swivel angle manipulator. When you move the mouse over the manipulator, it turns red. At this point, you can drag the manipulator to change the swivel angle. The Auto Key button can be active while you do this. You can also animate the swivel angle by using a target object.
458 Chapter 12: Animation information, see White Paper: Swivel Angle of the HI IK Solver (page 2–449). IK Goal—Defines the Swivel Angle parent space relative to the IK Goal. Start Joint—Defines the Swivel Angle Parent Space relative to the Start Joint. Thresholds group Use to define the tolerances the system uses for its calculations. Position—Sets a limit in units of how far the goal can be moved from the end effector. Keep these numbers low.
Sliding and Rotational Joints (HI Solver) Goal Display group Controls the appearance of the goals in the IK chain. On by default. Enabled—Turns the goals display on or off. Size—Controls the size of the goal gizmo in the viewport. Swivel Angle Manipulator group Controls the display of the swivel angle manipulator in the IK chain. Default = on. Turn this on, then turn on Manipulate mode to see the swivel angle manipulator. Enabled—Turns the swivel angle manipulators on or off.
460 Chapter 12: Animation 2. Select any object in the chain. 3. On the Hierarchy panel > IK panel, open the Rotational Joint rollout. 4. If you want to limit an axis, turn on Active and the object to its limit position. Use this to check the sliding limits on an object. Rotational Joints rollout Limited, and set the values of From and To. The hierarchy will rotate in the viewport. Tip: Pressing the From and To labels instantly rotates the bone to those angles.
History-Dependent (HD) IK Solver History-Dependent (HD) IK Select a node of hierarchy or bone chain. > Animation menu > IK Solvers > HD Solver > Click a second node of chain. Animating with the HD Solver lets you use sliding joints combined with inverse kinematics. It has controls for spring back, damping, and precedence not found in the HI Solver. It also has quick tools for viewing the initial state of the IK chain. Use it for animations of machines and other assemblies.
462 Chapter 12: Animation If you are animating a walking figure you want one foot to remain in place while you position the other foot. Without binding, the whole hierarchy would have a tendency to slide around when you attempt to position a foot. Binding both feet to the world ensures that the unselected foot stays in place while you position the other foot.
Controlling IK Precision (HD Solver) • If you unbind an object, it permanently removes the binding to a follow object. Controlling IK Precision (HD Solver) Even with carefully defined joint precedence and joint parameters there are many valid IK solutions for any placement of an end effector. You set position and rotation thresholds to control IK precision and solution speed.
464 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Initial State group Thresholds group These settings are the same as those in Customize menu > Preferences > Inverse Kinematics. They set the threshold for the changes in position and rotation between the end effector and the last link of the chain. Position—Specifies, in units, the "slop" factor between the end effector and its associate object. This is the allowable distance between the end effector and its object, given the current IK solution.
HD Solver Motion Panel Rollouts to generate the IK solution without altering the initial state. Activate this when you want to avoid accidentally selecting and transforming joints that are not assigned end effectors. When Show Initial State is selected, Lock Initial State is ignored. Update group The options here affect the display of the joint axes and limits.
466 Chapter 12: Animation displayed as three intersecting blue lines at the joint. When you select a joint that carries either or both end effectors and perform a transformation matching the type of end effector, only the end effector itself is transformed. The objects in the chain then use IK to follow and create the IK solution. Unlink—Unlinks the currently selected end effector from its parent.
Setting Joint Precedence (HD Solver) causes its parent to begin moving before it reaches full extension. Setting a Joint to Spring Back When a joint resists motion, it also has a tendency to return toward its at-rest position. You simulate this by setting Spring Back tension in the joints. As the joint moves further from its rest position, an increasingly larger force pulls the joint back, like a spring.
468 Chapter 12: Animation Determining Order of Calculations You control the HD IK solution by setting joint precedence to determine which joints contribute the most to the HD IK solution and which joints contribute the least. • Joints with high precedence values are calculated first, and contribute more motion to the HD IK solution. • Joints with low precedence values are calculated last and contribute the least motion to the HD IK solution.
Choosing Child-to-Parent Precedence (HD Solver) effector and progresses up the IK chain until the base object is reached. Using methods described in the following topics you can change the default precedence values. You can also set your kinematic chain back to its default precedence. To reset the default joint precedence: 1. Select all objects in the kinematic chain. 2. On the Hierarchy panel, expand the Object Parameters rollout. 3. Set Precedence to 0.
470 Chapter 12: Animation You might want to assign Child->Parent precedence to just a single object in the kinematic chain. For example, if you have been manually changing precedence values, you might want to set an object to its original Child->Parent value. The value assigned to the object is equal to its depth from the root of the hierarchy times 10.
Setting Precedence Manually (HD Solver) Setting Precedence Manually (HD Solver) Some models and animated motions don’t fit neatly into a Child->Parent or Parent->Child precedence. In such situations you can manually assign precedence values to any object in the IK chain on a joint-by-joint basis. For example: • Animating models with a combination of light, flexible joints and heavy, resisting joints. Imagine a model of heavy iron balls linked together with lengths of chain.
472 Chapter 12: Animation Terminator option in the Object Parameters rollout You use the Terminator option in the Object Parameters rollout to stop calculation of the kinematic chain before it reaches the root object of the hierarchy. A terminator object stops calculation at the terminator’s child object; the terminator itself is not affected by the IK solution. This gives you very precise control over the behavior of the kinematic chain. For example, look at the bird in the figure.
Spline IK The IK Limb solver works not only with bone hierarchies, but with any linked hierarchy that has at least three elements, and is set up to model a human limb. The additional requirements are: • The first joint is "spherical." That is, it has three degrees of freedom. • The second joint is "revolute," a robotics term that means it is based on a pin and has one degree of freedom.
474 Chapter 12: Animation chain’s Pick Upnode option in the IK Solver Properties rollout (see Spline IK Solver Rollouts (page 2–478)), or use a different IK method for your hierarchy. Applying a Spline IK Solver The Spline IK solver can be applied at the time bones are created, or after the bone structure has already been made. To apply a spline IK solver when bones are created: 1. Choose Create panel > Systems > Bones. You can move and animate the spline vertices to change the curvature of the spline.
Spline IK This procedure automatically draws the spline based on your dialog selections and sets up the Spline IK system to work with the spline. The software automatically assigns a Path constraint to the root bone to constrain it to the helper/vertex at that end of the spline. To apply a Spline IK solver to an existing bone structure: 1. Create a bone structure without an IK chain. 2. Draw a spline or NURBS curve to be used by the bones.
476 Chapter 12: Animation The bone structure jumps to the spline and takes its shape, and a helper is created on the spline at each vertex. A Path constraint is automatically assigned to the root bone to constrain it to the helper/vertex at that end of the spline. 4. Create a spline or NURBS curve to be used with the Spline IK system.
Spline IK Solver Dialog See also Interface Spline IK Solver Rollouts (page 2–478) Spline IK Solver Dialog Create menu > Systems > Bones > Choose SplineIKSolver as IK Solver and turn on Assign To Children. > Create bone structure. The Spline IK Solver dialog appears after bone creation if the Spline IK Solver has been selected as the IK solver and Assign To Children is turned on. Spline Options group IK Name—Sets the name of the IK chain object.
478 Chapter 12: Animation • NURBS CV—Creates a NURBS CV Curve, where knots (control nodes) do not necessarily lie on the curve. Draw On Top—Displays the helpers on top of all Number of Spline Knots—Vertices on the spline, or Tip: To change the display of helpers after creation, select each helper and change selections on the Modify panel. control points and CVs on the NURBS curve. You alter the spline or curve by moving and animating the knots.
Spline IK Solver Rollouts The options on this rollout allow you to pick a new spline for the spline IK chain, or pick new start and end joints for the chain. Spline IK Solver group the other. Picking an upnode causes the “up” direction to point along the picked object’s local Z axis. By default, the upnode is set to the first helper/knot on the spline, which usually causes the “up” direction to be interpreted correctly. Spline IK Solver—Displays the name of the solver.
480 Chapter 12: Animation Twist End group Enabled—Turns on the display of the end twist manipulator. Default=on. Size—Sets the size of the end twist manipulator. Default=1.0. Length—Sets the length of the end twist manipulator. Default=75.0. Goal Display group Enabled—Turns on the display of the IK goal. Default=on. Size—Sets the size of the IK goal. Default=30.0. IK Solver Display group Enabled—Turns on the display of the IK chain object. Default=off.
Animating with Applied IK While you are transforming an end effector using IK mode, the settings for the root object’s joint parameters are used and the root object does not move with respect to the World. If you select the root object, its joint parameters are released and you can transform the root object. If you decide you want root objects to always use their joint parameters, you can turn off the Always Transform Children Of The World option.
482 Chapter 12: Animation Example of Applied IK end effector is bound to the spider, it will try to match the location of its pivot point with the pivot point of the spider. Select the end effector and click Apply IK. The software matches the end effector with the box and calculates the IK solution for every frame. Playback of the animation shows that the end effector perfectly follows the box.
Setting Joint Parameters effectors but do not want keys generated on every frame. Turn on Apply Only To Keys to constrain the IK solution to frames with end effector keys. Watching Progress of the IK Solution Normally, Apply IK calculates all frames before updating the viewports. To watch the progress of Apply IK frame by frame, turn on Update Viewports on the Inverse Kinematics rollout. Updating the viewports greatly slows down the Apply IK process but it can help you troubleshoot complex animations.
484 Chapter 12: Animation down the chain. Setting joint limits on individual child objects can influence this inheritance. If three children in a row all have their rotational axes made inactive, they will not be able to rotate, and so a piece of the chain will appear stiff. Or if only one axis is made active as a sliding joint, the component can separate in space from the chain.
Activating Joint Axes paste them. This is very useful when pasting from one side of an object to another, such as left arm joints to a right arm. You can also copy joint settings from a non-IK controller to an IK controller, but you can’t copy from an IK controller to a non-IK controller. Activating Joint Axes You set whether an object can move or rotate about a given axis by using the Active check box in the joint rollouts.
486 Chapter 12: Animation Activating Sliding Joints When you turn on Active for Path or Surface joints you are setting whether the object can move along the assigned path or surface. A house key on a ring is an example of an active path joint. See Path Constraint (page 2–398). Limiting Joint Action 1. Sliding axis When you turn on Active for one of the X, Y, Z axes of a sliding joint the object can move along that axis of its parent’s coordinate system.
Hierarchy Panel Commands the pivot point of the parent to the pivot point of the selected object. For example, a sliding joint on a piston moves the piston in and out of the cylinder. In the figure, the limits on Z axis movement are from 10 to 90. This prevents the piston from hitting the bottom or moving past the end of the cylinder. (IK). You use the Link Info tab to apply locks or inheritance to movement within the hierarchy.
488 Chapter 12: Animation • Defines the joint location for inverse kinematics (IK) (page 2–435). You can adjust the position and orientation of an object’s pivot point at any time using the buttons in the Adjust Pivot rollout in the Hierarchy panel. Adjusting an object’s pivot has no effect on any children linked to that object. Note: You cannot animate the functions under the Adjust Pivot rollout. Adjusting an object’s pivot on any frame changes it for the entire animation.
Adjust Transform Rollout If you chose Affect Pivot Only, the buttons work as follows: Center to Object—Moves the pivot to the center of its object. Align to Object—Rotates the pivot to align with the object’s transformation matrix axes. Affect Pivot Only—Affects only the pivot point of the selected objects. Note: A Scale transform has no effect on the pivot. Affect Object Only—Affects only the selected Align to World—Rotates the pivot to align with the world coordinate axes.
490 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To scale a parent without scaling the children: 1. Select the parent object in a hierarchy. 2. On the Hierarchy panel click the Pivot button if it’s not already on, then on the Adjust Transform rollout, click Don’t Affect Children. 3. Scale the parent object. The children will remain unaffected. Tip: Never use non-uniform scale at the object level for objects in a hierarchical chain.
IK IK HD IK Solver Rollouts Make a selection. > Hierarchy panel > IK button The IK rollouts contain controls for interactive IK and the HD IK solver. Object Parameters Rollout (HD Solver) Make a selection. > Hierarchy panel > IK > Object Parameters rollout The Object Parameters rollout lets you set IK parameters for an entire hierarchical chain.
492 Chapter 12: Animation Turn on Terminator to stop calculation of the kinematic chain before it reaches the root object of the hierarchy. A terminator object stops calculation at the terminator’s child object; the terminator itself is not affected by the IK solution. This gives you very precise control over the behavior of the kinematic chain. 3. Select one or both of the Bind boxes. • Turn on Bind Position to cause the object to attempt to maintain its current location.
Position/Orientation/Bind to Follow Object (HD Solver) Interface Position group of the joint to which they’re assigned, and are automatically absolute. If you move the joint away from the end effector, and want to reset the end effector to an absolute position, you can delete and then recreate the end effector. Axis X/Y/Z—If one of the axes is turned off, the specified axis is no longer influenced by the follow object or the HD IK Solver Position end effector.
494 Chapter 12: Animation this case, the end effector with the greatest weight "wins." Bind To Follow Object group Controls to bind and unbind an object in an inverse kinematic chain to a follow object. hierarchy starting with the root, the values would be 0, -10, -20, and -30. • Default joint precedence occurs whenever all joints in the kinematic chain have the same precedence value. Assigning a value of 100 to all objects in the kinematic chain is exactly the same as assigning a value of 0.
Copying, Pasting, and Mirroring Joint Parameters (HD Solver) Interface Three controls set precedence: Precedence—Manually assigns precedence values to any object in the IK chain. High precedence values are calculated before low precedence values. Precedence values that are equal are calculated in Child>Parent order. controller, but you can’t copy from an IK controller to a non-IK controller. With an HD IK solver hierarchy, you can paste to a multiple selection of joints.
496 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Procedures To activate or deactivate an axis: 1. Select an object. 2. On the Hierarchy panel, click IK. 3. Expand the rollout for a joint type. 4. Turn on Active for any available axis. • When on, the axis is active and the object can move or rotate about that axis. Sliding Joints group Use these buttons to copy sliding joint parameters from one object to another. These buttons are not available for Path joints.
Inverse Kinematics Rollout Interface Sliding/Rotational Joints rollouts rest position, an increasingly larger force pulls the joint back to its rest position, like a spring. Spring Back (spinner)—Sets the rest position for the joint. For rotational joints, this is the orientation of the joint in degrees; for sliding joints, it’s the position in units. Adjusting this is similar to adjusting the From/To spinners.
498 Chapter 12: Animation hierarchy. IK Solvers are applied to the hierarchies using the Animation menu. When an HD IK Solver is applied to an IK chain the Inverse Kinematics rollout displays the controls described below. The Inverse Kinematics rollout provides controls for interactive and applied IK, as well as the controls for the HD Solver (history dependent).
Auto Termination Rollout (Interactive IK) Update Viewports—Views the progress of Apply IK frame by frame in the viewports. # of Links Up—Specifies how far up the chain the Clear Keys—Removes all move and rotate keys For example, if you set this to 5, when you move any object in the hierarchy, the object that’s five links up the chain from the object you’re adjusting acts as a terminator.
500 Chapter 12: Animation Locks Rollout Inherit Rollout Make a selection. > Hierarchy panel > Link Info button > Locks rollout Make a selection. > Hierarchy panel > Link Info button > Inherit rollout The Locks rollout contains controls that prevent transforms along particular axes. The Inherit rollout constrains the links between a selected object and its parent for any axis of position, rotation, or scale.
Track View Track View Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) Graph Editors menu > New Track View Graph Editors menu > Track View - Curve Editor Track View — Dope Sheet (Edit Keys) Graph Editors menu > Track View - Dope Sheet Graph Editors menu > Saved Track View > Choose a saved Track View. Right-click active viewport. > Transform quadrant > Curve Editor or Dope Sheet Viewport right-click menu > Views > Track > Choose New or a saved Track View.
502 Chapter 12: Animation Procedures To delete keys in Track View (either mode): To change the frames in which a controller takes effect: 1. Select keys on the curve, or on the dope sheet. When you apply a controller or constraint to an object’s motion, the frame range over which controller takes effect is determined by the current active time segment (page 3–904). If you then change the active time segment or the animation length, the duration of the controller’s influence doesn’t change.
Working with Track View To open Track View in a viewport: • Right-click a viewport label, and then from the menu that opens choose Views > Track > New, or click the name of a saved Track View.
504 Chapter 12: Animation The right side of Track View, called the Key window, charts the changes applied to parameters over time. Any change you make to one of these parameters when the Auto Key button is on, appears as a key in the right side of Track View. Select keys to apply changes to one or more specific keys.
Track View Workspace Key window The Key window displays the keys as either curves or tracks. The tracks can be displayed as a box graph of keys or range bars. Colored keys with subframe display Keys are also displayed on the track bar below the viewport. Keys displayed as box graph (Dope Sheet - Edit Keys mode) Key Creation Keys are created using a variety of methods. Keys can be created by turning on Auto Key, moving the time slider, and then transforming the object or adjusting its parameters.
506 Chapter 12: Animation Right-click the toolbar, choose Show Toolbars, and then select Range-Track View to access these tools. dialog. Move the time ruler up to the keys for more accurate key placement. Keys displayed as range bars (Dope Sheet - Edit Ranges mode) Time ruler Function Curves Track View Time Slider Function Curves display the values of keys, and the interpolated values between keys, as a curve. These curves express how a parameter varies over time.
Curve Editor There is also a time ruler, and navigation and status tools at the bottom of the interface. You can loop or cycle your animation beyond its range by adding Parameter Curve Out-Of-Range Types from the Curve Editor, as well as by adding Multiplier or Ease Curve onto other animated tracks for added control. Horizontal line at the top of the illustration is the moveable scale origin line. Tip: You can also click Show Curves in the track bar to display function curves.
508 Chapter 12: Animation Sheet. The Dope Sheet was a vertical chart that served as instructions to the camera operator. Dialogue and camera actions were indicated over a numbered list that represented each shot, which became a single photographed frame of the animated movie. The classical exposure sheet also included instructions for compositing the cel drawings of animated characters over backgrounds. This device serves as inspiration for the Dope Sheet tool in 3ds Max.
Dope Sheet Modify Subtree and Modify Child Keys When working in Dope Sheet, you can turn on or off Modify Subtree and Modify Child Keys. These let you automatically move the keys for the children, and/or the tracks for the subtree. If you experience a slowdown while working with Dope Sheet, try turning these off, and moving the keys manually instead. Modify Subtree is on by default in Dope Sheet, but off in Curve Editor.
510 Chapter 12: Animation Dope Sheet Toolbars (page 2–538) Select Time (page 2–566) Edit Ranges (page 2–573) Track V iew Function Default Keyboard Shortcut Access Hierarchy Select Name Field Accesses the track selection field at the lower left of Track View window Access Time Field Accesses the time field at the lower left of Track View window Access Track Name Field Accesses the name of the Track View window at upper right Access Value Field Accesses the value field at the lower left of Track V
Track View Shortcuts Track V iew Function Default Keyboard Shortcut Description Track V iew Function Default Keyboard Shortcut Delete Visibility Track Modify Subtree Toggle Draw Curves Move Highlight Down Down Arrow Move Highlight Up Up Arrow Move Keys M Ease Curve Out-of-Range Types Ease/Multiplier Curve Enable Toggle Move Keys Horizontal Edit Keys Mode Move Keys Vertical Edit Ranges Mode Edit Time Mode Move Object Down Moves an object down in the hierarchy display Move Object Up Mov
512 Chapter 12: Animation Track V iew Function Default Keyboard Shortcut Description Scale Values Scroll Down Ctrl+Down Arrow Scroll Up Ctrl+Up Arrow Track V iew Function Description Zoom Horizontal Extents Zoom Horizontal Extents Select All Zoom Region Select Children Zoom Selected Object Select Invert Default Keyboard Shortcut Alt+X Zoom Time Select None Zoom Value Extents Select Time Zoom Values Select Lower Limit Set Tangents to Auto Set Tangents to Custom Track View Hierarchy
Track View Hierarchy Procedures To select objects in the scene using the Track View Controller window: 1. Do one of the following to select the first object: • Click an object’s icon to select a single object. • Double-click a parent object’s icon to select an object and its descendants. 2. Do one of the following to select additional objects: • Press Shift and click an object icon to select all objects between the object and the previously selected object.
514 Chapter 12: Animation 5. Click the icon of the Twist modifier. Interface The Twist modifier is displayed on the Modify panel. 6. Click the icon of the Bend modifier in the Hierarchy list. The Bend modifier is displayed on the Modify panel. To highlight all tracks containing animation: 1. Create a box and a sphere. 2. Click Auto Key, go to frame 10 and move the sphere in X. 3. Go to frame 20 and move the sphere in Y. 4. Go to frame 30 and move the sphere in Z. 5.
Track View Hierarchy Global Tracks—Allows you to store controllers for global use. Using expression controllers, for example, you could point to a controller in the Global Tracks from several other tracks. By altering the expression in the Global Tracks, all of the other tracks are changed. By pasting an instance of a controller in Global Tracks to a number of other tracks, you can change many tracks by altering the controller in Global Tracks.
516 Chapter 12: Animation properties, as well as tools for navigating, expanding and collapsing the Hierarchy list of the Controller window. Examples of controller icons Certain types of controllers can contain other controllers. Examples of these are Transform Controllers and List Controllers. Note: Controllers that have been applied to objects via the Animation menu > Controllers or Constraints submenus automatically have list controllers assigned.
Hierarchy Right-Click Menu Select Invert—Inverts the current Hierarchy list selection. Tip: Inverting an empty selection is the same as selecting all. Select None—Deselects all visible object tracks in the Hierarchy list. Does not apply to selected objects in the scene (object icons remain highlighted). Select Children—Selects all objects descending from the selection by highlighting their icon in the Hierarchy list. Collapsed children are also selected.
518 Chapter 12: Animation Auto Expand—Expands the Hierarchy list Properties—Displays the property dialog of a automatically based on submenu selection choices. Submenu choices are: Selected Objects Only, Transforms, XYZ Components, Limits, Keyable, Animated, Base Objects, Modifiers, Materials, and Children. controller, if available. Not all controller use this dialog, and it is unavailable in these cases. Manual Navigation—Turns off Auto Expand.
Properties (Track View Hierarchy) Select All—Selects all tracks that are visible in the Hierarchy list. Collapsed items are not selected. Procedures Select Invert—Inverts the current Hierarchy list 1. Select the controller track in the Controller To display properties for animation controllers: selection. Tip: Inverting an empty selection is the same as selecting all. Window. 2. On the Controller menu choose Properties. Or you can right-click and select Properties from the Track View quad menu.
520 Chapter 12: Animation Sound Options Dialog Interface Main toolbar > Curve Editor - Open > Select an item in the Track View Hierarchy and right-click. > Hierarchy right-click menu > Properties Graph Editors menu > Track View > Open Track View > Right-click a Sound track in the Track View Hierarchy. > Properties > Sound Options dialog The Sound track in the Track View Controller window contains two sound options. Use the Metronome to generate a series of beeps, or load a sound file to play back.
Track View Menu Bar Track View Menus Track View > Menu bar A menu bar appears at the top of Track View in both Curve Editor and Dope Sheet modes and the expanded track bar layout. The Track View menu bar is contextual; it changes slightly between Curve Editor and Dope Sheet modes. The commands available on the Track View menus can also be accessed on the Curve Editor and Dope Sheet toolbars. Certain tools, however, appear only on the toolbars, and do not appear in the menus.
522 Chapter 12: Animation Delete Controller—Lets you delete certain controllers, that can’t otherwise be replaced (Visibility tracks, Image Motion Blur Multiplier, Object Motion Blur, On/Off). See Delete Controller (page 2–549). Keyable—Toggles the ability to be keyed of selected is instanced, making changes to it will affect where ever it is copied. If the controller is unique, then changes to it will not affect anything else. See Make Controller Unique (page 2–550).
Collapse Controller Collapse Controller can be used to collapse any number of selected tracks at once. This functionality is similar to the Collapse button found in the Collapse Transform group of the Motion panel > Trajectories rollout (page 2–301). Warning: If you are using a Path constraint with the Follow option, using Collapse Controller to collapse the position and rotation tracks will not preserve rotation properly, because additional rotation is applied by the Path constraint.
524 Chapter 12: Animation be assigned Bezier controllers. Rotation tracks will be assigned Euler controllers. • Linear or TCB Controller—When this is chosen, Position, Scale, and scalar parameter tracks will be assigned Linear controllers. Rotation tracks will be assigned TCB controllers. Note: TCB controllers will not display function curves. Add to New Layer—When this is turned on, the collapsed controller is added as a new layer in a weighted list controller (page 2–342). Default=off.
Use Soft Select Note: By default, the Soft Selection dialog appears as a toolbar on the bottom of the Track View dialog. Align to Cursor—Proportionally increases or decreases the key values (in space, not time). Use in combination with the Scale Value Origin Slider. See Align to Cursor (page 2–556). Snap Frames—When this is on, keys always snap to frames. When off, you can move keys to sub-frame positions. See Snap Frames (page 2–554).
526 Chapter 12: Animation Remove—Removes Ease and Multiplier Curves. See Remove Ease/Multiplier Curve (page 2–585). On/Off—Turns Ease and Multiplier Curves on or off. See On/Off (Curves) (page 2–585). Ease Curve Out-of-Range Types—Applies Eases to Options Menu Track View > Options menu Parameter Out of Range keys. See Ease Curve Out-of-Range Types (page 2–585). The Options menu contains a series of toggles and switches that control how items are handled in the Track View window.
Sync Cursor Time change at the current frame, so you won’t see any difference with Interactive Update on or off. To view the results of editing keys anywhere in Track View in real time, use Sync Cursor Time (page 2–527) instead. Turning on Sync Cursor Time automatically turns on Interactive Update as well, so you can see all changes interactively. Keep this turned off when you are working in big files and moving large numbers of keys. Default=Off.
528 Chapter 12: Animation also enable Transform or XYZ Components to see results. Also expands the Environment and Global Shadow Parameters Hierarchy lists. Auto Scroll Track View > Options menu > Auto Scroll submenu Animated—Expands the highlighted object’s Hierarchy list to display animated tracks. Base Objects—Expands the highlighted object’s base object track to display its parameters (such as Height/Width/Length).
Modify Child Keys Procedure To drag the ranges and linked descendants of an object: 1. In the Dope Sheet Editor, click Edit Ranges. objects. When you edit the range of a parent object, the child objects are also affected. Modify Child Keys Track View - Dope Sheet > Options menu > Modify Child Keys Modify Subtree is on by default. 2. Drag the World range bar or the Objects range Track View - Dope Sheet > Track View toolbar > Modify Child Keys button bar.
530 Chapter 12: Animation to select which tracks will display on an individual basis. The default behavior of the Controller window is to automatically display the selected object animated tracks, and to hide them when the object is not selected in the viewport. Turning on Manual Navigation changes this behavior so that deselecting the object will not make the curves disappear from view.
Show All Tangents Filters—provides controls to filter the display in Curve Editor. There are a wide range of options to show, hide and display. See Filters (page 2–541). the tracks you want to work with, and avoid keyframing other tracks. Red key icon means a track is keyable. Show All Tangents When the keyable icons are visible, click the red icon to turn off the track.
532 Chapter 12: Animation create a selection set of tracks for which you want to prevent animation. This can be for one or multiple objects Tip: You can hold down the Shift key to select a group of sequential tracks at once. Alternately you can hold down the Alt key to select all tracks at the same level as a given track at once. Note: If you select just a parent track such as Position, Controller > Keyable will toggle all of its sub-tracks, even if they’re not selected. 2.
Utilities Menu Utilities Menu Graph Editors menu > Track View - Curve Editor > Utilities menu Graph Editors menu > Track View - Dope Sheet > Utilities menu Select Keys by Time—Allows you to select the keys within a time range. Turn off Clear Previous Selection to create discontinuous selection sets. For details, see Select Keys By Time Utility (page 2–563). Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Utilities menu The Utilities menu (page 2–561) gives you access to the Track View Utilities dialog.
534 Chapter 12: Animation This utility starts a floating Current Value window that works for either Dope Sheet – Edit keys mode or Curve Editor. It doesn’t work for Edit Ranges. Not for use with object parameters, the current value editor is intended for use primarily with Transform controllers. Controller window quad menu When the keys window is active you can draw curves, add keys, move keys and scale values. You can also reduce keys.
Curve Editor Toolbars You can add additional commands to these quad menus. You can customize the Track View quad menu the same as any other quad menu. Procedure Key Tools Toolbar Filter—Use this to determine what is displayed in the Controller window and the Key window. See Filters (page 2–541). To customize the Track view quad menu: 1. On the Customize menu choose Customize User Interface. 2.
536 Chapter 12: Animation Draw Curves—Use this to draw new curves, or revise existing ones by sketching directly on the function curve graph. See Draw Curves (page 2–582). Set Tangents to Linear—Sets key tangency to linear in, linear out, or both in and out, depending on your choice from the flyout. of keys in a track. See Reduce Keys (page 2–572). Set Tangents to Smooth—Sets key tangency to smooth. Use this to even up discontinuous motion.
Curve Editor Toolbars Show Tangents—Hides or displays tangent handles on the curves. Use this to hide the handles on individual curves. See Show Tangents (page 2–582). Show All Tangents—Hides or displays all tangent handles on the curves. Use this to hide the handles quickly when many keys are selected. See Show All Tangents (page 2–531). Lock Tangents—Locks the selection of multiple tangent handles, so you can then manipulate several handles at once.
538 Chapter 12: Animation Tip: You can use commas (,) to include multiple names in your selection. Dope Sheet Toolbars Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Modes menu > Dope Sheet > Dope Sheet toolbar Track Set List—Allows you to assign a name to the current track selection (referred to as a track set), and then later reselect those tracks by choosing the respective track set from the list. Also available in Dope Sheet mode. See Track Set List (page 2–590) for details.
Dope Sheet Toolbars Time: Dope Sheet Toolbar Display: Dope Sheet Toolbar Select Time—Lets you select a time range. Time selections include any keys that might be included within the time range. Use Insert Time, then Select Time to choose the time range. See Select Time (page 2–566). Lock Selection—Locks the key selection. Once you have created a selection, turn this on so that you cannot inadvertently select something else. See Lock Selection (page 2–555).
540 Chapter 12: Animation Name—Lets you name the Track View. By entering a name in this field, you create a named Track View window that you can later recall using the Graph Editors menu > Saved Track View submenu. Also available in Curve Editor mode. Navigation—Track View provides tools to pan Track Selection Toolbar Key Stats Toolbar Zoom Selected Object—Puts the currently selected object at the top of the Hierarchy list. Also available in Curve Editor mode.
Ranges: Dope Sheet Toolbar Assign Controller—Use this to assign a new controller to an object. All objects have a default controller assigned; use this to change the default controller to a different one. Select the controller track in the Controller window, then use Assign Controller to select a new one. Delete Controller— Delete a controller from an object. The controller will be replaced with a default controller. Make Controller Unique—Changes an instanced controller to a unique controller.
542 Chapter 12: Animation You can also right-click the Filters button for quick selection of items. Tip: You can set up a default filter configuration. Open a single Track View, set the filters the way you want them to come up, and close the Track View. Save the (empty) scene as maxstart.max. This scene file is automatically loaded when you start the program. Procedures To position a selected object at the top of the Track View Hierarchy: 1. In a viewport, right-click a selected object. 2.
Filters Dialog (Track View) • Transforms (Position, Rotation, Scale, X/Y/Z/W axes in any combination) • Modified Objects • Base Objects • Controller Types (off by default) Note: When you hide a controller, its subcontrollers (if any) are hidden as well. For example, if you hide a PRS Transform controller, its Position, Rotation, and Scale controllers are also hidden.
544 Chapter 12: Animation Keyable Tracks—Displays only tracks that can receive keys. This property is toggled using the Keyable property available on the Track View Controller menu, or by clicking the keyable icon displayed using Show Keyable Icon. Default=off. Active Layer— For each object listed in the hierarchy window with animation layers (page 2–326) enabled, displays only the active layer, along with all nested controllers.
Paste Controller • A copied item can be pasted into a selection of multiple items only if all of the items are of the same type. Procedures To copy and paste a modifier: 1. In the Track View Hierarchy, highlight a modifier track. 2. From the Controller menu, choose Copy. 3. Click the object track for an object in the Track View Hierarchy. 4. From the Controllers menu, choose Paste. The Paste dialog is displayed. 5. Set the options in the Paste dialog, and click OK.
546 Chapter 12: Animation The Paste dialog contains the following options: Constraints and Controllers Copy/Instance—Determines whether the cloned Technically, there is no difference between a controller and a constraint. A constraint is simply a controller that requires the use of a second object. For example, a Path constraint is a controller that requires a spline object for a path. item is a simple copy or an instance of the original.
Assign Controller controller is the default controller for position and scale. a Transform controller, this is now a rotation controller. Barycentric Morph Controller (page 2–309): Applied during the creation of a morph object. Each morph key represents a series of weights for all morph targets. Master Point Controller (page 2–346): Automatically assigned when animating vertices, control points, or vectors in sub-object mode.
548 Chapter 12: Animation Spring Controller (page 2–375): Adds secondary dynamics effects to any point or object position. Interface Smooth Rotation Controller (page 2–374): Creates smooth rotations. Surface Constraint (page 2–396): Positions an object along the surface of another object. TCB Controller (page 2–377): Provides Tension, Continuity, and Bias controls for the function curves between keys. Transform Script Controller (page 2–379): Provides scripted PRS control for objects.
Delete Controller Delete Controller Main toolbar > Curve Editor (Open) > Select a deletable track in the Controller Window. > Right-click the toolbar > Show Toolbars > Controllers: Track View > Delete Controller. Main toolbar > Open Track View > Select a deletable track in the Track View Hierarchy. > Right-click on a blank area of the Track View toolbars and choose Show Toolbars > Controllers toolbar > Delete Controller. Some node subcontrollers can be deleted.
550 Chapter 12: Animation Respect Animation Range Track View - Dope sheet > Select a Controller track > Controller menu > Ignore Animation Range 9. Play the animation. Respect Animation Range constrains a parametric, non-keyable controller track to be active only within the track’s current animation range. Choosing this option changes the track’s background color to gray.
Parameter Curve Out-of-Range Types Procedure To convert an instanced controller to a unique one: 2. In the Curve Editor select the track you want to loop. 1. Select an instanced controller. 2. On the Controllers menu choose Make Unique, or press U on the keyboard. Tip: If you have instanced modifiers you can make them unique by choosing the modifier in the Modifier Stack, right-clicking and choosing Make Unique. 3.
552 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Linear—Projects the animation value along a line tangent to the function curve at the end of the range. Use Linear when you want the animation to enter and leave the range at a constant velocity. Relative Repeat—Repeats the same animation as within the range but offsets each repetition by the value at the end of the range. Use Relative Repeat to create animations that build on each other as they repeat.
Remove Note Track Procedures To add a note track: 1. On the Track View Dope Sheet toolbar, click Edit Keys. 2. Highlight one or more item labels in the to the right of the note key. You should type a short one- or two-word description as the first line of your note. Press Enter to start the body of the note. Press Enter or click within the text field to start the body of the note. Close the Notes dialog by clicking the X button at the top-right corner of the dialog. Hierarchy list. 3.
554 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To delete a note track from items: 1. Highlight one or more note tracks in the Hierarchy list. 2. From the Tracks menu, choose Note Track > Remove. all tracks. Use this mode for key and range editing when you want to view your changes in the context of the total animation.
Lock Selection In Dope Sheet > Edit Keys mode, keys are displayed as a box grid. Keys that are snapped to frames are displayed as filled boxes. Keys that have been moved with snap frames off are displayed as narrow rectangles within the grid. When using the Curve Editor, a similar display is available in the track bar. Use Move Keys or Scale Keys to 4. move keys. With Snap Frames on, each key in a selection set snaps to the nearest frame when the selection is moved or scaled.
556 Chapter 12: Animation Align to Cursor In either Dope Sheet or Curve Editor, select keys to align to current frame. > Keys menu > Align to Cursor Use Align to Cursor to move selected keys to the current time. Select the keys to align using Move, Slide, or Scale. Align to Cursor is useful for taking a group of scattered keys and moving them to the same time location. Align to Cursor is available in Dope Sheet and Curve Editor modes.
Add Visibility Track Variable opacity is supported in the shaded viewports. For ease of use, the object never completely disappears from the viewports. Visibility Inheritance An object can inherit the visibility of its parent (as determined by the parent’s Visibility track in the Track View). Use the Object Properties > Inherit Visibility check box to specify the visibility inheritance of an object.
558 Chapter 12: Animation Move Keys (Dope Sheet) Slide Keys Track View > Highlight keys in the Key window. > Track View toolbar > Slide Keys Dope Sheet > Keys: Track View toolbar > Move Keys Move Keys lets you reposition keys horizontally, within their own track(s), thus changing the times at which they take effect. If no keys are highlighted, you can move any key by dragging it. If multiple keys are highlighted, you can move them all the same distance by dragging one of them.
Scale Keys - Time 3. Drag to slide the keys to the right. The keys following your selection move to account for the offset produced by sliding the keys. The scale center is defined by the current time set by the time slider. You can scale keys about any moment in time by dragging the time slider before you use Scale Keys. Procedure To use Scale Keys: 1. Select an animated object in the viewport, then right-click and choose Curve Editor.
560 Chapter 12: Animation Add Keys (Dope Sheet) Track View > Dope Sheet > Track View toolbar > Add Keys Track View > Dope Sheet > Keys menu > Add Keys Add Keys inserts a key (page 3–960) at the point where you click a curve or a track. Add Keys is a mode that remains active until you activate another mode. While Add Keys is on, you click in any animation track to add a key at that location in time. Examples of controllers that do not use keys include procedural controllers such as Noise.
Track View Utilities controller dialogs can also be displayed by right-clicking their range bars. The Properties button is unavailable in ambiguous cases, for example, when a key and a Parametric controller item are both selected. Procedures To display properties for a controller, do one of the following: • Highlight the track and then choose Controller menu > Properties. • Right-click the track, and then on the Controllers quad choose Properties. To display the Key Info dialog for a key: 1.
562 Chapter 12: Animation Randomize Keys Utility Track View > Utilities menu > Track View Utilities > Randomize Keys Randomize Keys applies random offset values to the times and/or values of selected keys. Procedure To use Randomize Keys: 1. Highlight one or more keys, or a block of time, in one or more tracks. In Dope Sheet > Edit Keys mode, all selected keys are affected. In Edit Ranges mode, the keys in the selected tracks that are within the selected range of time are affected.
Select Keys By Time Utility In Curve Editor mode, you must select the curve as well as the track. Procedure To use Create Out of Range Keys: 1. In the Track View Controller window, select the Position track of an animated object. from frame 31 to 54, the out-of-range animation might be from 0 to 30 and from 55 to 100. Before—Specifies the number of frames before the range for generating keys. In the previous example, if you set this option to 20, it would generate keys over frames 10 to 30.
564 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To use Select Keys By Time: 1. In the Controller window, highlight the tracks you want to work with. 2. On the Utilities menu choose >Track View Utilities, then choose the Select Keys By Time utility from the Track View Utilities dialog. 3. Set a range and click OK. • Keys within the range in the highlighted tracks are selected. • If you select Clear Previous Selection, all keys are cleared before the keys within the time range are selected.
Current Value Editor 4. From the Utilities menu in Track View, choose Track View Utilities. This opens the Track View Utilities dialog. 5. In the list of utilities, click Euler Filter and then click OK, or just double-click Euler Filter. This opens the Filter Selected Euler Tracks dialog. Absolute and relative value editing let you increment changes, or apply exact values. The name of the controller whose values are being changed appears above the axis choices.
566 Chapter 12: Animation X, Y, Z—Use these fields to input numbers for relative or absolute value editing. Exclude Right End Point (page 2–571) Reduce Keys (page 2–572) Procedure To edit time: Edit Time Use the Edit Time tools to work directly with selected blocks of time in the Dope Sheet Editor, as opposed to working with keys and range bars. A block of time is any contiguous time segment, across one or more tracks, and is independent of key locations.
Delete Time any of the following operations to the highlighted block (and any keys contained therein): • Delete Time (page 2–567) • Cut Time (page 2–567) Delete Time Track View > Dope Sheet > Specify a time block. > Time: Dope Sheet toolbar > Delete Time button • Copy Time (page 2–568) • Reverse Time (page 2–569) Use Delete Time to delete a selected block of time and any keys inside the selected block. Keys to the right of the deleted time move to the left.
568 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To cut time from tracks: 1. In Dope Sheet mode, highlight one or more item labels in the Controller window to specify tracks for time editing. 2. Use Select Time (page 2–566) to specify a block of time. 3. Click Cut Time, or, from the Time menu, choose Cut Time. 3. Click Copy Time, or choose Time menu > Copy. The block of time is copied to the time clipboard. The original block remains unchanged.
Reverse Time Relative and Absolute Pasting The values of all the pasted keys are adjusted so that the first pasted key has a value equal to the value at the time of the insertion point. For example, the value of the controller at frame 50 is 10. The clipboard holds three keys spanning 50 frames with values 20, 30, and 40. When you paste the three keys at frame 50, the first key has a value of 20, but the insertion point has a value of 10.
570 Chapter 12: Animation 3. Click the Reverse Time button, or choose Time menu > Reverse. The position of the selected block of time does not change, but order of keys within the block is reversed. slider as the scale origin reference; it always scales from the first frame of the key selection. Procedure To scale time: 1. Insert Time Track View > Dope Sheet > Time: Dope Sheet toolbar > Insert Time button In the Dope Sheet Editor, on the Time: Dope Sheet toolbar, click Scale Time. 2.
Exclude Right End Point segment in your animation. To create a smooth looping animation, you need to exclude either the first or last key of the copied block to prevent keys from doubling up at the ends. The key to be excluded must be at the exact start time of the copied block of time. Note: By default, the Extras: Dope Sheet toolbar The last position key should be your insert point. 7. Click Paste Time. The Paste Time dialog appears. 8. In the dialog choose Paste Absolute or Paste Relative.
572 Chapter 12: Animation At least one track in the block should end with a keyframe. Also, for a smooth loop, the first and last frame of the selection should be the same. 3. Right-click an empty section of the toolbar area and choose Show Toolbars > Extras: Dope Sheet. The Exclude Left End Point and Exclude Right End Point buttons appear. 4. On the Track View toolbar, click Exclude Right End Point. On the Track View toolbar, click Copy 5. Time.
Edit Ranges want to reduce. Alternatively, in Dope Sheet mode, highlight specific tracks and then use Select Time (page 2–566) to designate a block of time within which to reduce keys. If no keys are highlighted in a highlighted track, Reduce Keys works on all keys in that track. • If any of a track’s keys are highlighted, reduction is performed only within the indicated range (that is, between the leftmost and rightmost highlighted key for each track).
574 Chapter 12: Animation 2. On the Track View toolbar, click Modify Subtree. 3. In the Track View Key window, drag an Object range bar or the World range bar. the range, but the applied Out-of-Range type is used to animate time outside the range bar. • You want to add extra time before the first key or after the last key that is not affected by the applied Out-of-Range type.
Copying and Pasting Items Sheet toolbar and choose Show Toolbars > Ranges: Dope Sheet. Save your layout after you do. Procedure To recouple a range: 1. Right-click an empty area adjacent to the Dope Sheet toolbar and choose Show Toolbars > Ranges: Dope Sheet. 2. On the Track View toolbar, click Position Ranges. 3. Select one or more item labels in the Hierarchy 4. Containers—Items with multiple branches that completely define something in your scene.
576 Chapter 12: Animation • When pasting items, you can choose to make an instance or a copy of the pasted item. • You cannot copy/paste actively linked objects. Replace All Instances—Controls whether existing instances of the target item are also converted to the paste source or left as they are. Copying Items Making Instances Unique You copy an item by highlighting it in the Controller window Hierarchy list, and then right-clicking and choosing Copy from the quad menu.
Making Instance and Reference Controllers and Objects Unique (PivotDoor) or Object (Editable Mesh), for example. Note: If the object is modified, the order of the name of its Object track in the Hierarchy list is reversed; for example, Object (Sphere) becomes Sphere (Object). 3. Highlight the object track you wish to copy, then right-click and choose Copy from the quad menu. 4.
578 Chapter 12: Animation • In the modifier stack, these branches display as a horizontal line, called a derived object line. For descriptions of object data flow and instance objects, see Understanding Object Data Flow (page 1–494). You can make an object unique by selecting a Modified Object or an Object container and clicking Make Unique on the Track View toolbar. Your result depends on whether or not the data flow branches at the selected container.
Move Keys (Curve Editor) Show All Tangents (page 2–531) Procedure Show Tangents (page 2–582) To display function curves: Lock Tangents (page 2–583) Apply Ease Curve / Apply Multiplier Curve (page 2–584) Remove Ease/Multiplier Curve (page 2–585) On/Off (Curves) (page 2–585) Ease Curve Out-of-Range Types (page 2–585) Multiplier Curve Out-of-Range Types (page 2–586) Freeze Non-Selected Curves (page 2–587) Bezier Tangent Handles 1. Select an animated object in a viewport. 2.
580 Chapter 12: Animation Procedure To move a selection of keys: 1. In the Hierarchy list, highlight one or more Scale Keys tracks. Track View > Curve Editor or Dope Sheet > Track View toolbar > Scale Keys Only keys in highlighted tracks appear in the Key window. Track View > Curve Editor or Dope Sheet > Keys menu > Scale Keys - Time By default, the Move Keys button is yellow, showing it is already on. 2. In the Track View Key window, highlight one or more keys. 3.
Scale Values • Drag past the time slider location to reverse the keys’ order and expand the keys away from the current time. Add Keys (Curve Editor) Track View > Curve Editor > Track View toolbar > Add Keys Track View > Curve Editor > Keys menu > Add Keys Scale Values Main Track View > Curve Editor > Track View toolbar > Scale Values Track View > Curve Editor > Keys menu> Scale Values When Add Keys is active, you can click anywhere on a function curve to add a key at that location on the curve.
582 Chapter 12: Animation If the highlighted curve is part of a multicurve controller, vertices are added to each curve at the time location where you clicked. For example, if you are using a Bezier Position controller, adding a key to the red X curve of a Position track simultaneously adds keys to the green Y curve and the blue Z curve.
Lock Tangents influence the keyframe has over the interpolation between keyframes. This feature can be used to aid in the slow-in and slow-out workflow of traditional animation. For example, suppose you’re animating a ball bouncing up and down on the world’s Z axis. On frame 1, the ball is on the ground; on frame 8, the ball is in the air; on frame 16 the ball is back on the ground.
584 Chapter 12: Animation • On: Dragging a tangent handle affects both handles of all selected keys. Procedure To apply an ease curve or a multiplier curve: 1. In the Curve Editor Hierarchy list, highlight the Apply Ease Curve / Apply Multiplier Curve Track View > Curve Editor > Curves menu > Apply Ease Curve or Apply Multiplier Curve Apply - Ease Curve and Apply - Multiplier Curve (available from the Curves menu in the Curve Editor) create an ease curve or multiplier curve track.
Remove Ease/Multiplier Curve curve, you can edit its keys, ranges, and properties, as with any other animation track. If you also have the parent track selected (the transform that has the ease applied), you will see the difference in the curve when you turn the ease or multiplier off. Remove Ease/Multiplier Curve Track View > Curve Editor > Curves menu > Remove Remove (Ease/Multiplier Curve) lets you delete an ease or multiplier curve at any time. Procedure To delete an ease or multiplier curve: 1.
586 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Identity—Projects the ease curve along a line with a slope of 1.0 from either end of the range. This causes time to flow at a normal, constant rate outside the range of the ease curve. Use Identity when you want the ease curve to be a localized, non-repeating effect. Identity for an ease curve produces an effect similar to constant for other types of curves. Identity is not available for multiplier curves; it is the default Out-of-Range type for ease curves.
Freeze Non-Selected Curves • Click the right arrow button below an out-of-range type to apply it to only the outgoing curve of the multiplier curve. Interface Relative Repeat—Repeats the same animation as within the range but offsets each repetition by the value at the end of the range. Use Relative Repeat to create animations that build on each other as they repeat.
588 Chapter 12: Animation 4. In the Hierarchy list, click the X Position track icon. Now only the red X Position curve is visible. Navigation: Track View toolbar 5. From the Display menu, choose Show Non-Selected Curves. Track Selection: Track View Toolbar The other two curves reappear, and are editable. Zoom Selected Object (page 2–588) 6. From the Display menu, choose Freeze Non-Selected Curves. The Y Position and Z Position curves remain visible, but display as dashed lines. 7.
Select By Name (Track View) the track of the currently selected object at the top of the list. If the object is a child of a closed hierarchy, the hierarchy is opened to display the selected object. If more than one object is selected in the scene, the uppermost selected object in the Hierarchy list is placed at the top of the list. If no objects are selected, nothing happens. This function works only on object tracks. Procedure To place the selected object at the top of the Hierarchy list: 1.
590 Chapter 12: Animation Example: To highlight and display Position tracks for three objects: choosing the name of the respective track set from the list. 1. Create three boxes. By default, the boxes are named Box01, Box02, and Box03. 2. On the main toolbar, click Curve Editor (Open). 3. In the Track View Hierarchy list, expand the hierarchies for the three box objects. Track Sets List You can also create and edit track sets with the Track Sets Editor dialog (page 2–591). 4.
Track Sets Editor Dialog including letters, numerals, symbols, punctuation, and spaces. Note: Names are case-sensitive. Track Sets Editor Dialog Curve Editor Track Selection toolbar > Edit Track Set 4. Press Enter to complete the track set. You can now highlight another combination of tracks and repeat the process to create another track set. To retrieve a track set: 1. In the Track Sets List, click the arrow. 2. On the list, click a name.
592 Chapter 12: Animation To locate tracks in the Track View or the Track Sets Editor: This procedure is a continuation of the previous procedures and explains how you can use the Track Sets Editor to quickly locate your tracks in the Hierarchy list and vice-versa. This is useful for managing scenes comprised of many tracks that span across multiple track sets. 4. Expand the new track set. 1. Create two track sets each containing tracks. Make sure one track is common to both track sets.
Track Sets Editor Dialog Interface A track set created from a non-leaf parent track contains all children leaf tracks. Note: If no tracks are highlighted, an empty set is created. Delete Track Sets Or Tracks—Removes a highlighted track set or track set member. Note: Deleting a track set member does not delete it in the Track View. Add The Track V iew Selection To The Current Track Set—Combines a highlighted track from the Controller window to the current track set.
594 Chapter 12: Animation Key Time Display Track View > Curve Editor or Dope Sheet > Key Stats: Track View toolbar > Key Time Display (field on left) Selected keys are incremented by 10 frames. Value Display Track View > Curve Editor or Dope Sheet > Key Stats: Track View toolbar > Value Display (field on right) The Key Time editable field (the field on the left) displays the frame number (position in time) of the selected key.
Show Selected Key Statistics Show Selected Key Statistics Track View > Curve Editor > Key Stats: Track View toolbar > Show Selected Key Stats Show Selected Key Statistics displays the statistics represented by the currently selected keys in the Key window of the Curve Editor. The frame number and value are displayed to the right of the key in the Key window. For example, 68, 40.620 (frame=68, value=40.620). Drag horizontally in all modes to slide the view forward and backward in time.
596 Chapter 12: Animation The active time segment (lighter background color) is centered in the Key window. 2. Interface The Key window scales vertically to display the function curves. Zoom Horizontal Extents—Adjusts the This is particularly useful if you are zoomed in and need to see all the keys again. There is no undo for view changes that occur in the Key window, so the Zoom Extents button can serve the function of resetting your view.
Zoom Region (Track View) Note: All three zoom modes work in Curve Editor, but only Zoom and Zoom Time work in Dope Sheet. Tip: If you have a three-button mouse, you can also zoom uniformly by using Ctrl+Alt +middle mouse button or by scrolling with your mouse wheel in the Curve Editor. Tip: You can also zoom exclusively in time (left and right) or in value (up and down) by holding down Ctrl or Shift respectively while scrolling with your mouse wheel in the Curve Editor.
598 Chapter 12: Animation these by name from the Graph Editors > Saved Track Views (page 2–599) submenu. New Track View is disabled if the scene already has 13 Track View windows. Delete Track View Dialog Graph Editors menu > Delete Track View You can name a Track View window by typing in the editable field at the right end of the Track View toolbar. The Delete Track View dialog lets you delete one or more stored Track View (page 2–501) windows by choosing their names from a list.
Saved Track Views Saved Track Views Graph Editors menu > Saved Track Views > Choose the named Track View from the list. Saved Track View lets you recall various Track View windows that you save by naming them. It is different from saved Track View layouts, which are recalled by right-clicking the toolbar and choosing Load layout. A customized Track View user interface: 1. Toolbar docked left 2. Menu bar Saved Track View windows are saved with the MAX file. Procedure To save a Track View window: 1.
600 Chapter 12: Animation show the menu bar, scroll bars, the controller and keys windows, and the time ruler. The Curve Editor toolbars that you can display or hide, dock or float, from the right-click menu include the following: Menu Bar The menu bar gives access to most of the tools also found on the toolbars. The menu bar can be displayed or hidden in the Curve Editor, Dope Sheet, or track bar. The menu bar is context-sensitive, so it changes its display depending on which Track View mode is active.
Track View Customization assign, delete, and make controllers unique (page 2–540). This option is also available in Dope Sheet mode. • above for the Curve Editor, you can also choose to display the following: Track Selection—Track View gives you tools to select • Keys—Dope Sheet displays the tools to move, add, and scale keys (page 2–538), the Filters button (page 2–541), and the buttons that let you choose between Edit Keys (page 2–554) and Edit Ranges (page 2–573) options for Dope Sheet.
602 Chapter 12: Animation you choose Keys menu > Use Soft Select, then choose Soft Selection Settings (page 2–525), the Soft Selection Settings toolbar is displayed. This toolbar is accessible only from the Keys menu, not from the right-click menu. If you want this menu to stay visible, save a Track View layout (page 2–602). Track Bar You can dock the Track View windows below the time slider and track bar by choosing Dock > Bottom from the toolbar right-click menu.
Track View Toolbar Right-Click Menu 4. Change the value of the "Menu Name" entry to the name of the menu you created in step 2. Save the layout after you are done and the changes will be persistent. Tip: You can also make the Dope Sheet Editor point at a renamed menu bar by using MAXScript: In the MAXScript Listener, typetrackviews.current.ui.menubar = "Dope Sheet - Menu Bar", substituting your menu bar name, and then press the Enter key.
604 Chapter 12: Animation Motion Mixer The Motion Mixer allows you to combine motion data for biped and non-biped objects. You can also use the Motion Mixer to animate some body parts with one set of clips, and other body parts with other motions. For example, suppose you have two clips, one where the biped runs with its arms pumping by its sides, and another where the biped stands and cheers with its arms in the air.
Using the Motion Mixer The Motion Mixer is comparable to an audio mixer. Motion clips can be cross-faded, stretched, layered, and finally, mixed down to a single clip. The Motion Mixer works by placing motion files on tracks (page 3–1023). With the Motion Mixer, you can: • Transition or fade between motions. • Move motions in time. • Trim a motion so only part of it is used. • Vary the speed of a motion over time. • Use animation from selected biped or non-biped body parts within a motion clip.
606 Chapter 12: Animation building blocks composed from other motion fragments. For non-biped rigs and other 3ds Max objects, the Mixer provides velocity blends and sub-blends to maintain smooth and coordinated motion. Comparing the Motion Mixer and Motion Flow Both the Motion Mixer and Motion Flow (page 2–1026) can be used to create transitions between a consecutive series of BIP files.
Adding Tracks to the Mixer Accessing the Mixer also turns on Mixer mode for the biped. Mixer mode must be on for the biped in order to see the mixed motion on the biped. To display the Motion Mixer in a viewport: 1. Trackgroup 1. Activate the viewport in which you want to 2. Clip track display the Motion Mixer. 2. Right-click the viewport label, and choose Views > Extended > Motion Mixer from the pop-up menu. Note: When the Motion Mixer is displayed in a viewport, its menu bar is not accessible.
608 Chapter 12: Animation tier and another on the bottom, and place a transition in the area where the two clips overlap. Transitions on these tracks are similar to Motion Flow transitions (page 2–1034) between clips. To add a biped to the Motion Mixer: Transition track Each biped in the Mixer is automatically given a balance track (page 3–914), used for adjusting balance between clips in Layer and Transition tracks. Clips cannot be added to the balance track. 1. 2.
Importing Clips to the Mixer Importing Clips to the Mixer You can bring motion clips (BIP and XAF files) into the mixer with any of these methods: • Choose a file directly from the folder in which it resides. • Choose a file from those you have placed in the Reservoir (page 2–626), a storage area for BIP and XAF files. • Import motion from another biped in the scene. See Working with Clips in the Mixer (page 2–611). • Import a motion flow script.
610 Chapter 12: Animation of the BIP file, followed by a number, such as 1 or 2. The name might also have the letter Z between the name and number. These suffixes tell you how the clip is interpreted by the Mixer. When you load a biped clip from a file, you have the option of setting the lowest starting foot height to Z=0 (the construction plane). If you leave this option turned on, the clip’s motion will be moved in space so the biped’s feet fall on the construction plane on the first frame of the clip.
Working with Clips in the Mixer To import clips from a motion flow script: • Clone clips. Motion flow scripts can be imported to a track in the Mixer. Both clips and transitions from the script are imported to the track. • Slide all clips in time on a track. Before you can import motion flow to a track, the biped must have at least one motion flow script assigned to it in Motion Flow mode. See Creating a Motion Flow Script (page 2–1030). 1.
612 Chapter 12: Animation To replace one clip with another: 1. Place a clip in the track using any method. After a clip is placed on a track, you can replace the clip with another clip. The new clip is scaled to fit the time of the original clip. 2. Select the clips you want to replace with biped 1. Select the clip(s) you want to replace. 2. Right-click a selected clip and choose Load Source > From Files from the pop-up menu. Select a BIP file to replace selected clips. 3.
Filtering Mixer Tracks appropriately. This is accomplished with the Trackgroup Filter dialogs (biped and non-biped objects). The Trackgroup Filter dialog for biped objects. The Trackgroup Filter dialog for non-biped objects. When a trackgroup is created, it is given one Layer track by default. However, you can add more tracks to each trackgroup, making it possible to mix motions for each set of body parts.
614 Chapter 12: Animation To filter and name a trackgroup: 1. Highlight the trackgroup label at the upper left corner of the trackgroup you want to filter. By default, the trackgroup label is All, denoting that the trackgroup currently affects all biped parts. 2. From the Motion Mixer menu, choose Trackgroups > Filter. Trackgroups for Spine, Legs and Arms. The Arms trackgroup has two tracks. The Trackgroup Filter dialog appears. By default, all body parts are selected.
Adjusting Clip Timing When changing clip timing, it can be helpful to display start and end frame numbers and the clip time scale. To do this, click Preferences on the Motion Mixer and choose the appropriate options in the Mixer Preferences dialog (page 2–651). As you choose options, the Motion Mixer display is changed interactively. Tip: Procedures To change the length of a clip without changing its speed: 1. 5. Click OK to close the dialog.
616 Chapter 12: Animation To remove scaling or trimming from a clip in the Motion Mixer, select the clip, right-click and choose Remove Scale/Trim. To change the speed of an entire clip: You can cause a motion to slow down or speed up by changing the length of the clip in the Mixer. Lengthening a clip will slow down the motion, while shortening the clip will speed it up. 1. On the Motion Mixer, click Move Clips. 2. Drag either end of the clip to extend or shorten it in time.
Working with Transitions Transitions extending into areas where clips don’t overlap can create unpredictable results. For the best results, make sure all your transitions cover only areas where two clips overlap completely. To aid in making your transitions as smooth as possible, you can select transitions and use the Transitions menu > Optimize option. This feature searches the two clips to find the start and end time that will result in the smoothest transition, and adjusts the transition accordingly.
618 Chapter 12: Animation 2. Create the transition with this timing. You can also optimize the transition to fine-tune it. 5. Optimize the transition. 3. Change the transition focus. Procedures 4. Perform a mixdown. Study both clips to find a start time and range for the transition that will result in smooth motion. Look for times when each foot has the same planting or free status in both clips.
Adjusting Track Weight Tip: If you aren’t sure where you want the transition to take place, you can choose Search Entire Clip. This option can place the transition anywhere in the two clips. Check the motion afterward to ensure the transition takes place at an appropriate time. To change the focus on a foot-based transition with Biped animation: Adjusting Track Weight Each track has one or more weight curves (page 3–1033) that you can use to mix motion from several tracks to varying degrees.
620 Chapter 12: Animation a node at each end of each clip. A transition track has no nodes by default. Weight Curve Evaluation By default, each track’s weight curve is set to a value of 1.0 across the entire track, which uses 100% of the track’s motion in the mix. When you change the curve to dip to a value below 1.0, the motion on the track is mixed with the motion on the track below it. For example, if you set the weight curve for two tracks in a trackgroup to 0.5, the two clips will be mixed equally.
Adding Time Warps number you noted in step 2 of the previous procedure. amount of time to do the entire motion, but does some parts quickly and others slowly. Dashed lines appear on a time-warped clip in the Mixer to indicate the motion speed at different points in the clip. 2. In the Motion Mixer, select the clip. 3. From the Motion Mixer menu, choose Clips > Add Time Warp. The appearance of the clip does not change when a time warp is added. 4. On the Motion Mixer toolbar, click Editable Time Warps.
622 Chapter 12: Animation To add multiple time warps to a clip: 1. You can time-warp other parts of the clip by adding more time-warp bars with the arrow cursor, then moving the new top bars. When you add a second time warp bar after editing the first, the top bar appears where you click, but the bottom bar appears in a different location. The bottom bar’s location corresponds to the original time of the top bar before the clip was time-warped.
Adjusting Biped Balance in the Mixer The balance track has a weight curve for adjusting the degree of automatic balance compensation between upper and lower body trackgroups. By default, the weight value of 1.0 across the balance track provides the maximum degree of compensation. You can reduce the weight curve at various points to lessen the degree of automatic balancing performed by the Mixer. Note: Each biped can have only one balance track, and the balance track cannot be deleted.
624 Chapter 12: Animation 3. To adjust the degree of horizontal balance compensation on the pelvis, change the Lateral Ratio parameter. Lower values make more forward/backward motion on the pelvis, while higher values use more side-to-side motion to compensate. The weight curve becomes visible at the top of the balance track. 4. To adjust the degree to which spine rotation from the lower body motion is propagated on the upper body, change the Propagation parameter.
Exporting Animation to the Biped • If transitions between different foot/leg motions have created small pops or jerks near the transition area, you will want to create a mixdown (page 3–973) for the biped and check the mixdown before copying it to the biped. A mixdown can correct many continuity problems with feet and legs. You can correct transitions and recompute the mixdown as many times as you like. When the mixdown is satisfactory, you can copy it to the biped.
626 Chapter 12: Animation 2. From the Motion Mixer menu, choose Bipeds > Compute Mixdown. If Prompt for options at each Mixdown is turned on in the Mixer Preferences dialog, you will be prompted for mixdown options. Click OK to start the mixdown. A progress bar at the bottom of the Mixer shows the progress of the mixdown process. After a few moments, a new track called Mixdown is created as the last track in the biped’s mix. You can turn the track on and off by clicking the track.
Using the Reservoir adaptation for the biped. You can save loading time by saving adapted clips to new BIP files and replacing the original clip in the Mixer. If you save an instanced clip from the Reservoir under a new file name, all clips in the Reservoir are renamed likewise. Procedures To access the Reservoir: • On the Motion Mixer toolbar, click the Reservoir button. The Reservoir opens.
628 Chapter 12: Animation 3. Find the directory containing the clip files to load, highlight the desired file, and then click the Open button. The file loads and replaces the highlighted item in the Reservoir list and the Motion Mixer. If you replace a source item, all of its clips are replaced as well. If you replace a clip, all of its references are replaced.
Motion Mixer Menus Interface Mix menu The Mix menu provides tools for managing your bipeds and non-biped objects when they are selected. If an object is already added to the Motion Mixer, right-clicking its name displays the menu. Use commands on this menu to load and save MIX files, adjust track colors and balance parameters, and activate and deactivate the Mixer mode.
630 Chapter 12: Animation pelvis and spine when you use different motions on the upper and lower parts of the biped. See Adjusting Biped Balance in the Mixer (page 2–622). Note: This dialog is available only for biped object mixes. • Lateral Ratio—Decreasing the Lateral Ratio to 0.0 will cause balance compensation to use only forward/backward motion on the pelvis. Increasing Lateral Ratio to 1.0 will adjust the pelvis with only side-to-side motion. Range=0.0 to 1.0; Default=0.5.
Motion Mixer Menus Effect Mixdown—When this option is turned on, the mixdown track is activated. This option is available only if a mixdown has been computed. Effect Biped—When this option is turned on, Mixer mode is turned off for the biped. Click Effect Raw Mix to turn Mixer Mode on again. Trackgroups menu When a trackgroup is selected, you can access the commands in the Trackgroup menu. Alternately, you can right-click a trackgroup label to open the menu.
632 Chapter 12: Animation Clips in Transition tracks will automatically spawn transitions when they overlap. should be resaved. Until the BIP file is resaved, it will not display in the Motion Preview. Delete All Clips—Clears the selected trackgroups of all clips and transitions. New Clips > From Reservoir—Opens a Reservoir Files dialog where you can choose one or more BIP or XAF files listed in the Reservoir. Delete—Clears the selected trackgroups from the Motion Mixer.
Motion Mixer Menus Remove Time Warp—Removes the ability for clips not in Mixer or any other mode. This option is available only when a single clip is selected. to be Time Warped and removes any existing Time Warping from selected clips. Note: This dialog is available only for biped object Tile V iew—Tiles the selected clip along the width of mixes. the Motion Mixer. The number of duplicated clips depends upon the clip’s length and the number of frames displayed across the Motion Mixer.
634 Chapter 12: Animation before you created the loopable clip. If you tile the loopable clip after you create it, it should loop perfectly. Interface Note: This dialog is available only for biped object mixes. Motion Mixer Dialogs Mixer Clip Source Options Dialog Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped Apps rollout > Mixer > Select clip(s). > Motion Mixer menu bar > Clips > Load Source > From File Select non-biped clip(s).
Copy Biped Animation to Clip Dialog Remove Weights—Removes any existing weight curves from clips selected to be replaced. Remove Warps—Removes any existing time warps from clips selected to be replaced. Copy Biped Animation to Clip Dialog Select a biped.
636 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Remove Warps—Removes any existing time warps from clips selected to be replaced. Mixer Transition Editor Dialog (Biped Object) Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped Apps rollout > Mixer > Motion Mixer menu bar > Transitions > Edit Copy Animation Into:— • The selected clips only—Only the selected clip in the track is replaced by a new clip chosen from the reservoir.
Mixer Transition Editor Dialog (Biped Object) Ease Out—Ease-out value for the destination clip. Transition Focus—Lets you specify a focus point on the biped where the transition takes place. The Mixer will attempt to match movement based on this selection. For example, if Left Foot is selected, the transition will use the left foot as a focal point during the transition, aligning the motion of the left foot in both clips as much as possible during the transition. Default=Auto.
638 Chapter 12: Animation transition. For the destination clip, this option freezes the biped at the End Frame position. If Fixes is chosen for both the source and destination clips, the transition is a gradual interpolation from one frozen pose to another. objects are changeable from clip to clip, and any new transition that results from cloning or adding clips initially uses the blend options from the last clip in time.
Mixer Transition Editor Dialog (Non-Biped Object) Interface If Fixed is chosen for both the source and destination clips, the transition is a gradual interpolation from one frozen pose to another. Velocity Blends group A Velocity Blend object is one that has its positions blended based on velocity (like a biped’s COM). Objects used for Velocity Blending are most commonly the roots of the mix hierarchy.
640 Chapter 12: Animation The spinner value lets you specify an additional angle to add to the roll. Pitch— When on, accumulates the pitch (Y) angle during the transition. When off, the angle is simply blended with the next clip. Default=on. The spinner value lets you specify an additional angle to add to the pitch. Yaw—When on, accumulates the yaw (Z) angle during the transition. When off, the angle is simply blended with the next clip. Default=on.
Pick Nodes Dialog (Motion Mixer) OK—Confirms the current settings and closes the dialog. Node list—Lists all the available objects. All—Selects all objects in the list. None—Selects no objects in the list. Pick Nodes Dialog (Motion Mixer) Graph Editors menu > Motion Mixer... > Select a non-biped object clip transition. > Motion Mixer menu bar > Transitions > Edit > Mixer Transition Editor > Click one of the Select Velocity Nodes buttons.
642 Chapter 12: Animation Optimized transitions compute for minimum foot sliding over the range of the transition. This method of determining transitions yields very high quality results. After—Set a frame value to search after the existing transition. Motion Mixer Toolbar Interface Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped Apps rollout > Mixer Graph Editors menu > Motion Mixer...
Motion Mixer Toolbar Delete—Deletes a selected biped from the Motion Mixer window. Select—Lets you select bipeds, trackgroups, tracks, and clips. Move Clips—Allows selection and movement (including Shift +Clone) of bipeds and trackgroups, keeping clips and transitions intact. It also allows independent horizontal movement of clips on the same track or vertical movement of clips from one biped’s track to another biped’s track. Add Bipeds—Opens the Bipeds dialog listing all the bipeds in the scene.
644 Chapter 12: Animation Editable Time Warps—Clips can be interactively time warped, given that they have had a time warp applied. When in this mode, you can place seams in a clip and then drag them within the clip’s original length. See Adding Time Warps (page 2–620). Draggable Tracks—Enables vertical movement of tracks with clips. Holding down the Shift key while moving a track creates a clone of the original track.
Trackgroup Filter Dialog (Biped Object) See also Adding Tracks to the Mixer (page 2–607) Using the Reservoir (page 2–626) Trackgroup Filter Dialog (Biped Object) parts can be individually activated or deactivated by clicking them, or you can use the buttons across the bottom of the Trackgroup Filter diagram to expedite selections. Center—Activates all central body parts, comprised of the spine, pelvis and horizontal movement, rotation and vertical movement icons.
646 Chapter 12: Animation object’s upper body, while another set controls the lower body. For more information and procedures on the use of trackgroup filters, see Filtering Mixer Tracks (page 2–612). Interface Invert—Inverts the current body part selection. If everything is active, this deactivates everything, as if you clicked the None button. Subtree group Display—When on, all body parts are listed following a hierarchy structure. Otherwise, body parts are listed on the same level. Default=on.
Motion Mixer Editor • Biped/Trackgroup/Track Controls (page 2–647) • Interactive Clip Controls (page 2–647) • Weighting Controls (page 2–648) Biped/Trackgroup/Track Controls The left-most section of the editor is the Biped/Trackgroup/Track Controls section. The Biped/Trackgroup/Track Controls set the number, order, display, and characteristics of those features in the mix. Bipeds and trackgroups can be selected, added, removed and repositioned.
648 Chapter 12: Animation When Weight Mode is turned on, weights can be adjusted with a red weight curve on a clip or track. The vertical timeline. If a clip has a time warp applied, time can be distorted interactively in Time Warp mode: first create seams in the clip, then drag the seams to stretch or squeeze time. On a Layer track, each clip has its own weight curve. Each Transition track has one weight curve for the entire track.
Reservoir you type in a weight, the weights of all nodes are changed to the new value. Interface Weighting is evaluated across tracks in a single trackgroup. If a trackgroup has two or more tracks, the topmost track’s weight is evaluated at each frame. If the weight at any frame is less than 1.0, the motion on the track is only partially used, and next track down is evaluated for its weight. If the total weight is still less than 1.0, the next track down is evaluated, and so on.
650 Chapter 12: Animation Reservoir toolbar The commands on the main Reservoir toolbar allow you to manage the clips you have in the Motion Mixer and also build up a collection of clips that you may want to use in the future. Max Clips/Biped Clips—Choose to switch between a list of biped and non-biped motion assets. The Max Clips option displays XAF files while Biped Clips displays BIP files. New Entry—Opens a dialog where you can choose BIP or XAF files to load into the Reservoir.
Mixer Preferences Dialog or XAF file. Clip information is also displayed, like the name of the clip reference as it appears in the Motion Mixer. Information about the biped structure is also listed along with the bipeds to which the clip has been adapted. Interface Motion Preview The Motion Preview at the lower right side of the Reservoir shows a thumbnail of the selected clip. Moving the slider across the bottom gives you an idea of what the motion looks like before you add it to a track.
652 Chapter 12: Animation • Outpoints—Displays the end transition frame on the transition clip bar. Default=Off. Show / Hide Other group These settings indicate if range bars and balance curves appear in the Motion Mixer tracks. • Trackgroup Rangebars—Hides the gray range bar that appears along the top of each trackgroup. Default=On. • Balance Curves—Displays the Balance Curves track. Default=On.
Animation Utilities Interface Load File—Loads a Motion Mixer file (.mix). These files include the following, which display in the Motion Mixer window when a MIX file is loaded: • Trackgroups—Groups of tracks (page 3–1023) for selected parts of the biped. • Tracks—Layer tracks (page 3–961) and transition tracks (page 3–1027) where clips and transitions reside. • Clips—References to BIP animation files used in the mix. • Transitions—Connections between clips on transition tracks.
654 Chapter 12: Animation pivot orientation in the Hierarchy > Pivot panel before using this utility. Interface Although many of the settings are the same as in the Path constraint, this utility is not dynamic; you have to click the Apply Follow button each time you change an object’s animation or the utility settings.
Motion Capture Utility Bank Amount—Adjusts the amount of the banking to one side or the other, depending on whether the value is positive or negative. Smoothness—Controls how rapidly the roll angle changes as an object moves through bends in the trajectory. Smaller values make an object more responsive to subtle changes in the curve while larger values minimize jerkiness. Allow Upside Down—Avoids the situation where an object flips when going around a vertically oriented path.
656 Chapter 12: Animation A Motion Capture dialog is displayed. Its title bar includes the name of the object and the track to which the controller is assigned. If a Data dialog opens instead, close it, right-click the track name, and choose Properties. radius of a cylinder would have only one device to control the radius value. 2. Bind the devices in the Properties dialog for the track. To specify a device: 1. Click the Properties button while the Rotation track is selected.
Motion Capture Utility 3. Right-click in the Rotation track to display the Motion Capture properties dialog. 4. Click the button beside Z Rotation, and assign a Joystick Input Device. 5. Under Joystick Axis, choose the X option (if it’s not already chosen). 6. Check Accumulate so that the rotation won’t return to zero each time you release the joystick.
658 Chapter 12: Animation Interface Record Controls group Tests and records your animation. The first three buttons let you control the recording directly, while the Start/Stop button lets you use a MIDI device to control the recording. Start—Starts a recording using the values set under Record Range below the Track list. Stop—Stops the recording before the Out frame is reached. You can also stop a recording by pressing Esc , or by pressing the right mouse button. Test—Tests your motion.
Motion Capture Utility Start/Stop Trigger Setup dialog after the Record button. The recording starts when the button is released. Tracks group Presets—Choose the type of MIDI device. If you choose Media Control Station 2, you can use its buttons to Stop, Play, and Record. (The Media Control Station is a MIDI device containing standard VCR-style playback buttons along with a jog wheel.
660 Chapter 12: Animation All—Assigns all tracks to the Record Controls group. Out is larger than the current segment, the segment is temporarily enlarged during the recording. Invert—When tracks are selected, assigns the unselected tracks to the Record Controls Area. In—Specifies the frame number where the recording begins after you click Start. None—Assigns none of the tracks to the Record Out—Specifies the frame number where the Controls group. recording ends after you click Start.
Motion Capture Utility Low threshold values closely match the original animation but may not greatly reduce the number of keys. High threshold values produce the fewest keys but may not match the original animation with much accuracy. Note: When Reduce Keys is active, there is additional calculation time after each completed recording. Mouse Input Device rollout Controls animation using the horizontal or vertical motion of the mouse.
662 Chapter 12: Animation Envelope Parameters group Joystick Input Device rollout Specifies the time over which the envelope of the action takes effect, relative to the key pressing and release. The Joystick Input Device driver was designed for the Microsoft Sidewinder joystick, which contains more controls than the standard joystick. You can use this device driver for standard joysticks as well. Attack —Displays the time it takes after pressing the key for the value to reach its maximum level.
Motion Capture Utility you’re limited to the "rectangle" defined by the limits of the joystick. When the joystick returns to its rest position, the value generated returns to zero. When this is turned on, the joystick represents a change in the current position. Moving the joystick forward, for example, can cause an object to start moving, and it will continue to move until you return the joystick to its rest position. output when you press the button (Spinner Value: float, -999,999 to 999,999).
664 Chapter 12: Animation the range, the value takes on the Max value from the same area. Anything in between is interpolated between the Min and Max values. (Note that Min doesn’t have to be less than Max.) The generated value will slide around as different keys are pressed. The harder a key is pressed, the faster the value changes. The Speed setting defines how fast, overall, the value changes as keys are pressed.
MACUtilities Utility MIDI Channel Viewer Clicking MIDI Channel Viewer at the bottom of the MIDI Device rollout displays a dialog that lets you test your MIDI device to see which MIDI channel is receiving events, and which notes are being triggered. MIDI Channel group Provides a column of 16 buttons and progress bars representing the 16 MIDI channels. Select the channel from which you want to view note activity. The channel progress bars light up when any channel has an event.
666 Chapter 12: Animation After the conversion, the resulting CSM file is saved in this folder. Interface 5. Turn on Use MNM Filter File. 6. Turn off Use TRC Filename. 7. Click Convert TRC to CSM. A Select Source TRC Files... dialog opens. 8. Highlight a TRC file and click Open to confirm your selection. A Selected Target CSM File... dialog opens. 9. Either highlight an existing CSM file to overwrite or enter a new filename. Click OK to confirm your selection. Your file is converted into CSM format.
Camera Tracker Utility Browse...—Lets you pick a folder in which 3ds Max saves the generated CSM file. Convert TRC To CSM—Lets you first pick the TRC file to convert. The resulting CSM file is named after the original TRC file. Note: If Use TRC Filename is turned off, a second dialog opens so you can pick an existing CSM file to overwrite or create a new one. Options group Use MNM Filter File—When on, the MNM file is used in the conversion process. Default=on.
668 Chapter 12: Animation The scene should have a Free camera to be match-moved, as the tracker does not create one. The scene also should have a set of Point or CamPoint helper objects positioned in 3D to correspond to the tracking features. Optionally install the movie as an environment map-based background image in the match camera viewport. This is needed if you want to render a composite using the match-move or checking match accuracy.
Requirements for Camera Tracking move in which the view passes through a field of features with only some of them (at least six) visible at any time. 6. (Optional) Set up manual keyframes for each tracker at frames in which the feature radically changes motion or shape or is briefly occluded and so might be difficult for the computer to track. If you want, you can do this after a tracking attempt indicates where tracking errors occurred. 7. Perform the feature track using the Batch Track rollout.
670 Chapter 12: Animation • A set of trackable features in the movie, such as wall markers, balls, corner points and so on, for which position measurements are known. The tracker will track most small features with good contrast to their surroundings, have a well-defined position in space, and are unique within their frame-to-frame areas of movement.
Camera Tracker: Movie Window accuracy. If the movie was digitized from film, you should not perform deinterlacing because the results will be less accurate. The deinterlacing is performed temporarily on loaded frames and doesn’t affect the original movie file. Save As—Saves the current setup into a new MOT file. This file becomes the destination for subsequent Save operations. Load—Load the tracker setup and position data from another file. Off—Disables deinterlacing.
672 Chapter 12: Animation The motion search bounds defines the are in which the feature will be searched for from frame-to-frame. This bounds box moves with the feature box, so the area is relative to the current feature at each frame. It’s important to estimate this search area well. If it’s too large, the matching process will be unnecessarily slow and there’s more chance of other features in the search area making the search ambiguous; if it’s too small, tracking errors will occur.
Camera Tracker: Motion Trackers Rollout increment selected. So, if you’re zoomed out two times and the subpixel increment is 1/16 of a pixel, the nudge increment is four image pixels, due to the zoom. However, if you’re zoomed in five times, the nudge increment is 1/16 of an image pixel, due to the subpixel level. • Bounds: You adjust the bounding boxes by pressing and dragging the handles of the box you want to adjust in the selected gizmo.
674 Chapter 12: Animation tracker as this automatically establishes an initial search bound for the tracker gizmo. Delete Tracker—Deletes the selected tracker from the list and the Movie window. Tracker Setup group Sets up the parameters for the currently selected tracker. Any tracker you create will take its initial parameters from the current values in this group. the object association is reestablished using the object’s name.
Camera Tracker: Motion Trackers Rollout Resample on error—You can make the tracker identify possible tracking errors and you can use this during a manual tracking review and during actual tracking to correct errors. Typical sources of error include frame-to-frame jumps greater than the search bounds, image contrast changes, or a feature changing shape over a sequence of frames, such as a corner might if the camera moves by it.
676 Chapter 12: Animation Set Stop—Sets the end of the active frame range for a tracker. You use the Set Start and Set Stop buttons in the Setup box together with the Movie Stepper rollout to set the active range. Pressing the buttons will set the start or stop point at the frame currently shown in the Movie Stepper. well as tracking errors. See Batch Track Rollout (page 2–678).
Camera Tracker: Error Thresholds Rollout >—Steps forward one frame or keyframe if Step Keyframes is turned on. to browse through them quickly. In this mode, feature tracking is disabled. >10—Steps forward 10 frames, either directly or Show Track—Displays a visible tracking line in one frame at a time if the Master Track Enable check box is turned on. the Movie window for the currently selected tracker. This button shows where the tracker has currently tracked.
678 Chapter 12: Animation can use this detection can be used both during a manual tracking review (see Batch Track Rollout (page 2–678)) or during actual tracking to correct errors using the Resample On Error control in the Motion Trackers setup rollout (page 2–673).
Camera Tracker: Position Data Rollout Interface Error Codes Me—Match error threshold exceeded. Vd—Color variance delta threshold exceeded. Jd—Jump delta threshold exceeded. In each case, the number following the code is the actual error measure. You can see how the error measure compares to the current thresholds in the Error Thresholds rollout.
680 Chapter 12: Animation Enabled Trackers—Operates on all the enabled trackers in the Motion Trackers rollout. All—Operates on all the trackers. Clear to End—Clears the position data in the trackers specified in the Apply To group from the current Movie Stepper frame onward. This is useful for clearing out and redoing a portion of the tracking. Clear All—Clears all the position data in the trackers specified in the Apply To group.
Camera Tracker: Match Move Rollout press H to open the Select Objects dialog (page 1–78). Once selected, the camera name is placed in the picker button, and other buttons and controls are enabled in the utility. The selected camera is remembered in the MOT settings file and restored on reopening the movie in the camera tracker. As with the tracker point scene objects, the camera name is stored and used when reloading, so make sure it’s unique. The camera selected must be a Free camera.
682 Chapter 12: Animation error display also interactively updates as you nudge tracker gizmos in Live Camera Match mode, showing the current maximum match distance for the camera; see Movie Stepper Rollout (page 2–676). Interface Note that this error might be exaggerated when you employ match point weighting, as this tends to distribute the errors toward the nonweight points.
Camera Tracker: Object Pinning Rollout Smooth Type group Straight line average—Causes Move smoothing to generate a straight line average for each of the selected parameters. This is useful when you know a parameter is fixed, but don’t know its actual value. Examples might include field-of-view or vertical position.
684 Chapter 12: Animation 6. Adjust the Pin Range, and then click the Pin button to move the object to follow the tracker. Interface Pin Range group Movie Start—The movie frame from which to start using tracked feature positions. Animation Start—The frame in the 3ds Max animation at which to start keyframing the move of the pinned object. Frame Count—The number of frames to animate. There must be enough tracked positions in the selected tracker to cover this number of frames.
Camera Tracker: Troubleshooting Relative—Leaves the pinned object at its current position in space and moves it so that its projected position relative to the tracked feature remains the same throughout the pinning frame range. This makes it possible to animate an object that you don’t want placed exactly over a feature, or to animate an object using several features in successive frame ranges.
686 Chapter 12: Animation the “fixed” camera parameters to compute the ones being estimated and simply won’t work if they’re fixed at incorrect values. 4. You may know that some of the camera parameters don’t vary during a match sequence, but you aren’t sure of their values. One approach to this situation is to enable all parameters for an initial match and then apply a straight-line average filter to them in the Move Smoothing rollout.
Dynamics Utility The effects of collisions between objects depend on the velocity of the objects and their properties. For collision to work between two objects, each object must have the other object assigned for collision. For example, when bouncing a ball, both the floor and the ball are assigned collisions. The Material Editor: The Dynamics Properties rollout (page 2–1479) in the Material Editor lets you assign the dynamics properties to the surface of an object, like friction and bounce.
688 Chapter 12: Animation 3. On the Create panel > Space Warps > Particles and Dynamics > Object Type rollout, click Gravity. 4. Drag in the Top viewport to create a Gravity gizmo. 5. On the Utilities panel, click Dynamics. 6. On the Dynamics rollout, click New. Dynamics00 appears in the Simulation Name field. 7. Click Edit Object List. The Edit Object List dialog displays. 8. Select all the boxes in the dialog and click the > button, then click OK.
Dynamics Utility can repeat this as many times as you like to layer simulations ad infinitum. Since Undo is not supported by Dynamics, you can also use Hold and Fetch in its place. 1. In Track View, open the Position track for an object animated by a dynamics simulation. 2. Select the Old Position track, and click Copy Controller on the Track View toolbar (the second button from the left). 3. Select the Position track (the parent), and click Paste Controller (to the right of Copy Controller).
690 Chapter 12: Animation 6. Go to Edit Time display mode and select all of the tracks containing keys (or right-click over the hierarchy, and choose Select All). 7. Double-click any key to select all keys in all tracks. 8. Click the Reduce Keys button, set the Threshold dynamics simulation, and the effect on the link of such combinations. An asterisk (*) indicates those combinations that are more typically useful. The format of this list is as follows: X=check box on.
Dynamics Utility so that one pin travels further into the slot, the other must ride higher in the slot. This is of limited application. The possible check box combinations are: XXO XXO XOX XOX OXX OXX OXO XOO XOO OOX OOX OXO 6. * 2 Moves + 1 Rotate (complementary): Turn on two Moves, plus one Rotate that’s not in the same column as any of the selected Moves. (This is a sliding universal joint like the splined output shaft between the automatic transmission of a rear-drive car and the drive shaft.
692 Chapter 12: Animation New—Creates a new simulation. Its name consists of the word "Dynamics" appended by a number, starting with 00. This number is incremented by one for each new simulation. Remove—Deletes the current simulation. Dynamic simulations can use a lot of memory. Removing old or unused simulations reduces the size of your .max files. When you remove a simulation, all timings and other settings are deleted. However, any keys generated by the simulation remain.
Dynamics Utility Effects by Object—Only effects assigned to specific objects with the Edit Object dialog > Assign Object Effects button are considered in the calculation. Global Effects—Only effects included in the Assign Global Effects dialog (accessed by clicking the button of the same name) are included in the calculation. Assign Global Effects—Displays the Assign Global Effects dialog. Select effects (space warps) in the list on the left and use the > button to move them to the list on the right.
694 Chapter 12: Animation key of the keyframed "input motion" after the start time of the simulation, or set a start time before the last key. End Time—Specifies the last key considered for the solution. This spinner is set to the last frame of the active segment (page 3–904) when you create a new simulation. For example, if your active segment ends at frame 200, when you click New to create a new simulation, End Time is set to 200.
Dynamics Utility factor to the outside forces affecting each object (gravity, wind, and so on). The default value of 1 results in normal speed. You can scale down the simulation (make it slower) by using values below 1 (from 0.1 to 1), and you can scale up the simulation (make it faster) by using values greater than 1 (from 1 to 100). If you speed up your simulation and objects begin to behave incorrectly (going through objects, for example), increase the Calc Intervals Per Frame value to compensate.
696 Chapter 12: Animation Sliding Friction—Determines how difficult it is for an object to keep moving over a surface (the higher this value, the more difficult for the object to keep moving). Once two objects begin to slide over one another, static friction disappears and sliding friction takes over. Generally, sliding friction is lower than static friction due to surface tension effects. For example, once steel starts sliding over brass (a value of static friction that might run from .05 to .
Edit Object Dialog turning on Move Pivot to Centroid will alter the positioning of your hierarchical linkage. Load/Save Parameters Sets group Saves the current Edit Object parameter settings, or loads previously saved parameter settings. You can use these controls to save the settings for one object, and then apply them to another object. Set Name—Accepts a new name for a parameter set. Click Save to save the parameter set with this name. Available Parameters Sets—Lists previously saved parameter sets.
698 Chapter 12: Animation the mass in an object is distributed with respect to the center of mass of that object. Altering the mass moment changes the way an object responds to torque. If your object is changing shape over time, and you want to take this into account for the simulation, you should recalculate the properties. Never—No calculation is performed beyond the first calculation for the dynamics solution. Every Frame—The object’s properties are recalculated for every frame.
Edit Object Dialog Density setting, the Mass value changes (when its automatic value is not overridden). vertex is given a mass of 1 gram, but the object itself has no volume. Mass—Technically, mass is the measure of how many subatomic particles are in an object. In 3ds Max, it’s calculated as a result of density times volume. Mass can is the resistance to acceleration given a constant force. The greater the mass, the more resistance.
700 Chapter 12: Animation Edit Object List Dialog Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > More button > Dynamics > Dynamics rollout > Edit Object List button > Edit Object List dialog The Edit Object List dialog lets you select the objects to include in a dynamics simulation. Highlight objects from the Objects in the Scene list on the left, and then click the > button to place them in the Objects in the Simulation list on the right side of the dialog.
Skin Utilities To use Skin Utilities, you must have two meshes to which the Skin modifier (page 1–791) has been applied, both in the current scene. You must have already assigned bones to the Skin modifier for both meshes. Note: Skin Utilities work by matching bones from one character to another, so the task of copying the skin data will be greatly simplified if you name the bones in each mesh with similar naming conventions. Procedure To use Skin Utilities: 1.
702 Chapter 12: Animation Paste Skin Data dialog Remove Prefix—If bone names start with text followed by an underscore, this removes all characters from the displayed bone names up to and including the underscore. Use this option to remove prefixes and make source and target bone names match, which will allow you to use the Match by Name option. Left Arrow—Matches highlighted target bones to highlighted source bones.
reactor reactor is a toolset that allows animators and artists to control and simulate complex physical scenes in 3ds Max. reactor supports integrated rigid and soft body dynamics, cloth simulation, and fluid simulation. It can simulate constraints and joints for articulated bodies. It can also simulate physical behaviors such as wind and motors. You can use all of these features to create rich dynamic environments.
704 Chapter 13: reactor Command Panel You can use the reactor options on the Create panel to create various reactor elements. To find most reactor objects, go to the Helpers sub-panel, and then, from the drop-down list, choose reactor. You can also find a space warp, used for water (page 2–801), in Space Warps > reactor. Once you’ve created a reactor object, selecting the object and opening the Modify panel allows you to configure its properties.
reactor You’ll find most of the remaining reactor functions on the Utilities panel. This provides access to functionality such as previewing the simulation, changing world and display parameters, and analyzing the convexity of objects. It also lets you see and edit the rigid body properties associated with objects in the scene.
706 Chapter 13: reactor Note: The reactor menus and toolbar provide shortcuts for many of the reactor functions provided in the command panel. The reactor Toolbar The reactor toolbar is a handy way to access much of reactor’s functionality. It has buttons that let you quickly create constraints and other helpers, display physical properties, generate animations, and run the real-time preview. To display the reactor toolbar: 1.
Introducing Dynamics Simulation The reactor Quad Menu When selected, reactor icons are white and are also larger than when not selected. When not selected, the icon for a valid element is blue, and for an invalid element is red. What constitutes validity depends on the particular reactor element. For instance, a hinge (page 2–747) is valid if it has the correct number of objects attached to it; a Rigid Body Collection (page 2–723) is valid if it’s not empty.
708 Chapter 13: reactor Unlike traditional keyframe-based animation, where the animator needs to specify a set of keyframed configurations, physical simulation determines how objects move based their properties. This takes the burden from the animator, who now doesn’t need to manually animate every piece in an explosion, every bone in a character stunt animation, or every vertex in a piece of cloth.
Introducing Dynamics Simulation but most other forces like wind and air resistance are not. So, taking the cannon ball example, imagine a windy layer in the atmosphere that the cannon ball passes through, as shown in the next figure. This figure illustrates what we would like to achieve. Over a period of time the cannon ball’s rate of ascent should slow due to gravity, and it should eventually fall to the ground having traveled through a classic parabolic arc (assuming no air resistance).
710 Chapter 13: reactor t it is better to split this into n steps of a smaller time interval t/n. This is also true of the math. As the simulation becomes more complex, the math required to calculate the new positions and velocities of objects in a simulation also becomes more complex, and as a result the guesses produced by the math give progressively less-accurate results.
Introducing Dynamics Simulation are simulation steps only. This was achieved by instructing the physics engine to employ four substeps per key. Thus, for each four simulation steps we create only keyframe. By setting the number of substeps we can control the accuracy of the physical simulation independent of the number of keyframes created. Rigid Bodies and Deformable Bodies Rigid Bodies Havok simulates most objects in a simulation as rigid bodies.
712 Chapter 13: reactor 9.8 m/s2. Otherwise objects might appear to fall faster or slower than you expect. Note: Due to CPU floating-point precision, a physics engine is most accurate when dealing with numbers as close in magnitude to 1 as possible. In other words, values like 10,000,000 work poorly, as do values like 0.0000001.
Special Features in reactor The Car-Wheel constraint (page 2–757) is particularly suited to the simulation of wheels attached to a chassis. The wheels rotate (and can be powered) about a given axis. Limited linear motion relative to the chassis is allowed along a user-defined suspension axis. Using Point-Point constraint (page 2–750) with the Limited option lets you limit the relative rotation of the attached objects by a given degree around each axis.
714 Chapter 13: reactor Support for Global Collisions In reactor, you can enable or disable collisions globally instead of inside the Rigid Body Collection (page 2–723). The software stores disabled collisions inside the reactor Utility (page 2–805). You can disable collisions not only for rigid bodies, but also for cloth, soft and rope. And you can access disabled collisions through MAXScript.
reactor Helpers Soft Selection for Cloth/Soft/Rope The deformable (page 2–777) (cloth/soft/rope) modifiers in reactor can now use the soft selection flowing to that modifier and blend the current vertex animation with the reactor animation, facilitating the transition between skin-driven and reactor-driven animation MAXScript Access Virtually all parameters and functionality in reactor are accessible through MAXScript.
716 Chapter 13: reactor Interface Toy Car (page 2–766) Wind (page 2–803) Rigid Bodies Rigid Body Collection (page 2–723) Constraint Solver (page 2–736) Point-Point Constraint (page 2–750) Point-Path Constraint (page 2–762) Hinge Constraint (page 2–747) Rag Doll Constraint (page 2–737) Car-Wheel Constraint (page 2–757) Prismatic Constraint (page 2–754) Linear Dashpot (page 2–730) Angular Dashpot (page 2–732) Cloth Collection (page 2–781) Deforming Mesh Collection (page 2–794) The rigid body is the basi
Rigid Body Basics Plane (page 2–764) Motor (page 2–765) Rigid Body Properties Toy Car (page 2–766) Utility panel > reactor > Properties Fracture (page 2–770) Menu bar > reactor > Open Property Editor Storing and Accessing Collisions (page 2–774) reactor toolbar > Open Property Editor button To find out how to simulate objects that change their shape over time, see Deformable Bodies (page 2–777). Rigid Body Basics You can make a rigid body from any geometry in your scene.
718 Chapter 13: reactor Interface Physical Properties a coefficient for the interaction. To achieve realistic results, use values between 0.0 and 1.0. However, values up to 5.0 are accepted. Inactive—When on, the rigid body starts the simulation in an inactive state. This means it requires interaction with another object or system, or the mouse, before it becomes active in the simulation.
Rigid Body Properties convex shape and other objects is always more than the combined radii of the objects. Default=0.05. Important: Applies to Havok 3 only. Adding a shell to an object can improve performance. The core convex-convex collision-detection algorithm is fast when objects are not interpenetrating, and slower when they are. Adding a shell makes it less likely that the shapes themselves will interpenetrate, thus reducing the likelihood of using the slower algorithm.
720 Chapter 13: reactor Convex objects are faster to simulate than concave objects. Because of this, you should aim to use convex objects as often as possible for simulation. Treating concave objects as convex for simulation purposes allows you to take advantage of their faster processing time. This is the default setting for an object’s simulation geometry (Mesh Convex Hull). If you are unsure whether an object is convex or concave, you can perform a convexity test on it.
Rigid Body Properties Note: If you are using a standard 3ds Max plane as a rigid body (as opposed to the special reactor Plane (page 2–764) object), you must set its simulation geometry to Concave Mesh. Proxy Convex Hull—The convex hull of another object is used as the physical representation of the object in the simulation. For instance, you could use the convex hull of a low-poly teapot to simulate a high-poly teapot. The proxy object’s pivot point is aligned with that of the rigid body.
722 Chapter 13: reactor Display Use Display Proxy—When on and you specify a proxy object by clicking the Proxy button, reactor displays the specified proxy In the Preview Window in place of the object. Compound Rigid Bodies You can do this because the Mass property on the Rigid Body Properties dialog is assigned to a specific primitive rather than an entire rigid body, unlike most of the other properties in this dialog. For single-primitive rigid bodies, this distinction is unimportant.
Rigid Body Collection open the Rigid Body Properties dialog. You can give this object a Mass value and, if you wish, change its Simulation Geometry setting. Specifying any other rigid body properties for a child object has no effect unless you remove the object from the group.
724 Chapter 13: reactor Rigid Bodies—Lists the names of the objects in the Rigid Body Collection. Pick—Lets you add an object to the Rigid Body connected using simple constraints (page 2–727) like springs or dashpots, because those kind of systems can easily become unstable. Collection. Click this button, then in the viewport move the cursor over the object you would like to add to the collection.
Constraint Concepts • Angular Dashpot (page 2–732) Cooperative Constraints (page 2–735), which includes the following topics: • Constraint Solver (page 2–736) • Rag Doll Constraint (page 2–737) • Hinge (page 2–747) • Point to Point (page 2–750) • Prismatic (page 2–754) • Car-Wheel (page 2–757) • Point to Path (page 2–762) Constraint Concepts This section introduces some common concepts that you’ll need to understand to work with any of the reactor constraint types.
726 Chapter 13: reactor are completely free to rotate around the constraint pivot point, but have no linear freedom relative to each other in any direction; they are attached together at the point. However, with a Rag Doll constraint, the objects not only have no linear freedom, but their possible relative orientation is also restricted. In each constraint, these angular and linear limits are defined in terms of the constraint’s coordinate system or constraint space.
Simple Constraints constraint space. So, for instance, if you move the constraint space relative to the child, you can use this option to move the parent’s constraint space into alignment with it. • Align Spaces To Parent Space—Aligns the parent and child constraint spaces with the parent’s constraint space. So, for instance, if you move the constraint space relative to the parent, you can use this option to move the child’s constraint space into alignment with it.
728 Chapter 13: reactor Note: The icon’s position has no effect on the constraint’s behavior. To attach objects to the spring: 1. Create the Spring and the object(s) to connect using it. 2. If you do not want to assign a second body to the spring, turn off the Parent check box on the spring’s Properties rollout if necessary. 3. Click the Child pick button and then select the object to use as the child object in one of the viewports. This attaches the Spring to the body at the body’s pivot point. 4.
Spring Parent Space—At this sub-object level, you can select and move the constraint’s second attachment point. If the spring is two-bodied, then this is the point relative to the parent where the spring is attached to it. When you assign a parent object to the Spring, the Parent Space attachment point is set to the parent object’s pivot point. If you alter the position of the attachment point, it maintains its new position relative to the parent.
730 Chapter 13: reactor damping values are those greater than or equal to 0.0. The default damping value is 1.0. positions relative to each other. The bodies are still free to rotate around the attachment point. Tip: Typically, a Damping value of 1/10th of the stiffness yields good results. You do not need to add a Linear Dashpot explicitly to a simulation, as all valid constraints in a scene are added to the simulation by default.
Linear Dashpot 2. In the modifier stack open the dashpot’s sub-object list. 3. Highlight the sub-object corresponding to the object in whose space you want to move the attachment point: Parent Space or Child Space. If the dashpot is single-bodied, Parent Space allows you to move the world attachment position. 4. The appropriate point becomes active in the viewport and can be moved using the Move tool.
732 Chapter 13: reactor Parent—When on, the dashpot has two bodies Allow Interpenetration—When on, collisions are and you can designate an object to be the parent body. When off, the dashpot is single-bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub-object is the parent. disabled between the dashpot’s objects, so that they can pass through each other during the simulation. Defaults=off. You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport.
Angular Dashpot attached and is enabled. When not selected, invalid dashpots are colored red in the viewport. Procedures To create an Angular Dashpot: • Choose one of the above options, and then click in any viewport to add the dashpot. Note: The icon’s position has no effect on the constraint’s behavior. To attach objects to the Angular Dashpot: 1. Create the dashpot and the objects to connect using it. 2.
734 Chapter 13: reactor Parent Space—At this sub-object level, you can select and rotate the offset rotation for the parent body. This is the rotation that the dashpot tries to maintain for the parent body relative to the child. When you assign the parent body to the dashpot, this rotation is aligned with the child body’s local space. If you alter the rotation of this sub-object, it maintains its new rotation relative to the parent.
Cooperative Constraints Cooperative Constraints Cooperative constraints are more stable than simple constraints (page 2–727), but can be more computationally expensive to simulate. For a cooperative constraint to take part in the simulation, you first need to add it to a Constraint Solver (page 2–736). The solver acts as a container for the cooperative constraint in a particular Rigid Body Collection, and performs all the calculations necessary for the constraints to work together.
736 Chapter 13: reactor Constraint Solver should contain the rigid bodies for the constraints in the solver. Create panel > Helpers > reactor > CSolver To add constraints to a solver: Menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Constraint Solver 1. Create a Constraint Solver and some reactor toolbar > Create Constraint Solver button cooperative constraints to add to the solver. 2.
Rag Doll Constraint Interface Properties rollout cursor changes from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the solver. Add—Lets you add one or more constraints from the scene to the solver. Click the button to open up the Select New Constraints To Add dialog. Make a selection in the provided list, and then add the constraints to the solver by pressing the Select button. Delete—Lets you remove constraints from the solver.
738 Chapter 13: reactor • A plane and plane normal centered on the attachment point; the plane serves to define further limits that restrict the child body’s movement within the cone. reactor provides special limit visualizations to help you choose appropriate values for the Rag Doll. For a detailed explanation of how to define those limits, see Defining Rag Doll Limits (page 2–743).
Rag Doll Constraint This constraint is more intuitive to use if the child and parent bodies are attached correctly. For example, if connecting an upper arm to a shoulder, the shoulder should be the parent and the upper arm the child. 3. If you do not want to assign a parent to the constraint, turn off the Parent check box. 4. If the constraint is two bodied, repeat Step 2, using the Parent pick button to set the parent body for the constraint.
740 Chapter 13: reactor 3. Change the Cone > Min and Max settings. When displayed, the cone remains symmetrical and is rotated about the plane normal by the average offset of Min and Max. For example, if Min=-10.0 and Max=20.0, the average offset is (-10+20)*0.5=5 with a cone angle of 15. In effect, we have a 15-degree symmetrical cone [-15, 15] rotated by 5 degrees, resulting in limits of [–10, 20]. If the plane normal is not at 90 degrees to the twist axis, non-intuitive cone rotations can result.
Rag Doll Constraint Interface Modifier Stack Parent Space—At this sub-object level, you can move and rotate the representation of the Rag Doll for the parent body. The constraint axes are defined in the parent body’s space, which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the parent, the space moves as well and maintain its offset rotation and translation with respect to the parent.
742 Chapter 13: reactor Properties rollout body. When off, the Spring is single-bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub-object is the parent. You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body. Child—Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the Rag Doll. You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport.
Defining Rag Doll Limits constraint spaces, the child cannot rotate more than 5 degrees clockwise about the twist axis. Cone Min—The minimum value, in degrees, used to specify the limit cone. This value combines with the Cone Max value to generate a symmetrical cone. This cone is rotated about the plane normal by an offset calculated by combining these limits. The rotation of the child’s twist axis is then limited to the volume of this cone with respect to the parent.
744 Chapter 13: reactor constraints like Hinge (page 2–747) or Point-Point (page 2–750) constraints. Because they represent complex joints, the rotational limits use a complex parameterization that can benefit from some explanation. This section covers the different axes, planes, and cones used for that parameterization.
Defining Rag Doll Limits allowed positions your upper arm may occupy. However, we can refine the allowed volume further by using the plane axis to enforce plane limits. These limits are used to generate two further cones: A. Twist Axis B. Plane Axis (inward) C. Twist X Plane Axis A. Twist Axis 1. Cone Min. B. Plane Axis 2. Cone Max. C. Twist X Plane Axis (outward) 1. Plane 2. Plane Min. Cone 3. Plane Max. Cone 4. Plane Min. 5. Plane Max. A. Twist Axis B. Plane Axis C.
746 Chapter 13: reactor A. Twist Axis B. Plane Axis A. Twist Axis C. Twist X Plane Axis C. Twist x Plane Axis (outward) 1. Plane 1. Plane Min. Cone 2. Plane Min. Cone 2. Plane Max. Cone 3. Plane Max. Cone If the volumes do not intersect, the plane limits have no effect in the constraint.
Hinge Constraint You can also limit the rotation between the attached objects relative to the hinge axis, allowing you, for instance, to create a door that can open only to a specified extent. You define this limitation with respect to an axis perpendicular to the hinge axis for each body. A Hinge constraint is simulated only if it has the correct number of rigid bodies attached and is included in a valid Constraint Solver (page 2–736). When not selected, an invalid Hinge is red in the viewport.
748 Chapter 13: reactor To create a Hinge and attach objects in a single step: • See the Scripts (page 2–817) topic. To change the Hinge positions and rotations for the bodies: 1. With the Hinge helper object selected, open the Modify panel. 2. In the modifier stack open the sub-object list for the Hinge. 3. Access the sub-object level corresponding to the object whose hinge axes you want to move: Child Space or Parent Space.
Hinge Constraint the parent body. The Hinge axes are defined in the parent body’s space, which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the parent, the space moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to the parent. When you assign a parent body to the Hinge, Parent Space is also aligned with the child body’s local space, with the Hinge axis going through the child body’s pivot point.
750 Chapter 13: reactor Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body. rotate more than 5 degrees clockwise about the hinge axis relative to the parent body. Child—Displays the name of the second rigid body Friction—The level of friction applied to the objects as they try to rotate about the hinge axis. It is only applied to limited Hinges. attached to the Hinge. You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport.
Point-Point Constraint reactor also provides two variations on the Point-Point constraint: Limited and Stiff Spring. With a Limited Point-Point constraint, you can specify limits for how much the child object can rotate relative to the parent. A Stiff Spring constraint is similar to a standard Point-Point constraint with one important exception: It holds the constrained bodies apart at a specified distance, as if they were attached at each end of an invisible rod.
752 Chapter 13: reactor 2. In the Constraint Type group, choose Limited. By default, the child body can rotate a total of 90 degrees around each axis relative to the parent during the simulation: 45 degrees clockwise and 45 degrees counterclockwise. 3. You can then choose which limits to display around the Parent Space constraint axis by turning on each one’s check box. During the simulation, reactor works to maintain this distance between the constrained objects’ attachment points.
Point-Point Constraint Properties rollout and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub-object is the parent. You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body. Child—Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the constraint. You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport.
754 Chapter 13: reactor the parent around the x, y, and z axes - for each axis there is a minimum (counterclockwise) and maximum (clockwise) limit. You can use the check boxes to switch on or off the limit displays in the viewport. Length (Stiff Springs only)—The distance that reactor should maintain between the constraint attachment points. Set—Sets Length to the current distance between the attachment points.
Prismatic Constraint 3. Access the sub-object level corresponding to the object whose attachment point you want to move: Child Space or Parent Space. If the constraint is single-bodied, Parent Space represents the world attachment position and rotation of the constraint axes. 4. The space, represented by a pair of axes, the larger of which represents the sliding axis, becomes active in the viewport and can be moved or rotated using the Move or Rotate tool, respectively.
756 Chapter 13: reactor axes are defined in the child body’s space, which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the child, the space moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to the child. When you assign a child body to the constraint, the Child Space axis is positioned so that it goes through the child body pivot point, and the axes are aligned with the child body’s local space: The prismatic sliding axis is aligned with the child’s Z axis.
Car-Wheel Constraint You assign the parent object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. Thereafter the button displays the name of the parent body. Child—Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the constraint. You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. Max Limit is 5, then the child object will not be able to move more than 5 units forward relative to the parent along the sliding axis.
758 Chapter 13: reactor The Car-Wheel constraint also has spin parameters. If these are nonzero, the constraint turns the wheel during the simulation. You can specify a target velocity and a target gain: the maximum angular impulse that the motor can apply to the rigid body in order to achieve the target velocity.
Car-Wheel Constraint 6. You can also rotate the suspension axis independent of the spin axis. To do this, highlight the Suspension Rotation sub-object level; this lets you rotate the suspension axis with respect to the chassis’s spin axis. 3. You can also change Friction for the Car-Wheel constraint; this inhibits the wheel’s motion along the suspension axis. To spin the wheel: To change the suspension limits: These controls are found in the Spin Parameters group. 1.
760 Chapter 13: reactor attachment point and the rotation of the spin axis for the wheel. This is defined in wheel space, which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the wheel the space moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to the wheel. When you assign a wheel body to the Car-Wheel constraint, Wheel Space’s translation is set to the wheel’s pivot point and the wheel’s spin axis is aligned to its X axis.
Car-Wheel Constraint Parent—When on, the constraint has two bodies and you can designate an object to be the optional chassis rigid body attached to the Car-Wheel constraint. When off, the constraint is single-bodied and the point occupied by the Parent Space sub-object is the parent. You assign the chassis by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. Thereafter the button displays the name of the chassis object.
762 Chapter 13: reactor 3. In the constraint’s Properties rollout, click the Point-Path Constraint Create panel > Helpers > reactor > Point-Path Menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Point-Path Constraint reactor toolbar > Create Point-Path Constraint button The Point-Path constraint allows you to constrain two bodies so that the child is free to move along a specified path relative to the parent.
Point-Path Constraint Interface Properties rollout Modifier Stack Parent Space—At this sub-object level, you can move and rotate the representation of the constraint for the parent body. The axes and path are defined in the parent body’s space, which means that if you alter the position or rotation of the parent, the space moves as well and maintains its offset rotation and translation with respect to the parent.
764 Chapter 13: reactor Child—Displays the name of the second rigid body attached to the constraint. You assign the child object by clicking this button and then selecting a rigid body from any viewport. reactor Objects Align Spaces To—Use these options to align the bodies’ local constraint spaces. You can find out more about each option in Working With Constraint Spaces (page 2–726).
Motor Procedures Procedures To create a Plane: To create a motor: 1. Choose one of the above options, and then click • Choose one of the above options, and then click in any viewport to add the motor. in any viewport. The plane’s normal is aligned with the viewport’s Z axis. 2. Use the Move and Rotate tools to adjust its position and orientation, as necessary. Note: The icon’s position has no effect on the motor’s behavior. To set the rigid body for the motor: 1.
766 Chapter 13: reactor Ang Speed—The target angular velocity that the motor attempts to achieve for the rigid body. It is specified in radians per second, so the default value of 3.14 (pi) results in 180 degrees of rotation per second or half a revolution per second. Gain—The maximum angular impulse that the motor can apply to the rigid body in order to achieve the target velocity. Rotation Axis—The local axis for the rigid body about which the motor applies impulses.
Toy Car such that the Analyze World utility generates no warnings. To assign rigid bodies to a Toy Car: 1. Create the Toy Car helper and the objects to 2. Ensure that Toy Car Properties rollout > Toy Car Orientation is set to Icon Orientation (the default). The wheel axes are aligned with the icon’s new orientation during the simulation. connect using it, as described above. 2.
768 Chapter 13: reactor Interface Wheels—Lists the names of the toy car’s wheels. Toy Car Properties rollout Pick—Lets you add a wheel to the car. Click this button, and then in the viewport position the cursor over the object you would like to use as a wheel. If the object can be used as a rigid body, the cursor changes from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the toy car. Add—Lets you add one or more rigid bodies from the scene to act as wheels for the toy car.
Toy Car Icon Orientation—The Toy Car icon’s initial orientation provides the directions of the wheels’ spin and suspension axes. Each spin axis is aligned with the icon’s X axis and pass through the relevant wheel’s pivot point. The suspension axes are aligned with the icon’s Z axis, and also pass through each wheel’s pivot point. The wheels’ own local orientations are unimportant. • Gain—The maximum angular impulse that reactor can to the wheels in order to achieve the target velocity.
770 Chapter 13: reactor Fracture Create panel > Helpers > reactor > Fracture Menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Fracture reactor toolbar > Create Fracture button The Fracture helper object simulates the breaking of a rigid body into a number of smaller pieces as the result of an impact. To do this, you need to supply the pieces that are glued together to create the whole object. This is known as "pre-fracturing." reactor does not break the pieces you supply into smaller pieces.
Fracture explode after a single piece breaks loose. You can find these in the Fracture Tips (page 2–773) topic. Interface Properties rollout Procedures To create a Fracture helper: • Choose one of the above menu options, and then click in any viewport to add the Fracture helper. Note: The icon’s position has no effect on the fracture object’s behavior. To add rigid bodies to a Fracture helper: 1. Create a Fracture helper in the scene and some objects to use as rigid bodies.
772 Chapter 13: reactor To highlight multiple non-contiguous list items or remove highlighting, use Ctrl +click. this button tells reactor to ignore the times they broke off in the previous animation. Pick—Lets you add an object to the Fracture Choose the behavior for highlighted pieces: helper. Click this button, and then in the viewport position the cursor over the object to add to the helper.
Fracture Tips it breaks off from the fracture object. The size or mass of the object is not be taken into account. become separated within the time specified. To simulate an explosion effect, make this value very small and reduce the Velocity Cap value. Energy Loss—The amount of extra kinetic energy is lost in the collision due to the breaking of the fracture bonds.
774 Chapter 13: reactor rollout. This value can be as low as –1.0, but –0.1 should suffice in most cases. This scales the Collision Tolerance (page 2–808) for pieces of a fracture object. A negative Scale Tolerance value effectively shrinks the object as it is perceived by the collision-detection system. Pieces that were snug against each other now have a comfortable safety zone where no collisions take place.
Storing and Accessing Collisions Store Collisions—Use these options to store collision information when creating an animation. For each collision that occurs during the simulation, reactor can record the simulation time at which the collision occured, the objects involved, the point of collision, and the relative velocity during the collision. of objects. You can find out more about this in the Collisions Rollout (page 2–810) topic.
776 Chapter 13: reactor • Leaving—The time the phantom rigid body finished penetrating (exited) the other rigid body. Close—Closes the dialog. Save—Allows you to save the stored information in a text file. This is an example of the format: the scene. If you highlight more than one object in this list, how the lists are populated depends on the value of Common Collisions.
Deformable Bodies <<—Moves all the pairs in the Do Not Store list to the Store list. main types of deformable bodies, each of which is dealt with in its own section: OK—Closes the dialog, saving any changes. • Cloth (page 2–778), a deformable two-dimensional triangular mesh Cancel—Closes the dialog without saving your changes. • Soft Body (page 2–783), a deformable three-dimensional closed triangular mesh • Rope (page 2–789), a deformable one-dimensional chain of vertices.
778 Chapter 13: reactor Procedures Cloth To create a Cloth object: 1. Create the mesh object that you would like to simulate as cloth. Cloth objects in reactor are two-dimensional deformable bodies. Using cloth objects you can simulate flags, curtains, clothing (skirts, capes, shirts), banners and even materials like paper and sheet metal. This section contains two topics: • Cloth Modifier (page 2–778): Apply it to each mesh to be deformed as cloth.
Cloth Modifier 2. With the object selected, choose one of the above options. The Cloth modifier appears in the object’s modifier stack. To edit a cloth object’s physical properties: 1. Select the appropriate object in the scene. 2. On the Modify panel, ensure that the reactor Cloth modifier is highlighted in the modifier stack. 3. Use the Properties rollout to edit the properties, which are described in the Interface section, following.
780 Chapter 13: reactor • Damping—How quickly the cloth dissipates energy as it changes shape. Mass—The Cloth object’s mass in kilograms. This affects the behavior during collisions with other objects, and also the stretching caused by attached rigid bodies (page 2–798): the higher the mass of the cloth, the less stretching induced by the rigid body. Fold Stiffness —Fold stiffness governs the cloth Friction—The coefficient of friction for the cloth’s surface.
Cloth Collection Constrain Deformation—When on, limits the extent Constraints rollout to which the cloth can stretch. • Max—A percentage value that indicates how stretchy the cloth is: The lower the value, the less stretching reactor allows. Start With Current State—When on, the Cloth object starts the simulation using the current state stored in the modifier.
782 Chapter 13: reactor that the collections are not disabled, adds the cloth objects they contain to the simulation. Interface Cloth Collection Properties rollout Procedures To create and use a Cloth Collection: 1. Create some Cloth objects by applying the reactor Cloth modifier to standard objects. 2. Choose one of the above commands, and then click in any viewport to add the Cloth Collection. Note: The icon’s position has no effect on the collection’s behavior.
Soft Bodies Advanced rollout Soft Bodies Internal Steps—Because deformable objects are more complex to simulate, it is usually necessary to perform more simulation steps (page 2–709) to increase stability. This parameter specifies the number of steps reactor performs internally to simulate objects in this collection for each simulation substep taken globally during the simulation.
784 Chapter 13: reactor • Soft Body Collection (page 2–788): A container for soft bodies. 2. On the Modify panel, ensure that the reactor SoftBody modifier is highlighted in the modifier stack. 3. Use the Properties rollout to edit the properties, Soft Body Modifier Modify panel > Modifier List > reactor SoftBody which are described in the Interface section, following.
Soft Body Modifier Soft Body Properties rollout how smoothly the soft body will move relative to surfaces it’s in contact with. The friction values for both objects are combined to produce a coefficient for the interaction. Avoid Self-Intersections—When on, the soft body does not intersect with itself during the simulation. This results in a more realistic simulation, but can increase simulation time.
786 Chapter 13: reactor FFD bodies, including descriptions of these parameters, see FFD Soft Bodies (page 2–786). FFD Soft Bodies Reset Default Values—Restores the default values for parameters in the modifier. Constraints rollout reactor provides two different types of soft body: mesh-based soft bodies, where the underlying mesh is directly deformed, and Freeform Deformation (FFD) bodies. With an FFD body, reactor encases the original shape in a simpler FFD lattice.
FFD Soft Bodies Procedures To create an FFD soft body: 1. Create the mesh to use as the basic, non-deformed state of your soft body. 2. Apply an FFD modifier: the FFD 2x2x2, 3x3x3, 4x4x4 (page 1–683) or FFD(box) (page 1–685) modifier. Different FFD dimensions produce different behavior. When using FFD(box), set the dimensions to a number that leaves the FFD vertices evenly distributed over the lattice.
788 Chapter 13: reactor Soft Body Collection Create panel > Helpers > reactor > SBCollection To create the collection and add objects in a single step: • See the Scripts (page 2–817) topic. Menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Soft Body Collection Interface reactor toolbar > create Soft Body Collection button Soft Body Collection Properties rollout The Soft Body Collection is a reactor helper object that acts as a container for soft bodies.
Rope Disabled—When on, the collection and in turn the bodies it contains are not added to the simulation. • Rope Modifier (page 2–789) • Rope Collection (page 2–792) Advanced rollout Rope Modifier Modify panel > Modifier List > reactor Rope Menu bar > reactor > Apply Modifier > Rope Modifier reactor toolbar > Apply Rope Modifier button Internal Steps—Specifies how many substeps per keyframe are used to simulate the collection.
790 Chapter 13: reactor 3. Use the Properties rollout to edit the properties, Rope Properties rollout which are described in the Interface section, following. Interface Modifier Stack Vertex—Allows you to select individual vertices of the rope to apply and modify deformable constraints (page 2–795). Mass—The rope’s mass in kilograms.
Rope Modifier objects are combined to produce a coefficient for the interaction. Air Resistance—The extent to which the rope loses energy as it moves. Rope Type— • Spring—The default rope type. • Stiffness—How much the rope can stretch. • Damping—How quickly oscillations settle down when the rope is compressed or expands. • Num Weaves—The extent to which the rope’s inflexibility extends across vertices.
792 Chapter 13: reactor information, see Constraining Deformable Bodies (page 2–795). To create the collection and add objects in a single step: • See the Scripts (page 2–817) topic. Rope Collection Create panel > Helpers > reactor > RPCollection Interface Rope Collection Properties rollout Menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Rope Collection reactor toolbar > create Rope Collection button The Rope Collection is a reactor helper object that serves as a container for ropes.
Deforming Meshes (Skin) Advanced rollout Deforming Meshes Internal Steps—Because deformable objects are more complex to simulate, it is usually necessary to perform more simulation steps (page 2–709) to increase stability. This parameter specifies how many steps will be taken internally to simulate objects in this collection for each simulation substep taken globally during the simulation.
794 Chapter 13: reactor deforming mesh or set physical properties for it. You just have to add the shape to a Deforming Mesh Collection (page 2–794). This is because reactor itself does not deform the mesh’s vertices during the simulation: The deforming mesh is simply controlled by its current animation. For information about how to attach objects to deforming meshes , see Constraining Deformable Bodies (page 2–795). Deforming Mesh Collection The collection icon is added to the scene.
Constraining Deformable Bodies to the collection. If it can be used as a deforming mesh, the cursor will change from an arrow to a cross and you can select the object to add it to the collection. Add—Adds one or more objects from the scene to the collection. Click the button to open the Select Deforming Meshes dialog. Highlight one or more objects in the list, and then click the Select button to add the objects to the collection. Delete—Removes objects from the collection.
796 Chapter 13: reactor the Cloth Collection and add it to a Deforming Mesh Collection (page 2–794). You can then attach any deformable body (cloth, soft or rope) to it using the Attach to Deforming Mesh constraint (page 2–799). Procedures The procedure for each deformable constraint type is described in its own topic. Interface Constraints rollout vertices and a rigid body. The vertices follow the animation (changes in position and rotation) of the rigid body (page 2–716).
Keyframing Vertices This lets you select individual vertices in the deformable body. 2. On the Constraints rollout, click Fix Vertices. A new Constrain To World constraint appears in the constraints list. 3. Ensure the constraint is highlighted in the constraints list. 4. Select the vertices to constrain. These vertices remain fixed in place during the simulation, while the rest of the mesh is subject to physical forces and deformation as usual. 5.
798 Chapter 13: reactor Interface Keyframe rollout This lets you select individual vertices in the deformable body. 2. On the Constraints rollout, click Attach To Rigid Body. The new constraint appears in the Constraints list. 3. Ensure the constraint is selected in the Use Current Stored Keys—When on, the animation used for these vertices is that after the reactor modifier is applied. In other words, if the modifier contains any keyframes, reactor uses those for the animation.
Attaching Vertices to Deforming Meshes (Skin) the points in the deformable body will follow the rigid body, but no force is applied to the rigid body from the deformable. Ignore Collisions—When on, disables collision detection between the rigid body and the deformable body. Attaching Vertices to Deforming Meshes (Skin) reactor modifier (Cloth/Soft Body/Rope) > Constraints rollout 2. On the Constraints rollout, click Attach To DefMesh . The new constraint appears in the Constraints list. 3.
800 Chapter 13: reactor Soft Selection You can use deformable constraints to specify that you want certain vertices of a deformable object to follow a user-specified animation, such as skinning, while the rest of the object is fully physically simulated. However, sometimes this can result in a visible "join" between the animated and simulated parts of a piece of cloth, soft body or rope.
Water Simulation When you run the animation, your specified falloff will be used to blend smoothly between the keyframed and simulated vertices. This section covers the following topics: • The Water Space Warp (page 2–801) • Rendering Water (page 2–803) Water Space Warp Create panel > Space Warps > reactor > Water menu bar > reactor > Create Object > Water reactor toolbar > Create Water button Water You can use the Water space warp to simulate the behavior of a liquid surface in your reactor scene.
802 Chapter 13: reactor 3. Use the rollout to specify properties, as described in the Interface section. Interface Water Properties rollout landscape are fixed during the simulation and waves and ripples will be reflected at those points. Wave Speed—The speed at which wave crests propagate across the surface of the water. Min/Max Ripple—Limits on the size of the waves generated in the water. Density—The relative density of the liquid.
Rendering Water Rendering Water Water in reactor is defined using a space warp. Space warps don’t render, so if you want the water to appear in your final animation, you need to provide reactor with a geometrical representation of the water. To do this, you need to bind a plane or any other planar geometry to the water. The plane will deform according to the Water space warp (page 2–801), and you can then render it as part of your scene.
804 Chapter 13: reactor and whether objects in your scene can be sheltered from the wind. You can animate most of these parameters. The orientation of the helper icon indicates the direction of the wind: It blows in the direction of the weathervane arrow. You can also animate this direction by animating the icon’s orientation. Procedures To add wind to a scene: 1. Choose one of the above commands, and then click in any viewport to add the Wind helper.
The reactor Utility Wind On—[Animatable] Defines whether the wind forces are applied or not. Wind Speed—[Animatable] The strength of the wind force. The direction is specified by the icon’s orientation, which is also animatable. Perturb Speed—When on, the strength of the wind varies over time, using the following parameters. • Variance—The maximum amount of change in the speed.
806 Chapter 13: reactor important, it lets you switch between the Havok 1 and Havok 3 engines. The utility is divided into a number of rollouts. For more information, follow the links. More information about the two different Havok versions is available later in this topic, in Differences between Havok 1 and Havok 3 (page 2–806).
Preview & Animation Rollout Interface Substeps/Key—The number of reactor simulation substeps per keyframe (that is, per time step). The higher this value, the more accurate the simulation will be, although it will also require more computation to simulate. For information about time steps and substeps, see Time Steps (page 2–709). Time Scale—This parameter maps between time in the simulation and time in 3ds Max. Changing the value lets you slow down or speed up the animation. Values less than 1.
808 Chapter 13: reactor Havok 1 World/Havok 3 World Rollout Utility panel > reactor > Havok 1 World/Havok 3 World rollout This rollout lets you set some general parameters for your simulated world, such as the strength and direction of gravity, the scale of the world, and how easily objects can collide with each other. When Choose Solver is set to Havok 1, the rollout name is Havok 1 World, and when Choose Solver is set to Havok 3, the name is Havok 3 World.
Havok 1 World/Havok 3 World Rollout warnings are provided for guidance and can be safely ignored if you are happy with the behavior of your animation. The default Gravity value reflects "real-world" gravity: –9.8 m/s2 (–386.22 inches/s2) on the Z axis. For more information, see Scale (page 2–711). World Scale—The distance in 3ds Max world units, that represents one meter in the reactor world, and hence determines the size of every object in your simulation.
810 Chapter 13: reactor details, see World rollout > Fracture Penetrations group (page 2–773). Simulation group These controls are available only with the Havok 3 engine. The first lets you choose how reactor computes the simulation: • Discrete—reactor checks for collisions only at the beginning and end of each simulation step. This is faster but less accurate. • Continuous—reactor checks for collisions constantly, throughout each step.
Collisions Rollout Filter Before Storing—See Storing and Accessing Collisions (page 2–774). Define Collision Pairs—Opens the Define Collisions dialog (page 2–811) . This allows you to toggle collision detection between specified pairs of objects. Pairs of objects with disabled collisions pass through each other during the simulation. Selected Pair: Enable—Lets you quickly enable collisions between the selected pair of objects.
812 Chapter 13: reactor Display Rollout Utility panel > reactor > Display rollout This rollout lets you specify display options for previewing (page 2–815) your simulation, including cameras and lighting. These options have no effect on the actual behavior of the final animation; they affect only the appearance of the preview window (page 2–815). Interface settings on the current Perspective viewport (if any) are used initially in the Preview Window.
reactor Utilities this won’t cause errors, but it can create an undesirable state. Default=30.0. Interface • Rest Length—The rest length of the mouse spring. Default=0.0. • Damping—The damping value for the mouse spring. Default=1.0. Use DirectX—When on, the 3D rendering in the preview window uses the DirectX system. When off, the window uses OpenGL.
814 Chapter 13: reactor If your simulation passes the initial error checks, the world analysis begins. This checks for unusual physical states that could cause issues in simulation, such as interpenetrating objects or extreme values for gravity or object density. If any such states are found, the utility reports them in a window and gives you the option to continue or cancel. If you are trying to simulate, choosing Continue runs the simulation; otherwise it closes the window.
Properties Rollout Properties Rollout Utility panel > reactor > Properties rollout reactor toolbar > Open Property Editor For details of this rollout, see Rigid Body Properties (page 2–717). To interact with objects in the Preview Window : 1. Position the mouse cursor over the object you want to interact with, and then press and hold the right mouse button (Havok 1) or the Spacebar (Havok 3). This creates a reactor spring between the mouse cursor and your chosen object. 2.
816 Chapter 13: reactor Timing Simulation menu At the bottom of the window, profiling and timing information is shown : Play/Pause ( P )—Starts and pauses the simulation. If the simulation is paused, the display remains active and you can still pan, rotate, and zoom the camera, but the physics world remains still. The information presented is: • The current time step (simulation step) (page 2–709) used for the simulation.
Scripts Performance menu Fixed Step (60,50,40,30 fps)—Choosing one of these options changes the frequency of the simulation to the given value; a frequency of 30 fps yields a time step of 1/30 (0.0666) second, 50 fps means a time step of 1/50 (0.02) second, etc. Scripts This section deals with some useful scripts that you can use to speed up your creation of reactor scenes.
818 Chapter 13: reactor If the objects are linked in 3ds Max, reactor will automatically make the link’s child object the constraint child and the link parent the constraint parent. Otherwise, reactor will examine the scene and try to choose an appropriate parent and child. In addition, if the constrained objects are already added to a collection, reactor will disable collisions between them (except in the case of springs (page 2–727)).
Scripts To turn your own humanoid figure into a constrained rag doll: 1. Create your figure using the naming conventions described in How It Works (page 2–820). Create Humanoid—Click to create the humanoid objects and add them to the scene. Constrain Humanoid rollout 2. Run the script as described above. The script searches the scene for geometry that follows the naming conventions and adds your figure to the Humanoids list. 3.
820 Chapter 13: reactor Create RBCollection—When on, the tool creates a Rigid Body Collection (page 2–723) and places all the parts of the newly created rag doll character into it. Create CSolver—When on, the script adds a Constraint Solver (page 2–736) to the scene, which is then associated with the freshly created Rigid Body Collection. All the hinges and rag doll constraints that are created for the selected humanoid are added to this.
Frequently Asked Questions Frequently Asked Questions you can use the Point Cache modifier (page 1–758) to do some manipulations. There is some MAXScript access to Water keyframes. For details on MAXScript, choose Help > MAXScript Reference. What happened to Point-Nail constraint? The Point-Nail constraint from reactor 1 has been superseded by generalizing the Point-Point constraint (page 2–750).
822 Chapter 13: reactor shape (deform), use deforming meshes (page 2–793) ( Note: Unyielding rigid bodies are much faster and simpler to simulate than deforming meshes. Can reactor store collisions for deformable bodies (Soft, Cloth, Rope)? No. The storing collisions (page 2–774) functionality applies only to rigid bodies. What are the limitations of Water (page 2–801) in reactor? Water in reactor is simulated as a height field (points are displaced vertically only).
Troubleshooting You might want to also decrease the strength of gravity. Troubleshooting • Before performing a CPU-intensive operation such as Create Animation or Reduce Keys, make sure you don’t have any object selected in the scene. Having an object selected during some calculations can force 3ds Max to evaluate the selected object many times in order to update its UI, slowing down the calculations.
824 Chapter 13: reactor • Reduce the complexity of the geometry used for the rigid bodies. Try using bounding boxes or sphere, and avoid using non-fixed concave objects. Use simpler geometry as a geometry proxy (page 2–719) for the object. • If you are using Fracture, slowdowns can be caused by reactor trying to avoid instability. Follow some of these tips (page 2–773) to help reduce the chances of instability happening • Try decreasing the number of substeps (page 2–806) used in the simulation.
Troubleshooting • If you are working with Fracture, the Fracture Tips (page 2–773) section provides information on how to avoid instability. Cloth/Soft/Rope object stretches too much If you have attached (using the Attach to RB Constraint (page 2–798)) it to a falling object, be sure to turn off Do Not Affect Rigid Body. If the problem remains, increase the mass of the Cloth/Soft/Rope, or decrease the mass of the attached rigid body.
826 Chapter 13: reactor the primitives inside the group, you’ll need to open it and selected the individual primitives inside it. Rigid bodies don’t bounce enough. Increase the Elasticity property (page 2–717) of the object. Try also increasing the Elasticity of the other object involved in the collisions, as the elasticity of a collisions is a function of the elasticity property (page 2–717) of the two objects involved. Objects stop moving unexpectedly in the middle of a simulation.
Troubleshooting that you’ve bound to the space warp by modifying the Scale Strength value in the Water world-space modifier (page 2–803). The first option (increasing the Max Ripple value) is preferable, but you need to re-create the animation in order to see the effect. The second option (increase the Scale Strength parameter in the modifier) affects only the object bound to the Water space warp.
828 Chapter 13: reactor Picking objects during preview makes them go unstable. reactor complains about a no longer existing node. Try reducing the strength and damping of the mouse spring on the Display rollout (page 2–812). This can happen if you rename an object that is used as geometry or display proxy (page 2–719) for a rigid body; proxies are stored by name, so if you change the name of the proxy you’ll have to manually update the rigid bodies that use it.
Troubleshooting and new position) to the controllers assigned to those bodies. Some controllers, like procedural controllers (Noise) and some system controllers (Biped) do not handle these explicit transform updates. To overcome this, assign a regular keyframable controller such as Euler XYZ or Bezier to the objects or, if that’s not possible or desirable, create a copy or snapshot of the bodies and make sure that a suitable controller is assigned to the snapshot copies.
830 Chapter 13: reactor
character studio The character studio functionality in 3ds Max provides professional tools for animating 3D characters. It is an environment in which you can quickly and easily build skeletons and then animate them, thus creating motion sequences. You use the animated skeletons to drive the movement of geometry, thus creating virtual characters. And you can generate crowds of these characters using character studio, and animate crowd movement using a system of delegates and procedural behaviors.
832 Chapter 14: character studio If you want to animate motions manually, you can use freeform animation (page 2–886). This type of animation is also suitable for characters with more than two legs, or characters that fly or swim. With freeform animation, you can animate the skeleton with traditional inverse kinematic techniques. • Biped® provides tools to create and animate skeletons. You can also animate a biped skeleton by loading motion capture files (page 2–925).
Understanding Biped For information on these areas, consult the remainder of this reference. If you don’t know how to use 3ds Max, do some of the introductory tutorials found online in Help > Tutorials. Understanding Biped Biped (page 2–843) is a 3ds Max component that you access from the Create panel. Once you create a biped, you animate it using the Biped controls on the Motion panel. Biped provides the tools you need to design and animate the figures and motion of characters.
834 Chapter 14: character studio • Designed for footsteps— The biped skeleton is specially designed to animate with character studio footsteps, which help solve the common animation problem of locking the feet to the ground. Footstep animation also provides an easy way to rough out animation quickly. See the section Creating Footstep Animation (page 2–856).
Understanding Physique Envelopes and Weighted Vertices Envelopes are the Physique modifier’s primary tool for controlling skin deformation; tendons and bulge angles are used to fine tune mesh deformation after envelopes are adjusted. All envelopes have an inner and outer bound (boundary). Vertices falling within the inner bound of a single link receive a full weight of 1.0 from that link. Those falling outside the outer bound receive no weight from that link.
836 Chapter 14: character studio useful to keep the character stationary during envelope adjustment. to do these tasks for all scene objects using direct key manipulation. Link parameters, Bulge angles and tendons are the finishing touches. Skin sliding, the amount of twist, and crease blending as a character moves are controlled using link parameters. Bulge angles are used to bulge areas like the biceps, legs and chest relative to the angle created by a link and its child in the hierarchy.
Understanding the Workbench Curve display can help pinpoint troublesome spots in your animation. You can see where a curve has problems, usually corresponding to motion problems in the viewport animation. You move the keys to compensate for the problems. Understanding the Workbench The Workbench is a curve editor customized for use with character studio. It provides specialized tools for selecting and displaying curves, and also for locating and fixing errors and discontinuities in motion.
838 Chapter 14: character studio and interact with one another by procedural means. You can use it to easily animate scenes containing hundreds of people and/or creatures, all with similar or widely varying sets of behaviors, which can vary dynamically according to other factors in the scene. Multiple transitions from each clip A crowd simulation can also be used to generate a motion sequence from this type of graph.
Understanding character studio Workflow One of the most important requirements of crowd simulations is avoidance; realism suffers if characters pass through each other or other objects in the scene. The Crowd system offers a number of behaviors to help achieve proper avoidance. It also provides the Vector Field, a special space warp, that, when applied to an irregularly shaped object, allows delegates to move around the object without penetrating it.
840 Chapter 14: character studio at the parent and child ends of links. Vertices within overlapping envelopes are blended to create smooth skin deformation over joints as the character moves. Adjust Skin Behavior Adjust Physique parameters and introduce skin behavior effects to achieve the desired characterization. • Change default envelope shapes by adding cross sections and control points to isolate a more specific volume of vertices for each bone.
Understanding character studio Workflow When using footsteps, biped dynamics (page 3–916) helps you by simulating gravity and balance. • Gravity can help in a jumping motion to accelerate a character during the falling period and to bend the legs naturally on landing. • Balance adjusts a character’s position when the spine is rotated and keyframed to retain a character’s balance. • Dynamics can be turned off on a per-key basis or for the entire animation.
842 Chapter 14: character studio You can also specify a freeform period in a footstep animation, using Track View - Dope Sheet. This allows you to take advantage of footsteps and dynamics for part of an animation, then switch to manual keyframing during the freeform period. This approach can be particularly useful in animations where there is a mix of animation where the feet are on the ground and then off. Examples of this type of animation include running and diving, or walking and then sitting down.
Biped Use Crowds to Animate Groups of Characters Once you’ve created animation sequences for characters or other models (such as a bird flapping its wings), you can replicate the models or characters and apply the motions to these groups using the Crowd system (page 2–1154). You can also combine them with a wide range of supplied behaviors to create lifelike activities in crowds, such as people streaming through a doorway, street traffic, or birds and fish flocking and avoiding obstacles.
844 Chapter 14: character studio Note: In addition to the standard move, rotate, and scale operations, you can also use modifiers to adjust the parts of the biped. Note: Biped body parts cannot be removed, however unwanted parts can be hidden. If you delete a part the entire biped will be deleted. The following list includes some tips for positioning your skeleton: • Use the Page Up and Page Down keys to cycle through links.
Creating a Biped A biped model is a two-legged figure: human or animal or imaginary. Each biped is an armature designed for animation, created as a linked hierarchy. The biped skeleton has special properties that make it instantly ready to animate. Like humans, bipeds are especially designed to walk upright, although you can use bipeds to create multi-legged creatures. The joints of the biped skeleton are limited to match those of the human body.
846 Chapter 14: character studio The biped feet will be in contact with the geometry. Understanding Biped Anatomy The geometry of a biped is a linked hierarchy of objects that by default resemble those of a human. The parent or root object of the biped is its center of mass (COM) (page 3–920). This object is displayed as a blue octahedron near the center of the biped’s pelvis. Moving the COM positions the entire biped.
Naming the Biped in the Structure rollout are enabled when the biped is selected and Figure mode is active. See also Creating a Biped (page 2–844) Structure Rollout (page 2–984) Warning: Do not use the usual Name And Color rollout to rename a biped. This changes only the name of the biped’s root object (its center of mass) without updating the names of other biped parts in the hierarchy. To create a Named Selection for the biped center of mass: 1.
848 Chapter 14: character studio FFD Modifier used to shape spine and head Biped proportioned to fit inside of Dr. X character geometry You might rotate the spine objects to create the figure for a hunchback or a dinosaur. Use the move tool to change the position of the thumb or the arms. You can even apply modifiers to the biped skeleton pieces, such as using an FFD on the biped head to adjust its shape. Once you have a default biped, you’ll need to match its proportions to the character’s geometry.
Posing the Biped Create panel, you use Figure mode to change all aspects of the biped’s structure after its creation. • Define the position of the feet relative to the ankles. • Define the default pose of the biped before animation is applied to it, for example define a hunchback. • Scale the biped and its various parts. • Simultaneously scale and position biped parts using Rubber Band mode (page 3–1003). See Rubber-Banding Arms and Legs (page 2–852).
850 Chapter 14: character studio The ends of the final toe links should go through the tips of the skin’s toes. The Motion panel doesn’t show Biped controls unless the biped is selected. 2. On the Biped rollout, click Figure mode. You might have to change the number of biped toes to match the number of skin toes. A biped must have at least one toe on each foot.
Scaling Links Note: If you move limbs laterally, they will both move in the same direction, and will no longer be symmetrical about the body. To fit both arms using copy/paste: On the Biped rollout turn on Figure 1. mode. 2. Rotate one upper arm (R Arm1 or L Arm1) in its local Y-axis to center its link in the upper arm of the skin. To create a symmetrical pose by copying one side of the biped to the other: 1. 3. Scale the upper arm so its link ends at the elbow of the skin. 2.
852 Chapter 14: character studio calf and ankle will maintain their size, but change their position. To scale a link, select any scale icon from the Scale flyout on the Main Toolbar. When you select a body part to scale, use the Transform gizmo to scale along one axis at a time. Scaling the biped limbs to fit snugly to the mesh will help when Physique is used to associate the mesh with the biped. The Bounding Box option uses biped limb dimensions to size the envelopes.
Biped Display Options As you move the arm or leg link, the hands and feet are stationary as the knees or elbows are positioned. To adjust the biped center of mass with Rubber Band: 1. On the Motion panel > Biped rollout, turn on Figure mode. 2. Select the center of mass object (diamond shape) on the biped. 3. Turn on the Move transform. 4. On the Biped rollout > Modes group, turn on Rubber Band mode.
854 Chapter 14: character studio These controls allow you to quickly turn on and off the biped bones, objects and footsteps, twist links and leg states, as well as footstep numbers and trajectories. There is also a Display Preferences dialog accessed from here that lets you control which bipeds are visible during Biped Playback. skin does. Also, figures seen from a distance don’t require the same degree of realism as figures seen close up. Note: The Display group is hidden by default.
Saving and Loading FIG Files • Link extra 3ds Max bones or splines to the biped to create extra envelopes when Physique is applied. • Link 3ds Max bones to the biped to automate mechanical assemblies when the biped is keyframed. • Link particle emitters to the biped hands or feet to create smoke or dust. Note: If you’ve linked particle emitters or 3ds Max bones (with the IK controller) to the biped, the Animate button must be on when you reposition the biped.
856 Chapter 14: character studio Footstep Animation Procedures To save a biped’s figure information to a file: 1. Select the biped to save. Footstep animation is a central compositional tool in Biped. Footsteps are biped sub-objects, similar to gizmos (page 3–949) in 3ds Max. In viewports, footsteps look like the diagrams often used to illustrate ballroom dancing. Each footstep’s position and orientation in the scene controls where the biped steps. On the Motion panel, activate Figure 2. mode. 3.
Footstep Animation 4. Create the footstep pattern in viewports. You can create footsteps in a few different ways, each available in the Footstep Creation rollout: Automatically create a number of footsteps with Create Multiple Footsteps, or Footstep keys in Track View Footsteps are appropriate for animation where the biped is on the ground or uses the ground a great deal, such as walking, standing, jumping, running, dancing, and athletic motion.
858 Chapter 14: character studio 10.Play the animation again and make any corrections to the upper body motion. Footstep Method In the viewports, footsteps represent support periods in space for the biped feet. You can move and rotate footsteps in viewports. In Track View, each footstep appears as a block that represents a support period in time for each of the biped’s feet. You can move footsteps in time in Track View.
Footstep Animation Footsteps displayed in Track View - Dope sheet editor Using the default keyframes as a starting point, you can interactively insert, replace, or delete keyframes in order to refine the motion of the biped and fill in the details of movement that are unique to your animation.
860 Chapter 14: character studio except in cases where default leg keys must be regenerated to account for timing edits that alter the basic gait pattern, such as creating a hop in the middle of a walk. Use Footstep mode to create and edit footsteps. Use Keyframe mode (Footstep mode off ) to create and edit your character’s keys. You can always edit the timing of both footsteps and keyframes in Track View. While the biped’s feet are airborne, you can animate its legs as you do its upper body.
Choosing a Gait • What is the sequence of the footsteps? This will determine the footstep numbers. Footsteps always begin with the number 0. Number them in your diagram if you can.
862 Chapter 14: character studio Feet Down—The number of frames in which both feet are on the ground. Airborne—The number of frames that the biped is airborne, that is, when neither foot is on the ground. Changing these values changes the biped’s jump behavior. Setting Gait Parameters stairs, hop repeatedly, and do a variety of motions. Automatic footstep creation places the footsteps for you, generating perfectly timed and spaced footsteps. Procedure To create footsteps automatically: 1.
Creating Footsteps Manually See also Preparing to Create Footsteps Manually Creating Footsteps Manually (page 2–863) Before placing footsteps, you must choose the gait, then set parameters for the gait in the Footstep Creation rollout (page 2–988). Adjusting Vertical Motion (page 2–878) Creating Footsteps Manually Creating footsteps manually is useful for complicated footwork, such as dancing. Manual footstep creation allows you to place each new footstep carefully where you want it.
864 Chapter 14: character studio Creating New Footsteps Between Existing Footsteps If inactive footsteps exist, you can only create new, inactive footsteps within or directly before or after the time of the inactive footsteps. If you need to add more footsteps near a time where there are only active footsteps, deactivate all footsteps first, then add footsteps and activate them again. See Deactivating Footsteps (page 2–865). 4. Move and rotate footsteps until you have achieved the desired pattern. 5.
Activating Footsteps need a biped, create the biped at this time, then access the Motion panel. Turn on Footstep Mode. 4. 5. Click Create Footsteps (at current frame). Move the cursor over the terrain. A transform gizmo moves with your cursor to indicate the location and orientation of the gizmo. Click to place a footstep, then move the cursor and click again to place more footsteps.
866 Chapter 14: character studio Footsteps should be deactivated when you make substantial changes to footstep timing or placement. Footsteps are deactivated by selecting footsteps and clicking Deactivate Footsteps in the Footstep Operations rollout (page 2–990). After making changes to the footsteps, click Create Keys for Inactive Footsteps in the Footstep Operations rollout (page 2–990). This will recreate keys for the biped and cause it to follow the footsteps.
Understanding Footstep and Body Keys Tip: Alternatively, you can use layers (page 2–974) to store any upper body animations you want to preserve while you proceed with changes in your biped’s footsteps. Rules for Inactive Footsteps When you click deactivate footsteps, only selected footsteps are deactivated. If you haven’t made any changes to the default animation, it is recommended that you deactivate all footsteps.
868 Chapter 14: character studio Note: State names appear only on footsteps that have been previously activated. If active footsteps have been deactivated and edited, the state names that appear will correspond to states the legs were in before deactivation. For this reason, leg states displayed between deactivation and reactivation might not be accurate. Regardless of the footstep pattern, activating footsteps will always cause leg keys to be generated at each lift and touch frame.
Editing Footstep Placement After you’ve created footsteps, there are several ways to edit their placement in the scene. biped keys to account for changes in balance and motion. This change is called adaptation (page 3–905). For information on how adaptation occurs, see Editing Active Footsteps (page 2–871). • You can use standard 3ds Max controls to select, move, rotate, or delete footsteps.
870 Chapter 14: character studio • Moving footstep keys to change the time relationships between footsteps. • Changing the lengths of footstep keys. • Deleting footstep keys. single white dot appears at the selected edge. You can change the duration of the footstep by increasing or decreasing the length of the key on the selected edge. You must select footstep keys before you can change their timing.
Editing Active Footsteps • Every footstep must be at least two frames long. • If you want to add footstep keys, use the tools on the Footstep Creation rollout. See Creating Footsteps Automatically (page 2–862) and Creating Footsteps Manually (page 2–863). • Footsteps cannot be cloned. You can adjust a selection of multiple footsteps this way. You can also adjust any combination of left edge, right edge, and center selections. Dragging in Track View adjusts any combination of edge or center selection.
872 Chapter 14: character studio Key Adaptation for Footstep Placement Edits between opposite legs, you have changed the gait, and new keys will be generated for legs. When you move or rotate active footsteps as described in Editing Footstep Placement (page 2–869), the biped’s keys are immediately influenced by the edit.
Splicing Footsteps You can use splicing to build an extended, or cyclic, motion sequence out of shorter sequences. You can also copy footsteps from one biped and paste them onto another biped with this technique. If you load a BIP file by clicking Load File on the Biped rollout while Buffer mode is active, the footstep buffer is replaced with the motion in the BIP file. Splicing footsteps makes use of a footstep buffer to store footstep positions and keys.
874 Chapter 14: character studio following footsteps can also be pasted anywhere in the footstep sequence. If you pasted onto the last footstep, this step does not occur. If you don’t want to append the leftover footsteps, simply click anywhere in the viewport to dismiss them. Warning: If any footstep in the buffer overlaps in time with a footstep previous to the one onto that you are pasting, a message appears and the paste will not be performed.
Adjusting Body Keys in Track View the footstep and the leg will bend or straighten as the COM is moved up or down. • If the biped is airborne (no footsteps at that frame), the COM can be moved horizontally and can be 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.
876 Chapter 14: character studio to biped body keys for the arms, legs, spine, neck, and other parts of the upper body. For rules for editing footstep keys, see Editing Footstep Timing (page 2–869). • The Track View – Curve Editor can be used to view and edit curves showing the interpolation between body keys. You can also use the Workbench to analyze, edit and fix biped motion curves. See Working with the Workbench (page 2–1008).
Shifting the Biped’s Balance characters, the physical center of mass is located near the pelvis. Typical placements for the center of mass are: • Characters that stand erect, such as humanoids, use the default location of the center of mass within the pelvis. • Characters that naturally lean forward, such as some dinosaurs and birds, should have the center of mass moved slightly forward of the pelvis. This is also good for robots and droid soldiers.
878 Chapter 14: character studio • When Balance Factor is 1 (the default value) and you rotate the spine forward, both the hips and head swing out from their original vertical alignment to a similar degree to compensate for the shift in weight. This value is suitable for times when the biped leans forward while standing. • When Balance Factor is 0 and you rotate the spine forward, the COM keeps its original vertical alignment, and the head swings forward.
Adjusting Vertical Motion is based on the current gravity setting, the height of the Body Vertical key at lift-off and touchdown, and the amount of time in the air. By default, there is no Body Vertical key at the peak of the biped’s trajectory; the biped’s peak airborne height is calculated and enforced automatically. You cannot, for example, set a Body Vertical key at the peak of an airborne trajectory and move the biped up or down.
880 Chapter 14: character studio Accelerating Gravity The GravAccel parameter on the Dynamics & Adaptation rollout (page 2–980) alters the degree of gravitational pull imposed on the biped during its airborne periods between active footsteps. The GravAccel default value is based on the standard calculation for the Earth’s gravity and its effects on a man of average height. When the GravAccel parameter is increased, the effects of gravity are decreased, and the biped jumps higher.
Adjusting Vertical Motion immediately preceding or following an airborne period. You can edit the Ballistic Tension parameter only at Body Vertical keyframes where the body touches down (a Touch key) or lifts off (a Lift key). On the Motion panel Track Selection rollout (page 2–945), Body Vertical must be selected and a key must be present at the current frame. With footsteps, a Body Vertical key is always set automatically at the landing footstep’s Touch frame and the takeoff footstep’s Lift frame.
882 Chapter 14: character studio 4. Click and drag the center of mass up or down in the viewports. Saving Footstep Animation The biped is repositioned vertically, a key is created in the center of mass Body Vertical track. After you have animated the biped with footsteps, there are two ways you can save the data. To set ballistic tension: 1. On the Biped rollout, turn off Footstep Mode if necessary. 2. in the Track Selection rollout, select the biped’s Body Vertical track. 3.
Freeform Animation Between Footsteps with 3ds Max, or other character animation systems. Keys are set by using the character studio Set Key tools found in the Key Info rollout (page 2–954), or by turning on Auto Key mode, moving the time slider and transforming the biped parts. See also Freeform animation includes preset key types called planted, sliding, and free keys; these make it very quick to lock a biped’s foot or hand in space and get results similar to those of footstep animation.
884 Chapter 14: character studio Procedure To convert an airborne period to freeform mode: 1. Create a footstep animation with at least one airborne period, and activate the footsteps. For the simplest method of creating a footstep pattern with an airborne period, see Creating Footsteps Automatically (page 2–862). 2. Access Track View by choosing Graph Editors menu > Track View - Dope Sheet from the 3ds Max menu. 3. Expand the footstep key display for the biped. 4.
Converting Between Footstep and Freeform Animations Converting Between Footstep and Freeform Animations There might be times when you want to convert a footstep animation to a freeform animation, or vice versa. This can occur when someone gives you an animation file that’s animated in one mode, while you prefer to work in the other. Animators tend to develop a preference for either freeform or footstep animation.
886 Chapter 14: character studio Freeform Animation Warning: You can’t add a freeform period at the beginning or end of a footstep animation. Tip: If you want to do this, stretch out the timing for the first or last set of footsteps, then convert the footstep animation to freeform.
Freeform Animation add a footstep animation to an existing freeform, you can use the motion flow editor to create a script that sequences the footstep with the freeform. Inverse Kinematics Footstep and freeform animations use the same inverse kinematics (page 3–958) constraints and extensions. This means that in a footstep animation, you can now edit keys to change footstep duration.
888 Chapter 14: character studio A Convert To Freeform dialog is displayed. Click OK. Don’t turn on Generate A Keyframe Per Frame unless you have a good reason to do so. Having a keyframe on every frame makes animation editing much more complex. Use this only if you are losing motion quality through a conversion process. Creating Freeform Animation The topics in this section deal with the creation of freeform animation for bipeds.
Selecting Biped Tracks can be expanded or collapsed in this way for the arms, legs, ponytails, neck, tail, and spine. In 3ds Max, you have the ability to display the motion data as function curves. You can see and manipulate function curves either in the Track View – Curve Editor, or by using the Workbench (page 2–1012). The Workbench provides specialized tools for analyzing and fixing motion problems found in the curves. For fast track selection, you can also use the Track Selection rollout.
890 Chapter 14: character studio Selecting Tracks from the Track Selection Rollout Each of these tracks can be seen in Track View, expanded trackbar and Workbench. The center of mass has three separate animation tracks, two for motion and one for rotation. These tracks can be selected on the Track Selection rollout (page 2–945): Note that the hands and fingers are grouped with the arms, and the fingers and toes are grouped with the legs.
Animating by Rotating Links Tip: You can select the children of a hierarchy by double-clicking the parent. To quickly select and move a biped and its entire animation to a new location in space, use Move All mode (page 2–936). Biped provides controls to help you give both arms or both legs the same pose. See Copy/Paste Rollout (page 2–966) for more information.
892 Chapter 14: character studio degree of freedom, you might later need to change the axis constraint setting.) To rotate the biped pelvis in all three dimensions, refer to Pelvis as Ball Joint (page 2–892).
Animating by Rotating Links • Rotations on the new pelvic axes (X and Z) are keyable in layers and supported in MAXScript. • The default parametric footstep animation is slightly adjusted to use the three-DOF pelvis. • If a legacy biped asset such as a BIP file is loaded onto the 3ds Max biped, the pelvis-related data will be adapted to the new DOFs and the new coordinate space within which the pelvis rotates.
894 Chapter 14: character studio Likewise, the orientation of the neck changes the position, but not the orientation, of the head. Although linked to the neck, the head typically rotates independently of the neck, and interpolation of these individually set orientations produces more natural-looking motion. Similar to the head and arms, changing the orientation of the upper or lower leg changes the position, but not the orientation, of the corresponding foot.
Rotating Multiple Biped Links Tip: You can also access TCB controls by right-clicking on keys in the trackbar, Track View – Curve Editor or the Workbench Curve View. tail link to use the character studio technique of naturally bending the entire spine, neck, or tail. Selecting and Rotating Multiple Links Rotating Multiple Biped Links When you select and rotate multiple biped links, the rotation is individually applied to each selected link.
896 Chapter 14: character studio 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 Links rollout, turn on Twist Links Mode. 4. Rotate the link in local X. The other links in the spine, neck, or tail twist properly to match the single link’s rotation in X. Tip: You can use Bend Links mode either to pose the biped or to animate the spine, neck, or tail while in Keyframe mode (page 3–960).
Using Controllers 3. Expand the Biped SubAnim entry in the 4. Turn on the tracks you want to collapse in the Controller window. List controller entries are displayed for BipScale, BipRotation, and BipPosition. 4. Expand the list controller you want to add to Enable group. 5. Turn on the options you want to use in the Collapse group. 6. To perform the collapse, click the Collapse and highlight the first Available entry. button. The Assign controller button becomes active.
898 Chapter 14: character studio with Biped” for an example of animating the weights. 1. Add a controller to a biped object, using either method outlined above. Each biped can have up to three props. Prop data will work seamlessly with other advanced features of character studio: in the Mixer, Motion Flow, Unification, and Layered edits. 2.
Using Props Procedures Example: To animate a biped swinging a prop with one hand: 1. Create a biped with a single prop. The biped appears with a single prop displayed as a box positioned near the biped’s right hand. 2. On the Motion panel, on the Biped rollout, turn on Figure Mode. 3. Scale the prop so it is the correct size and proportion to be a sword. 4. Rotate and move the prop so it is in the correct orientation in relation to the right hand.
900 Chapter 14: character studio from the right hand to the left hand, and click Set Key again. keyframe tracks. As the limb moves through each key: The prop will now follow the movement of the left hand in the frames that follow. • IK Blend sets the motion interpolation to be a blend of forward and inverse kinematics. This allows you to blend swinging motions with hand-or-foot directed motions. Rotating an arm to move a hand is an example of forward kinematics.
Using IK Keyframe Parameters when IK Blend is closer to 1.0, inverse kinematics are more heavily weighted. It is best to use forward kinematics when you want the arms to swing, such as when a biped is walking. In the case of a boxer, however, since the hand should follow a directed path when punching, inverse kinematics should be used. To set the IK Blend value of a key: 1. Select a single arm or leg track by selecting one or more parts of a biped’s arm or leg.
902 Chapter 14: character studio Use this to control foot sliding in a freeform animation. • 1 with Object turned on and an IK object specified puts the biped limb into the coordinate space of the selected object; the biped limb follows the specified object. Join To Prev IK Key This IK constraint is used to specify if a footstep is sliding or planted. If Join To Prev IK Key is on, then the biped foot maintains a reference position to the previous key, keeping the foot planted.
Understanding Walk Cycle Constraints Touch state: pivot planted at heel at frame 14 The foot is touching the ground at the heel. In the Key Info rollout, Set Planted Key is clicked to set IK Blend=1.0 with object space and Join To Prev Key turned on. A pivot is selected on the heel of the foot. Planted key set to lock pivot at frame 17 This key has the pivot on the ball of the foot as well. Click Set Planted Key.
904 Chapter 14: character studio pivot at the same location: then the foot will rotate around the displayed pivot. Foot rotates off pivot at end of toe at frame 19. Here is another planted key with a pivot at the end of the toe; the foot rotates about the tip of the toe. If you adhere to these rules in creating footsteps in a freeform animation, then you can use Convert in the Biped rollout to easily change from a freeform animation to a footstep animation.
Animating Pivots Warning: Do not use the large Set Key button, found below the viewports, when animating a biped. Doing so will cause unpredictable results. Instead, always use the Set Key buttons found on the Key Info rollout. If you are animating a walk cycle or an intricate hand animation, then you should make use of the three different types of set key buttons in the Key Info rollout.
906 Chapter 14: character studio onthe toes. Pivots are essentially extensions of the IK chain. By setting a planted key for the hand, the hand is anchored in world space: you can move the biped or the collarbone and the hand remains planted. Pivots on the hands make it easy to animate hands and fingers. While pivots are used in both freeform and footstep animation, the pivots are only visible and accessible when in Freeform mode.
Animating a Quadruped importance of the interpolated ankle joint over the interpolated knee joint for intervals in between keyframes. This is relevant only to interpolation on bipeds. You can also select an object if you like at this point, by selecting a non-biped object in the viewport. 3. Turn on Select Pivot. 4. Select a pivot in the viewports. Pivots are shown as red dots on the hands and feet. Use wireframe viewport shading if you have problems seeing the choices. 5. Turn off Select Pivot. 6.
908 Chapter 14: character studio Treat the hands the same as the feet. Set planted keys on the hands and feet, then move the center of mass object to bend the knees and elbows. See Key Info Rollout (page 2–954) for more information on the three set key buttons. • You can save3ds Max objects as part of the BIP file. If you need additional legs (for a centipede) or extra arms or wings you can use standard bone objects with IK chains, and save all of it with the BIP file.
Editing Freeform Animation the Object option, and turn on Join to Prev IK Key. You can also click Set Planted Key to set these parameters all at once. 8. On frames where you don’t want the hand or foot to follow the object, set a key, set IK Blend to 0.0 and choose the Body option. You can also click Set Free Key to set these parameters all at once. To anchor a hand or foot: You can use anchoring to temporarily look a hand or foot to a specific point in space while you are animating IK attachments. 1.
910 Chapter 14: character studio When you’ve selected the biped part you want to transform, click Lock Selection Set on the 3ds Max prompt line. Now you can transform the part without accidentally selecting a different part of the biped. The default keyboard shortcut for Lock Selection Set is the spacebar . Tip: Copying and Pasting Postures and Poses The Copy/Paste rollout on the Motion panel provides controls to help you copy and paste biped postures, poses, and tracks.
Copying and Pasting Postures and Poses Use the Copy Tracks function to copy the animation of biped parts onto other parts and other bipeds. You can further manipulate these tracks with the Curve Editor and Dope Sheet Editor, using all the standard tools found there. Copy Tracks works with both footstep and freeform animation.
912 Chapter 14: character studio Procedures Warning: If you paste a posture while the Auto Key button is off, no key is set. If you want the pasted posture to set a key, you must click the character studio Set Key button in the Key Info rollout while objects are still selected. To copy a posture: 1. Select the set of biped parts that defines the part of the biped’s posture you want to copy. 2. 3. On the Copy/Paste rollout, click Create Collection and rename the new collection Biped Posture.
Mirroring Motion Tip: You can use Paste Pose Opposite to create symmetrical runs and walk cycles. Keyboard Shortcuts The following are Biped keyboard shortcuts to the copy and paste posture commands. Make sure the Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle (page 3–872) is active.
914 Chapter 14: character studio Layers allow you to easily adjust raw motion capture data containing keys at every frame. Simply add a layer, and keyframe the biped. You can also use layers to change the global position of the biped in a freeform or footsteps animation by adding a layer and moving the center of mass. Procedures To increment all keys using layers (global offset): 3.
Editing Trajectory Keys Warning: Don’t click the Trajectories button next to Parameters. That is for other scene objects, not bipeds. 4. In the Track Selection rollout, click Body Horizontal. The center of mass object trajectory is displayed. 5. At the top of the panel, below Selection Level, turn on Sub-Object, and choose Trajectories on the drop-down list if it isn’t already displayed. 6. In a viewport, select as many keys as you want on the trajectory. The selected keys turn red in the viewport. 7.
916 Chapter 14: character studio Working with Biped Animation Working with Euler Curves on Biped Animation You can control a biped’s position and orientation using Euler curves in addition to quaternion curves in the Workbench and Curve Editor. Using the Euler XYZ controller is an efficient way to animate your biped because you can use Bezier tangents to change the interpolation of your XYZ curves (quaternion curves do not have tangents).
Working with Euler Curves on Biped Animation Note: Keys set to Join to Prev IK Key (page 2–900) are locked in value until the next un-joined key. Tip: The Workbench and Curve Editor are synchronized so changing the curve display from the Workbench toolbar (page 2–1012) also updates the display from the Curve Editor, as well as activate the corresponding tool from the Biped Toolbar (page 2–535).
918 Chapter 14: character studio Loading and Saving Biped Assets with Euler Curves When you load an external biped asset file (BIP) onto a biped, they each might contain different animation controllers (for example, a Euler asset loaded onto a quaternion biped). When this happens, the biped animations are converted to match the controller from the biped asset file. When you save a biped asset file, it stores both Euler tangents and quaternion TCB control values.
Working with Biped Motion Files that the arm links are too short to reach a specific goal target. Because Figure Mode is unavailable in the master scene, the artist currently in the source scene inputs the changes to the biped’s structure, and then saves his file. This update now reflects in the master scene. Example: Modifying the Footsteps of an Xref Biped An integrator externally references a biped into his master scene.
920 Chapter 14: character studio The Marker Name File format matches custom 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 the program disc. • STP file (.stp) The Step file format saves footstep data. Unlike a BIP file, it does not save keys for the feet or upper body. STP files are ASCII files.
Importing and Exporting Animation Data Anything done in Figure mode changes the basic shape and structure of the biped. When Figure mode is turned off, the Load File tool loads BIP files, which animate the figure. 3. In the file dialog, choose the BIP motion file to load, and then click OK. 4. The biped repositions itself in the scene, as it assumes the initial position of the animation file. You might need to use Zoom Extents to see the biped after it is repositioned.
922 Chapter 14: character studio existing biped. Gravity will be adjusted to be proportional to the gravity stored in the file. (A motion stored in a BIP or STP file has a gravity value associated with it.) • When you paste footsteps copied from one biped onto another biped, the locations of the footsteps in the buffer will be scaled to match the leg length and pelvis width of the existing biped. Gravity will be adjusted to be proportional to the gravity stored in the file.
Merging and Cloning a Character The default name for the biped center of mass is Bip01. If the biped was renamed on the Structure rollout, find the renamed center of mass in the list. 6. On the Duplicate Name dialog, turn on Apply To All Duplicates, and then click Merge. Note: Even when the bipeds in your scene have different root names than the biped you are merging, the biped finger/toe/head dummies in the file to be merged can have the same names as other biped dummies in your scene.
924 Chapter 14: character studio (If the rollout is already expanded, the bar shows a minus sign at the left, instead of a plus.) 3. In the Display group, turn Objects off and then back on again to hide the biped finger/toe/head dummy objects. To clone a skinned biped: 1. Save a copy of the scene that contains the biped you want to clone. 2. On the Structure rollout, change the original biped’s root name, as described above. Motion flow scripts are saved as Motion Flow Editor (MFE) files.
Using Motion-Capture Data To save footstep data: 1. 2. Select the biped whose footsteps you want to save, and go to the Motion panel. On the Biped rollout, make sure you are not in Figure mode, then, click Save File. 3. In the file dialog, choose Step Files (.STP) as the file type to save. 4. Enter a name for the footstep file, and then click OK. Using Motion-Capture Data Besides animating a biped with footsteps or with keyframing (freeform animation), you can import a motion-capture file.
926 Chapter 14: character studio • Ponytails • Center of mass position, relative to the body. When Biped adapts the keyframed motions stored in BIP files to different characters, the keyframes of the above elements are recreated as an offset from the at-rest posture associated with each character’s figure. The at-rest posture associated with the arms and legs is always assumed to be a standing posture, with straight legs.
Repositioning the Biped • The Paste Horizontal, Paste Vertical, and Paste Rotation buttons in the Paste Options group (page 2–973) become active. For hands-on experience in using Copy and Paste Tracks, see the lesson called Creating a Simple Freeform Animation in the tutorial Animating with Freeform. Procedure • If the biped uses freeform or footstep animation, use Move All mode. This is also the easiest way to move a biped that is not animated.
928 Chapter 14: character studio 3. Note: Depending on the animation, at some of Turn off Move All Mode. attached object’s keys you might need to set IK Blend back to 0.0. Otherwise, the limb can get “stuck” in a posture. To reposition a biped with limbs attached to an Object Space object (IK attachment): 1. Create a dummy object and position it near the biped’s center of mass. 2.
Previewing Biped Motion animation is blended between the biped’s new position and its previous position at frames where the key is set. Previewing Biped Motion There are two types of animation playback available within character studio: • • You can use the Play Animation button in the viewport playback controls to play biped animation, the same as you can any other 3ds Max animation.
930 Chapter 14: character studio 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 3–956) 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.
Trajectory Display 5. Find a frame where the biped needs adjustment, and modify or add keys. Trajectory Display When a biped is animated, you can view its motion not only using Biped Playback, but you can also see the path, or trajectory, the biped (or selected biped links) follows throughout the motion. Note: Trajectories do not display while you play an animation using In Place mode.
932 Chapter 14: character studio Motion panel, which is visible when a biped is selected. There are four modes available: Figure mode is used to change the biped skeletal structure and to align the biped to a mesh. Footstep mode is used to create and edit footstep animation. Motion Flow mode is used to create scripts that combine motion files into longer animations. Use controls on this dialog to change footstep, trajectory, and playback display.
Motion Panel (Biped) In Figure mode, Structure (page 2–984) is the only additional rollout. In Footstep Mode, the rollouts displayed are: Footstep Creation (page 2–988), Footstep Operations (page 2–990), and Dynamics & Adaptation. In Motion Flow mode, Motion Flow (page 2–1045) is the only additional rollout displayed. In Mixer mode, Mixer (page 2–652) is the only rollout displayed.
934 Chapter 14: character studio • • Body Vertical Body Turning (selected with the Body Rotation button) You can use these buttons, available on the Track Selection rollout (page 2–945), to select each track as well as the COM itself. Center of Mass Shadow The center of mass shadow object, the circle between the biped’s feet on the world plane, provides a sense of where the character’s center of mass is positioned relative to the feet. Another use of the center of mass shadow is to link objects to it.
Biped Apps Rollout Interface Rotation List— When turned on, selects the Rotation controller to be collapsed into the Biped SubAnim track. Scale List— When turned on, selects the Scale controller to be collapsed into the Biped SubAnim track. Collapse section Position—Collapses the Position controller when you click Collapse. Rotation—Collapses the Rotation controller when you click Collapse. Assign Controller— Displays a selectable list of controllers for a selected track.
936 Chapter 14: character studio See Working with the Workbench (page 2–1008). Interface Biped Rollout Select the biped > Motion panel > Biped rollout Use controls on the Biped rollout to put the biped into Figure, Footstep, Motion Flow, or Mixer modes, and to load and save .bip, .stp, .mfe, and .fig files. You’ll find other controls on the Biped rollout, as well. The Modes group on the Biped rollout lets you turn on the Buffer, Bend Links, Rubber Band, Scale Stride, and In Place mode.
Biped Rollout Motion Flow Mode—Create scripts and use editable transitions to combine .bip files together to create character animation in Motion Flow mode (page 2–1043). After creating a script and editing transitions, use Save Segment on the Biped rollout to store a script as one long .bip file. Save a .mfe file; this enables you to continue Motion Flow work in progress. Tip: Use Motion Flow mode to cut motion capture files together.
938 Chapter 14: character studio Footsteps Operation rollout. The changes can be pasted back by turning off Buffer Mode, turning on Paste Footsteps on the Footstep Operation rollout, and overlapping the buffered footsteps with the original footsteps. The buffered motion is spliced into the original animation. Rubber Band Mode—Use this to reposition the biped elbows and knees without moving the biped hands or feet in Figure mode.
Biped Rollout In Place Mode—Use In Place mode to keep the biped visible in the viewports while the animation plays. Use this for biped key editing or adjusting envelopes with Physique. It prevents XY movement of the biped center of mass during animation playback; however, motion along the Z axis is preserved. This is a three-button fly-out. In Place mode is stored with the 3ds Max file. Display group Note: The Display group is hidden by default.
940 Chapter 14: character studio • Show Footsteps—Displays biped footsteps in the viewport, but no footstep numbers. Footsteps are represented as green and blue foot-shaped outlines by default; these are also visible in preview renderings. • Hide Footsteps—Turns off footsteps and footstep numbers in the viewport. Twist Links—Toggles the display of twist links used in biped. Default=on.
Save As Dialog (Biped) Save As Dialog (Biped) Select a Biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Save File The Save As dialog lets you save biped (BIP), figure (FIG), and step (STP) files. When saving FIG files (in Figure mode), the Save As dialog is a standard Windows Save File dialog. However, when you save BIP or STP files, you can save objects and animation controllers with the file. Interface Save as type—Sets the file type for your saved file.
942 Chapter 14: character studio Load Motion Capture on the Motion Capture rollout. Save MAX Objects group Save MAX Objects—When on, any IK, Head Target, or linked object in the scene is saved with the BIP file. Note: This option is unavailable when you load a BIP file into a clip or onto a biped that is in Edit Clip mode, because all the clips in the motion flow would have to be adapted.
Open Dialog (Biped) Figure files allow you to apply the structure of one biped to another. Reload a Figure file if you accidentally lose your biped Figure mode pose; this pose is the biped fitted to a mesh. Note: When you load a FIG file, the Open dialog is a standard Windows Open File dialog. • Biped file (.BIP)—Load a biped motion file (clip). Motion files include footsteps, keyframe settings, the biped scale, and the active gravity value (GravAccel).
944 Chapter 14: character studio If Prompt for Duplicates is off, the objects in your scene will be automatically overwritten. Interface Retarget—When on, the position of the objects in the BIP file adapt to the size of the target biped, based on either height or limb sizes. Scale IK Object’s Size—When on, the imported objects are scaled in size to match the target biped.
Track Selection Rollout Generate Various Colors—Asks whether you want different colors for left and right footsteps. Based on your response, generates various colors for footsteps in the viewports. This works with multiple bipeds. Track Selection Rollout Select a biped > Motion panel > Track Selection rollout Generate Normal Colors—Changes right footsteps to blue and left footsteps to green, the default. Applies to all bipeds in the viewports.
946 Chapter 14: character studio (page 3–1025). Controlling the COM using the Track Selection rollout tools is sometimes quicker because selecting the center of mass in your viewports can be difficult if your biped resides inside a bigger rigged model. As long as you select your biped by any limb, activating the COM tools from the Track Selection rollout automatically selects the center of mass with the proper Transform gizmo: • Body Horizontal and Body Vertical enable the Move gizmo.
Track Selection Rollout 2. Turn on Lock COM Keying. Lock COM Keying allows you to activate all center of mass tracks at the same time. 3. Turn on both Body Horizontal and Body Rotation. 4. Select any other part of your biped. The COM track controls become inactive. Note that Lock COM Keying is storing the selected controls.
948 Chapter 14: character studio Body Vertical—Selects the center of mass to edit vertical biped motion. The Body Vertical track uses the Dynamics Blend parameter to control gravity in a footstep animation. A Dynamics Blend value of 1.0 uses the value of GravAccel (page 3–950) (global gravity value) to calculate an airborne trajectory for the biped. No keyframes are required to position the biped in the air, a trajectory is calculated automatically. A value of 0.
Quaternion/Euler Rollout From left to right, the biped at frame 0, 20, and 40. In the Motion Panel, on the Quaternion/Euler rollout, notice that the Quaternion option is active by default. Note: If you change options for that biped limb, your choice is preserved in the 3dsmax.ini (page 1–18) file, from which it is restored after a scene reset or session change. 6. On the Biped Apps rollout, click Workbench to open it.
950 Chapter 14: character studio which it is restored after a scene reset or session change. Euler — Converts the selected biped animation to Euler rotation. (forearms and calves, for instance) differ due to the fact that you can only control their twist links if you rotate their child limb. Axis Order — Lets you choose the order in which the Euler rotation curves are calculated. Availabe only when Euler is active. Default=YXZ.
Twist Poses Rollout 2. Exit Figure Mode, and then expand the Twist Poses rollout. 3. Select the right upper arm. The rollout controls are enabled because you selected a three-DOF limb. 4. Use Previous Key and Next Key to cycle through the different pose presets. 6. Click Set. This assigns the Twist value of 0 to the upper arm’s twist links. Note: A twist change is always reflected on both sides (in this case, both upper arms). 7.
952 Chapter 14: character studio This new pose resets the current Twist value of the twist links. 9. Rotate the upper arm locally around its X axis. The twisting in the upper arm is calculated based on the limb’s proximity to the saved poses. Note: Changing the Twist value automatically resets the current limb’s orientation to the active twist pose. Bias—Sets the distribution of rotation along the twist links. A setting of 1.0 concentrates the twist towards the top link while a setting of 0.
Bend Links Rollout This toolset combines the Bend Links Mode, previously located on the Biped rollout, with other tools to allow an easier control over a chain link, such as a biped spine, neck or tail. Note: Activating one of the Bend Links rollout modes deactivates any of the others. However, clicking Zero Twist or Zero All maintain any mode currently active. Note: The Bend Links rollout is displayed in Mixer Mode, Motion Flow Mode or Footstep Modes.
954 Chapter 14: character studio extremities. Adjust the Smoothing Bias control to distribute the chain’s rotation towards the base or top link. Interface Bend Links Mode—This mode can be used to rotate multiple links of a chain without having to select all of them beforehand. Bend Links Mode transfers the rotation of one link to the other links, following a natural curvature.
Key Info Rollout • Set IK constraints and pivots for the biped hands and feet. When the Body Vertical COM (center of mass) track is active, you can change the vertical dynamics of the motion, on a key-by-key basis. When the Body Horizontal COM track is active you can change the balance factor for shifts in weight distribution. Note: On the time slider or in Track View, you can move one Biped key past another. See Moving Keys (page 2–1004).
956 Chapter 14: character studio Time—Enter a value to specify when in time the key occurs. Use this to fine tune keyframe timing on a character by moving a key backwards and forwards in time. Set Key—Creates keys at the current frame when you are moving biped objects. This is identical to Set Key on the 3ds Max toolbar. You can experiment with different biped poses without updating the motion until you find the desired pose.
Key Info Rollout Trajectories—Shows and hides trajectories for the selected biped object. You can edit keys on the biped’s horizontal and vertical track by turning on Trajectories, turning on Sub-Object, selecting the horizontal or vertical center of mass track, and transforming keys in the viewports. • You can bend the horizontal center of mass trajectory around selected horizontal keys by using the Bend Horizontal spinner in the Keyframing Tools rollout.
958 Chapter 14: character studio TCB group Ease From—Slows the velocity of the animation curve as it leaves the key. Default=0. High Ease From causes the animation to start slow and accelerate as it leaves the key. The default setting causes no change of the animation curve. Tension—Controls the amount of curvature in the animation curve. High Tension produces a linear curve. It also has a slight Ease To and Ease From effect. Low Tension produces a very wide, rounded, curve.
Key Info Rollout The default setting distributes the curve evenly to both sides of the key. IK group This group lets you set IK keys and adjust parameters for IK keys. Note: You can now make and adjust settings for multiple selected IK-capable biped parts. For example, say at the same frame one foot has a planted key and the other has a sliding key. This means they both have (by default) IK Blend values of 1.0 and Ankle Tension values of 0.0.
960 Chapter 14: character studio Note: When on an IK key, the left hand and foot charts use a blue/red color scheme: Head group The Head group lets you define a target object for the target to look at. Target Blend—Determines the extent to which the target blends with the head’s existing animation. Join to Previous IK Key—When on, places the biped foot in the coordinate space of the previous key. Turn off to put the biped foot into a new reference position.
Key Info 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). If a character is seated, and reaches across the table, leave Balance Factor at 0; however the character leans, he will pivot from the center of mass.
962 Chapter 14: character studio Hand coordinate space for position and rotation at the current frame. Position Space—Lets you set the prop position space to World, Body, Right Hand, or Left Hand. Rotation Space—Lets you set the prop rotation space to World, Body, Right Hand, or Left Hand. The vertical center of mass track Dynamics Blend parameter is set to 1 for both keys (white squares) in the first jump, and to .5 in the second jump.
Keyframing Tools Rollout Tip: Separate Tracks are designed to be used with forward-kinematic (FK) rotations. Using the Move tool to change the position of a biped limb with Separate Tracks requires that you turn on Set Parents Mode. If Set Parents Mode is off, then the limb you move is stored relative to its parent objects, and the new parent positions are not stored. The parent objects will snap back to their originally stored location.
964 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Set Parents Mode when you turn on Separate FK Tracks. Set Parents Mode stores the position of the entire limb when a biped limb is moved using inverse kinematics instead of rotated using forward kinematics. For example, if Set Parents Mode is off and Separate Tracks are turned on for the biped arms, then the arm will snap back to its original position if you transform the biped hand.
Set Multiple Keys Dialog For example, turn on Arms if you plan to create extensive finger-hand animation; if an arm key is deleted, it will not affect the finger-hand keys. filter, then click Select to select all the left leg keys in a Move state for example (Move is the leg state between footsteps). You must turn on Set Parents Mode for these toggles to take effect. Interface Arms—Turn on to create separate transform tracks for the finger, hand, forearm, and upper arm.
966 Chapter 14: character studio Sideways—Sets the amount of side-to-side swing of the tail. Twist—Sets the amount of local X axis rotation of information by grouping it together. This improves the way copied animation data is organized when it is transferred between files within a session: each tail object. • You can display smaller sets of poses, postures, and tracks in the list. Select Multiple Keys group • You can load more than one CPY (page 3–925) file into a single scene.
Copy/Paste Rollout Freeform Animation” found in the tutorial entitled Animating with Freeform. 2. On the Copy/Paste rollout, click Create Collection and rename it Upper. 3. Select all of the biped’s links from the spine up and, after making sure you’re in Posture mode (page 2–972), click Copy Posture. Repeat this step for every 10 frames of your animation. 4. Create a new collection and rename it Lower. 5. Go to frame 0.
968 Chapter 14: character studio 7. Save your scene and reset it (File > Reset). 8. Create a new biped and load the Upper collection. 9. For every 10 frames, select the biped’s upper body and paste the corresponding posture from the Copied Postures drop-down list. Set a key for each pasted posture. To capture different snapshots: 1. Under the thumbnail snapshot of the Copied Postures group, click Capture Snapshot from Viewport. 2.
Copy/Paste Rollout Example: To maintain COM offsets using By Velocity: The biped with offset position and orientation 4. 5. In the Paste Options group (page 2–973), enable all three Paste buttons. Click Paste Pose. The biped resets back to its original position and orientation since its copied COM data is maintained. Undo the step. 6. Disable Paste Rotation but keep the other two buttons enabled. 7. Click Paste Pose. The biped resets back to its original position but remains rotated.
970 Chapter 14: character studio The original biped (left) and the new biped with box (right) 7. In the IK group, constrain the biped’s hand to the box by clicking Select IK Object and then selecting the box in your viewport. Keep the Body Space option selected. 8. On the Keyframing Tools rollout (page 2–962), turn Separate Tracks off for the arms. Then turn Auto Key on. 9. In the Paste Options group (page 2–973), set the Auto-Key TCB/IK Values to Default. 5.
Copy/Paste Rollout 12. Set Auto-Key TCB/IK Values to Copied and paste the posture. Interface The copied value information is transferred to this new key. The key values are now 10 and 50 for the Ease To/Ease From, 5 for the TCB, and 0.5 for the IK Blend. The box is still the IK Object and Object Space remains selected. Also notice that the hand is the only keyed limb. 13. Go to frame 15, set the Auto-Key TCB/IK Values to Interpolated and paste the posture again.
972 Chapter 14: character studio Delete Collection—Removes the current collection from the scene. Delete All Collection—Removes all collections from the scene. name is currently displayed in the Copied Postures/Poses/Tracks list. Delete All—Deletes all the buffers in the Copied Postures/Poses/Tracks list. Posture mode Max Load Preferences—Displays a dialog with options for actions to take upon Max file open.
Copy/Paste Rollout Copied Postures group Copied Postures/Poses/Tracks list—For each of the modes, lists the buffers you have copied. The active buffer is the one that will be pasted by the paste buttons. To make a buffer active, choose it from the drop-down list. To change the name of a buffer, make it active, highlight its name, and enter a new name. Thumbnail buffer view—For Posture and Track No Snapshot—When chosen, replaces the snapshot with a gray canvas.
974 Chapter 14: character studio Note: If part of the copied biped is linked to an IK object, that object it is not transferable using the copy/paste process. However, the Join to Prev IK Key option is maintained, as well as they Body or Object options. If a copied pose or posture contains an IK Object, the data becomes baked into the biped’s link while keeping the key in Object space.
Layers Rollout Honoring IK Constraints Across Layers You can maintain a biped’s IK constraints across layers by retargeting its hands and feet to the original layer. This assures that the biped’s constrained body parts are honored and locked in place while you make animation changes on the upper layers. You can also choose to retarget a biped using another one as reference.
976 Chapter 14: character studio Only the biped’s left hand constraint is honored. Turn on Auto Key mode (page 3–717). 4. 7. 5. On the Track Selection rollout, turn on Body Vertical. This selects the biped’s center of mass. 6. Lower the center of mass on the Z axis until the biped’s head is under the base layer’s head display (represented as a red box). In the Retargeting group, turn on both Retarget Left Leg and Retarget Right Leg. Then, click Update.
Layers Rollout The animated biped on the left and Disproportionate Biped on the right 3. Select Disproportionate Biped and enter Figure Mode (page 2–982). You can now change the biped’s structure. Both the biped’s feet and left hand constraints are honored. 8. You can continue animating the biped to your liking. Collapse your layers when you are satisfied.
978 Chapter 14: character studio 5. Exit Figure Mode. 6. Keep Disproportionate Biped selected and expand the Layers rollout. 7. Click Select Reference Biped and select your original biped in the viewport. Disproportionate Biped adopts the animation from the reference biped, whose name is now displayed next to the Select Reference Biped button. Both hands are retargeted to honor the base layer IK constraints. 10. Turn on both Retarget Left Leg and Retarget Right Leg. Then, click Update.
Layers Rollout 11. 12. Use Previous layer and Next Layer to switch between the original and Retargeted Biped layers. The base layer displays the non-targeted motion while Retargeted Biped shows an adjusted motion that matches both hands and feet from Disproportionate Biped with the original biped. You can continue animating the biped to your liking. Collapse your layers when you are satisfied. Interface Create Layer—Creates a layer, and the Level field increments.
980 Chapter 14: character studio Key Highlight—Displays keys by highlighting the IK Only—When on, the biped’s constrained hands stick figures. and feet are retargeted only during the frames on which they are IK controlled. When off, the hands and feet are retargeted during both IK and FK keys. Default=off. Retargeting Group The tools in this group let you animate a biped across layers while maintaining the IK constraints of the base layer.
Dynamics & Adaptation Rollout Interface Footstep Adapt Locks group Lock specified tracks to prevent automatic adjustments being made to those tracks when footsteps are moved in space or edited in time. All the locks except for Time work for footstep editing in space. Time locks upper body keys when footsteps are edited in time (Track View). Adapt Locks only applies to a Footstep animation, not a freeform animation.
982 Chapter 14: character studio Body Turning Keys—Turn on to prevent adaptation of body turning keys when footsteps are edited in space. Right Leg Move Keys—Turn on to prevent Figure Mode Select the Biped > Motion Panel > Biped rollout > Figure mode adaptation of right leg move keys (a leg move key, is a leg key between footsteps) when footsteps are edited in space.
Figure Mode • Figure mode is used for biped adjustment after a mesh is attached to correct biped joint location. After using Physique to attach a mesh character to the biped, you may want to reposition a biped limb relative to the mesh. For example, if the biped shoulder joint is too far out relative to the mesh shoulder, then the Physique modifier must be inactivated, the biped limbs adjusted, and then a Reinitialize in Physique must be performed before reactivating the Physique modifier.
984 Chapter 14: character studio • Rubber Band mode and scale are used to size the biped limbs to fit the biped to a mesh. and wireframe display is helpful when fingers are positioned. • Use the options from the Twist Links group (page 2–987) to transfer twisting animation in the biped’s associated mesh. Structure Rollout • Use Props to represent weapons or tools attached to your character. • Use Select And Link on the 3ds Max toolbar to link non-deformable (mechanical) objects to the biped.
Structure Rollout Note: Horse Link is only available if your biped has four leg links. Interface 4. Set Forearm to 5. Both forearms have five twist links. Tip: To get a better view of your twist links, you can select the forearms and turn on See-Through in the Display Properties rollout (page 1–55) on the Display panel (or press Alt+x ). See-Through is turned on for the right forearm only. 5. Add a Skin modifier (page 1–791) to the mesh. 6. Unfreeze all the biped twist bones. 7.
986 Chapter 14: character studio Tail Links—Sets the number of links in the biped tail. A value of 0 specifies no tail. Default=0. Range=0 to 25. centerline of the foot block, from the heel to the toe. Ponytail1/2 Links—Sets the number of Ponytail Links. Default=0. Range=0 to 25. You can animate hair with ponytail links. Ponytails are linked to a character’s head and can be used to animate other appendages.
Structure Rollout Note: If a limb has twists, the twist links will control the skin deformation while the base link (the biped’s forearm, for example) drives the animation. Twist links can not be animated. Twists—Enables twist links for biped limbs. When enabled, twist links become visible but remain frozen. You can unfreeze them using Unfreeze By Name or Unfreeze By Hit on the Freeze rollout (page 1–54). Triangle Pelvis creates two links that extend from the legs to the lowest biped spine object.
988 Chapter 14: character studio Footstep Mode Rollouts Footstep Creation Rollout Select a Biped with footsteps > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Footstep Mode > Footstep Creation rollout Footstep Mode Select a Biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Footstep Mode When Footstep mode is active, you can create or edit footsteps to generate a walk, run, and jump footstep pattern. You also edit selected footsteps in space and append footsteps using parameters available in Footstep mode.
Footstep Creation Rollout To create footsteps manually, beginning at the current frame: 1. On the Footstep Creation rollout, click Walk, Run, or Jump and set timing parameters for that gait. 2. Click Create Footsteps (at current frame). alternates right and left footsteps as you create new ones. Press Q to toggle between a left and right footstep. Newly created footsteps are bright green for right footsteps and bright blue for left footsteps.
990 Chapter 14: character studio run). Each new footstep will start at the same time as the most recent footstep on the opposite side. Alternately, it may start after the end of the previous footstep. Interface Timing parameters Use these parameters with Create Footsteps (append) or Create Footsteps (at current frame) to apply timing to newly created footsteps. These parameters are different for each gait and change as you select a different gait.
Footstep Operations Rollout If any footsteps exist that have not been activated, the Copy button is grayed. Activate the footsteps first, then try again. Tip: Turn on Buffer mode on the Biped rollout to view and edit only the buffered footsteps and biped motion. first step and end of the last step are also copied and pasted. Bend—Bends the path for the selected footsteps. The path is bent to the left or right as you move the spinner.
992 Chapter 14: character studio Width—When Width is selected, Scale changes the stride width of the selected footsteps. Length and Width may both be active at the same time. To make the biped walk in place: • In the First Step group, Set Parametric Stride Length to zero. To make the biped walk backward: • In the First Step group, set Parametric Stride Length to a value less than zero. The absolute value of the Parametric Stride Length is still the length of the stride.
Create Multiple Footsteps Dialog: Walk Walk gait is selected. You can only clear Alternate when Run or Jump gaits are selected. Number of Footsteps—Determines the number of new footsteps to be created. Parametric Stride Width—Sets the stride width as a percentage of the pelvis width. A value of 1.0 produces a stride width equal to the pelvis width. A value of 3.0 produces a wide, waddling stride. Changes to this setting automatically change the Actual Stride Width.
994 Chapter 14: character studio make the biped walk in place. A negative stride length will make the biped walk backwards. When a biped walks backwards, it does not simply reverse the forward movement but maintains the correct foot-state sequence with the toe touching the ground first, followed by the heel. Adjusting Parametric Stride Length automatically changes the value for Actual Stride Length. Time to Next Footstep—Specifies the number of frames in each foot movement cycle.
Create Multiple Footsteps Dialog: Run Parametric describes the parameter in terms of biped anatomy, and Actual describes the value in 3ds Max units.
996 Chapter 14: character studio By interpolating between the two, Biped produces a footstep series that changes over time. Actual Stride Length—Sets the stride length for the When Interpolate is cleared, the Last Step parameters are grayed out. Biped creates all the footsteps using only the parameters under First Step. The same rules apply as for Parametric Stride Length (described above). new footsteps in 3ds Max units.
Create Multiple Footsteps Dialog: Jump Run Footstep—Specifies the number of frames each footstep will be on the ground during the run. box is cleared, the footsteps will be either right or left steps, causing the biped to hop on one foot. The higher the number, the longer the biped foot remains in contact with the ground and, consequently, the slower the speed of the running motion.
998 Chapter 14: character studio parameters, but you can’t change the Time To Next Footstep parameter. Adjusting Parametric Stride Length automatically changes the value for Actual Stride Length. Interpolate—Allows you to control acceleration or deceleration of the series of footsteps. When this box is selected, a second set of step parameters under Last Step is enabled.
Convert to Freeform or Footsteps Dialogs Speed—Displays the number of units the biped will move per frame. This changes in response to changes in the other parameters but cannot be adjusted directly. The following two parameters are only enabled when Auto Timing is off. You can use these parameters instead of Auto Timing to control the speed of the forward motion over the series of footsteps.
1000 Chapter 14: character studio footsteps. When creating freeform animations, you should set your leg keys to IK Blend=1.0 during the periods you want the feet to be planted, and set the move keys to IK Blend=0.0. This will insure that the feet are locked and rid of unnecessary foot sliding as the body is moved. When converting, if the leg keys have been set up this way, Biped will extract footsteps during any duration where IK Blend=1.0. footstep keys. After loading a .
Footstep Mode Dialog Interface Footstep Number Display group The footstep blocks can have any one of four time settings displayed for them. You can only show one of these at a time. The footstep step number is always displayed on the footstep blocks (in boldface). Start and End Frame—Displays the start and end frames of the footstep (from Touch to Lift). Biped displays just the start frame if the footstep block is too small to show both. Zoom in to see both start and end numbers.
1002 Chapter 14: character studio display both numbers at the same time by selecting both boxes. Select End of Footstep—Selects rightmost key for the current footstep selection. Track View (Biped) Footsteps 0 and 1 share a double-support period of 20 frames. Graph Editors menu > Track View - Dope Sheet or Track View - Curve Editor No Support—Displays the number of frames that the whole biped is airborne; that is, the frames in which neither of the feet have any contact with the ground.
Track View (Biped) Footsteps in Track View - Dope Sheet By default, left leg footsteps are blue and right leg footsteps are green. Inactive footsteps are more saturated values of blue and green, active footsteps are pale blue and green. The left edge of each footstep block indicates when a foot touches a footstep (Touch State). The right edge of each footstep block indicates the last frame the foot is on a footstep (Lift State).
1004 Chapter 14: character studio frame, then release the mouse to complete the move. The key’s various Biped properties (ease values, TCB values, IK blend, and so on) are not changed. Because of Biped Dynamics, no keys are necessary for the highest part of this jumping motion or for the dip when the biped lands; character studio calculates the trajectory of the Body. This image shows the center of mass trajectory. Keyframes are white squares on the trajectory.
Biped Color-coded Keys and Trajectories example. In cases like this, a freeform period is specified between footsteps in Track View using the Footstep Mode dialog (page 2–1000). A combination of footsteps and freeform is often required when motion capture data is imported. A freeform period is created using controls in the Footstep Mode dialog and display as a yellow boxes between footsteps in Track View. All other keys use the default color: gray.
1006 Chapter 14: character studio Because pivots are located in all extremes of the hands and feet, their trajectories discontinuous when both FK and IK periods are employed. The following figure shows a simple example of this. During the planted IK periods, the pivot trajectories show just the keys on the heel and toe (because the keys are planted, each pivot stays in place), and during the FK periods the trajectories are derived from the foot’s node pivot location.
Biped Shortcuts Action Use the Keyboard Shortcut Override toggle (page 3–872) on the main toolbar to enable the character studio keyboard shortcuts. All character studio keyboard shortcuts activate when the Motion panel is active and the Keyboard Shortcut Override button is active. Copy Posture Shortcut Description Alt+C Copies the posture of the selected biped objects to the clipboard. Alt+Ctrl+F Searches for any problem in the motion and prompts you whether or not to fix problems it encounters.
1008 Chapter 14: character studio Action Shortcut Description Manipulate Subanims Action Shortcut Description Set Sliding Key Smooth Twist Mode Mirror Mixer Mode Motion Flow Mode Move All Mode Toggle Biped Keys in Track Bar Alt+T Track View Select end of footstep Alt+D Selects all right edges of the selected footsteps in Track View. Track View Select entire footstep Alt+S Selects both edges of the selected footsteps in Track View.
Working with the Workbench Workbench Workflow Here are the overall steps you would follow to use the Workbench to analyze and fix a biped for problems 1. Create your animation and play it. Visually note anything that jumps out at you as being wrong or incorrect. If the results aren’t satisfactory, try changing the parameters and fixing again. Repeat the process until you find the combination of parameters that correct the movement.
1010 Chapter 14: character studio type of filter. They all share the same parameters: Width and Damping. button in the Workbench toolbar to hide the panel display. For more information on these filter types, see Filters Panel (page 2–1023). Displaying the Controller List Navigating the Workbench The Animation Workbench, a customized version of Track View, uses some of the standard Track View controls, and adds new ones of its own.
Selecting Workbench Tracks toolbars to give you even more room. You can dock toolbars left and right as well. Docking the Workbench You can dock the Workbench in a viewport. With the Workbench open, right-click the viewport’s label and choose Views > Extended, then choose Biped Animation Workbench. The open workbench docks in the viewport. Tip: This works best if you change your layout so there is at least one horizontal viewport.
1012 Chapter 14: character studio select only a the portion of a curve to analyze. Perform the analysis by clicking the Analyze button. The errors are found based on the detector’s parameter settings. If no errors are found, try adjusting the parameters and clicking Analyze again. Lowering the Standard Deviation value will yield more errors. When an error has been detected, the biped part name appears in the Analyze Results list.
Animation Workbench Of course, you can also display and manipulate function curves for bipeds in the standard 3ds Max Track View and expanded track bar, as well. However, you have access to the automatic error-analysis tools only in the Workbench Note: On the time slider or in Track View, you can move one Biped key past another. See Moving Keys (page 2–1004). The Animation Workbench displays rotation curves in local biped space for both quaternion and euler rotations.
1014 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Use the Tab button on the Workbench toolbar to display and hide the Tab panel. Curve View To the right of the Tab area is the Curve View, where keys and curves for the selected biped parts are displayed. This is the same as the Track View Key window. 1. Tab panels (Select, Analyze, Fix, and Filter). 2. Display Tab panels 3. Display Controllers list 4. Workbench toolbar 5. Curve View 6. Curve View toolbars (same as Track View toolbars).
Animation Workbench Position Curves, respectively, in the Biped toolbar of the Curve Editor (page 2–535). Noise curves represent random position and rotation. Each biped part can show any of these curves, except for the Horizontal and Vertical tracks, which show only positional curves, and the Turning track, which shows only angular curves. The Axis order drop-down lets you choose the order in which the rotation curves are calculated. Curves in previous version of Character Studio were always drawn in XYZ.
1016 Chapter 14: character studio See also Working with the Workbench (page 2–1008) Select Panel Select a biped body part. > Motion panel > Biped Apps > Workbench > Select panel The Select panel of the Animation Workbench provides tools for selecting bipeds or biped components. The selected biped part’s animation tracks can be manipulated using curves displayed in the Workbench, or by using the Analyze, Fix, and Filter panels to automatically identify errors and fix them.
Analyze Panel Selection field—Enter the name of the biped part you want to locate. That name (if found) will be highlighted in the Selection list. This is useful when you can’t find an entry by scanning the list. You can use the question mark and asterisk characters as wildcards, in order to select multiple objects at once. Selection list—The Selection list displays all the body parts of all the bipeds in the scene.
1018 Chapter 14: character studio By default, there are two choices: Noise Detector and Spike Detector. Interface 3. If you chose Noise Detector, choose the appropriate Property from the Property drop-down list. 4. Click Analyze. Any errors found are displayed in the error result list at the bottom of the panel. The errors also appear in Curve View as brown lines. 5.
Analyze Panel Note: This is independent of the active 3ds Max time segment. • Active Time Segment—Choose this to use the active time segment, as set by the 3ds Max Time Configuration dialog. • From / To—These values let you specify a range with a particular start and end frame. Analyzers group Analyzers drop-down list—Lets you choose which analyzer will be used to evaluate the curves. Each analyzer can present its own individual settings. The default choices are Noise Detector and Spike Detector.
1020 Chapter 14: character studio Error results list—Displays all errors that the analyzer finds. Each entry lists the name of the body part, and the number of errors found. Errors are also graphically highlighted with a vertical brown line in Curve View. Clicking an error entry in the list highlights that error in Curve View. Analyze—Click to perform the analysis. Clear Results—Deletes the results of the latest analysis. value of a key or remove keys to produce corrected motion.
Fix Panel 3. Click Fix All. Interface 4. Check your results as you would if you were fixing a single error (see the previous procedure). To remove keys from curves automatically: 1. On the Select panel, highlight the biped part in the list. Tip: If you don’t know the name of the part, you can click it in a viewport. 2. On the Analyze panel, choose the appropriate Analyzer type and properties. 3. Click Analyze. The errors are listed in the error result list at the bottom of the panel. 4.
1022 Chapter 14: character studio Fixers—Determines the method used to attempt to correct the errors found by the analyzer. In general, try to match the fixer to the analyzer property. For example, if you have selected a Noise detector with Rot Speed, then choose a Fixer with Rot in the name as well. The exception to this would be when it is obvious that you’d prefer to remove the keys rather than modify them. In that case, choose a Remove Keys fixer.
Filters Panel center-of-mass object is adjusted so that the knee angle doesn’t exceed the limit. Procedure This parameter is available only when Knee Extension is the fixer. 1. Choose the parts you want to filter: either just a • Frames— Determines the interval to consider for fluctuation evaluation. This parameter is available only when Knee Wobble is the fixer. • Fluctuation— Establishes the amount of change allowed before knee wobble is identified.
1024 Chapter 14: character studio Interface • Active Time Segment—Sets the time to filter to be the scene active time segment. You set the active time segment in the 3ds Max Time Configuration dialog. • From / To:—Sets the time to filter to a custom range of frames. Filters group Filters list—Choose the filter to use from this drop-down list. The available filter types include smoothing, blurring, boosting, key reduction, and subanims.
Filters Panel (There is no comparable “advanced position” fixer or filter.) • Boosting—Boosting filters are the opposite of blurring filters. They increase, rather than decrease, changes in the track. Boosting filters are helpful if you want to make a track have more exaggeration or a little more jerkiness. See Blurring, Smoothing, and Boosting parameters (page 2–1025). • Sub Anims—The Sub Anims filter manages sub-animation of biped objects.
1026 Chapter 14: character studio to a biped subanim, and then collapse it by right-clicking and choosing Properties. The difference between using this in the Motion panel and in the Workbench is that you can apply subanims to multiple biped objects in one step when using the Workbench filter. Using Motion Flow Select a biped > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Motion Flow Mode Key Reducer parameters Create Key Per Frame—When on, the filter creates a key per frame for every selected track. Default=off.
Placing Motions on the Motion Flow Graph many parameters to simulate moving crowds and incorporates collision detection, surface follow and other parameters. The delegate–driven method uses a network of clips, but instead of random selection. it bases clip selection on a delegate’s speed and heading. In a delegate–driven crowd simulation, clips are arranged to follow a logical sequence.
1028 Chapter 14: character studio 8. Right-click over a clip in the window. A clip dialog is displayed. Once processed, multiple clips appear in the Motion Flow Graph (page 2–1045) window. 9. Click Browse in the clip dialog and choose a .bip file. 10. Optionally, set the start and end frame and Note: The number of clips you can load depends on then click OK. the amount of memory you have in your system.
Creating Transitions algorithm that minimizes foot sliding. Optimized transitions take longer to compute but yield very fluid results. Crowd simulations can use dozens of motion clips so automatic creation of optimized transitions can be a big time saver. Whether you plan on animating one or many bipeds using Motion Flow mode you’ll need transitions between the clips in the Motion Flow Graph. The top set of clips are linked using Create Transition From->To.
1030 Chapter 14: character studio Possible transitions from one clip to the next are automatically generated. To optimize transitions in the Motion Flow Graph: 1. After adding several clips and transitions, click Select Clip/Transition and select one or more transitions. 3. Click OK. A processing bar scrolls across the top of the Motion Flow Graph (page 2–1045). Creating a Motion Flow Script Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Motion Flow Mode Selected transitions display in white 2.
Creating a Motion Flow Script For information on how to set up the graph, see To create multiple clips in the Motion Flow Graph (page 2–1028). 2. In the Scripts section of the Motion Flow rollout, click Define Script, and then select a sequence of clips from the Motion Flow Graph dialog (page 2–1045). As you select the clips in the Motion Flow Graph dialog, they are added to the script list.
1032 Chapter 14: character studio 4. Click the Play Animation button to see the biped move to the scripted clips. script from one biped and load it onto another biped. Saving, loading, and appending .mfe files are done from the Motion Flow rollout. Procedure To save Motion Flow Editor files: 1. Create a Motion Flow Graph with three or more motion files. For information on how to set up the graph, see To create multiple clips in the Motion Flow Graph (page 2–1028). 5. Click Stop Animation.
Saving, Loading, and Appending Motion Flow Graphs To load Motion Flow Editor files: 1. Select a biped. Open the Motion panel. 2. On the Biped rollout, click Motion Flow 3. mode . On the Motion Flow rollout, click Load 4. File. The Open dialog is displayed. A sample script called Kicking Script containing four clips 5. Navigate to the folder where your .mfe files are stored. 3. Click the Save File button to save a, Motion Flow Editor .mfefile. 6. Choose the file to load. 7.
1034 Chapter 14: character studio not transition smoothly, you may find it necessary to edit or customize your transitions. There are two ways to manually edit transitions. • In the Motion Flow Graph, you can right click a transition arrow. • If you have defined a script, highlight a clip and click the Edit Transition button. 5. Select a .mfe file from the folder where your Motion Flow Editor files are stored. 6. Click Append File. The Open dialog is displayed again.
Creating Random Motion The stick figures can be positioned far apart during this process. Look for body motions in the two clips that will transition well. 6. Click Set Start Frame in both the Ghost areas when a good Start Frame is located. Character studio repositions the destination clip for a best body fit between the two clips. 7. Set the transition duration in the Length field. A transition duration of 10 to 25 frames is normal. 8. Click OK. 9.
1036 Chapter 14: character studio when asked if you want to create transitions from each selected clip to itself. 6. All the transitions linking clips are weighted at 100, meaning all the transitions have a even chance of starting first. Note: If you want to create random motion for multiple bipeds, they must be sharing a motion flow. On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar, click Select Random Start Clips. 7. Region select all the clips in the Motion Flow Graph.
Creating Random Motion A random script is created based on clips in the Motion Flow Graph. You can vary clip and transition percentages in the clip dialog or Transition Editor to favor a clip or transition if you like. 11. Click Play Animation or scrub the time slider to view the transition. Details of Random Motions When choreographing a random motion for your biped, the default “weighting” for all clips and transitions is set to 100.
1038 Chapter 14: character studio A new layer is created and you see a red skeleton appear on your biped. A random script is created based on clips in the Motion Flow Graph and the Minimum Animation Length. 12. Click Play Animation or scrub the time slider to view the transition. Unifying Motion The Create Unified Motion command allows you to create one motion from a script. The entire unified motion is then available when you exit Motion Flow mode.
Sharing Motion Flow 10. Turn off Auto Key and click Play Animation. Procedure Example: To share a random motion flow among multiple bipeds: 1. Create three bipeds. Sharing Motion Flow Shared Motion Flow (page 2–1056) allows you to assign one motion flow to multiple bipeds or crowds. Rather than building a motion flow network of clips for each biped, you can create a motion flow with all the clips and transitions to animate multiple bipeds. Random motion creation will use each biped’s own motion flow.
1040 Chapter 14: character studio 8. On the Motion Flow Graph toolbar, click Select Random Start Clips. All the transitions linking clips are weighted at 100, meaning all the transitions have a even chance of being randomly used. 9. Region select all the clips in the Motion Flow Graph dialog. The clips all turn purple and are assigned a weighting of 100. All the clips have an even chance of starting first. 12. On the Shared Motion Flows dialog in the Parameters group, click Add. 13.
Setting Up Paths for Motion Flow Files 18. The shared motion flow is loaded and applied to the new set of bipeds. The biped names appear in the dialog list. If “(wrong scale)” appears after any biped names, use the Reset Wrong Scales buttons to correct the scales. Click Play Animation or scrub the time slider to view the transition. To apply a shared motion flow to a different group of bipeds: New in character studio is the ability to save and load shared motion flow setups.
1042 Chapter 14: character studio 2. If any of the referenced .bip files are on your • Find and move the missing .bip file to the specified Motion Flow folder. Note: When you find the .bip file, you can turn local drive, navigate to the folder where they reside and select the .bip file. 3. Turn on the Add Directory To .ini File option, on the Add Directory To .INI File option and the directory is automatically added to your biped.ini file. Since the biped.
Motion Flow Mode Motion Flow User Interface Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Motion Flow Mode If you are driving a crowd using delegates and behaviors, then rather than a completely random motion, the software picks appropriate clips based on the delegate’s speed and direction. If the delegate slows to a stop, the software will find and use a clip that slows to a stop, if one exists. In all crowd simulations you must load clips and create transitions before synthesizing the crowd motion.
1044 Chapter 14: character studio the Scripts list. The clips are connected visually in the Motion Flow Graph with red arrows (active script) representing default transitions (Minimum Motion Loss). The default duration for a transition is 25 frames, which provides good results in many cases. Transitions, by default, use velocity interpolation between clips. Use Edit Transition in the Scripts section to fine-tune the transitions between clips.
Motion Flow Rollout Motion Flow Rollout Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Motion Flow Mode > Motion Flow rollout The Motion Flow rollout displays when Motion Flow mode is turned on in the Biped rollout. Load, append, and save motion flow editor files (.mfe), display the Motion Flow Graph (page 2–1045) and display the Shared Motion Flow dialog using controls on this rollout. To load, append, or save a Motion Flow Editor, .
1046 Chapter 14: character studio random script transition values, move and delete clips, and display clip dependencies. Clips and transitions display as icons in the Motion Flow Graph dialog. The Motion Flow Graph displays when you click Show Graph on the Motion Flow rollout (page 2–1045) on the Motion panel. The first step in Motion Flow mode is to add clips in the Motion Flow Graph for use in scripts. Clips represent all or part of a .bip file.
Motion Flow Graph Dialog set its duration in the Clip Properties dialog. You can also set the Random Start Probability here. Random Start Probability is used when multiple clips are selected as possible start clips when you generate a random motion flow. Note: Setting clip duration is not critical for transitions; the Transition Editor (page 2–1051) allows you to start and end a transition on any frame of a clip. Create Multiple Clips—Load multiple motion files. Displays an open file dialog.
1048 Chapter 14: character studio Move Clip—Moves clips within the Motion Flow Graph. This does not affect the animation. Pan—Pans the layout of the clips. Zoom—Adjusts the view magnification of the Motion Flow window. Drag up to increase magnification. Drag down to decrease magnification. Zoom Region—Click Zoom Region mode to drag a rectangular region and magnify that region to fill the Motion Flow Graph window. Fit to Window—Re-sizes the contents to fit the size of the Motion Flow Graph window.
Motion Flow Scripts Group animation using tools in the Scripts group. Create random motion for one or more bipeds using controls in this rollout. The Scripts group on the Motion Flow rollout is only available when Motion Flow mode (page 2–1043) is active. Scripts A Script is a list of clips (.bip files) that you constructed and are executed as you designed to animate a character.
1050 Chapter 14: character studio Interface • Append to End of Script—Appends a clip to the end of the clip list. Create Random Motion—Displays the Create Random Motion (page 2–1055) dialog. Controls in the Create Random Motion dialog allow you to create random scripts to animate one or more bipeds. Random motion on multiple bipeds can be used to create a crowd scene. Delete Script—Deletes the current script; displays the previous script if one is present.
Transition Editor The clip name in the script list and the icon in the graph window are updated if the clip is replaced. Edit Transition—Displays the Transition Editor (page 2–1051) for the selected clip. Transition Editor Select a biped. > Motion panel > Biped rollout > Motion Flow Mode > Scripts group > Select a clip in the script list. > Transition Editor Edit the transition for the selected clip and the clip following it.
1052 Chapter 14: character studio Automatic Transitions Other Transition Editor Features When you create a script, default transitions are used between the clips. Default transitions use minimum motion loss and are quick to compute. However, the best quality transitions are the optimized transitions. Once the Transition Editor is open, the first thing to try, before manual editing, are the optimized transitions (upper-right corner of the dialog).
Transition Editor Ease In—Ease in value for the source clip. Ease Out—Ease out value for the destination clip. Transition Focus—Lets you specify a focus point on the biped where the transition takes place. Default = Center of Mass. • Center Of Mass—The transition focus is based on the center of mass position of the biped as it transitions from one clip to the next. • Left Foot—The transition focus is based on the left foot position of the biped as it transitions from one clip to the next.
1054 Chapter 14: character studio Ghost group Locate an appropriate start frame for the source and destination clips by using the Frame spinner and viewing the positions of both stick figures, then click Set Start Frame. The destination clip is rotated and positioned to match both bipeds. Use the Angle spinner to reorient the destination clip. Frame—Use the Frame spinner to scrub a stick figure back and forth, which allows you to determine a start frame for the source and destination clips.
Create Random Motion Dialog Delete Transition—Click to delete a transition. Interface Previous Transition—Go to the previous stored transition. This button is grayed if no previous transition exists. Next Transition—Go to the next stored transition. This button is grayed if no next transition exists. OK—Store transitions and exit the dialog. Create Random Motion Dialog Select a biped.
1056 Chapter 14: character studio order to generate the random motion, but it will be deleted after the random motion is generated. Append to existing script—Appends random motion to the existing script. Create unified motion—Creates a unified motion. The generated motion will be available when you exit Motion Flow mode. If multiple bipeds are in the random calculation, then the motion is unified for each biped. Store as .bip file—Stores the random motion as a .bip file.
Shared Motion Flow Dialog Interface The file contains the shared motion flow graph as well as the scripts for all bipeds sharing the motion flow. Use this facility to speed biped/crowd-simulation setup. Create and refine the crowd simulation with bipeds that don’t use Physique, save the shared motion flow, load or create your final crowd members that use Physique, and then load the shared motion flow. For a procedure, see To apply a shared motion flow to a different group of bipeds: (page 2–1041). Load .
1058 Chapter 14: character studio The crowd system needs Motion Flow mode to be turned on to perform calculations for motion. This is a convenient way of turning on Motion Flow mode for multiple bipeds. Take Multiple Bipeds out of Motion Flow—Take the bipeds in the list out of Motion Flow mode. Set Shared Moflow Leg Scale—Adapts the shared motion flow to the scale of the biped currently selected in the list.
Clip Properties Dialog Clip Properties Dialog Motion Flow Mode > Motion Flow Graph > Right-click a clip in the Motion Flow Graph window. > Clip Properties dialog Motion Flow Mode > Motion Flow script rollout > Select a clip in the list. > Edit Clip > Clip Properties dialog character is jumping off a rock and you want to retain the Z position of the character, you would turn this option off.
1060 Chapter 14: character studio Motion-capture data typically needs some adjustment before it fits your biped or animation perfectly. When motion-capture data is imported to 3ds Max, it can be filtered to: • Use fewer keyframes • Create footstep motion • Use props in the scene In addition, some motion-capture files come with a separate marker file, which can be used to match the biped posture to the motion-capture actor.
Importing Motion-Capture Data Acoustic capture is another method currently used for performance capture. This method involves the use of a triad of audio receivers. An array of audio transmitters are strapped to various parts of the performer’s body. The transmitters are sequentially triggered to output a "click" and each receiver measures the time it takes for the sound to travel from each transmitter. The calculated distance of the three receivers is triangulated to provide a point in 3D space.
1062 Chapter 14: character studio of motion you want to pick up without filling the rest of the tracks with unwanted keys. Filtering is done using the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters rollout. Character Studio Marker Files The .csm format (page 3–925) is an ASCII file used to import positional marker data from motion-capture systems onto a biped. Other filtering options include footstep filtering and extraction, looping the data, and importing a portion of the motion-capture file.
Filtering Motion-Capture and Marker Data The Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog displays (see Motion Capture Conversion Parameters Dialog (page 2–1070)). 4. Select a file and click Open. The Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog displays (see Motion Capture Conversion Parameters Dialog (page 2–1070)). 5. Adjust the filter parameters and click OK. 5. Select the filter options you want and click OK.
1064 Chapter 14: character studio At this point, you can use Convert From Buffer to extract footsteps and reduce keyframes. Both scale and position adjustments will be incorporated. Save the motion as an optimized .bip file. Sliding Footsteps Motion-capture and marker data typically have keys at every frame. Filtering motion-capture data reduces keys, making the job of altering or personalizing the motion data much simpler.
Prop Bone Prop Bone Motion Capture User Interface Create or select a biped. > Motion panel > Motion Capture rollout The tools on the Motion Capture rollout on the Motion panel are typically used for working with raw motion-capture data. You can also load standard BIP files using Load Motion Capture File. For example, you might do this if you want to loop the motion.
1066 Chapter 14: character studio independent of the biped motion in your scene, and can be used in various ways: • Use Convert From Buffer to try alternate filter settings quickly; this saves you from having to browse for the same file.
Motion Capture Rollout Play the animation; the animation of the biped representing filtered motion-capture data and the red stick figure play back together. Note: Load raw marker data (No Key Reduction, Tip: For a very accurate visual comparison Tip: Use a biped that does not have a mesh attached to it with Physique. Import motion-capture data with the idea of then saving a BIP file that can be used for any character.
1068 Chapter 14: character studio At this point, you can use Convert From Buffer to extract footsteps and reduce keyframes. Both scale and position adjustments will be incorporated. Save the motion as an optimized BIP file. Interface the stored biped structure. This is an Open dialog option. This option is unavailable when you load a BIP file into a clip or onto a biped that is in Edit Clip mode, because all the clips in the motion flow would have to be adapted.
Motion Capture Rollout before loading a marker file that requires the scale and position offsets contained in these files. Note: Calibration files can be loaded in the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog before filtering marker files. Convert from Buffer—Filters the most recently loaded motion-capture data. This data is stored in the motion-capture buffer. Displays the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog.
1070 Chapter 14: character studio Note: Calibration controls are enabled only when a marker or BVH file is imported in its raw form. Do not use key reduction or extract footsteps when you import a marker file for the first time. Save Talent Figure Structure—After changing the biped scale in Talent Figure mode, you can store the changes into a FIG file. Use this file in the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog to adjust marker files created by the same actor.
Motion Capture Conversion Parameters Dialog Other filtering options include footstep extraction, applying the skeletal structure stored in the motion-capture file to the biped, looping the data, importing a portion of the motion-capture file, and selecting tracks to load. filter, taking out spikes and jerks in the motion. These values must be integers, and can range from 0 to any high number, but practical values would probably always be less than 10.
1072 Chapter 14: character studio 7. Right-click the footsteps area of the Track View Edit window, then select Edit Free Form (No Physics) in the Footstep Mode dialog. 8. Click the “handspring” area between the footsteps. It turns to a solid yellow. Motion-capture data will replace the keys in this freeform period. 9. Reload the same motion-capture file using the • None: Freeform—No footsteps are extracted. For swimming or flying motion data, footstep extraction is not necessary.
Motion Capture Conversion Parameters Dialog footstep extraction to enable the calibration controls on the Motion Capture rollout. Note: Sliding footsteps display as a footstep with a • Load Buffer Only—Does not apply the data to the biped, but loads the data to the motion-capture buffer only. Use this either to compare your edited version with the original or to paste postures from the motion-capture buffer to the biped in the scene.
1074 Chapter 14: character studio This is relative. Succeeding loops start where the previous loop left off. The clips are not blended and may require editing unless the original clip was designed to loop. Use this for clips designed to loop. Minimum Key Spacing—Sets the minimum number of frames between keys. Tolerance is computed first, then Minimum Key Spacing computes further key reduction. is tuned off.
Motion Capture Batch File Conversion Dialog instantly, regardless of how many markers were used and where they were placed. Talent Definition group Loads a Figure Structure File (.fig) and a Pose Adjustment file (.cal) prior to importing a marker file. Typically you correct a marker file by importing it and adjusting the biped scale and limb positions relative to the markers, then saving a .fig and a .cal file using Save Talent Figure Stucture and Save Talent Pose Adjustment on the Motion Capture rollout.
1076 Chapter 14: character studio Show Recognized Markers—When on, displays the markers that character studio recognizes. • On Selected Objects—Displays the markers on selected objects only. • On All Objects—Displays the markers on all objects. Show Prop Markers—Enables the display of markers on prop bones (page 2–1065). Show Unrecognized Markers—Displays the markers that character studio does not recognize. Physique Use the Physique modifier to attach a skin to a skeleton structure such as a biped.
Creating a Skin Warning: After you collapse a compound or modified object, you can no longer edit it parametrically. If you work extensively with complex meshes of this sort, you can save two .max files: one to contain the original, editable objects and modifiers, and the other to contain only the collapsed mesh. Meshes for Physique A skin used with Physique can be any 3ds Max object that has vertices or control points. Specifically, a skin can be: • An editable mesh or editable poly object.
1078 Chapter 14: character studio standing pose. If the skin and biped are for a figure that stands erect, position the head normally. If the character stoops forward, for example, a chimpanzee, make the head face upward so that it will face forward after the spine is bent. As a general rule, create a reference pose that has the limbs outstretched, but otherwise represents the character’s natural at-rest posture.
Using Physique with a Biped Usually you create the Physique skin before you create the skeleton, because you must adapt the skeleton’s dimensions to the dimensions of the skin, in order to optimize vertex assignment to the links in the hierarchy. After MeshSmooth is applied to the simplified mesh, renderings of the two models look identical. However, the second model works much better with Physique.
1080 Chapter 14: character studio Using Physique with 3ds Max Bones 3ds Max bones with or without the IK Controller can be used with the biped for various effects. They can be used with Physique to add extra links and envelopes for any character, or to animate assemblies on a robot or mechanical character. Bones can also be added to animate extra appendages, a hat, a jaw and so on.
Using Physique with 3ds Max Bones 5. On the Motion Panel set the Position Threshold to 0. 6. On the Hierarchy panel > IK > Sliding Joints rollout, turn on all the sliding parameters. 7. Animate the character. The bones expand and compress with the motion of the character. To add a bone after Physique is applied using Reinitialize: There are many ways to use bones with the biped.
1082 Chapter 14: character studio To add a bone after Physique is applied using Add (Add Bone): 1. Turn on Figure mode. 2. Add a bone where it is needed. Usually you create the Physique skin before you create the skeleton, because you must adapt the skeleton’s dimensions to the dimensions of the skin, in order to optimize vertex assignment to the links in the hierarchy. 3. Link the root node of the bone to the biped. 4. On the Physique Bones rollout, click Add. 5. In the viewports, click a bone.
Applying and Initializing Physique Spline-Based Physique Deformation In addition to the biped and 3ds Max bones, Physique supports spline and NURBS curves for mesh deformation. By animating vertices on a spline, you can animate the mesh. You can use this technique for facial animation or to deform any mesh. To control a mesh with a spline: Physique modifier to the skin.
1084 Chapter 14: character studio Physique initialization settings affect how envelopes are created and blending is handled. The Link Settings, Joint Intersections, and Cross Sections rollouts are used later to change default settings globally. For this reason, the Vertex-Link rollout is open when the dialog appears.
Envelopes Envelopes and Vertex Assignments twist parameter in Link Sub-Object that can be enabled in a rigid envelope. This allows the rigid envelope to twist along the length of the link. Envelopes Envelopes are Physique’s primary tool to control skin deformation. Envelopes define an area of influence about a single link in the hierarchy and can be set to overlap adjacent links. Vertices that fall in the overlap area of the envelopes are weighted to produce smooth blending at joint intersections.
1086 Chapter 14: character studio Blending Between Links the inner and outer bound have a weighted value that falls off to 0 at the outer bound. Vertices are color—coded in the viewports according to their weight; the color is based on parameters you specify in the Blending Envelope Display Options Dialog (page 2–1125). See also Envelope Sub-Object (page 2–1130) Blending between envelopes controls deformation.
Adjusting Default Envelope Shape To adjust envelopes around the biped’s pelvis: Stray vertices (above) reassigned to correct link(s) by modifying envelope shape (below). Procedures To adjust default envelope shape: 1. In the Selection Level group of the Blending Envelopes rollout, turn on Link. In a viewport, select any link. 2. In the Parameters group, turn on the Inner, Outer or Both option and then increase the value of Radial Scale until the outer envelope just surrounds the character mesh.
1088 Chapter 14: character studio Note: With Both turned on, both the inner and outer bounds scale together. 3. Increase the Parent Overlap value until the inner (red) envelope appears through the mesh. 4. If necessary, decrease the Falloff value to strengthen this envelope. 5. To finish correcting the pelvis area, adjust the Overlap of the thigh and buttock envelopes. To select and edit cross sections: 1. On the Selection Level rollout, turn on Cross Section. 2.
Customizing Vertex Assignments Envelope cross sections can be scaled and moved. By moving a control point the envelope is also scaled. Using Control Points See also By default, each cross section consists of four control points. You can use these control points to alter the shape of a single cross section. The control points define the shape (perimeter) of the section. Moving one point affects the shape between itself and its neighbors on each side.
1090 Chapter 14: character studio perhaps movement in the ring finger is causing unwanted movement in some vertices for the middle finger. You’d use Vertex sub-object controls to remove ring-finger vertices from the middle finger links, in effect reassigning them solely to the ring-finger links. When you choose Vertex as the sub-object to edit in the Physique modifier, the Physique Selection Status and Vertex-Link Assignment (page 2–1150) rollouts appear.
Working with Rigid Envelopes See also See also Link Sub-Object (page 2–1135) Envelope Sub-Object (page 2–1130) Bulge Sub-Object (page 2–1141) Tendons Sub-Object (page 2–1147) Working with Both Deformable and Rigid Envelopes Working with Rigid Envelopes You can assign both Deformable and Rigid to a given link. For example, you might assign both to the shins, and size the envelopes differently to gain the benefits of both.
1092 Chapter 14: character studio than 180 degrees, the skin moves toward the joint. On the inside, the side where the joint angle is less than 180 degrees, the skin moves away from the joint. The sliding effect tightens the outside to keep detail at the joint and prevent the facets of the mesh from moving apart. It relaxes the inside to prevent the mesh from bunching up at the joint. • Radial Scale parameters affect the influence on the skin caused by scaling links of the skeleton.
Bulges In Cases where No Envelopes Use Partial Blending (the Default) deformation is essentially an undeformed portion that simply follows the root of the skeleton. Vertex v is assigned to links l1, l2, and l3, and the weights for these links are: w1 = 0.2, w2 = 0.3, and w3 = 0.4. In Cases where Some Envelopes Use Partial Blending and Some Do Not In a non-partial blended case, the sum of these vertex weights is w1 + w2 + w3 = 0.9 (less than 1.0).
1094 Chapter 14: character studio • Bulges change the skin’s profile to simulate bulging muscles. You create the bulge by establishing bulge angles, relationships between cross-sectional slices of the skin and specific poses of the skeleton joint. Imagine a cross section to be a slice through the skin’s mesh, perpendicular to the link. By making changes to cross sections, you in turn distort the shape of the mesh.
Setting Bulge Angles See also Bulge Sub-Object (page 2–1141) Setting Bulge Angles A bulge angle associates an angle value and a name. By default, each link has one bulge angle whose default name is the name of the link followed by "Bulge 0". The default bulge angle’s initial angle value is the angle between the link and its child when you first attach Physique to the skeleton. Bulge shape is interpolated as joint movement approaches a bulge angle.
1096 Chapter 14: character studio Keep in mind that bulge angles can be set for arbitrary rotations, and are not limited to single-axis hinge joints. Tendons See also Tendons tie links together, extending the effect of moving one link to another link where the tendon is based. Their effect is similar to that of tendons in a body. Bulge Sub-Object (page 2–1141) Fine-Tuning Bulges The Bulge Editor (page 2–1114) duplicates many of the controls available at the Bulge sub-object level.
Creating Tendons might have two control points attached to each of the left and right clavicles. 13. Adjust the Upper and Lower Boundary settings to control the extent of the effect on neighboring links. Procedures To create and attach a tendon: 1. Go to the Tendons sub-object level. In the Selection Level group of the Tendons rollout, turn on Link. 2. In a viewport, select a link. To attach a tendon to another link: 1. 2. In a viewport, select one or more of the tendon’s attach points. 3.
1098 Chapter 14: character studio Saving and Loading Physique Data You can save Physique data to a Physique (.phy) file to save data common to all objects that share a given Physique modifier Later, you can reload the data file, either to restore the data that belongs to a particular skin or portion of skin, or to transfer the Physique of one skin (or portion) to a different one.
Working with an Initial Pose Working with an Initial Pose At times, you’ll need to alter the fit of the hierarchy in the Physique mesh, or change its structure. To do so, you change the default, initial pose, which Physique uses as a reference for various operations, including reinitializing. • For a biped, you change the structure in Figure mode, then reinitialize the Initial Skeleton Pose.
1100 Chapter 14: character studio Detail rollout (page 2–1108) for a reference on the stack update options. Warning: If the current stack update option is Reassign Globally, any modifier in the stack below Physique causes Physique to reevaluate vertex assignments each time the stack is changed. While this technique will improve performance in one way, it will hurt performance if you need repeatedly to make changes down in the stack. Procedure To optimize skin objects: 1. Select the skin.
Facial Animation Facial Bone Structure A common skeletal structure for the face includes: • Bones to make the upper and lower lips open and close. • Bones to push the outer corners of the mouth, as for a smile. • Bones to make the eyes open and close. • A bone to control the jaw opening and closing. • The main head bone going straight up from the neck to the top of the head. This bone controls the head overall, and any vertices not affected by bones on the eyes, mouth and jaw.
1102 Chapter 14: character studio Facial bone linkage If you use objects other than 3ds Max bones, you must create dummy objects at the end of each object used as a bone, and link each one to its corresponding bone before applying Physique. This is necessary because Physique extends links to the end of the second-to-last object in the hierarchy, not the last. In other words, if you don’t create and link the dummy objects to the bones, Physique will not extend links to the ends of the bones.
Facial Animation your viewers will most likely never notice that they’re separated. If you use a separate head, it will be easier to control the facial animation. If you use a separate head, apply Physique to the head mesh alone. Click Attach to Node and pick the main head bone. Check the links to make sure they extend to the ends of the bones. Then, link the main head bone to the biped head.
1104 Chapter 14: character studio 4. Select the links of the upper lip, and click Lock Assignments. 5. Region-select vertices of the upper lip, and click Remove From Link. 6. Select links of the lower lip, and click Lock Assignments. Remap Locally Remap Locally resets vertex position on the spline used for bending and the link position used to interpolate twist.
Physique and Free Form Deformations (FFDs) example, you could use this technique to animate a credit card or a box of cereal. 1. Place an FFD (Box) space warp around the mesh to deform. The box should be large enough to encompass the mesh. The number of control points you use for the FFD can be fine-tuned later by going back down in the stack to the FFD to adjust the number of control points. Procedures To apply Physique to an FFD to animate the entire mesh: 1.
1106 Chapter 14: character studio fewer assignments provide smoother surface deformation with the FFD, control points and their link assignments must be thoughtfully placed. Procedures To attach a mesh to a biped using Physique: 1. Select or create a biped. 2. Physique User Interface Go to the Motion panel. On the Biped rollout, click to turn on Figure mode. Position the biped inside your character 3. mesh.
Physique Rollout Don’t include frame 0 in your animation. Use it as the a place where you position the bones and fit them to the mesh. 2. Enter a name for the new Physique file, and then click OK. To load Physique data: 3. Select the mesh. 1. 4. Go to the Modify panel. Use the Modifier List to apply Physique to the mesh. 5. Click to turn on Attach To Node. In a viewport, select the root bone in the bones hierarchy.
1108 Chapter 14: character studio After you select a node in the viewports, the Physique Initialization dialog (page 2–1111) is displayed. Accept the default values in this dialog, then click Initialize. Physique traverses the biped or bone hierarchy, and creates an envelope (page 2–1130) for each link it finds. (It can include additional bones that are linked to the biped.) The envelopes control Physique’s influence on the vertices of the mesh.
Physique Level of Detail Rollout Procedure To troubleshoot bulges and tendons: Viewports—When chosen, settings in the Skin Update gropu affect viewports. 1. Select the mesh of a character that has bulges Skin Update group or tendons. 2. Go to the Modify panel. 3. On the Physique Level Of Detaul rollout, in the Skin Update group, make sure Deformable is chosen. 4. Turn Bulges off, then on. Do the same with Tendons. Examine the mesh with and without the influence of bulges and tendons. 5.
1110 Chapter 14: character studio remapping and reassigning. For this reason, turning on Add Change or making nonanimated stack changes should always be done at the initial position (Figure mode or frame 0). Add Change—Adds in changes from the stack and then applies Physique deformation. No vertex remapping or reassigning is performed. Default=on. This option will generally give you the deformation you want. There is no performance penalty (from Physique) when this option is used.
Physique Shortcuts Interface Add—Displays a Select Bones dialog so you can Action Shortcut Delete Ctrl+D Next PageDown Next Selection Level I Paste Envelope Ctrl+V Previous Page Up Previous Selection Level Shift+I Reset Envelopes Ctrl+E Description Resets envelopes for selected links to their default values. * Not available for customization in the Customize User Interface dialog. select splines or bones to use with Physique.
1112 Chapter 14: character studio Creating Physique Links and Envelopes for the First Time Interface When you use Attach To Node to attach the mesh to a skeleton for the first time, you can use parameters on the Vertex-Link Assignment rollout (page 2–1123) to specify envelope parameters. In most cases, the default parameters on the Vertex-Link Assignment rollout work well as a starting point for envelope type, envelope sizing, and blending between links. Normally, you want deformable envelopes.
Reinitialize Physique Joint Intersections rollout The Joint Intersections rollout contains default joint intersection values that will be assigned to all links. See Link Sub-Object (page 2–1135) for a command reference. To reinitialize, select the mesh, open the Modify panel, and click Reinitialize. A dialog warns you to put the skeleton into the initial position. Click OK to reinitialize, and save the file after you have done so.
1114 Chapter 14: character studio It is helpful first to turn off the Physique modifier, using the lightbulb icon in the modifier stack display. This lets you use Figure mode to scale and rotate the biped limbs independent of the mesh skin. Use this option after you scale a character (see Scaling a Character (page 2–1100)). • Include New Bones—Creates new links for any new object (bone) linked to the biped. Use this to add a bone to a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied.
Bulge Editor Using an Animation to Preview Limb Orientations For easier creation of bulge angles, you should create a simple animation that moves the limb into extreme orientations. In the case of the human arm, you might set keyframes with the arms down against the body; extended to the sides; bent at the elbows; and finally, more relaxed with the hands touching the shoulders. By scrubbing the time slider, you can easily choose one of many intermediate or extreme orientations.
1116 Chapter 14: character studio Note: You can’t delete the default bulge angle: a link must always have at least one bulge angle defined. To change a bulge angle value: 1. On the Bulge Editor, make sure the bulge angle you want to reset is displayed in the Current Bulge Angle field. 2. In a viewport, change the angle between the active link and its child link. Rotate a biped limb or use the time slider to move to a frame that has the limb rotated correctly. 3.
Bulge Editor 1. Note: You can copy a cross section and paste On the Bulge Editor toolbar, turn on Select And Translate CS. it to a similar cross section on another link. Create a bulge angle and an appropriate cross section on the target link before pasting. If necessary, use Mirror Selected CS after pasting. 2. In Profile view, click to select a cross section. 3. Select additional cross sections by doing one of the following: • Use Ctrl +click to add cross sections to the selection.
1118 Chapter 14: character studio Toolbar Select, Scale, and Rotate Control Points—Lets you select, scale, and rotate control points of a cross section in the Cross Section view. This is comparable to using the Move transform on geometry in viewports. Control points are simultaneously scaled and rotated around the link, which in effect "moves" them. Select a cross section in the Profile view first. Then select and move control points in the Cross Section view to change the bulge.
Bulge Editor Insert Cross Section Slice—Lets you insert a cross section by clicking Profile view in the location you want the cross section to appear. A new cross section is created where you clicked, on either the parent or the child link. Extra cross sections give you more control of how and where the mesh bulges. can enter a descriptive name for any new bulge angle; for example, Arm at 90. By default, one initial bulge angle is created when Physique creates links.
1120 Chapter 14: character studio Cross Section view Cross Section view displays an outline of the active cross section. In Profile view (page 2–1120), the active cross section is shown in a bright red color. In Cross Section view, you can edit cross sections to bulge the mesh. Note: It is possible to select multiple cross sections in Profile view using either a rectangular selection region or Ctrl +click.
Bulge Editor Profile view is a schematic profile of two links. The currently selected link is on the left, and its child link is on the right. If the selected link is an end link, the outline of the right half of the Profile view turns gray. Cross sections are shown as vertical bars across the profile. The active cross section is red. Unselected cross sections are white. Cross sections that are selected but not active are dark red.
1122 Chapter 14: character studio Note: These parameters are the same as those in the Cross Section Parameters group on the Bulge rollout at the Bulge sub-object level. Changing a value in one location changes it in the other. points are evenly distributed around the cross section control spline. Above: Divisions=4 Below: Divisions=8 Resolution—Sets the number of radial divisions around the cross section. Control points snap to the nearest resolution line.
Physique Load Specification Dialog Physique Load Specification Dialog Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Physique rollout > Click Open Physique (.phy) File. > Choose a file. > Physique Load Specification dialog This dialog appears after you have chosen a Physique (.phy) file to load. It lets you specify which information you want to obtain from the file. Interface This button is enabled only if the number of saved links equals the number of open links.
1124 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Blending if you are developing characters for a game engine that doesn’t support blending, or if you intend to use strictly character studio 1-style vertex-link assignments. • 2, 3, or 4 Links—Vertices are influenced by more than one link, but the number of links is limited to 2, 3, or 4, depending on your choice. Choose one of these options if you are developing characters for a game engine whose support of blending is limited.
Cross Sections Rollout Cross Sections Rollout Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Physique rollout > Click Attach to Node. > Select a root object in a viewport. > Physique Initialization dialog > Cross Sections rollout Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Physique rollout > Click Reinitialize.
1126 Chapter 14: character studio Selected Deformable Envelope and Selected Rigid Envelope groups These two groups have the same controls. By default, deformable envelopes are shown in red, and rigid envelopes are shown in green. Inner Envelope—The check box toggles viewport display of inner envelopes. Click the color swatch to change the viewport color of the inner envelope boundary. • Sides—Sets the number of inner envelope sides shown in the viewport display.
Bulge Angle Display Properties Dialog Exclude Envelopes for Selected Link list (right side)—Displays envelopes to exclude from the Interface current link selection. The text field displays the name of the selected link, or “Multiple Links Selected.” Right arrow—Select links in the Link Envelopes List on the left, then click the right arrow to add them to the Exclude Envelopes For Selected Link list on the right.
1128 Chapter 14: character studio Click the color swatch to change the color of the orientation bar displayed in viewports. Tendon Attach Points—The check box toggles the Note: The orientation bar is displayed in the viewports when the Bulge Editor is open. Click the color swatch to change the color of attach points displayed in viewports. Profile—The check box toggles the display of the Tendon Attached Links—The check box toggles the profile. Default=on. display of attached links. Default=on.
Physique Sub-Objects weights of specific links that would be difficult to achieve by adjusting envelopes alone. Interface you should lock them, open the Type-In Weights dialog, select the link, and choose Relative Scale. Then you can enter relative values in the Weight field. For example, entering 1.0 leaves weights the same, while entering 2.0 would double the effect of the selected link on the selected vertices. List of links—Displays a list of links, with weight values at the right.
1130 Chapter 14: character studio sub-object controls adjust the way link movement affects the mesh. • Bulge (page 2–1141) Bulge controls are for creating flexing muscles. • Tendons (page 2–1147) Tendons provide a way for multiple links to affect an area of the mesh. • Vertex (page 2–1150) For Physique, Vertex controls let you fine-tune the influence of envelopes. Physique Selection Status Rollout This rollout appears for all of the Physique sub-object levels.
Envelope Sub-Object With Initial Skeletal Pose turned on, check that the envelopes enclose all areas of the mesh. If you turn off Initial Skeletal Pose, the character adopts its animated position at the current frame. Use an animation that stretches the character around, such as a run or dance motion. Find a frame where the envelopes need adjusting, and edit the envelope parameters. Changing the envelopes with the character in an animated position will always reference the Initial Skeletal Pose.
1132 Chapter 14: character studio Link—Turn on to select links in the viewports and edit the selected link’s envelope parameters. For example, you might turn on Link, select a biceps link, Ctrl +click to add the opposite bicep to the selection, then edit envelope parameters for both links at the same time. Cross Section—Turn on to edit envelope cross sections, changing the envelope’s shape and thus its area of influence.
Envelope Sub-Object and a deformable envelope, you can use this list to choose which envelope’s parameters you are adjusting. Strength—Changes the strength of the envelopes. Range=0.0 to 100.0. Default=1.0. Strength applies to both the inner and outer envelope bounds. Used primarily for areas where envelopes overlap, and you want one to be more influential than the other. Falloff—Changes the rate of falloff between the inner and outer bounds of an envelope. This is a Bezier curve function. Range=0.0 to 1.
1134 Chapter 14: character studio Parent Overlap—Changes the envelope’s overlap with the parent link in the hierarchy. Range= -1.0 to 10.0. Default=0.1. A value of 0.0 causes the end of the envelope to fall on the joint. Values less than 0.0 bring the envelope inside the link, and values above 0.0 will overlap onto the adjoining link. middle finger vertices, exclude the middle finger links from the index finger links.
Link Sub-Object The Physique Deformation Spline Link Sub-Object Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Link sub-object level Use parameters at the Link sub-object level to change how deformation around joints occurs. When a joint in the skeleton bends or rotates, Physique, by default, deforms vertices uniformly on either side of a joint. You can change these defaults by using the tools at the Link sub-object level.
1136 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Interface Link Settings Rollout (page 2–1136) Joint Intersections Rollout (page 2–1140) Link Settings Rollout Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Link sub-object level > Link Settings rollout Controls on the Link Settings rollout let you adjust the behavior of the selected link. See also Joint Intersections Rollout (page 2–1140) Active—When on, activates the selected link. Default=on.
Link Settings Rollout When Continuity is on, the effect of the link parameters passes smoothly across the joint to the connected link. When Continuity is off, Bend, Twist, and Radial Scale settings are limited to the current link, which produces an abrupt transition across the joint. This is analogous to breaking the spline handles on a spline shape. Bulge Editor—Displays the Bulge Editor (page 2–1114).
1138 Chapter 14: character studio Sliding group Skin sliding parameters control the amount of skin sliding that occurs when a joint rotates. Without skin sliding, vertices closest to the joint tend to compress on the inside and stretch apart on the outside, generally revealing the segments of the mesh. Outside sliding causes the vertices around the joint to move toward the joint, preventing localized stretching on the side that is greater than 180 degrees.
Link Settings Rollout Bias—Shifts the effect of radial scaling. At the default value of 0.5, scaling affects both the selected link and the child link. Values lower than 0.5 shift the scaling effect onto the selected link, and values greater than 0.5 shift scaling onto the child link. At 0.0, expansion and contraction are limited to the selected link. At 1.0, expansion and contraction are limited to the child link. Range=0.0 to 1.0. Default=0.5.
1140 Chapter 14: character studio Joint Intersections Rollout Select a mesh that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Link sub-object level > Joint Intersections rollout When a joint bends, the skin can "collide." Without collision detection, it can overlap unrealistically. This is especially likely when one or both of the links have bulges. The joint intersection controls can detect skin collisions and correct overlap by creasing the skin.
Bulge Sub-Object Interface that it will have a full effect within the blended region. Default=0.25. Bulge Sub-Object Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it. > Modify panel > Bulge sub-object level After you have edited envelope sub-objects (page 2–1130) for good overall mesh deformation, you can create bulges to simulate muscle contraction and expansion when a character’s joint rotates.
1142 Chapter 14: character studio The following paragraphs elaborate these steps. Insert. In a viewport, position the cursor over the upper arm link, and click to place the new cross section for the biceps. On the Selection Level rollout, click Control Point. To shape the cross section, move the cross section control points in the viewports, creating a bulge. Click Play. The biceps should grow as the angle of the character’s arm approaches 90 degrees.
Bulge Sub-Object This creates a new bulge angle. The name in the Current Bulge Angle field increments. To copy all Bulge angles from one link to its opposite: 1. Go to the Bulge sub-object level. Note: By default, one bulge angle is created by Physique in the initial skeletal pose; the arm is usually straight in this pose. 4. In the Current Bulge Angle field, enter a name, 2. 3. Choose Entire Link from the Current Bulge Angle drop-down list. such as Arm at 90. 5.
1144 Chapter 14: character studio The full list of bulge angle names is displayed. 2. Click the name of the bulge angle you want to delete. 3. Click Delete Bulge Angle. You can’t delete the default bulge angle: a link must always have at least one bulge angle defined. To use Select Nearest Bulge Angle: The Select Nearest Bulge Angle button can help you identify the bulge angle that has the greatest effect at the current pose. 1. In the Selection Level group, click Select Nearest Bulge Angle. 2.
Bulge Sub-Object Link—Turn on to select links in the viewports. The Copy, Paste, and Mirror commands are enabled for links. Cross Section—Turn on to select and edit cross sections in order to "bulge" the mesh. The Insert, Delete, Copy, Paste, and Mirror commands are enabled for cross sections. Control Point—Turn on to edit cross section control points. Previous and Next—Click to select the next or previous link, cross section, or control point, depending on the selection level.
1146 Chapter 14: character studio Delete Bulge Angle—Removes the current bulge angle from the selected link. You cannot delete the default bulge angle. Influence—The range of angles through which the bulge influences the skin. Range =0 to 180. Default=90 degrees. For example, if you’ve set a bulge angle for the joint at 90 degrees, an Influence value of 40 means that the bulge effect begins to appear when the rotating joint reaches 50 degrees (90 minus 40) or 130 degrees (90 plus 40).
Tendons Sub-Object Initial Skeletal Pose—When on, puts the mesh into its original pose; that is, the pose it was in when Physique was first applied. Default=off. Finally, adjust the values of Pull, Pinch, and Stretch to refine the movement of the skin. Display Options—Click to display the Bulge Angle Display Properties dialog (page 2–1127), which lets you customize the viewport display of bulges. Tendons Sub-Object Select an object that has the Physique modifier applied to it.
1148 Chapter 14: character studio Selection Level group Link—Click to select a link. Cross Section—Click to select and edit tendon cross sections. Control Point—Click to edit control points on tendon cross sections. Previous and Next—Click to go to the previous or next link, tendon cross section, or control point (depending on the active selection level). Insert Settings group Sections—Sets the number of base cross sections for the tendon. Default=1.
Tendons Sub-Object The action depends on the active selection level: Link, Cross Section, or Control Point. Tendon Parameters group Tip: As a general rule, leave the tendon values at 1.0 when the tendon is attached to a nearby link. For example, leave them at 1.0 between the upper spine (at the chest) and the arms. Reduce the Pull, Pinch, and Stretch values to reduce the tendon’s effect when the tendon is attached to a more distant link.
1150 Chapter 14: character studio Warning: Tendons that span several links can conflict with joint intersection parameters. In these cases, go to the Link sub-object level (page 2–1135), and turn off Active to deactivate the joint intersection parameters for the joints that the tendon spans. (These controls are in the Joint Intersections rollout (page 2–1140).) Display group Pull Bias, Pinch Bias, Stretch Bias—Set the upper boundary falloff effect for these tendon parameters. Values of 0.
Vertex Sub-Object (Physique) To check vertex assignments: 2. 1. Go to the Vertex sub-object level. 2. In the Vertex Operations group, click to turn on Select By Link. 3. Observe the assignments and determine which vertices are incorrectly influenced. Also note if the vertices are red (deformable) or green (rigid). Make sure all three Vertex Type buttons are on. 4. In a viewport, click a link. Physique displays the vertices assigned to that link.
1152 Chapter 14: character studio 4. In the Vertex Type group, choose only the type of vertex assignment you want to use: deformable (red) or rigid (green.) 5. Choose No Blending from the Blending Between Links drop-down list. This setting will disregard the effects of blending envelopes and vertex weights, and let you assign the selection to any link manually. 6. In a viewport, click the link you want to influence the vertex.
Vertex Sub-Object (Physique) Vertex Type group There are three vertex types, differentiated by color: • Red—Deformable vertices that follow Physique’s deformation spline. • • Green—Rigid vertices that do not deform but just follow the link they are assigned to. For example, after selecting vertices of the skull and face, turn on No Blending, turn on Rigid vertices, turn on Assign To Link, and then click the head link.
1154 Chapter 14: character studio this. After vertices are assigned manually in this way, use Lock Assignments to keep them from being reassigned inadvertently during subsequent operations. Type-In Weights dialog, select a link from the drop-down list, and change the weight of that link to position the vertices (vertex positions update in the viewports as the weight changes).
Creating a Crowd System give the delegates overall guidelines on how to behave, and the crowd simulation calculates their motion. You set these guidelines by assigning behaviors (page 3–915) to delegates. A behavior specifies a particular type of activity, such as moving toward an object in the scene, avoiding obstacles, following a path or surface, and so forth. You can combine multiple behaviors to create a rich and complex crowd simulation automatically.
1156 Chapter 14: character studio 5. Create 3ds Max objects to be used with behaviors, such as grids or objects to seek or avoid. These objects often correspond to objects in your scene. For example, you could create a grid in an open doorway to attract delegates, or a box at an obstacle to repel delegates. This is analogous to defining how a particular animal or object moves. Is it a bird, a fish, a slug, or an airplane? 4.
Creating Crowd Helpers of these helpers. The crowd helper serves as the command center for setting up and solving crowd simulations, while delegates provide stand-ins for animated objects. The crowd helper controls are used to animate the delegates, then later you link objects to delegates to create the finished scene. Crowd Helper 7. Solve the simulation. 8. Watch the solved simulation. If it needs correction, make changes to behaviors or delegate parameters.
1158 Chapter 14: character studio Delegate Helpers To create a Delegate helper object: 1. On the Create panel, click Helpers. 2. Click Delegate. Drag in a viewport to set the delegate position, and then drag vertically to set the size. Tip: The delegate always points "up" in the viewport you add it in. So if you want it to point "forward," that is, toward the positive Y direction in the World coordinate system, you should create it in the Top viewport.
Adjusting Delegate Parameters 8. Click Generate Locations. This distributes the clones. 9. On the Rotation tab, choose which of the cloned object’s local axes are to look forward and up. Optionally, specify source and target objects for the clones’ orientations, as well as limits for randomized deviations from the calculated orientation. Adjusting Delegate Parameters Delegate parameters define the nature of their motion. You can change delegate parameters in one of two ways: 10.
1160 Chapter 14: character studio with the character studio Crowd system is an assortment of behaviors that let you simulate a range of crowd activities. • Speed Vary Behavior (page 2–1222)—Lets delegates change speed for more realistic movement. Behaviors let you assign procedural activity types to delegates, which in turn affect objects linked to delegates. You can associate any number of behaviors with each crowd object (page 2–1187), and then link delegates and teams of delegates to each behavior.
Assigning Behaviors and Teams dialog (page 2–1200) to turn behaviors on and off (with the Active check box), and for all behaviors except Avoid, Orientation, and Surface Follow, you can set and animate Weight. The Active status is animatable for all behaviors. Using Behaviors A few behaviors cannot be weighted. These are Avoid, Surface Follow, and Orientation. Avoid and Surface Follow take over after all of the other behaviors have been applied to a delegate.
1162 Chapter 14: character studio get the results you want. In some cases, you might need to animate settings as well. One particularly useful feature of the delegate is its ability to display, using colored vectors, the strength and direction of the various forces acting upon it during solution of the crowd simulation. Each force can have a unique, identifying color. For example, the Seek behavior uses green by default, while the Wander behavior uses aqua. You can change these colors to any you like.
Directing Delegates • The Wall Seek behavior (page 2–1229)causes delegates to seek a rectangular area. Compare with the Seek behavior, which causes delegates to seek an object’s pivot point. • The Path Follow behavior (page 2–1216) is also useful for pushing delegates in a specified direction. With this behavior, delegates follow a path but can “stray” from the path by a specified distance, creating slightly random motion along the path.
1164 Chapter 14: character studio 3. In the Path Follow Behavior rollout, click the None button and pick the shape for the delegates to follow. 4. If you like, use the settings in the Projection Vector group to force delegates to move in a specific direction. 4. Set the Radius parameter to the number of units by which delegates can stray from the path. Change other settings as desired. To use the Surface Arrive behavior: 1. Add a Surface Arrive behavior to the Crowd object. 2.
Obstacle Avoidance and falloff parameters, as well as its weight in the Assignments and Teams dialog, to control its strength. • Use the Repel behavior (page 2–1218) to cause crowd members to turn away from an object. It works exactly like Wall Repel except that it uses a spherical volume rather than a plane. You can set a maximum distance for the repel effect, and describe the rate at which the repel force increases as the delegate approaches the obstacle.
1166 Chapter 14: character studio 5. Choose Positive Axis to cause the delegates to be repelled from the Z-axis side of the grid. You can also choose Negative Axis to repel delegates from the opposite side of the grid, or Both to repel them from both sides. 6. If you want delegates to be attracted to the grid only when they are within a specified area in front of the grid (rather than when they are anywhere in the scene), turn on Use Distance.
Changing Delegate Orientation and Speed 7. Turn off Display group > Show Lattice and Show Range so that the vector field will be more easily visible when generated. 8. Turn on Display group > Show Vector Field. 9. In the Compute Vectors group, click the Compute button. This generates the vector field. Tip: To make the vector lines more evident, increase the Display group > VectorScale setting. The vectors appear as blue lines surrounding the obstacle object.
1168 Chapter 14: character studio heading to a specific direction or range, leave Relative off. 4. To restrict the pitch orientation with respect to the delegate’s current pitch, turn on Pitch group > Relative. To restrict the pitch to a specific direction or range, leave Relative off. 5. Change the other default settings as desired. To use the Speed Vary behavior: 1. Add a Speed Vary behavior to the Crowd object. 2. Adjust the Center and Deviation as needed to control delegate speed.
Linking Objects to Delegates you should take care to make sure your objects’ local Y axes point in the direction you consider to be “forward”. The easiest way to do this is to set up one object with its Y axis pointing in the forward direction, then clone the object. 1. Move the time slider to the frame at which you want to start solving one frame at a time. 2. Click Step Solve.
1170 Chapter 14: character studio 4. On the Setup rollout (page 2–1188), click Biped/Delegate Associations. The Associate Bipeds with Delegates (page 2–1199) dialog appears. 5. Click Add under the Bipeds list, and choose the bipeds to add to the list. 6. Click Add under the Delegates list, and choose the delegates to associate the bipeds with. 7. Turn on Set Delegates to Use Biped. This will turn on the Use Biped option for each delegate, which is a requirement for biped crowd simulations. 8.
Cognitive Controllers 3. Open the Cognitive Controller editor (page 2–1206). 4. Click the New button to create a cognitive Next, use Create Transition to define the sequence of states during the simulation. 12. Decide on the sequence in which the states are to occur. controller. character studio gives the controller the default name of “Cognitive Controller.” It’s recommended that you give more descriptive names to cognitive controllers, such as "Seek/Wander".
1172 Chapter 14: character studio See also Cognitive Controller Editor (page 2–1206) State Dialog (page 2–1207) State Transition Dialog (page 2–1208) Using Motion Synthesis You can create advanced, complex crowd simulations in character studio with motion synthesis, which lets the software adjust the simulation results dynamically to account for differing conditions.
Biped Crowds on your hard disk. For information on installing tutorials, see the Installation Guide. the smoothest transitions. Next, make a new script that uses your transitions, and use the script to tweak the motion flow until the feet don’t slide. The Shared Motion Flow Networks feature lets many bipeds use a single motion-flow network. Therefore, it’s practical to make motion-flow networks large without taxing your computer’s memory.
1174 Chapter 14: character studio choice of the next best clip for a given biped is restricted by that biped’s currently active clip. Biped Crowd Avoidance, Priority, and Backtracking Because bipeds in crowds are always following motion flow scripts, the avoidance behavior for bipeds works differently.
Biped Crowds Preparing Motions for a Biped Crowd The clips you use for a biped crowd simulation can be loaded from the CD that comes with character studio, imported from motion capture files, or created from scratch. The integrity of transitions between clips in the motion flow network is very important when creating a biped crowd simulation. When creating transitions for a single biped, it’s a simple matter to correct individual transitions after the motion flow script has been created.
1176 Chapter 14: character studio directory to add simultaneously to the motion flow graph. Use Click+ Shift +click (click, and then Shift +click) to choose several contiguous files, and Ctrl +click to choose non-contiguous files. When you solve the simulation, Crowd automatically generates a motion flow script for the biped, based on this graph.
Biped Crowds 2–1199). Use the dialog to connect the pairs and turn on Use Biped for each delegate. See Linking Objects to Delegates (page 2–1169). into the Shared Motion Flow dialog, described later in this procedure. Note: If a motion flow script already exists for a biped, for example after you’ve solved a crowd simulation, the software can use the first clip in the script for subsequent solutions. 9. In the Motion Flow rollout, click the Save File button, and save the graph in the MFE format.
1178 Chapter 14: character studio 7. To correctly share a motion flow, bipeds’ legs must be scaled the same. If any of the bipeds are scaled differently than the one you started with, an alert appears, and then, when you click the OK button in the alert box, the wrong-scale bipeds are noted as such in the list. At this point, you can select one of the bipeds in the list, and then click the Set Shared Motion Flow Scale button to match the others’ scale to that biped.
Non-Biped Crowds why Backtracking is off by default, but it’s often the best way to resolve problems with colliding bipeds. animation, such as animation of vertices on an Editable Mesh object. Cyclic In-Place Animation Non-Biped Crowds Motion synthesis in character studio lets the software derive character motion from a combination of crowd behaviors and either motion flow networks, when animating bipeds (see Biped Crowds (page 2–1172)), or clip controllers, when working with non-bipedal creatures.
1180 Chapter 14: character studio object with the loop animation is then copied and the copies are linked to the delegates to create the complete animation. The delegate handles the path and the clip controllers handle the looped animation. You can create Master Motion Clip and Global Motion Clip in Track View by assigning a controller to the available controller under Block Control.
Non-Biped Crowds 5. Add the objects and delegates into their respective columns. 6. Click Align Objects With Delegates, and then click Link Objects To Delegates, and then click OK to exit the dialog. The objects align themselves with the delegates and are linked to the delegates. Next, animate the delegates with behaviors. See Assigning Behaviors (page 2–1159) for information on using behaviors. When you solve the simulation, the cloned objects follow the delegates, which are guided by behaviors.
1182 Chapter 14: character studio 18. Click Auto Blend All and then click Synthesize All. The synthesis occurs as a progress bar displays. When the synthesis is completed, the Synthesis dialog reappears. You can now view the ClipState parameters’ ranges and average values by clicking State panel > Edit properties. This is useful in fine-tuning state properties. Click OK to exit the Synthesis dialog. 19. Click Play.
Geometry Parameters Rollout Delegate Helper Object Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Delegate The Delegate is a special helper object used in crowd animation. It serves as an agent for motion created by a Crowd object (page 2–1187) and its behaviors. The Crowd object controls a delegate or delegates, whose motion can then be imparted to a biped or other object. Delegates cannot be rendered.
1184 Chapter 14: character studio Interface axis) throughout the simulation. When off, the delegate’s height can change during the simulation, for example when seeking an object at a different height. Default=on. Bound Box of Hierarchy—When on, the Avoid behavior (page 2–1211) uses the bounding box of the delegate and all of its children to perform its behavior. Default=on.
Motion Parameters Rollout parameter). A value of 0 specifies no slowdown; a value of 1 tells the delegate to stop. Default=0.3. The algorithm computes a value, d, which goes linearly from 0 to (1 - Decel Weight) as the turn angle of the delegate goes from 0 to the Turn Angle specified by the user. The speed of the delegate is then multiplied by d.
1186 Chapter 14: character studio Max Incline—Specifies the maximum number Biped group of degrees a delegate can turn upward at any given frame. For example, most birds can’t fly straight up, so you might set this to 45 for a bird. Default=90.0. Max Decline—Specifies the maximum number of degrees a delegate can turn downward at any given frame. Default=90.0. For example, for a bird that can’t fly straight up but can fly straight down, you might set to Max Incline to 45 and Max Decline to 90.
Crowd Helper Object If, when several bipeds share the same starting clip, you vary this setting per biped, they won’t walk in lockstep formation. This is most useful when you take advantage of the ability of the Edit Multiple Delegates dialog (page 2–1197) to randomize the start frame for each delegate. Priority—Sets the delegate priority, which determines the order of solution in biped/delegate simulations. For details, see Priority Rollout (page 2–1235).
1188 Chapter 14: character studio Behaviors group Setup Rollout Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Setup rollout Select a Crowd object. > Modify panel > Setup rollout The Setup rollout of the Crowd helper object contains controls for setting up crowd functions. Interface Use these controls for adding, removing, and renaming behaviors. New—Launches the Select Behavior Type dialog (page 2–1205). Choose a behavior and then click OK to add the behavior to the scene.
Scatter Objects Dialog controller, a small dialog appears asking you to confirm the deletion. If you delete a directly assigned behavior, its assignment is removed from the scene. If you delete a behavior used in a cognitive controller, it is removed from the state to which it was assigned. specify various orientation and scaling options for scatter objects. Interface Clone panel Behaviors List—Lists all behaviors in the current scene (added with New).
1190 Chapter 14: character studio Clone Hierarchy—When on, all objects linked to Position panel the selected object are cloned as well, with the hierarchical structure retained intact for each clone. Clone Controllers—When on, any controllers (that is, animation) associated with the selected object are cloned as well. Generate Clones—Click this button to create the specified number of clones of the object whose name appears on the Object To Clone button.
Scatter Objects Dialog • Inside Box and Inside Sphere distribute the scatter objects within the volume of a primitive box or sphere object, respectively. • On Surface distributes the scatter objects over the surface of any renderable object. For example, you can create a landscape object for use as a distribution surface by applying a Noise modifier to a patch grid. • On Shape distributes the scatter objects along a shape object: a spline or NURBS curve.
1192 Chapter 14: character studio Rotation panel Forward—+/-/X/Y/Z: Specifies which axis of the objects points forward, for use with the Look At Target option. When the + button is active, the default condition, the positive chosen axis is used. Click the + button to use the negative axis. Up—+/-/X/Y/Z: Specifies which axis of the objects points upward; this axis is aligned with the world Z-axis. When the + button is active, the default condition, the positive chosen axis is used.
Scatter Objects Dialog None (label)—Use this button to specify the "to" direction. Click the button, and then select an object toward which the scatter objects are to look. Scale panel Sideways Deviation—Sets a maximum deviation angle in degrees for the objects’ sideways orientation. If the scatter objects should look in an object’s general direction but may look at a spot to either side of the target, use Sideways Deviation to set the maximum amount by which they can deviate from the calculated angle.
1194 Chapter 14: character studio X group Scale—Sets scaling on the X-axis as a multiplier. Default=1.0. Deviation—Sets the maximum factor for randomization of scaling. For each scatter object, Deviation is multiplied by a random number between 0.0 and 1.0, and then added to the Scale multiplier. Same As Y/Z—Lets you use the same scaling as on the Y- or Z-axis, whether explicit or randomized. When you specify an axis, the parameters group for that axis becomes unavailable.
Random Placement Difficulty Dialog and then any specified transforms are applied to the clones. Turning on Clones makes the Select Objects To Transform button unavailable. The object to clone and cloning parameters must be specified on the Clone panel (page 2–1189).
1196 Chapter 14: character studio Object/Delegate Associations Dialog Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Setup rollout > Associate Objects with Delegates click the Select button to add the objects to the Objects list. Remove—Deletes the highlighted object or objects from the list. Shift Up/Shift Down—Use the arrow buttons Select a Crowd object.
Edit Multiple Delegates Dialog Link Objects to Delegates—Creates a hierarchy for each object-delegate pair, with the delegate as parent. Association via Animation Replacement group Assign Delegate Controllers to Objects—Copies each delegate’s controllers to the paired objects as an instance. This is the same as using Track View > Copy Controller from the delegate, and then pasting the controller as an instance to the object. Does not link objects hierarchically with delegates.
1198 Chapter 14: character studio 4. If necessary, use the Delegates To Edit group box controls to add delegates to or remove them from the current setting. 5. Modify the remaining parameters as necessary. Be sure to turn on the SET check box for any parameters that are to change. 6. Click the Apply Edit button to make the changes and exit the dialog.
Associate Bipeds With Delegates Dialog Turning group These parameters are the same as those found in the delegate object’s Motion Parameters rollout (page 2–1183). For an explanation of the Random and SET check boxes, see the introduction to this topic. Associate Bipeds With Delegates Dialog Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Setup rollout > Biped/Delegate Associations button Select a Crowd object.
1200 Chapter 14: character studio Add—Click this to open the standard 3ds Max Select dialog, which lists all bipeds in the scene that are not currently listed in the Associate Bipeds with Delegates dialog. Make your selection, and then click the Select button to add the delegates to the Objects list. Remove—Removes the highlighted biped or bipeds from the list. Shift Up/Shift Down—Use the arrows between the two lists to move highlighted items higher or lower in the lists.
Behavior Assignments and Teams Dialog Note: Crowd doesn’t let you use multiple cognitive controllers with a delegate. You can assign them, but when you solve, the software notifies you that it will use only the first assigned cognitive controller. To create a new behavior assignment: Note: The Enable Flashing option helps you see 1. If you want to assign the same behavior to more which delegates are affected by different actions in this dialog.
1202 Chapter 14: character studio To modify an existing behavior assignment or assignments: 1. In the Behavior Assignments group, select the assignment or assignments to change. You can select multiple assignments by Ctrl +clicking for non-contiguous items or Shift +clicking for contiguous items, and then change the assignees or behaviors for all of them at once. 2. To change assignees, in the Assignment Design group, select a delegate or team. 3.
Behavior Assignments and Teams Dialog Use this before modifying an assignment, to avoid possible confusion. Behavior Assignments group New Behavior—Opens the Select Behavior Type dialog (page 2–1205), which lets you add a behavior to the scene for use in an assignment. To modify a new behavior, use the facilities available in the Crowd object’s rollouts.
1204 Chapter 14: character studio In most cases, you should keep Weight within a range of 0.0 to 1.0. Higher settings are available but shouldn’t be used unless absolutely necessary. Note: You can toggle the display of this group box with the No Teams/Teams button below the Behavior Assignments group.
Select Behavior Type Dialog No Teams/Teams—Toggles display of the Teams group box. By default, the Teams group is displayed; click the No Teams button to turn it off. When it’s off, click the Teams button to turn it on. The state of the toggle persists only during the current session. Select Behavior Type Dialog Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Setup rollout > Behavior Assignments > New Behavior Select a Crowd object.
1206 Chapter 14: character studio OK—Closes the dialog and implements changes. Cancel—Closes the dialog and ignores changes. of behaviors used in the cognitive controller, but you can work around that by using transitions. Note: Crowd doesn’t let you use multiple cognitive controllers with a delegate. You can assign them, but when you solve, the software notifies you that it will use only the first assigned cognitive controller.
State Dialog with the earlier state. The transition appears as a black arrow pointing from the first state to the second. Alternatively, if you click a state with the Create Transition tool active, you create a transition that loops back to the state itself. Right-click a transition to specify its characteristics and conditions by editing the transition. This opens the State Transition dialog (page 2–1208). New—Adds a new cognitive controller.
1208 Chapter 14: character studio List—Displays the names of all behaviors associated with the state. To remove a behavior or change its weight, click the behavior’s name, and then make the appropriate changes using the controls below the list. Note: The order of behaviors in this list is immaterial; all behaviors execute simultaneously. Add—Opens the Select Behavior dialog, which displays the names of all behaviors (page 2–1211) in the current Crowd object that are not associated with the current state.
State Transition Dialog explanations. These are presented for you to modify and use in your own scenes. Note: See this topic in the online User Reference for sample code to test an object position, test the distance between two objects, and test a modifier parameter. Testing a Particle System Parameter This sample script tests the number of particles emitted by particle system Spray01, and returns positive if the number equals 100.
1210 Chapter 14: character studio displays a message whenever delegate 4 is found to be avoiding delegate 2. Interface You can use this script as is in your own simulations to check for whether one delegate is avoiding a second by substituting the delegates’ names in the above line, and also substituting the names of your Avoid behaviors in the list in transfunc4, adding or deleting lines as necessary.
Behavior Rollout 1.0 minus the other parameter, decrease the other parameter first. first choose the behavior from the drop-down list at the bottom of the Setup rollout. Transition Condition—The name of the MAXScript Use the controls in this rollout to modify the behavior. Following is a list of available behaviors: function that specifies when/how the transition is to occur. This name must also appear at the beginning of the main function in the script, after "fn".
1212 Chapter 14: character studio As delegates approach designated objects during the crowd simulation, they steer clear of them while turning and/or braking as necessary. This behavior uses three different methods to let delegates avoid each other and other objects: Steer To Avoid, Repel, and Vector Field. Note: In the explanations that follow, the word "target" is used to refer to the object or objects to be avoided.
Avoid Behavior designated as targets, click the Multiple Selection button. Multiple Selection—Opens the Select dialog to let you designate multiple targets. When you have more than one target, you can set delegates to move toward the closest target in the group, or to a computed average of the target positions. Look Ahead—The number of frames in advance of the current frame that the software looks for potential collisions. Default=30.
1214 Chapter 14: character studio field to steer around the object by being guided to travel perpendicular to the field’s vectors. When used with the Avoid behavior, the delegate simply moves away in the direction of the vectors. Tip: Sometimes when using Avoid with a vector field, the behavior might seem to be "fighting" with other behaviors (such as Seek) over delegate movement, causing a halting and/or wavering motion. In such cases, try reducing Brake Strength and/or increasing Falloff.
Orientation Behavior Interface Absolute heading as viewed from the top For example, if you wanted a delegate to be able to turn between the positive X axis and the positive Y axis, you would set Max Heading to 0 and Min Heading to 90. You can also specify heading limits in amounts relative to the delegate’s heading at the time that the Orientation behavior takes effect by turning on the Relative check box. Heading group Use these controls to affect how delegates turn on the vertical axis.
1216 Chapter 14: character studio moving in. A value of 1.0 indicates maximum responsiveness, and will point in the direction the delegate is moving (within the limits) while a lower value means that it is less responsive. Default=1. Range=0 to 1. Pitch group Use these controls to affect how delegates turn on the left-right axis. Max Bank Velocity—The maximum number of degrees the delegate’s bank angle can change per frame. This controls angular acceleration and deceleration. Default=3.0.
Path Follow Behavior Interface Turning group These parameters determine how delegates turn while following the path. Awareness determines how well a delegate anticipates turns in the path as it moves; you can apply random variation to Awareness with the Deviation setting. Awareness—Specifies how "intelligent" the delegate is while traversing this path. A high Awareness setting means that it takes into account the curve of the path while moving and will try to anticipate changes.
1218 Chapter 14: character studio Beginning of Path—The delegate first moves to the start of the path before following it. End of Path—The delegate first moves to the end of the path before following it. With closed curves, this is the same point as the beginning of the path. Nearest Point—The delegate first moves to the closest point on the path and then follows the path from there. Color Swatch—Shows the color used to draw the Path Follow force vector during the solution.
Repel Behavior Interface Closest Source Only—Each delegate is repelled by the closest of the assigned sources. Use this to have delegates assigned a single Repel behavior move away from sources in different directions. Average Of Sources—All delegates move away from a common point determined by averaging all sources’ locations. Method group Determines whether delegate direction as influenced by the behavior is calculated by an angular method or a force method. Default=Force.
1220 Chapter 14: character studio Falloff—Default=2.0. Edit MAXScript—Click to open an editor window. Display Radii—The radii are displayed when the force is active. Color Swatch—Shows the color used to draw the Repel force vector during the solution. Click the box to choose a different color. Default=violet. Display Force—When on, force exerted on the delegate(s) by the Repel behavior is drawn in the viewports as a vector during the simulation solution.
Space Warp Behavior If you’ve selected multiple targets using Multiple Selection (see next item), the word Multiple appears on the button. To see which objects are designated as targets, click the Multiple Selection button. Multiple Selection—Opens the Select dialog to let you designate multiple targets. When you have more than one target, you can set delegates to move toward the closest target in the group, or to a computed average of the target positions.
1222 Chapter 14: character studio and Particles & Dynamics categories to crowd members. Interface In particular, use the Space Warp behavior to tie delegates to a Vector Field space warp (page 2–1241), so that they avoid penetrating an irregularly shaped object while following its contours. Interface None (label)—Click this button, then select a space Time group warp object. Period—Specifies how many frames should elapse Color Swatch—shows the color used to draw the before a new speed is chosen.
Surface Arrive Behavior Deviation—Specifies the maximum amount by which the delegate’s calculated speed (Average Speed*Center) should vary. Each time a period ends, character studio takes a random number between the negative and positive values of the Deviation setting, multiplies it by the calculated speed, and adds the result to the calculated speed. Default=0.25. Range=0.0 to 99,999.0. Accel Period—Specifies the rate at which the delegate’s speed should change in relation to the period length.
1224 Chapter 14: character studio Interface viewport. The target name then appears on the button. If you’ve selected multiple targets using Multiple Selection (see next item), the word Multiple appears on the button. To see which objects are designated as targets, click the Multiple Selection button. Multiple Selection—Opens the Select dialog to let you designate multiple targets.
Surface Arrive Behavior Distance—The maximum radial distance from the target within which the behavior will be active. Default=9999999.0. Until the delegate is within this radius, the behavior has no influence. Deviation—Adds random variation to the to the Distance setting. The actual deviation is calculated by multiplying the Deviation setting by a random number between -1 and 1, and then multiplying the result by the Distance setting. Default=0.0.
1226 Chapter 14: character studio Off This Normal—When on, lets you set an approach vector to specify the angle at which the final approach occurs. Default=off. X/Y/Z—Use these settings to specify the final approach vector in world coordinates. For example, the vector specified by the default settings of X=0, Y=0, Z=1 means that the delegates will approach the target along the vertical world axis. frame based on its current facing and the plane of the face it’s currently over.
Wall Repel Behavior When you have more than one target, delegates initially move toward the closest target in the group, and then move over its surface until they encounter another target, at which point they switch to its surface, and so on. Projection Vector group These controls let you override the default direction calculated by the Surface Follow behavior by describing a virtual plane along which the delegate is to move.
1228 Chapter 14: character studio Note: The Wall Repel behavior simply applies a force on the delegate in the direction opposite the wall; it does not guarantee that the delegate won’t go through the wall. If the delegate does go through the wall, adjust settings such as Inner and Outer Distance, and, in particular, try reducing Falloff. Interface Method group Determines whether delegate direction as influenced by the behavior is calculated by an angular method or a force method. Default=Force.
Wall Seek Behavior specific distance from the target. The relative strength of the behavior increases from 0 percent at the outer radius to 100 percent at the inner radius. Display Force——The force, when activated, is drawn in the viewports as a wireframe rectangle during the simulation solution. Default=on. Use Distance—When on, the behavior applies only to delegates closer to the target than the Outer Distance value. Default=on.
1230 Chapter 14: character studio Interface to turn around. It can be as little as 0 when the delegate is directly approaching the target. Force—Always applies a force directly towards the target. The magnitude of the force is constant. Direction group Determines whether the grid attracts from its positive-axis side, its negative-axis side, or both. To determine which is the positive-axis side, select the grid, and then set the reference coordinate system to Local (the default system is View).
Wander Behavior Falloff—The rate at which the attracting force diminishes between the Inner Distance and the Outer Distance. Default=2.0. A value of 1.0 indicates a linear falloff. Higher values cause the strength to fall off to zero more rapidly with distance, thus focusing its effect closer to the Inner Distance. Lower values reduce the rate of diminishment, with a Falloff setting of 0.0 indicating that the strength is the same at the Outer Distance as it is at the Inner Distance.
1232 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Deviation—Specifies the maximum amount by which Angle should vary. Each time a period ends, character studio takes a random number between the negative and positive values of the Deviation setting, multiplies it by the Angle setting, and adds the result to Angle. Default=0.5. Range=0.0 to 1.0. Seed—Specifies a seed value for randomizing the Wander behavior. Color swatch—Shows the color used to draw the Wander force vector during the solution.
Solve Rollout Interface Step Solve—Runs the crowd simulation one frame at a time, starting at the current frame as specified by the time slider position. Press the spacebar to advance one frame. To abort a solution in progress and save all keys generated up to that point, press the Esc key. When you do so, the software disregards any non-default settings for Save Every Nth Key. Alternatively, with complex simulations, you can save time by pressing Shift+Esc to abort a solution without saving keys.
1234 Chapter 14: character studio Delete Keys before Solve—Deletes the keys of active delegates in the range over which the solution takes place. Default=off. This option leaves the first two keys so that the delegate doesn’t end up with no keys and then pop to its current position. This is a useful feature for biped crowds; it lets you watch each biped compute, one after another, without the ones not yet computed still performing their old animation.
Priority Rollout try a different traversal of the lower-priority delegate/biped’s motion flow graph. If necessary, the system will back up two or more clips. Priority Rollout Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Priority rollout Select a Crowd object. > Modify panel > Priority rollout The Crowd system uses the Priority rollout settings when solving a simulation involving bipeds associated with delegates. The Priority parameter is a positive integer assigned by the user to a delegate.
1236 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Assign by Picking group Pick/Assign—Lets you assign successively higher Priority values to any number of delegates by selecting each in turn in the viewport. The first delegate you select is assigned the Start Priority value. The Priority value assigned to each succeeding delegate you select is incremented by one. To stop assigning priorities, right-click in a viewport or click the Pick/Assign button again.
Set Start Frames Dialog successively farther delegate is assigned the next highest priority. For any delegates that are equidistant from the object, the software assigns priorities randomly. Proximity to a Grid—Lets you assign priorities based on delegates’ distance from an infinite plane defined by a specific grid object. To specify the grid object, click the None button, and then select the grid object on which priorities are to be based. Lastly, click the Assign button to compute and assign priorities.
1238 Chapter 14: character studio For instance, if you set Lowest Start Frame to 0, Minimum Number ... to 1, and Maximum Number to 3, you could get a start frame sequence like this: 0, 2, 5, 6, 8, and so on. If you want more regularly staggered start frames, set Minimum and Maximum to the same value. For example, with Lowest Frame=0 and Minimum/Maximum both set to 2, you’d get: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, etc.
Smoothing Rollout Interface From—When Animation Segment is chosen, specifies the first animation frame for smoothing. To—When Animation Segment is chosen, specifies the last animation frame for smoothing. Positions—When on, selected objects’ animation paths generated via the simulation are smoothed after the simulation has finished. Default=on. Rotations—When on, selected objects’ rotations generated via the simulation are smoothed after the simulation has finished. Default=on.
1240 Chapter 14: character studio The highest available Smoothness value is always 6. The lowest available value depends on the Past Keys and Future Keys settings. Perform Smoothing—Click this button to carry out the smoothing operation. Note: If neither the Reduce nor the Filter check box is turned on, no smoothing is performed. Collisions Rollout Only during collisions—Colliding delegates are highlighted only in frames in which they actually collide.
Global Clip Controllers Rollout Global Clip Controllers Rollout Create panel > Helpers > Object Type rollout > Crowd > Global Clip Controllers rollout Select a Crowd object. > Modify panel > Global Clip Controllers rollout Use global clip controllers when assigning non-biped animated objects (such as a bird flapping its wings) to delegates in a crowd simulation. Applications include synthesis of animation activity based on a variety of criteria, such as an object’s speed, acceleration, and pitch.
1242 Chapter 14: character studio perpendicular to the surface of the object to which the field is applied; if necessary, you can smooth them out with a blending function. The crowd members move around the object by traveling perpendicular to the vectors. Box—Creates a standard box-shaped space warp from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner, with different settings for length, width, and height.
Obstacle Parameters Rollout Note: Objects are subject to a vector field’s forces Show Vector Field—Displays vectors, which only if they are bound to the field with a Crowd object. For general usage guidelines, see To use a Vector Field space warp (page 2–1166). appear as blue lines emanating outward from lattice intersections within the range volume. Default=off. Interface Display group Show Surface Samples—Displays short green lines emanating from sample points on the surface of the obstacle object.
1244 Chapter 14: character studio vector field. If Show Vector Field is on as you adjust Strength, you can see the vector lines change size in the viewports in real time. Default=1.0. Compute Vectors group Note: Sometimes, after changing strength, vectors will be too large or too small. In such cases, adjust the VectorScale parameter so that they display properly. Falloff—Determines the rate at which the strength of the vectors falls off with distance from the surface of the object. Default=2.0.
Motion Synthesis The basic sampling rate is determined by the program from the size of the lattice and the size of each polygon. Use Flipped Faces—Causes flipped normals to be used during the computation of the vector field. Default=off. By default, vectors are generated in the same direction as the obstacle object’s face normals, so that assuming these face normals point outward, objects move around its exterior in a crowd simulation.
1246 Chapter 14: character studio Synthesis Dialog Select a Crowd object. > Modify panel > Global Clip Controllers rollout > New > Choose a GlobalClip object. > Select the object in the list. > Edit > Synthesis dialog Open Track View > Global Tracks > Block Control > GlobalClip Properties > Synthesis dialog The Synthesis dialog is where you set up motion synthesis for non-bipedal crowd members. It uses three panels to split up the workflow.
Motion Clips Panel Interface From Global Object group Create State—Create a new state with parameters specific to the motion clip, such as speed, heading, acceleration, and so on. character studio evaluates the motion and orientation of the object and creates a new state with parameters set accordingly. Remove Local X, Y, Z, Orientation—Turn on any or all of these options to strip out transformation and orientation data from the motion clip.
1248 Chapter 14: character studio by clicking Modify and then clicking OK to close the dialog. The change will affect all the objects being synthesized. Copy to Object—The keys from the highlighted motion clip are copied back to the Global Object. Deletes any existing animation keys in that part of the Global Object’s animation. You can use this function in several ways. First, if you’ve changed the animation on the Global Object, you can restore it from a stored motion clip with Copy To Object.
State Panel Interface Edit Properties—Lets you modify the current state. Displays the ClipState dialog (page 2–1253) for the current state. Clear Properties—Returns the state to the default settings and removes clips from the MotionClips window. MotionClips group MotionClips window—Displays motion clips used by the current state. Use Add Clip to associate clips with the state.
1250 Chapter 14: character studio If two states have the same precedence, the state with a greater weight will be give higher priority considered during random selection. Animation Start Percent—Specifies where in the clip’s animation you want it to start playing when the state is active. At the default value of 0, the animation will start once the state is active. If the value is 66, the animation will start playing two-thirds of the way in once the state becomes active.
Synthesis Panel You can highlight any of these by clicking them, and select multiple items with Ctrl +click and Shift +click. Highlight all objects with the Select All button. New Master Motion Clip—Displays the Select Object To Copy dialog. Use this to specify the objects to which the synthesized motion will be applied. These objects must all be structurally identical to the Global Object. In effect, they should be clones. Remove Animation—Strips the animation from the clones.
1252 Chapter 14: character studio default, calculated, or set manually, and lets you change the start frame. Name—Enter a name for the new motion clip. Auto Blend—Automatically sets the Blend Start clip from the Global Object. frame for the current From and To clips. Auto Blend All—Automatically sets the Blend Start frames for all possible pairs of clips. OK—Accepts changes and closes the dialog.
ClipState Dialog Pitch Velocity Panel (page 2–1259) ClipState Dialog Select a Crowd helper. > Modify panel > Global Clip Controllers rollout > New > Choose GlobalClip object. > Select object in list.
1254 Chapter 14: character studio and then synthesize (see the procedure below). After you synthesize, the different property panels of the ClipState dialog will show the actual ranges and average values of delegate motion. These values are saved with the scene. Note: The default name of this dialog is "ClipState" because that’s the default name of the first state created on the Synthesis dialog > State panel. It’s the dialog invoked by clicking the Edit Properties button.
Speed Panel Interface Range Display—After you synthesize the Master Motion Clips, displays delegates’ minimum, average, and maximum speed. Min—Set the minimum speed value for the range. Max—Set the maximum speed value for the range. Unique—Choose Unique to have the motion synthesis engine activate the clip when the delegate’s speed matches a specific value, optionally with a rising, falling, or constant value before or after the specified value. Value—Set a unique speed value.
1256 Chapter 14: character studio much the animation rate is modified by the actual delegate speed. system unit. That is, the acceleration is determined by the rate at which the speed changes per frame. Scale Animation—Scales the clip’s animation based on speed. For example, as a bird increases its velocity, its wings beat more rapidly. Scaling an animation scales the keys of the animation.
Pitch Panel Range Display—After you synthesize the Master Motion Clips, displays delegates’ minimum, average, and maximum acceleration. Min—Set a minimum acceleration value for the range. Max—Set a maximum acceleration value for the range. Unique—Choose Unique to have the motion synthesis engine activate the clip when the delegate’s acceleration matches a specific value, optionally with a rising, falling, or constant value before or after the specified value. Value—Set a unique acceleration value.
1258 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Range Display—After you synthesize the Master Motion Clips, displays delegates’ minimum, average, and maximum pitch. Min—Set a minimum pitch for the range. Max—Set a maximum pitch for the range. Unique—Choose Unique to have the motion synthesis engine activate the clip when the delegate’s pitch matches a specific value, optionally with a rising, falling, or constant value before or after the specified value.
Pitch Velocity Panel Scale Animation—Scales the clip’s pitch based on delegate pitch. Percentage—Specify how much to alter the pitch based upon the difference between the delegate’s pitch and the Base Pitch setting. The formula used is this: Pitch change % = (current pitch/Base Pitch -1 ) x Percentage % Base Pitch—Specifies the delegate pitch at which the animation should be played back at its normal rate.
1260 Chapter 14: character studio Interface Range Display—After you synthesize the Master Motion Clips, displays delegates’ minimum, average, and maximum pitch velocity. Min—Set a minimum pitch velocity for the range. Max—Set a maximum pitch velocity for the range. Unique—Choose Unique to have the motion synthesis engine activate the clip when the delegate’s pitch velocity matches a specific value, optionally with a rising, falling, or constant value before or after the specified value.
Heading Velocity Panel Percentage—Specify how much to alter the playback speed based upon the difference between the delegate’s pitch velocity and the Base Pitch Rate setting. Interface The formula used is this: Animation Speed change % = (current speed/Base Pitch Rate -1 ) x Percentage % For example, if a delegate’s pitch velocity is 50 percent above its base heading rate, and the Scale Percentage value is 50, then the playback speed is scaled up by 25 percent.
1262 Chapter 14: character studio Range Display—After you synthesize the Master Motion Clips, displays delegates’ minimum, average, and maximum heading velocity. Min—Set a minimum heading rate value for the Percentage—Specify how much to alter the playback speed based upon the difference between the delegate’s heading velocity and the Base Heading Rate setting. range.
character studio File Formats controller scripts, the statement "at time t" needs to be invoked because the animation is not running when the synthesis takes place. Script—Enter the name of the function defined by fn stoppedScript del t = ( at time t if del.pos.z < 65 then 1 else 0 ) that lets you edit the script. Interface File Formats and Index of Procedures the script, also found at the start of the script.
1264 Chapter 14: character studio warp information for edited clips. See Exporting Animation to the Biped (page 2–624). To preview biped motion using biped playback stick figure: (page 2–929) PHY—Physique file. Contains information on envelope sizes and vertex weights set up with the Physique modifier. See Saving and Loading Physique Data (page 2–1098). To preview biped motion using the full biped model: (page 2–929) STP—Step file. Contains footstep data.
Procedures To change the duration of a footstep: (page 2–871) To scale keys in time: (page 2–871) To prevent keys from changing when active footsteps are edited: (page 2–872) To turn off Scale Stride mode: (page 2–922) To display footstep tracks: (page 2–889) To display footstep keys in Track View: (page 2–871) To change the display of numbers of footstep keys: (page 2–871) To convert an airborne period to freeform mode: (page 2–884) To convert between footsteps and freeform animation: (page 2–885) To rot
1266 Chapter 14: character studio To load Motion Flow Editor files: (page 2–1033) To append Motion Flow Editor files: (page 2–1033) To manually customize transitions between two clips: (page 2–1034) To automatically customize transitions between two clips: (page 2–1035) To attach a mesh to a bones hierarchy using Physique: (page 2–1106) Applying Physique To attach a mesh to a biped using Physique: (page 2–1106) To adjust default envelope shape: (page 2–1087) To create a random script for one biped: (pag
Procedures To add a bone after Physique is applied using Reinitialize: (page 2–1081) To add a bone after Physique is applied using Add (Add Bone): (page 2–1082) To optimize skin objects: (page 2–1100) To reinitialize a scaled mesh: (page 2–1100) Bulges To create a new bulge angle using the Bulge Editor: (page 2–1115) To create a new bulge angle on a selected link: (page 2–1142) Saving and Reusing Physique Information To save Physique data: (page 2–1107) To load Physique data: (page 2–1107) To merge a skin
1268 Chapter 14: character studio To collapse a controller: (page 2–897) To edit multiple delegates: (page 2–1197) To add controllers to multiple biped parts at the same time: (page 2–897) To group delegates into a team: (page 2–1201) To animate the weights of an added controller: (page 2–897) Miscellaneous To load a file created with different system units: (page 2–1099) To hide the finger, toe, and head dummy objects: (page 2–923) Behaviors To create a new behavior assignment: (page 2–1201) To use
Procedures Testing an Atmospheric Property (page 2–1209) Testing Another Delegate’s Behavior (page 2–1209) To move all clips horizontally on one track: (page 2–611) To move a clip to another track: (page 2–611) Motion Synthesis To use Motion Synthesis with non-bipedal creatures: (page 2–1180) Procedures: Using Bipeds in a Crowd Simulation (page 2–1175) To change the length of a clip without changing its speed: (page 2–615) To change the speed of an entire clip: (page 2–616) To prepare to warp a clip’s t
1270 Chapter 14: character studio To save Motion Mixer data to a MIX file: (page 2–626) Reservoir To access the Reservoir: (page 2–627) To add clips to the Reservoir: (page 2–627) To replace a clip in the Reservoir: (page 2–627) To save an instanced clip to a new clip: (page 2–628) To save multiple instanced clips from the Reservoir: (page 2–628) To remove clips not used in the Motion Mixer from the Reservoir: (page 2–628) Workbench General To display a biped body part curve in the Workbench, do one of t
Lights and Cameras a physically accurate model of real-world lighting. The Daylight and Sunlight systems create outdoor lighting that simulates sunlight based on location and time of day, month and year. You can animate the time of day to create shadow studies. Cameras frame the scene, providing a controllable point of view. You can animate camera movement. Cameras can simulate some aspects of real-world photography, such as depth-of-field and motion blur.
1272 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Tip: One way to begin your work on lighting a Create panel > Lights scene is to convert the default lighting into light objects by using the command Add Default Lights To Scene (page 1–49). Create menu > Lights Note: A scene’s lighting is also affected by the Lights Ambient Light setting on the Environment And Effects dialog > Environment panel (page 3–272). Types of Lights 3ds Max provides two types of lights: standard and photometric.
Name and Color Rollout (Lights) creation parameters. See Animating Lights (page 2–1282). make all spotlights red, and all omni lights blue to easily distinguish them. • You can use the Place Highlight (page 1–467) command to change a light’s position. See the Procedures in Working with Lights (page 2–1274). Changing a light’s geometry color has no effect on the color of the light itself.
1274 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Using Lights In general, these are the reasons to use light objects (page 2–1272): with different fixtures, and varying the light intensity and color temperature, you can design a lighting system that produces the results you want. See Photometric Lights: Web Distribution (page 2–1325). • To improve the illumination of a scene. The default illumination in viewports might not be bright enough, or it might not illuminate all faces of a complicated object.
Working with Lights • A Light viewport (page 2–1338) can be a useful way to adjust spotlights in your scene. Shadows are visible only when rendered, either in a full rendering (page 3–1) or by ActiveShade (page 3–17). Procedures Tip: To turn shadows on or off for multiple lights, select the lights and then use the Light Lister (page 2–1285). To create a light: 1. On the Create panel, click Lights. You can set an object to not cast or not receive shadows. By default, objects do both.
1276 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras To position a light so it highlights a face: 1. Make sure the viewport you plan to render is active, and that the object you want to highlight is visible in it. The result of Place Highlight depends on what is visible in the viewport. 2. Select a light object. 3. On the Main toolbar, choose Place Highlight from the Align flyout (page 1–462). You can also choose Tools menu > Place Highlight. 4. Drag over the object to place the highlight.
Properties of Light incidence increases, the intensity of illumination decreases. Angle of incidence affects intensity. Attenuation In the real world, light diminishes over distance. Objects far from the light source appear darker; objects near the source appear brighter. This effect is known as attenuation. In nature, light attenuates at an inverse square rate. That is, its intensity diminishes in proportion to the square of the distance from the light source.
1278 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras A. Direct light B. Reflected light Additive mixing of colored lights C. Resulting ambient light Color and Light The color of light depends partly on the process that generates the light. For example, a tungsten lamp casts orange-yellow light, a mercury vapor lamp casts cold blue-white light, and sunlight is yellow-white. Light color also depends on the medium the light passes through.
Lighting in 3ds Max Light source Color Temperature Hue Sunlight at sunset or sunrise 2000 K 7 Candle flame 1750 K 5 Lighting in 3ds Max Lighting in 3ds Max simulates natural lighting. However, standard lights are simpler than natural lighting. Using photometric lights (page 2–1301) with a radiosity solution (page 3–51) with your lights provides a better model of the real world. Intensity command (page 1–467) is one way to fine-tune the location of a light.
1280 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras that gets its color from other objects in the scene. Most of the time, however, the color of ambient light should be the complement of the color of the principal light source for the scene. Tip: To better simulate reflected light and variations Whether a scene is indoors or outdoors can also affect your choice of material colors. See Designing Materials (page 2–1395).
Guidelines for Lighting Artificial Light You can also add lights to emphasize secondary subjects in a scene. In stage terminology, these lights are known as specials. Special lights are usually brighter than the fill light but less bright than the main key light. To design using physically based energy values, distributions, and color temperature, you can create photometric lights (page 2–1301).
1282 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras and use lights that effect ambient only to simulate the regional areas of diffuse reflection. You set the scene’s ambient light using the Environment And Effects dialog > Environment panel (page 3–272). You set a light to affect only ambient illumination with its Advanced Effects rollout (page 2–1341) > Ambient Only check box. Positioning Light Objects Once you have placed lights in your scene, you can use transforms to change a light’s position or orientation.
Light Include/Exclude Tool • Move an omni light (page 2–1295) when it’s a "practical" light within a scene (a light that appears in the scene itself). Combine the light with a self-illuminating geometric object. If you want to move a target type of light, select both the light and its target to animate them together. and assign a step tangent (page 2–305) to this parameter. Light Include/Exclude Tool By default, the Light Include/Exclude tool is unavailable in the 3ds Max user interface.
1284 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras See the path annotation, above. To use the Light Include/Exclude tool, you have to create a custom keyboard shortcut, quad or menu item, or toolbar button. Interface 3. In the Geometry group, choose Exclude. 4. Click the Assign To Light button. 5. In the scene, click a light. If the light is hard to locate, use the Select Objects dialog (page 1–78) (keyboard shortcut H ) to pick the light. The object is now excluded from the light.
Light Lister Current displayed light—Names the currently Procedures selected light. To use global settings: Choose Light—Activates selection so you can choose another light. Clear Light—Empties the Objects list, removing any included or excluded objects assigned to the currently displayed light. Include, Exclude—Reverses the state of included or excluded objects to receive light from the currently displayed light.
1286 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Refresh—Updates the list of lights to use the current light selection (if Selected Lights is active) and current scene settings. Note: When the Light Lister needs to be updated, the Refresh button is highlighted in yellow. General Settings rollout For specific effects, see Shadow Map Parameters (page 2–1363) and Ray-Traced Shadow Parameters (page 2–1363). Sm. Range (Sample Range)—For shadow-mapped shadows, sets the Sample Range value.
Light Lister global light color, or the color of individual lights. The default setting, white, has no tinting effect. Global Level—Increases or decreases the overall lighting level for Standard lights. Default=1.0. Note: This setting, designed for standard lights, reduces the level of photometric lights to near darkness. If you have photometric lights in your scene, leave this setting at the default. Ambient Color—Changes the ambient color (page 3–908), the color seen in shadows.
1288 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Transp. ( Transparency)—When on, turns on transparency for advanced ray-traced and area shadows. Has no effect on shadow-mapped or standard ray-traced shadows. Default=off. The shadow transparency control is on the Optimizations rollout (page 2–1361). Int. (Integrity)—For advanced ray-traced shadows or area shadows, sets the Shadow Integrity. See Advanced Ray-Traced Parameters Rollout (page 2–1356) or Area Shadows Rollout (page 2–1357). Default=1. Qual.
Target Spotlight Advanced Ray-Traced Parameters Rollout (page 2–1356) Area Shadows Rollout (page 2–1357) Optimizations Rollout (page 2–1361) mental ray Shadow Map Rollout (page 2–1360) Ray-Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout (page 2–1363) Shadow Map Parameters Rollout (page 2–1363) Note: When you add a target spotlight, the software automatically assigns a Look At controller (page 2–344) to it, with the light’s target object assigned as the Look At target.
1290 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Because the spotlight is always aimed at its target, you can’t rotate it about its local X or Y axis. However, you can select and move the target object as well as the light itself. When you move either the light or the target, the light’s orientation changes so it always points at the target. Note: The target’s distance from the light does not affect the attenuation or brightness of the light.
Free Spotlight See also Lights (page 2–1272) The default keyboard shortcut for switching to a Light viewport is $. Name and Color Rollout (Lights) (page 2–1273) Interface General Lighting Parameters (page 2–1331) You aim a free spotlight by adjusting its orientation in a scene using Move and Rotate.
1292 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Target Direct Light Create panel > Lights > Standard > Target Direct button Create menu > Standard Lights > Target Directional Light (page 2–344) to it, with the light’s target object assigned as the Look At target. You can use the controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target.
Free Direct Light 4. Set the creation parameters. To adjust the light’s direction, move the target object. To change a viewport to a Light view: Free Direct Light Create panel > Lights > Standard > Free Direct button Create menu > Standard Lights > Directional Light 1. Right-click the viewport label. The viewport right-click menu is displayed. 2. Choose Views. The name of each spotlight or directional light is displayed in the Views list. 3. Choose the name of the light you want.
1294 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Because directional rays are parallel, directional lights have a beam in the shape of a circular or rectangular prism instead of a "cone." Note: Direct lights are supported in a radiosity solution (page 3–51) only if they are pointed downwards, outside the boundary box of the scene geometry.
Omni Light Omni Light Create panel > Lights > Standard > Omni button Create menu > Standard Lights > Omni Light Screen Environment coordinates or Explicit Map Channel Texture coordinates, six copies of the map are projected radially. Tip: Omni lights can generate up to six quadtrees (page 3–999), so they generate ray-traced shadows more slowly than spotlights. Avoid using ray-traced shadows with omni lights unless your scene requires this.
1296 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Skylight Create panel > Lights > Standard > Skylight button Create menu > Lights > Skylight The Skylight light models daylight. It is meant for use with the Light Tracer (page 3–44). You can set the color of the sky or assign it a map. The sky is modeled as a dome above the scene. A skylight is modeled as a dome above the scene. Tip: There are several ways to model daylight in 3ds Max, but if you use the Light Tracer, a Skylight often gives the best results.
Skylight Using Render Elements with a Skylight If you use Render Elements (page 3–130) to output the lighting element (page 3–141) of a skylight in a scene using either radiosity or the light tracer, you cannot separate the direct, indirect, and shadow channels of the light. All three elements of the skylight lighting are output to the Indirect Light channel. Procedures To create a Skylight: On the Create panel, click Lights. 1. Standard is the default choice of light type. 2.
1298 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Render group Note: If the renderer is not set to Default Scanline, or if the Light Tracer is active, these controls are disabled. Cast Shadows—Causes the skylight to cast shadows. Default=off. Note: The Cast Shadows toggle has no effect when using radiosity or the light tracer. Note: Skylight objects will not cast shadows in an ActiveShade rendering (page 3–17). Rays per Sample—The number of rays used to calculate skylight falling on a given point in the scene.
mr Area Spotlight 3. On the Utilities rollout, click MAXScript. The MAXScript rollout is displayed. 4. On the MAXScript rollout, choose “Convert To mr Area Lights” from the Utilities drop-down list. The “Convert To mr Area Lights” rollout is displayed. 5. On the “Convert To mr Area Lights” rollout, click Convert Selected Lights. A MAXScript alert is displayed, that says "Delete Old Lights?" Click Yes to delete the original light and replace it with the area light.
1300 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Note: In 3ds Max, area spotlights are created and 2. Go to the Utilities panel. supported by a MAXScript script. Only the mental ray renderer uses the parameters in the Area Light Parameters rollout. See Enhancements to Standard Features (page 3–84) for more details. 3. On the Utilities rollout, click MAXScript. Tip: Area lights take longer to render than point lights.
Photometric Lights Type—Changes the shape of the area light. Can be either Rectangle, for a rectangular area, or Disc, for a circular area. Default=Rectangle. Note: Photometric lights always attenuate using an inverse-square falloff, and rely on your scene using realistic units. Radius—Available only when Disc is the active 3ds Max includes the following types of photometric light objects: type of area light. Sets the radius of the circular light area, in 3ds Max units. Default=20.0.
1302 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Parameters for Photometric Lights Most of the photometric light parameters are common to all photometric light types, and are described in the following topics: Intensity/Color/Distribution Rollout (page 2–1352) Photometric Linear and Area Lights have rollouts specific to them: Linear Light Parameters Rollout (page 2–1354) Area Light Parameters Rollout (page 2–1354) Area Light Sampling Rollout (page 2–1354) Photometric Lights: Preset Lights Create menu > Lights > Photo
Target Point Light (Photometric) Procedure The procedures for adding any of the 11 Preset Lights are identical. Follow the same procedure for any of the other Preset Lights as shown for the following: To add a photometric preset generic 60W bulb to a scene: 1. From the Create menu, choose Photometric Lights > Preset Lights > Generic 60W Bulb. 2–344) to it, with the light’s target object assigned as the Look At target.
1304 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras 2. Choose Photometric from the drop-down list. (The default is Standard.) 3. In the Object Type rollout, click Target Point. 4. Drag in a viewport. The initial point of the drag is the location of the light, and the point where you release the mouse is the location of the target. The light is now part of the scene. 5. Set the creation parameters. You can use the Move transform to adjust the light.
Target Linear Light (Photometric) See also Lights (page 2–1272) Isotropic Light Distribution (Photometric Lights) (page 2–1323) Spotlight Distribution (Photometric Lights) (page 2–1324) Web Distribution (Photometric Lights) (page 2–1325) Name and Color Rollout (Lights) (page 2–1273) 2. On the Main toolbar, click Move. Drag the selection to adjust the light. 3. On the Main toolbar, click Rotate. Drag the selection to adjust the light.
1306 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras assigned as the Look At target. You can use the controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target. Note: When you rename a Target Linear light, the target is automatically renamed to match. For example, renaming Linear01 to Klieg causes Linear01.Target to become Klieg.Target. The target’s name must have the extension .Target. Renaming the target object does not rename the light object. 4. Drag in a viewport.
Free Linear Light (Photometric) Free Linear Light (Photometric) 4. Click the viewport location where you want the light to be. The light is now part of the scene. It points away from you in the viewport you clicked. Create panel > Lights > Photometric Lights > Free Linear button Create menu > Photometric Lights > Free Linear Light A Free Linear light emits light from a line, like a fluorescent tube. You can set the light distribution; this light has two types of distribution, with corresponding icons.
1308 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Note: When you rename a Target Area light, the target is automatically renamed to match. For example, renaming Area01 to Klieg causes Area01.Target to become Klieg.Target. The target’s name must have the extension .Target. Renaming the target object does not rename the light object. 4. Drag in a viewport. The initial point of the drag is the location of the light, and the point where you release the mouse is the location of the target.
Free Area Light (Photometric) Free Area Light (Photometric) Create panel > Lights > Photometric Lights > Free Area button Create menu > Photometric Lights > Free Area Light A Free Area light emits light from a rectangular area, like a skylight. You can set the light distribution; this light has two types of distribution, with corresponding icons. A free area light has no target object. You use transforms to aim the light. Procedures To create a Free Area light: On the Create panel, click Lights. 1. 2.
1310 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras for Illuminating Engineering Society; see IES Standard File Format (page 2–1328).) settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target. Interface On—Turns sunlight on and off in the viewport. Outdoor scene illuminated by the IES Sun light The mental ray renderer gives physically accurate results for IES Sun, and renderings that use it will appear similar to renderings done with the default scanline renderer.
IES Sun Light (Photometric) 3–1010), ray-traced shadows (page 3–1000), advanced ray-traced shadows (page 3–1000), mental ray shadow maps (page 2–1360), or area shadows (page 3–911) to generate shadows for this light. Each shadow type has a rollout with its associated controls. Tip: When you use the mental ray renderer and mental ray shadow maps, you can set up soft-edged shadows. Use Global Settings—Turn on to use global settings for shadows cast by this light.
1312 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras IES Sky Light (Photometric) Create panel > Systems > Create a Daylight system in your scene. > Modify panel > Daylight Parameters rollout > Skylight > IES Sky Create panel > Lights > Photometric > IES Sky Create menu > Lights > Photometric > IES Sky IES Sky is a physically-based light object that simulates atmospheric effects on skylight (page 3–1012).
mental ray Sun & Sky Interface in your model, you can disable them and save substantial amounts of processing time. However, the results will not be as realistic. Note: The Cast Shadows toggle has no effect when using radiosity or the light tracer. Note: IES Sky objects will not cast shadows in an ActiveShade rendering (page 3–17). Rays per Sample—The number of rays used to calculate skylight falling on a given point in the scene.
1314 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras special photometric lights and an environment shader that all work together: • The mr Sun photometric light is responsible for the sunlight; the direct light from the sun. mr Physical Sky is visible, but no lighting is present in the scene. The scene is lit by mr Sun only. • The mr Sky photometric light is responsible for the skylight; it simulates the real-world phenomenon of indirect light created by the scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere.
mental ray Sun & Sky Procedure To use mental ray Sun & Sky: 1. Make sure mental ray (page 3–78) is the active renderer. 2. From the Create menu, choose Lights > Daylight System. You can also find Daylight System on the Create menu under Systems.
1316 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Important: Don’t forget to turn on Enable Final Gather when using Sun & Sky, since the skylight is a form of indirect light, which can be rendered only with the help of Final Gather. If this is not done, Sun shadows will be unnaturally dark or black rather than bluish, as they should be. 9. Render with Sun & Sky.
mental ray Sun & Sky parameters are all guided by the mr Sky light, which is the central point of control. With parameter inheritance, you can concentrate on tweaking the parameters in one spot (mr Sky) and, as long as Inherit From mr Sky is on for both mr Sun and mr Physical Sky, you’re sure to obtain consistent results. Interface (common parameters) The most important common parameters are those that drive the entire shading and colorization model.
1318 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras the sun and sky only, and does not receive any shadows. Tip: Some sky models neglect the influence of bounce light from the ground, assuming only the sky is illuminating the scene. To compare the output of mr Sky with, for example, the IES Sky light, set Ground Color to black.
mr Sun For details, see Horizon Height. Aerial Perspective group Blur—The “blurriness” with which the horizon is Visibility Distance—Aerial Perspective is a term used by painters to convey how distant objects are perceived as hazier and tinted towards the blue end of the spectrum. mr Sky emulates this with the Visibilty Distance parameter. When nonzero, it defines the “10% distance”, that is, the distance at which approximately 10% of haze is visible at a Haze level of 0.0. rendered. Default=0.1. At 0.
1320 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Interface mr Sun Parameters rollout mr Sun Basic Parameters rollout On—Turns the mr Sun light on and off. Default=on. Targeted—Applicable only when you add an mr Multiplier—A scalar multiplier for the light output. Sun light directly to the scene via Create panel > Lights > Photometric, rather than as part of a Daylight system (page 1–418). When on, the light is targeted and you can change the target distance by moving the target.
mr Physical Sky 1.0 is the physically calculated saturation level. Possible values range from 0.0 (black and white) to 2.0 (extremely high saturation). mr Sun (page 2–1319) Interface mr Sun Photons rollout Use these settings to focus global-illumination photons on an area of interest.
1322 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras either case the mr Physical Sky will still be visible in reflections and refraction. To apply a map or shader to this parameter, click the None button. To apply a map or shader to this parameter, click the None button. Tip: Some sky models neglect the influence of bounce light from the ground, assuming only the sky is illuminating the scene. To compare the output of mr Sky with, for example, the IES Sky model, one must therefore set Ground Color to black.
Isotropic Light Distribution (Photometric Lights) used as a lens shader or volume shader. When used as a lens shader, the aerial perspective “mist” applies to primary rays only; it doesn’t appear in reflections. When used as a volume shader, it applies to the entire scene and every ray in it, including reflections and refraction. Visibility Distance—Aerial Perspective is a term used by painters to convey how distant objects are perceived as hazier and tinted towards the blue end of the spectrum.
1324 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras at the light’s greatest intensity. At increasingly oblique angles, the intensity of the emitted light diminishes. See also Lights (page 2–1272) Target Point Light (Photometric) (page 2–1303) Spotlight Distribution (Photometric Lights) Create panel > Lights > Photometric Lights > Click Target Point or Free Point. > Intensity/Color/Distribution rollout > Choose Spotlight in Distribution list. > Click in viewport to create light.
Web Distribution (Photometric Lights) axis. However, you can select and move the target object as well as the light itself. When you move either the light or the target, the light’s orientation changes so it always points at the target. You can use the Place Highlight (page 1–467) command to change a light’s position. Another way to adjust a spotlight is to use a Light viewport (page 3–750).
1326 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Free Area Light (Photometric) (page 2–1309) Intensity/Color/Distribution Rollout (page 2–1352) Photometric Webs Web Parameters Rollout (page 2–1355) IES Standard File Format (page 2–1328) Procedure To create a light from a manufacturer’s IES file: 1. On the Create panel, click Lights. 2. Choose Photometric from the drop-down list. (The default is Standard.) 3. In the Object Type rollout, select any photometric light type. 4.
Photometric Webs Goniometric Diagrams Photometric data is often depicted using a goniometric diagram. the photometric center, measured along a line leaving the center in the specified direction. Example 1: Isotropic Distribution Example of isotropic distribution Goniometric diagram of a web distribution This type of diagram visually represents how the luminous intensity of a source varies with the vertical angle.
1328 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras In this example, the points in the negative Z direction are the same distance from the origin as the corresponding points in the positive Z direction, so the same amount of light shines upward and downward. No point has a very large X or Y component, either positive or negative, so less light is cast laterally from the light source.
Example of Photometric Data File and 180°, respectively. Otherwise, they must be 0° and 180°, respectively. 15.The set of horizontal angles, listed in increasing order. The first angle must be 0°. The last angle determines the degree of lateral symmetry displayed by the intensity distribution. If it is 0°, the distribution is axially symmetric. If it is 90°, the distribution is symmetric in each quadrant. If it is 180°, the distribution is symmetric about a vertical plane.
1330 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Class. Watts Type Intensity Beam Field Class. Watts Type Intensity Beam Field Medium Beam 50 Spot 3000 25 50 Wide Beam 300 Spot 10000 30 60 Wide Beam 20 Spot 460 38 75 Wide Beam 500 Spot 18000 30 60 Wide Beam 50 Spot 1500 38 75 Par38 Line Voltage Lamps Par36 Low Voltage Lamps Class.
General Lighting Parameters Shadow Type Advantages Disadvantages Area Shadows Supports transparency and opacity mapping. Slower than shadow maps. Common Lighting Rollouts General Lighting Parameters Uses very little RAM. Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > General Parameters rollout Recommended for complex scenes with many lights or faces. Create menu > Photometric Lights > Create a light. > Modify panel > General Parameters rollout.
1332 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras The light will now cast shadows when you render the scene. Note: With Overshoot turned on, standard spotlights cast light in all directions but cast shadows only within the falloff cone; standard directional lights cast light throughout the scene, but cast shadows only within the falloff area. Scene with shadow-mapped shadows Shadows rendered using default parameter settings Left: A spotlight’s projection cone truncates shadows.
General Lighting Parameters • Use the Size spinner to set the size of the shadow map. • Use the Bias spinner to adjust the shadow offset, if necessary. Note: You can also prevent objects from casting shadows by excluding them from a light. Interface • Use the Sample Range spinner to create a soft-edged shadow. To cast ray-traced shadows: Ray-traced shadows (page 3–1000) are generated by tracing the path of rays sampled from a light source.
1334 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Shadows group On—Determines whether the current light casts shadows or not. Default=on. Shadow Method drop-down list—Determines whether the renderer uses shadow maps (page 3–1010), ray-traced shadows (page 3–1000), advanced ray-traced shadows (page 3–1000), or area shadows (page 3–911), to generate shadows for this light. The “mental ray Shadow Map” type is provided for use with the mental ray renderer (page 3–78).
Exclude/Include Dialog or you’ll want a light to cast shadows from one object but not from another. Procedures To exclude objects from a light: 1. In the General Parameters rollout, click Exclude. The Exclude/Include dialog is displayed. 2. Make sure Exclude is on. 3. Choose to exclude objects from Illumination, Roll angle manipulator on a target light Shadow Casting, or Both. Drag the circular portion of the manipulator to rotate the light by an arbitrary number of degrees.
1336 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras 2. Click Clear. 3. Click OK. Interface The Exclude/Include dialog treats a group as an object. You can exclude or include all objects in a group by selecting the group’s name in the Scene Objects list. If a group is nested within another group, it isn’t visible in the Scene Objects list. To exclude a nested group or individual objects within the group, you have to ungroup them before you use this dialog.
Shadow Parameters Shadow Parameters Interface Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > Shadow Parameters rollout Color—Displays a Color Selector (page 1–161) to choose a color for the shadows cast by this light. Default=black. You can animate the shadow color. Dens. (density)—Adjusts the density of shadows. A bridge’s shadow cast by sunlight The Shadow Parameters rollout is displayed for all light types except Skylight and IES Sky, and for all shadow types.
1338 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras You can animate the Density value. Map check box—Turn on to use the map assigned with the Map button. Default=off. Map—Assigns a map to the shadows. The map’s colors are blended with the shadow color. Default=none. Light Affects Shadow Color—When on, blends the light’s color with the shadow color (or shadow colors, if the shadow is mapped). Default=off. A cloud casts a colored shadow on the city.
Spotlight Parameters Tip: The hotspot and falloff borders are not visible in shaded viewports. Use controls in the Light Cone group to adjust hotspot and falloff in the viewport. Render the scene to see the full effect of the light’s border. 2. On the default main toolbar, click to turn on Select And Manipulate. Now when you move the mouse over the hotspot or falloff circle, the circle turns red to show you can adjust it by dragging.
1340 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Interface in the previous procedures, and the later section "Manipulators for Spotlights." You can also adjust hotspot and falloff angles in a Light viewport (looking at the scene from the point of view of the spotlight). Circle/Rectangle—Determine the shape of the falloff and hotspot areas. Set Circle when you want a standard, circular light. Set Rectangle when you want a rectangular beam of light, such as light cast through a window or doorway.
Advanced Effects Rollout The hotspot and falloff constrain each other, as their spinner controls do. The Material Editor is where you adjust the map’s parameters. 2. Use an unused sample slot to display a map. Advanced Effects Rollout Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > Advanced Effects rollout The Advanced Effects rollout provides controls that affect how lights affect surfaces, and also includes a number of fine adjustments and setting for projector lights.
1342 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras To make the shape of the light fit the projected bitmap: Note: This procedure only applies to standard spot and direct lights. 1. Choose a bitmap to project, as described in the preceding procedures. 2. Make sure the light’s shape is set to Rectangular, Note: Soften Diffuse Edge reduces the amount of light, slightly. You can counter this, to some extent, by increasing the Multiplier value.
mental ray Indirect Illumination Rollout (for Lights) Projector Map group These controls make the photometric light a projector. Check box—Turn on to project the map selected by the Map button. Turn off to turn off projection. Map—Names the map used for the projection. You can drag from any map specified in the Material Editor, or any other map button (as on the Environment panel), and drop that map on the light’s Map button. Clicking Map displays the Material/Map Browser.
1344 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras photons used to generate caustics by this particular light. Default=1.0. GI Photons—Multiplies the global GI Photons value to increase or decrease the count of photons used to generate global illumination by this particular light. Default=1.0. Manual Settings group When Automatically Calculate is off, the Global Multipliers group becomes unavailable, and the manual settings for indirect illumination become available.
mental ray Light Shader Rollout mental ray Light Shader Rollout Select a light. > Modify panel > mental ray Light Shader rollout Note: This rollout appears only if you have enabled the mental ray extensions by using the mental ray Preferences panel. Shader Library Ambient/Reflective Occlusion base Light Infinite base Light Point base Light Spot base Note: This rollout does not appear on the Create Photon Emitter Shader—Click the button to display panel; only on the Modify panel.
1346 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Attenuation (page 3–912) is the effect of light diminishing over distance. In 3ds Max, you can set attenuation values explicitly. The effects can vary from real-world lights, giving you more direct control over how lights fade in or fade out. Note: With no attenuation, an object can paradoxically appear to grow brighter as it moves away from the light source. This is because the angle of incidence more closely approaches 0 degrees for more of the object’s faces.
Intensity/Color/Attenuation Parameters Interface Decay group Decay is an additional way to make a light’s intensity reduce over distance. Type—Sets the type of decay to use. There are three types to choose from. • None—(The default.) Applies no decay. The light maintains full strength from its source to infinity, unless you turn on far attenuation. • Inverse—Applies inverse decay.
1348 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Tip: Because decay continues to calculate dimmer and dimmer values as the distance of the light throw increases, it’s a good idea to set at least the Far End of attenuation to eliminate unnecessary calculations. Near Attenuation group Start—Sets the distance at which the light begins to fade in. End—Sets the distance at which the light reaches Directional Parameters Create a standard Target Direct or Free Direct light.
Atmospheres and Effects for Lights in the Rendering panel (page 3–826) of the Preferences dialog. The falloff value can range from 0 to 10,000 units. Note: The cone is always visible when a light is When the hotspot and falloff values are equal, the light casts a hard-edged beam. Overshoot—When Overshoot (page 3–988) is set, the light casts light in all directions. However, projections and shadows occur only within its falloff cone. To set the shape of the light beam: 1.
1350 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras rollout appears only in the Modify panel; it doesn’t appear at creation time. To set up the parameters for an atmosphere or rendering effect: Adding an atmosphere or effect associates that atmosphere or effect with the light object. This rollout is a shortcut to either the Environment panel (page 3–272) or the Effects panel (page 3–219) on the Environment And Effects dialog.
Add Atmosphere or Effect Dialog Add Atmosphere or Effect Dialog Modify panel > Select light object. > Atmospheres & Effects rollout > Add button The Add Atmosphere or Effect dialog lets you associate an atmosphere or a rendering effect with the light. The list shows either atmospheres, rendering effects, or both. It shows only atmospheres and effects that can be associated with light objects, or that use light objects as their apparatus. Interface New—Lists only new atmospheres or effects.
1352 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Interface Additional Rollouts for Photometric Lights Intensity/Color/Distribution Rollout Light hair—When on, the light can illuminate and Create panel > Lights > Create a Photometric light. > Intensity/Color/Distribution rollout cast shadows from the hair. Note: The light must also be set to cast shadows (General Parameters rollout > Shadows > On). Resolution—Sets the size (in pixels squared) of the shadow map that’s computed for the light.
Intensity/Color/Distribution Rollout Interface color is visible in the color swatch next to the temperature spinners. Filter—Use a color filter to simulate the effect of a color filter placed over the light source. For example, a red filter over a white light source casts red light. Set the filter color by clicking the color swatch to display the Color Selector (page 1–161). Default=white (RGB=255,255,255; HSV=0,0,255).
1354 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras lamp types is provided in Photometric Lights: Common Lamp Values (page 2–1329). Interface Linear Light Parameters Rollout Create panel > Lights > Create a photometric linear light. > Linear Light Parameters rollout Select a linear light. > Modify panel > Linear Light Parameters rollout The Linear Light parameters rollout lets you set the length of your photometric linear light. See also Length—Sets the length of your area light.
Web Parameters Rollout Interface Procedures To select a photometric web file: 1. On the Web Parameters rollout for a selected light, click the Web File button. The Open A Photometric Web dialog is displayed. Enable Area Sampling—Toggles area sampling. Default=on. Num. Samples—The number of samples to use for subdivision conversion. Default=16. Web Parameters Rollout Create panel > Lights > Photometric Lights > Create a photometric light.
1356 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Web File—Selects an IES file to use as a photometric web. The default web is a diffuse distribution shining from one edge. X Rotation—Rotates the photometric web about the X axis. The center of rotation is the photometric center of the web. Range=-180 degrees to 180 degrees. Y Rotation—Rotates the photometric web about the Y axis. The center of rotation is the photometric center of the web. Range=-180 degrees to 180 degrees.
Area Shadows Rollout batch of rays is cast to further refine the edge. The number of initial rays is specified using the Pass 1 Quality spinner. The number of secondary rays is specified using the Pass 2 Quality spinner. 2-Sided Shadows—When on, backfaces are not ignored when calculating shadows. Objects seen from the inside are not lit by lights from the outside. This costs a bit more render time. When off, backfaces are ignored. Rendering is quicker, but outside lights illuminate object interiors.
1358 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras properties in the Area Light Dimensions group of the Area Shadows rollout. Interface Tip: Area shadows can take a fair amount of time to render. If you want to create a quick test (or draft) rendering, you can use the Area/Linear Lights as Point Lights toggle in the Common Parameters rollout (page 3–27) of the Render Scene dialog to speed up your rendering. When this toggle is on, the shadows are processed as if the light object is a point source.
Area Shadows Rollout 3 to N=NxN rays. For example, setting Shadow Integrity to 5 generates 25 rays. This is the primary control for “finding” small objects and thin spaces between objects. If the shadows are missing a small object in your scene, try increasing Shadow Integrity one step at a time. Also, if the penumbra (soft area) is blotchy, try increasing this setting. The shape of the area shadow array affects how shadows are cast.
1360 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Increase Shadow Quality to fix banding in the penumbra, and eliminate the noise pattern from jittering. Increasing jitter blends the individual shadow samples. Area Light Dimensions group Increasing the Shadow Quality value produces a more accurate penumbra (soft area) within the contour defined by the Shadow Integrity value. The software uses these dimensions to compute the area shadowing. They do not affect the actual light object.
Optimizations Rollout Interface Turning off Color saves memory at rendering time. Merge Dist.—The minimum distance between two surfaces for them to be considered “distinct.” If two surfaces are closer than this value, the shadow map treats them as a single surface. When set to 0.0, the mental ray renderer automatically calculates a distance value to use. Default=0.0 (automatic). Larger Merge Distance values reduce memory consumption, but can reduce shadow quality.
1362 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Interface and improve speed, decreasing the value will increase the sensitivity, improving quality. Antialias Suppression group Supersampled Material—When on, only pass 1 is used during 2-pass antialiasing when shading a supersampled (page 3–1018) material. Note: When off, rendering time can increase without resulting in a better image. Reflect/Refract—When on only pass 1 is used during 2-pass antialiasing when shading reflections or refractions.
Ray-Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout Ray-Traced Shadow Parameters Rollout Create a light. > General Parameters rollout > Ray Traced Shadows chosen > Ray Traced Shadow Params rollout meshes. If Bias is too high, shadows can "detach" from an object. If the Bias value is too extreme in either direction, shadows might not be rendered at all. 2-Sided Shadows—When on, backfaces are not ignored when calculating shadows. Objects seen from the inside are not lit by lights from the outside.
1364 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras shadow-generation technique for a light. You select this in the General Parameters rollout (page 2–1331). Interface User adjustments to Bias are typically low decimal values near 1.0 (for example, 1.2). • When Absolute is on, Bias is a value in 3ds Max units. User adjustments to Bias depend on the size of the scene, and can range from values close to zero to values in the hundreds (see the Tip at the end of this topic).
Cameras Sample Range—The sample range (page 3–1004) determines how much area within the shadow is averaged. This affects how soft the edge of the shadow is. Range=0.01 to 50.0. 2-Sided Shadows—When on, backfaces are not ignored when calculating shadows. Objects seen from the inside are not lit by lights from the outside. When off, backfaces are ignored, which can cause outside lights to illuminate object interiors. Default=on.
1366 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras camera parameters as well. For example, you can animate the camera’s field of view to give the effect of zooming in on a scene. The Display panel’s Hide By Category (page 1–52) rollout has a toggle that lets you turn the display of camera objects on and off. A convenient way to control the display of camera objects is to create them on a separate layer (page 3–655). You can hide them quickly by turning off the layer.
Cameras movement to be vertical or horizontal only with the Shift key. You can move a selected camera so its view matches that of a Perspective, Spotlight, or another Camera view. Choosing a Camera for Vertical Views If you need an animated camera to look vertically upward or downward, use a free camera. If you use a target camera you might run into a problem of unexpected movement.
1368 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras its volume (effectively making a volume out of the entire scene). Using Transforms to Aim a Camera (page 2–1379) Using Clipping Planes to Exclude Geometry (page 2–1379) Using the Horizon to Match Perspective (page 2–1380) Animating Cameras (page 2–1381) Procedures To render a scene using a camera: 1. Create the camera and aim it at the geometry A dimly lit scene you want to be the subject of your scene.
Cameras The name of each camera is displayed at the top of the Views submenu. 3. Choose the name of the camera you want. The viewport now shows the camera’s point of view. To use the Modify panel in conjunction with a Camera viewport: 1. Select the camera in any viewport. 2. Right-click the Camera viewport to activate the viewport without deselecting the camera. The Camera viewport becomes active, but the camera is still selected in the other viewports.
1370 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras needs to be directly overhead in a scene, use a free camera to prevent it from spinning. Boxes in the viewport indicate safe frames. To match a camera to a viewport: 1. (Optional) Select a camera. A free camera can move and be oriented without restrictions. 2. Activate a Perspective viewport. Initial Direction of a Free Camera 3.
Target Camera Procedure To create a free camera: 1. controller settings on the Motion panel to assign any other object in the scene as the Look At target. From the Create menu, choose Cameras > Free Camera, or click Cameras on the Create panel, then click Free on the Object Type rollout. 2. Click the viewport location where you want the camera to be. The kind of viewport you click determines the free camera’s initial direction. The camera is now part of the scene. 3. Set the creation parameters. 4.
1372 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras When you rename a target camera, the target is automatically renamed to match. For example, renaming Camera01 to Rolli causes Camera01.Target to become Rolli.Target. The target’s name must have the extension .Target. Renaming the target object does not rename the camera object. Clicking the line that connects the camera and its target selects both objects. However, region selection doesn’t recognize the link line.
Common Camera Parameters Relationship Between FOV and Perspective Procedure Short focal lengths (wide FOV) emphasize the distortions of perspective, making objects seem in-depth, looming toward the viewer. 1. Choose Rendering > Render. Long focal lengths (narrow FOV) reduce perspective distortion, making objects appear flattened and parallel to the viewer. To match a real-world camera frame proportion: The Render Scene dialog is displayed. 2.
1374 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras In a camera viewport, the FOV button lets you adjust the field of view interactively. The camera viewport Perspective button also changes the FOV in conjunction with dollying the camera. Note: Only the FOV value is saved with the camera. The focal length value is merely an alternative way to express and select the FOV. To set the camera lens size: 1. In the Stock Lenses group, click a button to choose a stock focal length. 2.
Common Camera Parameters Objects closer to the camera than the Near distance are not visible to the camera and aren’t rendered. 3. Set the Far Clip value to position the far clipping plane. Objects farther from the camera than the Far distance are not visible to the camera and aren’t rendered. The horizon line shown in the viewport. The horizon line might not be visible if the horizon is beyond the camera’s field of view, or if the camera is tilted very high or low.
1376 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras 3. Activate a camera viewport. Interface 4. In the Multi-Pass Effect group, click Preview to preview the effect in the camera viewport. The Preview button has no effect if a camera viewport isn’t active. 5. Render the scene or animation. Lens—Sets the camera’s focal length in millimeters. Use the Lens spinner to give the focal length a value other than the preset "stock" values on the buttons in the Stock Lenses group box.
Common Camera Parameters When you change the Aperture Width value in the Render Scene dialog, you also change the value in the Lens spinner field. This doesn’t change the view through the camera, but it does change the relationship between the Lens value and the FOV value, as well as the aspect ratio of the camera’s cone. FOV Direction flyout—Lets you choose how to apply the field of view (FOV) value: • Horizontal—(The default.) Applies the FOV horizontally.
1378 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras With manual clipping on, the near clipping plane can be as close to the camera as 0.1 unit. Warning: Extremely large Far Clip values can produce floating-point error, which can cause Z-buffer problems in the viewport, such as objects appearing in front of other objects when they shouldn’t. Conceptual image of Near and Far clipping planes. Multi-Pass Effect group Top: Conceptual image of the Near and Far ranges. Bottom: Result after rendering.
Using Transforms to Aim a Camera Effect drop-down list—Lets you choose which multi-pass effect to generate, Depth Of Field (page 2–1383) or Motion Blur (page 2–1386). These effects are mutually exclusive. Default=Depth Of Field. This list also lets you choose Depth of Field (mental ray) (page 2–1383), which lets you use the mental ray renderer’s depth of field effect. Note: The rollout for the chosen effect appears, by default, after the Parameters rollout.
1380 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Using the Horizon to Match Perspective The horizon of a scene is the edge of vision at the height of the camera, parallel with the world coordinate plane. You can view the horizon in camera viewports. Left: Clipping plane excludes the foreground chair and the front of the table. Right: Clipping plane excludes the background chair and the rear of the table. Clipping plane settings are part of the camera’s parameters (page 2–1373).
Animating Cameras If the image’s horizon and the camera horizon don’t match, you have to offset the image, perhaps by using a paint program. 3. Use Orbit (page 3–749) to move the camera until the perspective of the scene roughly matches that of the still image. 4. Adjust the camera’s perspective (page 3–747) to fine-tune the perspective match. 5. Use Move (page 1–439) with the camera or target to position the scene against the background.
1382 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras 1. Select the camera. 2. Activate the Camera viewport. 3. Turn on the Auto Key button and advance the Multi-Pass Rendering Effects time slider to any frame. 4. Use the Pan button (in the viewport navigation tools) and pan. Create panel > Cameras > Target or Free > Parameters rollout > Multi-Pass Effect group Orbiting You can animate the orbiting of any camera very easily by following these steps: 1. Select the camera. 2. Activate the Camera viewport. 3.
Depth of Field Parameter (mental ray Renderer) Depth of Field Parameter (mental ray Renderer) Create panel > Cameras > Target button or Free button > Parameters rollout > Multi-Pass Effect group. > Turn on Enable and choose Depth Of Field (mental ray). > Depth of Field Parameters rollout On the Parameters rollout (page 2–1373), a “Depth Of Field (mental ray)” choice has been added to the Multi-Pass Effect drop-down list to support the mental ray renderer’s depth-of-field effects.
1384 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Interface Previewing multi-pass depth of field in a shaded and a wireframe viewport Important: This effect is for the default scanline renderer. The mental ray renderer (page 3–78) has its own depth-of-field effect. See Depth of Field Parameter (mental ray Renderer) (page 2–1383). Tip: To reduce the visible effect of multiple camera passes, try setting the antialiasing filter to Blend, with a Width value in the range 4.0 to 5.
Multi-Pass Depth of Field Parameters for Cameras Depth instead of the camera’s Target Distance tends to blur the entire scene. Sampling group Display Passes—When on, the rendered frame window displays the multiple rendering passes. When off, the frame window displays only the final result. This control has no effect on previewing depth of field in camera viewports. Default=on. Use Original Location—When on, the first rendering pass is in the camera’s original location.
1386 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras Multi-Pass Motion Blur Parameters for Cameras Create panel > Cameras > Target button or Free button > Parameters rollout > Multi-Pass Effect group > Choose Motion Blur effect. > Motion Blur Parameters rollout Important: This effect is for the default scanline renderer. The mental ray renderer (page 3–78) has its own depth-of-field effect. See Motion Blur with the mental ray Renderer (page 3–89).
Camera Match Utility Total Passes—The number of passes used to generate the effect. Increasing this value can increase the effect’s accuracy, but at a cost of rendering time. Default=12. make the effect grainier, especially at the edges of objects. Default=0.4. Duration (frames)—The number of frames in the Tile Size—Sets the size of the pattern used in dithering. This value is a percentage, where 0 is the smallest tile, and 100 is the largest. Default=32.
1388 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras 2. Load a bitmap as a background for the viewport. 3. Identify on the bitmap at least five features that will be used for the match. These should be objects or corners of objects in the scene that can be identified and tracked. They should remain visually throughout the scene, and should not change their shape too much or they won’t work. 4.
Camera Match Utility 4. Enter the coordinates of the first CamPoint object (0,0,0), click the Create button, and then enter the name in the name field. Tip: To use the keyboard, first click in the X field, enter its value, and then press Tab to move to the next field and enter its value. Continue this until you tab to the Create button, and then press Enter to create the CamPoint, followed by Tab to move back to the X field, where you can start again.
1390 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras objects from this list to assign screen coordinate points. Note that if you select a CamPoint object in the viewport, it‘s highlighted in this list as well. Input Screen Coordinates— X/Y—Fine-tunes the position of the screen coordinate points in 2D space. Use This Point—Turns off a specific coordinate point without deleting it. Select the corresponding CamPoint in the list, and then turn off Use This Point.
Camera Match Helper Camera Match Helper Objects CamPoint Helper Create panel > Helpers > Camera Match > CamPoint Create menu > Helpers > Camera Point Camera Match Helper Create panel > Helpers > Camera Match (from drop-down list) Create menu > Helpers > Camera Point Camera Match helper objects (CamPoints) are used by the Camera Match utility to reproduce in a camera the same settings (position, roll, and FOV) that were used by a real-world camera to shoot a background image.
1392 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras geometry using snaps. Use this technique when you don’t have measurements and can approximate the geometry. • Create your camera match points interactively, and then use Transform Type-In to move them to the correct locations. Interface Camera Match Point rollout Show Axis Tripod—Controls whether an axis tripod is displayed with the Camera point object. Default=on. Axis Length—Controls the length of the axis tripod.
Camera Correction Modifier Interface Normal camera view (left) and corrected camera view (right) Amount—Sets the amount of correction for two-point perspective. Default=0.0. Procedure Direction—Biases the correction. Default=90.0. To apply two-point perspective to a camera: Setting Direction greater than 90.0 biases the correction to the left. Setting it less than 90.0 biases it to the right. 1. Select a camera. Tip: For best results, set a viewport to this camera’s view.
1394 Chapter 15: Lights and Cameras
Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Materials describe how an object reflects or transmits light. Within a material, maps can simulate textures, applied designs, reflections, refractions, and other effects. (Maps can also be used as environments and projections from lights.) The Material Editor is the dialog you use to create, alter, and apply the materials in your scene. Designing Materials Materials make objects more convincing.
1396 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Workflow Outline In general, when you create a new material and apply it to an object, you follow these steps: Sample Slots and Material Name 1. Make a sample slot (page 2–1396) active, and enter a name for the material you are about to design. 2. Choose the material type (page 2–1397). Tip: 3ds Max provides two renderers, the default scanline renderer (page 3–38) and the mental ray renderer (page 3–78). Each has its own capabilities.
Material Type Sample Windows or 6 X 4 Sample Windows from the pop-up menu. slots contain Standard materials of various colors, as they do if no medit.mat library is found. Material Type Every material has a type. The default is Standard (page 2–1465), which is the material type you will probably use most often. In general, other material types are for special purposes.
1398 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Lets you morph between materials using the Morpher modifier (page 1–729). • Multi/Sub-Object (page 2–1594) Lets you apply multiple sub-materials to a single object’s sub-objects. • Raytrace (page 2–1512) Supports the same kind of diffuse mapping as Standard material, but also provides fully raytraced reflections and refractions, along with other effects such as fluorescence.
Material Components Several different shaders are available. Some of these are not available for the Raytrace material, as indicated below. Blinn is the most general-purpose of these shaders. The others have special purposes, especially regarding how the material creates highlights. • Anisotropic (page 2–1480) Creates surfaces with noncircular, "anisotropic" highlights; good for modeling hair, glass, or metal. • Blinn (page 2–1480) Creates smooth surfaces with some shininess; a general-purpose shader.
1400 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the light is attenuated. Full intensity is the light’s Multiplier value times the value of the face’s surface color. The Multiplier value is 1.0 by default; the surface value is the Value component of the surface color’s HSV description (page 3–1001). As the angle of incidence increases, the intensity of the face illumination decreases. • Specular highlights appear where the viewing angle is equal to the angle of incidence.
Choosing Colors for Realism Indoor and Outdoor Lighting Representing Natural Materials Whether a scene is indoors or outdoors affects your choice of material colors, just as it affects the way you set up lights (page 2–1272). Full sunlight is bright and unidirectional. Most indoor lighting is less intense and more even (that is, multidirectional) than daylight. However, some special indoor lighting (and nighttime outdoor lighting), as for the stage, also features intense, directional light.
1402 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps using a special shading type, described later in this topic. Representing Metallic Objects Representing Manufactured Materials Metallic cup and ice cream scoop Indoor scene with manufactured materials Manufactured materials often have a synthetic color rather than an "earth tone." Also, many manufactured materials, such as plastics and porcelain glazes, are very shiny.
Using Maps to Enhance a Material Using Maps to Enhance a Material Maps provide images, patterns, color adjustments, and other effects you can apply to the visual/optical components of a material. Without maps, material design in 3ds Max is limited. Maps give the Material Editor its full flexibility, and can give you dramatic results.
1404 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Map Terminology The term "material map" is sometimes used to describe a map assigned in the material editor. A material map applies a color or pattern to a surface. This is different from maps used for displacement mapping with the Displace modifier (page 1–629), environment mapping for backgrounds, or projection mapping from lights. The term "texture map" is sometimes used as well.
Applying a Material to an Object In this case, only the first map encountered will appear in the scene. Navigating the Material/Map Tree As you drag, a tooltip appears over each object beneath the mouse, showing the object’s name. You can apply the material whether the object is selected or not. Release the mouse to apply the material. When you build a material of any complexity, you are building a material/map tree. The root of the tree is the material itself.
1406 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps space, as opposed to the XYZ coordinates that describe the scene as a whole. Most renderable objects have a Generate Mapping Coordinates parameter. If you don’t turn this on, but apply a mapped material to the object, you get a warning when you try to render. Some objects, such as editable meshes, don’t have automatic mapping coordinates. For these types of objects, you can assign coordinates by applying a UVW Map Modifier (page 1–922).
Material XML Exporter Utility Tip: You can use the Merge function in the File group to add materials from the current library to another library. Interface Material XML Exporter Utility Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > More button > Utilities dialog > Material XML Export You can export materials you create in 3ds Max to XML files, which can then be shared with other 3ds Max users or used in AutoCAD Architecture (formerly Autodesk Architectural Desktop) to modify material definitions.
1408 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Output Format group The Output Format group defines the format of the XML Material output. Native XML (vizML)—Materials are exported as raw XML. Tip: Use this format for sharing XML material files within 3ds Max. Tool Catalog—Materials are exported to the ATC (Autodesk Tool Catalog) format. This file type is suitable for display in the AutoCAD Content Browser and the Autodesk VIZ Content Browser.
Material Editor The name field displays only 16 characters, but a material name can be longer than that. Material Editor Main toolbar > Material Editor Rendering menu > Material Editor To make a copy of a preview material: • Keyboard > M The Material Editor provides functions to create and edit materials (page 3–971) and maps (page 3–968). Materials create greater realism in a scene. A material describes how an object reflects or transmits light.
1410 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps The Put Material button is available only when (1) the material in the active sample slot has the same name as a material in a scene, and (2) the material in the active sample slot is not hot. In other words, this command is meant to fit into the following overall sequence of handling materials: To apply a material to objects in a scene: 1. Select the sample slot that contains the material you want to apply. 2.
Material Editor 3. Click Select to select objects that have the active material applied to them. You can also change the selection by choosing other objects. If you change the selection, you must then click Assign Material To Selection (page 2–1441) to apply the active material to newly selected objects. To get a material from a library: 1. On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material (page 2–1439). A modeless Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) is displayed. 2.
1412 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps For choosing materials, see Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412). For applying materials using drag and drop techniques, see Dragging and Dropping Maps and Materials (page 2–1423). For an overview of how to use the Material Editor, see Designing Materials (page 2–1395).
Material/Map Browser assign the mental ray renderer as the currently active renderer. Once you have enabled the renderer, when you use the Browser, it shows mental ray materials and shaders. Materials are displayed with a yellow sphere, rather than blue for standard materials, and shaders are displayed with a yellow parallelogram, rather than green as for standard maps.
1414 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 2. In the Merge Material Library dialog (page Interface 2–1454), select a material library other than the current library, or select a 3ds Max or VIZ Render (DRF (page 3–527)) scene. A Merge dialog (page 2–1453) is displayed, listing all materials in the specified library, or all materials assigned to the 3ds Max or VIZ Render file. Below the list are All and None buttons to help in the selection. 3.
Material/Map Browser Also, the names of instanced (page 3–957) materials and maps appear in boldface. Both of these effects are shown in the following illustration: Icons or View List + Icons) can be saved as thumbnail images in the material library file. (See the Procedures for this topic, above.) Keep in mind that the saved thumbnails increase the size of the material library file. View List—Displays the materials and maps in list format. Blue spheres are materials. Green parallelograms are maps.
1416 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps This button is available only when the Browser is viewing a library. Delete from Library—Removes the selected material or map from the library display. The library on disk is not affected until you save it. Use Open to reload the original library from disk. This button is only active when you select a named material that exists in the current library. This button is available only when the Browser is viewing a library.
Material/Map Browser This is always unavailable in the modal version of the Browser. File group Maps—Turns display of maps on or off. This is always unavailable in the modal version of the Browser. Incompatible—When on, displays materials or maps and shaders that are incompatible with the currently active renderer. The incompatible materials are displayed in gray.
1418 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps This group of radio buttons is displayed only when you’ve chosen New under Browse From. It controls what types of maps the Browser displays in the material/map list. (The Browser displays materials regardless of this setting.) 2D Maps—Lists only 2D map types. 3D Maps—Lists only 3D (procedural) (page 3–997) map types. Compositors—Lists only compositor map types. Color Mods—Lists only color modifier map types.
Copying and Pasting: Right-Click Menu for Materials, Maps, Bitmaps, and Colors When No Map Has Been Either Assigned or Copied If no map has been assigned and you haven’t copied a map yet, then no right-click menu appears at all. Bitmap Right-Click Menu Cut—Removes the assigned map, and puts a copy of it in the copy buffer. Copy—Copies the map without removing it. This menu appears when you click a button that specifies an external bitmap (page 3–917). See Bitmap 2D Map (page 2–1631).
1420 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Sample Slots Material Editor > Sample slots display The Material Editor has 24 sample slots. You can view them all at once, six at a time (the default), or 15 at a time. When you view fewer than 24 slots at once, scroll bars let you move among them. See Material Editor Options (page 2–1436) and Sample Slot Right-Click Menu (page 2–1422). A material in a slot is shown on a sample object. By default, the object is a sphere.
Sample Slots Hot and Cool Materials A sample slot is "hot" (page 3–953) when the material in the slot is assigned to one or more surfaces in the scene. When you use the Material Editor to adjust a hot sample slot, the material in the scene changes at the same time. If you drag to copy a material from a hot slot to another slot, the destination slot is cool, and the original slot remains hot.
1422 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 2. Right-click in the sample slot, and choose Render Map from the pop-up menu. The Render Map dialog (page 2–1455) is displayed. 3. Choose Single or the range of frames you want to render. 4. In the Dimensions group box, specify the pixel resolution of the map. 5. Click the Files button, and specify a path and file name for the file. Make sure Save To File is on unless you want to see the image only in a rendered frame window (page 3–5). 6.
Dragging and Dropping Maps and Materials Shortcut—Double-click a sample slot to display the magnified window. The magnify window’s title bar displays the contents of the editable material name field (page 2–1448). It varies depending on which level of the material is active. 6 X 4 Sample Windows—Displays a 6 X 4 array of sample slots. (24 windows.) Dragging and Dropping Maps and Materials You can move materials from sample slots to objects using a drag-and-drop operation.
1424 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps one of these selection modifiers: Mesh Select (page 1–719), Patch Select (page 1–751), or Poly Select (page 1–762). Material Map Buttons The material map buttons you can drag from include: • The buttons in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474) See also • The small shortcut map buttons on the Basic Parameters rollouts (page 2–1470). Applying a Material to an Object (page 2–1405) • Any map buttons at any level.
Creating a Custom Sample Object The new Multi/Sub-Object material appears in the active sample slot. How the Multi/Sub-Object Material Is Created The Multi/Sub-Object material is created in one of three ways, depending on what material is already applied to the selected sub-objects: • No material applied If the selected faces have no material applied, a new Multi/Sub-Object material is created. The dragged material becomes a sub-material in the new material.
1426 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps object listed in the Track View hierarchy is used as the sample object. If the object is of a type that doesn’t have a Generate Mapping Coords check box, apply a UVW Map modifier (page 1–922) to it. After you have saved the single-object scene as a .max file, use the Custom Sample Object group in the Material Editor Options dialog (page 2–1436) to specify the file.
Material Editor Tools sample-slot lighting, do not add any lights to the scene. Note: These fields are not displayed unless you 3. Save the .max file. change a toggle in Preferences > Advanced Lighting. 4. In the Material Editor Options dialog, specify Buttons below the sample slots (the "toolbar") the file as the Custom Sample Object file. 5. Turn on Load Camera and/or Lights. Sample Slots set to use the custom object now display the object as seen through the camera.
1428 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Video Color Check (page 2–1434) Make Preview, Play Preview, Save Preview (page 2–1434) Material Editor > Menu bar Material Editor Options (page 2–1436) The Material Editor menu bar appears at the top of the Material Editor window. It provides another way to invoke the various Material Editor tools.
Material Editor Menu Bar equivalent to choosing Reset Rotation on the sample slot right-click menu (page 2–1422). • Update Active Material—If Material Editor Options dialog (page 2–1436) > Update Active Only is on, choosing this updates the active material in its sample slot. Utilities Menu The Utilities menu provides map rendering and selecting objects by material. • Render Map—Equivalent to choosing Render Map on the sample slot right-click menu (page 2–1422).
1430 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 2. Use the Reset Material Editor Slots or Condense Material Editor Slots function. 3. Reset 3ds Max. When prompted to save the scene, click No. Otherwise, you might lose material definitions in the Material Editor that were saved with the scene. Note: Materials and Radiosity 4. Open the Material Editor and choose Utilities menu > Restore Material Editor Slots. The Material Editor status before step 2 is restored.
Reflectance and Transmittance Display RGB Level value in the bitmap’s Output rollout (page 2–1621). Left: Wood grain bitmap as originally photographed has too high a reflectance. Right: Reducing the RGB Level value reduces the map’s reflectance.
1432 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Sample Type Material Editor > Sample Type The Sample Type flyout lets you choose which geometry to display in the active sample slot (page 2–1420). This flyout has three buttons: When Propagate Materials To Instances is off, materials are assigned in traditional 3ds Max fashion; each object has a unique material assignment.
Sample Slot Background Sample Slot Background Material Editor > Background Material Editor menu > Options menu > Background The buttons on the Sample UV Tiling flyout adjust the repetition of the map (page 3–968) pattern on the sample object in the active sample slot. The tiling pattern you set with this option affects only the sample slot. It has no effect on the tiling on the geometry in the scene, which you control with parameters in the map’s own coordinates rollout.
1434 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Procedures Video Color Check Material Editor > Video Color Check To check for illegal video colors: 1. On the Material Editor, turn on Video Color Check (page 2–1434). The active sample slot now renders "illegal" pixels as black. Illegal pixels have a color that is beyond the safe video threshold. If Video Color Check detects illegal colors, try reducing the saturation of the material colors in question. 2.
Make Preview, Play Preview, Save Preview you could map an animation of moving clouds to a clerestory window. The Make Preview options let you experiment with the effect in the Material Editor before you apply it to your scene. The buttons on the Make Preview, Play Preview, Save Preview flyout let you preview the effect of an animated map on the object in a sample slot (see Sample Type (page 2–1432) for alternatives to the default sphere.
1436 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Material Editor Options Material Editor > Material Editor Options Material Editor menu > Options menu > Options Manual Update—When on, the sample slots don’t update their contents until you click them. This option affects only the updating of the sample slots; it doesn’t affect the icon displays in the Browser. Default=off. These settings are “sticky”; they survive a reset, and even quitting and restarting 3ds Max.
Material Editor Options Multi/Sub-Object materials, the multiple patches again appear at the top level of the nested material, but the sample sphere is again whole when displaying any of the sub-materials. Default=on. Scale on the map’s Coordinates rollout to see the sample sphere as you’d expect. Available only when Auto-Select Texture Map Size (above) is off. Default=off. Display Maps as 2D—When on, sample slots display maps, including standalone maps, in 2D. The map fills the entire slot.
1438 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Use the Default button to return to the initial setting. Default Texture Size—Controls the initial size (both height and width) of a newly created real-world texture. You see the result of changing this option only when you create a new texture in a material; the change appears in the Coordinates rollout (page 2–1625). Default=48.0 (Imperial units) and 1.219m (Metric units). Note: This setting applies to real-world textures only.
Select By Material You can also change the selection by choosing other objects. If you change the selection, you must then click Assign Material To Selection (page 2–1441) to apply the active material to newly selected objects. Select By Material Material Editor > Select By Material Material Editor menu > Utilities menu > Select Objects by Material Select By Material allows you to select objects in the scene, based on the active material in the Material Editor.
1440 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps The material you chose replaces the previous material in the active sample slot. 5. Double-click the name of the map type (not a material type) you want to use, or drag the map to a sample slot. Warning: When you get a material from a scene, initially it is a hot (page 3–953) material. To get a material from a library: 1. The sample slot now contains a standalone map not associated with material parameters. 6.
Assign Material to Selection • You update the scene by putting the changed material back into the scene. Notes apply a mapped material with Show Map In Viewport (page 2–1445) active to a parametric object, that object’s Generate Mapping Coords option is turned on if necessary. • If you apply a mapped material to a parametric object whose Generate Mapping Coords option is off, the software automatically turns on mapping coordinates at render time.
1442 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Reset Map/Mtl to Default Settings Make Unique (Material Editor) Material Editor > Make Unique Material Editor > Reset Map/Mtl to Default Settings Reset Map/Mtl to Default Settings resets the values for the map or material in the active sample slot. The material colors are removed and set to shades of gray. Glossiness, opacity, and so on are reset to their default values. Maps assigned to the material are removed.
Put to Library 5. Drag one of the Sub-Material buttons from the Material Editor to the sphere. 6. Choose a different sample slot, and use the Pick Material From Object button to get the sub-material applied to the sphere. At this point, the material applied to the sphere and the sub-material are instances of each other. 7. Go to the parameters for the instanced sub-material by clicking its Sub-Material button. 8. The Make Unique button is now available.
1444 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps A value from 1 to 15 means to apply a Video Post or rendering effect that uses this channel ID to this material. For example, you might want a material to glow wherever it appears in the scene. The material is in the Material Editor and the glow comes from a rendering effect. First, you add a Glow rendering effect (page 3–226) and set it up so that it operates on ID 1.
Show Map in Viewport Show Map in Viewport Material Editor > Show Map in Viewport Material Editor menu > Material menu > Show Map in Viewport Left: Map shown on sample cube Right: Map shown in a viewport Show Map In Viewport displays mapped materials on the surfaces of objects in viewports with the interactive renderer (page 3–1030).
1446 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps on a sphere with a radius of 20, change the map scale from 100 (the default) to 20. Particle Age and Particle MBlur maps do not preview in viewports. To turn off interactive texture display: • Turn off Show Map In Viewport. The object is shaded but the map no longer appears. Multiple Maps in Viewports Viewports can display multiple maps. For multiple map display, the display driver must be OpenGL (page 3–841) or Direct3D (page 3–844).
Go Forward to Sibling Tip: You can also navigate through the levels of a material with the Material/Map Navigator (page 2–1447). Go Forward to Sibling Material Editor > Go Forward to Sibling Material Editor menu > Navigation menu > Go Forward to Sibling Go Forward To Sibling moves to the next map or material at the same level in the current material.
1448 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Pick Material From Object (Eyedropper) Material Editor > Pick Material From Object Material Editor menu > Material menu > Pick from Object The view buttons are as follows: V iew List—Displays the materials and maps in list format. Blue spheres are materials. Green parallelograms are maps. The green parallelograms turn red if Show Map in Viewport is on for a material. View List + Icons—Displays the materials and maps as small icons in a list.
Type Button (Materials and Maps) the names of maps and sub-materials assigned at lower levels of the map or material hierarchy. The name of the material is not a file name: it can contain spaces, numbers, and special characters. It can be of any length. Note: In releases prior to 3ds Max 4, material names were limited to 16 characters. As of 3ds Max 4, you can assign material names of arbitrary length. This field also functions as a drop-down list. At the top level, it shows only the material or map name.
1450 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps automated bitmap can be an AVI (page 3–609) or MOV (page 3–621) file, or an image sequence in the form of an IFL (page 3–616) file. Procedures Changing One Material into Another 2. In the Create Material Preview dialog, set the Probably the easiest way to animate the change of one material into another is to create a Blend material (page 2–1588), make the two other materials its sub-materials, and then animate its Mix Amount parameter.
Copy (Instance) Map Dialog Start Frame—The frame number of the 3ds Max scene at which the bitmap animation begins to play. Playback Rate—Sets the bitmap’s playback rate. This value is a multiplier: 1.0 is one bitmap frame per scene frame, 2.0 is twice as fast, 3.33 is 1/3 as fast, and so on. Default=1.0. Sync Frames to Particle Age—When on, the software synchronizes the frames of a bitmap sequence to the age of particles to which the map is applied.
1452 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Swap—Swaps the maps. This option isn’t displayed Interface when you drag from one rollout to another. Copy or Swap Colors Dialog Material Editor > Basic Parameters rollout or Extended Parameters rollout or both > Drag one color swatch to another. The Copy or Swap Colors dialog is displayed when you copy a color by dragging and dropping a color swatch. It gives you the choice of copying the color or swapping the colors, trading one for the other.
Duplicate Name Dialog (Material Library) Image Size group Percent of Output—Specifies the resolution of the preview. This value is a percentage; 100 percent has a resolution of 101 x 99 pixels (the size of a sample slot in the 3 x 2 array). Default=100. Duplicate Name Dialog (Material Library) Material Editor > Get Material or Type button > Browse From group > Select Mtl Library. > File group > Open material library.
1454 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Procedures Material list—Shows the names of all materials in To merge all materials: the library or scene. • Click All. All—Selects all materials in the list. To select a single material to merge: None—Deselects all materials in the list. • Click the material’s name. To select materials to merge one by one: 1. Click a material’s name. 2.
Put to Library Dialog Interface Put to Library Dialog Material Editor > Put To Library The Put To Library dialog is displayed when you want to save the material in an active sample slot (page 2–1420) into a material library file. It lets you change the material’s name before you save it. Interface Time Output group These controls specify how many frames to render. Name—Shows the name of the material to save. You can edit this name to save it under a different name.
1456 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Files—Click to display a file dialog that lets you specify where to save the rendered map. When you click Save in the file dialog, you might see an additional dialog that gives you options specific to the file type you chose. These are the file formats available for a rendered map: Replace Map Dialog Material Editor > Go to a map level or a standalone map. > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Choose a compound map.
Update Scene Materials Dialog Interface Interface Discard old material—Discards the old material. Keep old material as sub-material—Retains the old material as a sub-material. Update Scene Materials Dialog Material Editor > Get Material > Material/Map Browser > Update Scene Materials from Library > Update Scene Materials dialog The Update Scene Materials dialog lets you use a library to update materials in the scene.
1458 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Standard material (page 2–1465) is the default material. This is a versatile surface model with a large number of options. • • Raytrace material (page 2–1512) can create fully raytraced reflections and refractions. It also supports fog, color density, translucency, fluorescence, and other special effects. Other material types fall into the category of Compound materials (page 2–1587).
SuperSampling Rollout The Material Editor replaces the original material. To change a material type: 1. At the level of a material, click the Type button below the Material Editor toolbar. A modal Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) is displayed. If you were at a material when you clicked Type, the Browser lists only materials (if you were at a map, it lists only maps). 2. Choose a material from the list, and then click OK.
1460 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps raytraced reflections and refractions all have their own preliminary antialiasing strategies. Supersampling is an additional step that provides a "best guess" color for each rendered pixel. The supersampler’s output is then passed on to the renderer, which performs a final antialiasing pass. Name Description Hammersley Spaces samples regularly along the X axis, but along the Y axis it spaces them according to a scattered, "quasi random" pattern.
mental ray Connection Rollout Interface Turning on Adaptive On can reduce the amount of time required to supersample. Default=on. Threshold—Controls the Adaptive methods. Use Global Settings—When on, the material uses the supersampling options set in the Default Scanline Renderer rollout (page 3–38). Default=on. Visible only for the Adaptive Halton and Adaptive Uniform methods.
1462 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface Note: Using a shader for the Surface component can result in a material whose appearance in mental ray renderings is completely different from the appearance it has in the sample slot, viewports, and scanline renderings. Basic Shaders group Surface—Shades the surface of objects that have this material. Default=locked to parent material.
mental ray Connection Rollout Shader Library Shader Library UV Generator (page 2–1724) 3ds Max DGS Material (page 2–1580) 3ds Max Water Surface lume 3ds Max Wet-Dry Mixer lume Dielectric Material Photon (page 2–1719) Edge lume Glow lume Material to Shader (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Metal lume Photon Basic base Translucency lume Transmat physics XYZ Generator (page 2–1729) 3ds Max Note: Unlike a standard 3ds Max material, if you assign the Surface component a bitmap with tiling turne
1464 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Volume—Assigns a volume shader (page 3–95). Shader Library The volume component can be assigned the following shaders: Width From Color contour Width From Light contour Shader Library Width From Light Dir contour Beam lume Light Map—Assigns a light map shader.
Standard Material See also DirectX 9 Shader Material (page 2–1613) Interface Standard Material Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Standard DX Display of Standard Material—When on, displays the active material as a DX shader. You can save the material as an FX file by clicking Save As .FX File. For full support of this feature, DX9 must be active.
1466 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Diffuse (page 3–929) is the color of the object in direct, "good" lighting. • Specular (page 3–1014) is the color of shiny highlights. Some shaders generate the specular color, rather than letting you choose it. • Filter (page 3–939) is the color transmitted by light shining through the object. The Filter color component isn’t visible unless the material’s Opacity is less than 100 percent.
Shader Basic Parameters Rollout Procedures To set a material’s shading type: 1. On the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, open the shader drop-down list. 2. Click the name of the shader type to use for the active material. To use Wire mode: • On the Shader Basic Parameters rollout, turn on Wire. The material is now shaded as a wireframe mesh. The wire portions of the geometry do not change; color components, shininess, and so on, remain the same.
1468 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Faceted—Renders each face of a surface as if it were flat. Understanding Shaders For standard materials, a shader is an algorithm that tells 3ds Max how to calculate surface rendering. Each shader has a unique set of characteristics in order to serve a particular purpose. Some are named for what they do well, such as the Metal shader. Others are named for the person who developed them, such as the Blinn and Strauss shaders.
Understanding Shaders object allows light to pass through, and also scatters light within the object. You can use translucency to simulate frosted and etched glass. • Phong: A classic shading method that was the first to enable specular highlights. Suitable for plastic surfaces. Comparing Shader Parameters A shader is an algorithm that tells the program how to calculate surface rendering. Each shader has a unique set of characteristics in order to serve a particular purpose.
1470 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Basic Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) Material Editor > Standard material > Basic Parameters rollout for the shader you’ve chosen The Basic Parameters rollouts for Standard materials contain controls that let you set the color of your material, the shininess, the transparency, and so on, and specify maps (page 3–968) to use for the various components of the material. Example: The Basic Parameters rollout for the Anisotropic shader.
Extended Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) • Self-Illumination (page 2–1487) makes a material appear lit from within. Self-illumination is not available for the Strauss shader (page 2–1483). • Opacity (page 2–1488) controls how opaque or transparent a material is. • Diffuse Level (page 2–1489) controls the brightness of the diffuse color component. Diffuse Level is available only for the Anisotropic (page 2–1480), Multi-Layer (page 2–1481), and Oren-Nayar-Blinn (page 2–1482) shaders.
1472 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface (page 3–1000) cast by transparent objects are tinted with the filter color. Advanced Transparency group These controls affect the opacity falloff (page 3–984) of a transparent material. Note: For the Translucent shader (page 2–1484), these controls do not appear. They are replaced by the Translucency controls (page 2–1491) on the Basic Parameters rollout. Falloff—Chooses whether falloff is in or out, and how great it is.
Extended Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) material and the medium the eye or the camera is in. Typically this is related to the object’s density; the higher the IOR, the denser the object. You can also use a map to control the index of refraction. IOR maps always interpolate between 1.0 (the IOR of air) and the setting in the IOR parameter. For example, if the IOR is set to 3.55 and you use a black-and-white Noise map to control IOR, the IORs rendered on the object will be set to values between 1.
1474 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Maps Rollout (Standard Material) Material Editor > Standard material > Maps rollout A material’s Maps rollout lets you access and assign maps (page 3–968) to various components of the material. You can choose from a large variety of map types. To find descriptions of these types, and how to set their parameters, see Map Types (page 2–1617).
Maps Rollout (Standard Material) values are blended with the value of the scalar component. When you load old 3ds Max files or bring earlier materials from the Browser into the Materials Editor, the spinner values for Opacity, Specular Level, Glossiness, and Self-Illumination are altered, where necessary, to maintain the equivalent material effect. Procedures To use the same map for different parameters: 1. In the Maps rollout, use a map button to assign a map.
1476 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps assign mapping coordinates by applying a UVW Map modifier (page 1–922). To view a map’s location: • Click Material/Map Navigator to view the Navigator. The Material/Map Navigator (page 2–1447) displays the hierarchy of the current material, which contains the map. To go to a map using the Navigator: 3. In the Material Editor, assign the mapped material to the object. 4.
Maps Rollout (Standard Material) maps (if you were at a material when you clicked Type, the Browser lists only materials). To turn a map off: • In the Maps rollout, turn off the map’s check box. 2. Choose a map type from the list, and then click OK. The check box is to the left of the map’s name. If you change a map type and the new map type can have component maps, a Replace Map dialog is displayed. This dialog gives you a choice between discarding the original map or using it as a component map.
1478 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface colors of the material without mapping) shows through.
Dynamics Properties Rollout Ambient and Diffuse Map Lock In the Maps rollout, the lock button to the right of the Diffuse Color map button locks ambient mapping to diffuse mapping. It is on by default. Usually it makes sense to use the same map for the ambient and diffuse components. To use different maps for ambient and diffuse, turn off the lock button. The map button for Ambient Color becomes available.
1480 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps See also Basic Material Shaders Anisotropic Shader Material Editor > Standard material > Shader Basic Parameters rollout > Anisotropic shader > Anisotropic Basic Parameters rollout Shader Basic Parameters Rollout (page 2–1466) Basic Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) (page 2–1470) Anisotropic Highlights (page 2–1492) Blinn Shader The Anisotropic shader creates surfaces with elliptical, "anisotropic" highlights.
Metal Shader See also Shader Basic Parameters Rollout (page 2–1466) Basic Parameters Rollout (Standard Material) (page 2–1470) Blinn, Oren-Nayar-Blinn, and Phong Highlights (page 2–1493) Metal Shader Material Editor > Standard material > Shader Basic Parameters rollout > Metal shader > Metal Basic Parameters rollout Metal shading provides realistic-looking metallic surfaces and a variety of organic-looking materials. Metal shading has a distinct curve for specular highlights.
1482 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 0, there is no difference at all. The highlight is circular, as in Blinn or Phong shading. When anisotropy is 100, the difference is at its maximum. In one direction the highlight is very sharp; in the other direction it is controlled solely by Glossiness.
Strauss Shader Blinn, Oren-Nayar-Blinn, and Phong Highlights (page 2–1493) Strauss Shader Material Editor > Standard material > Shader Basic Parameters rollout > Strauss shader > Strauss Basic Parameters rollout The Strauss shader is for modeling metallic surfaces. It uses a simpler model and has a simpler interface than the Metal shader (page 2–1481). 2. In the Color Selector, change the values of the color. As you change color values, the color also changes in the sample in the sample slot.
1484 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface Color—Controls the color of the material. This previewed against a pattern background (page 2–1433) in the sample slot. You can control opacity falloff (page 3–984) in the Extended Parameters. Default=100. Click the map button to assign a map to the opacity component. See Opacity Mapping (page 2–1503). This button is a shortcut: you can also assign opacity mapping in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474).
Color Controls both sides of the material receive diffuse light, though only one side is visible in renderings and shaded viewports unless you turn on 2-Sided (in the Shader Basic Parameters rollout). If you use radiosity (page 3–51), it will process light transmitted by translucency. The accuracy of this depends on the mesh: the more subdivided the faces are, the more accurate the solution will be (at a cost of processing time).
1486 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To lock two color components: 1. Click the lock button between Ambient and Diffuse or between Diffuse and Specular. The Material Editor displays an alert that asks whether you want to lock the two color components. 2. Click Yes. The color above replaces the color below. In other words, Ambient replaces Diffuse and Diffuse replaces Specular.
Self-Illumination Setting Copying and Locking Color Components For convenience in changing color components, the Material Editor lets you copy one color component to another by dragging, and to lock two color components together with the lock buttons to the left of the Ambient and Diffuse, and Diffuse and Specular color swatches. When you drag and drop a color swatch, the Copy or Swap Colors dialog (page 2–1452) asks if you want to copy the color or swap the two colors.
1488 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps combination with self-illumination. See Extended Parameters (page 2–1471). Interface Color check box—When on, the material uses a special self-illumination color. When off, the material uses the diffuse color for self-illumination, and displays a spinner to control the self-illumination amount. Default=off. An object that is self-illuminated using a percentage value and a color Procedure To make a material self-illuminating: 1.
Diffuse Level Click the map button to assign a map to the opacity component. See Opacity Mapping (page 2–1503). This button is a shortcut: you can also assign opacity mapping in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474). Diffuse Level Material Editor > Standard material > Anisotropic, Multi-Layer, or Oren-Nayar-Blinn Basic Parameters rollout > Diffuse Level group (unlabeled) or Advanced Diffuse group Controlling opacity using the Opacity setting (left) or an opacity map (right).
1490 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface Diffuse Level—Increasing this value increases diffuse brightness, and decreasing it reduces diffuse brightness without affecting the specular highlight. You can increase the diffuse level over and above the diffuse color’s Value (in its HSV description (page 3–1001)). This parameter can range from 0 to 400. Default=100. Click the map button to assign a map to the diffuse level parameter. See Diffuse Level Mapping (page 2–1499).
Translucency Setting Translucency Setting Interface Material Editor > Standard material > Shader Basic Parameters rollout > Translucent shader > Translucent Basic Parameters rollout > Translucency group The translucency controls are available for the Translucent shader (page 2–1484). Warning: Do not use shadow maps with the translucent shader. Shadow maps result in artifacts at the edge of translucent objects.
1492 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Specular Highlight Controls the less blending there is and the sharper the edge of the specular highlight.
Blinn, Oren-Nayar-Blinn, and Phong Highlights (page 2–1502). This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474). Anisotropy—Controls the anisotropy, or shape, of the highlight. At 0, the highlight is round. At 100, the highlight is extremely narrow. One axis of the Highlight graph changes to show changes in this parameter. Default=50. Orientation—Changes the orientation of the highlight. The sample slot shows changes in orientation.
1494 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps gets smaller and the material appears shinier. Default=25. Click the map button to assign a map to the glossiness component. See Glossiness Mapping (page 2–1502). This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474). Soften—Softens the effect of specular highlights, especially those formed by glancing light. When Specular Level is high and Glossiness is low, you can get harsh backlights on surfaces.
Multi-Layer Highlights Click the map button to assign a map to the specular level component. See Specular Level Mapping (page 2–1501). This button is a shortcut: you can also assign specular level mapping in the Maps (page 2–1474) rollout. Glossiness—Affects the size of the specular highlight. As you increase the value, the highlight curve grows narrower and the highlight gets smaller. Default=25. Click the map button to assign a map to the glossiness component. See Glossiness Mapping (page 2–1502).
1496 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface Anisotropy—Controls the anisotropy, or shape, of this highlight. At 0, the highlight is round. At 100, the highlight is extremely narrow. One axis of the Highlight graph changes to show changes in this parameter. Default=0. Orientation—Changes the orientation of this highlight. The sample slot shows changes in orientation. This is a value in degrees that can range from 0 to 9,999. Default=0.
Ambient Color Mapping the less blending there is and the sharper the edge of the specular highlight. To increase or decrease the size of a highlight: • Change the Glossiness value. The width of the Highlight curve and the highlight in the preview change. At 0% glossiness, the curve is at its maximum width. At 100% glossiness, the curve is extremely narrow. Interface Leave Backside Specular on to model materials like translucent plastic. Turn it off to model materials like frosted glass.
1498 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps If you do want to apply a separate ambient map, first click to turn off the lock button to the right of the long Map buttons in the Maps rollout (page 2–1474). This unlocks ambient and diffuse mapping. The Map button for ambient color becomes available. You can then click the ambient button to select a map.
Diffuse Level Mapping Procedure To map the diffuse color: 1. Make sure the ambient and diffuse components have their maps locked. This button is to the right of the map shortcut buttons for Ambient and Diffuse on the Basic Parameters rollout, and on the Maps rollout in a similar position. It is on by default. When it is on, the map button for the ambient color component is unavailable.
1500 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps rollout. When the Amount is 0 percent, the map isn’t used at all. Procedure To map the diffuse level value: 1. Click the Map button for Diffuse Level. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. Procedure To map the roughness value: 1. Click the Map button for Diffuse Roughness (Diff.
Specular Level Mapping Specular Level or Glossiness mapping, which alter the intensity and location of specular highlights, specular mapping alters the color of specular highlights. Procedure To map the specular color: 1. Click the Map button for Specular color. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. 3. Use the map controls to set up the map.
1502 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Glossiness Mapping Material Editor > Standard material > Maps rollout > Glossiness button Procedure To map the glossiness value: 1. Click the Map button for the Glossiness value. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. 3. Use the map controls to set up the map.
Opacity Mapping color component goes away), and does not receive shadows. Procedure To map the self-illumination value: 1. Click the Map button for Self-Illumination. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. 3. Use the map controls to set up the map. Opacity Mapping Setting the Amount to 0 is the equivalent of turning the map off.
1504 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps The filter, or transmissive color, is the color transmitted through transparent or semi-transparent materials such as glass. You can select a bitmap file or procedural map (page 3–997) to map the filter color component. This map applies a transparent-color effect based on the intensity of the map’s pixels.
Orientation Mapping Procedure To map the anisotropy value: 1. Click the Map button for Anisotropy. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. 3. Use the map controls to set up the map.
1506 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Metalness Mapping Material Editor > Standard material > Shader Basic Parameters rollout > Strauss shader > Maps rollout > Metalness button Procedure To map the metalness value: 1. Click the Map button for Metalness. The Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) is displayed. 2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK. The Material Editor is now at the map level, and displays controls for the map parameters. 3.
Bump Mapping Bump mapping uses the intensity of the map to affect the surface of the material. In this case, the intensity affects the apparent bumpiness of the surface: white areas protrude, and black areas recede. Use bump maps when you want to take the smoothness off a surface, or to create an embossed look. Keep in mind, however, that the depth effect of a bump map is limited. If you want extreme depth in a surface, you should use modeling techniques instead.
1508 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Reflection Mapping Material Editor > Standard material > Maps rollout > Reflection button move with the object, but with changes in the view, as do real reflections. The most common use of reflection maps in a realistic scene is to add just a touch of reflection to an otherwise non-reflective surface. By default, reflection map strength is 100 percent, as it is for other maps.
Refraction Mapping 2. In the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447), choose the Reflect/Refract map type, and then click OK. Adjusting the map’s Strength slider in the parent material’s Maps rollout controls how reflective the material is. At 100 percent, the material is fully reflective. To assign a bitmap as a reflection map: 1. In the Maps rollout, click the Map button labeled Reflection. In the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447), double-click Bitmap.
1510 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps in. Typically this is related to the object’s density. The higher the IOR, the denser the object. Material IOR Value Topaz 1.610 You can also use a map to control the index of refraction. IOR maps always interpolate between 1.0 (the IOR of air) and the setting in the IOR parameter. For example, if you set the IOR to 3.55 and use a black-and-white Noise map to control IOR, the IORs rendered on the object will be set to values between 1.0 and 3.
Displacement Mapping To assign a bitmap as a refraction map: 1. In the Maps rollout, click the Refraction map button. 2. Use the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1447) to choose the Bitmap type. 3. Use the file dialog to choose the bitmap file. For bitmapped refractions, you don’t necessarily want to reduce the map strength. The displacement Amount is measured as a percentage of the diagonal of the bounding box for the object that contains the patch or surface.
1512 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps mapping of an editable mesh can cause problems because of the way the underlying mesh is tessellated. (These problems don’t occur when you apply displacement mapping to a NURBS surface.) When this happens, smoothing does not work properly and you can see the underlying wireframe mesh in the surface itself. To correct this problem, use these techniques: • Avoid applying displacement mapping to large areas of a single color.
Raytrace Material surface shading that a standard material does. It can also create fully raytraced reflections and refractions. It also supports fog, color density, translucency (page 3–1027), fluorescence (page 3–942), and other special effects. The reflections and refractions Raytrace material generates are more accurate than those produced by the Reflect/Refract (page 2–1699) map. Rendering raytraced objects can be slower than using Reflect/Refract.
1514 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Raytrace Exclude/Include Dialog (page 2–1531) Raytrace Antialiaser Dialog: Fast Adaptive Antialiaser (page 2–1533) Raytrace Antialiaser Dialog: Multiresolution Adaptive Antialiaser (page 2–1534) Raytrace Basic Parameters Rollout Main toolbar > Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Raytrace > Basic Parameters rollout Menu bar > Tools menu > Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Raytrace > Basic Parameters rollout The
Raytrace Basic Parameters Rollout With pixels, wires maintains the same apparent thickness regardless of the scale of the geometry or how near or far the object is positioned. With units, the wires appear thinner at a distance and thicker at close range, as if they were modeled in the geometry. Face Map—Applies the material to the faces of the geometry. If the material is a mapped material, it requires no mapping coordinates (page 3–967). The map is automatically applied to each facet of the object.
1516 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Mono spinner—When the check box is off, the reflection color component is gray, and this spinner lets you adjust the gray value. • Fresnel—Clicking the check box a second time displays this option. When active, applies a Fresnel effect to the reflection. This can add a bit of refraction to the reflecting object, depending on the viewing angle of the object. Click the map button to assign a map to the reflect component.
Raytrace Basic Parameters Rollout 1.5, the object behind distorts greatly, like a glass marble. At an IOR slightly less than 1.0, the object reflects along its edges, like a bubble seen from under water. Default=1.0. Common IORs (assuming the camera is in air or a vacuum) are: Material IOR Value Vacuum 1.0 (exactly) Air 1.0003 Water 1.333 Glass 1.5 to 1.7 Diamond 2.
1518 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the surface of the raytraced object reflecting the lights in the scene. Changing the color or intensity of lights in the scene can change the appearance of specular highlights. As in standard materials, as you adjust the values in this group the highlight curve at the right changes to give you an idea of the effect. The material preview in the sample slot also updates.
Raytrace Extended Parameters Rollout Raytrace Extended Parameters Rollout Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Raytrace > Extended Parameters rollout The Extended Parameters rollout for a Raytrace material (page 2–1512) controls the material’s special effects, transparency properties, and advanced reflectivity. Interface Object with raytrace material using translucency and fluorescence Extra Lighting—Adds light to the surface of objects with the Raytrace material.
1520 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps with a projector light. On thicker objects, you can get some good wax-like effects. Fluorescence and Fluor. Bias—Creates an effect similar to black light on a black light poster. The light from a black light is largely ultraviolet, outside the visible spectrum. Under black light, fluorescent (page 3–942) paints flare or glow.
Raytracer Controls Rollout The Amount controls the amount of density color. Reducing this value reduces the density color effect. Range=0 to 1.0. Default=1.0. Render objects inside raytraced objects—Turns the rendering of objects inside raytraced objects on or off. Default=on. A thin piece of tinted glass is mainly clear, while a thick piece of the same glass has more color. The Start and End controls help you simulate this effect. They are expressed in world units.
1522 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface in the renderer’s G-buffer (page 3–946) on or off. Default=on. By default, Raytrace material and Raytrace map reflect effects assigned to a material’s ID, so that G-buffer effects are not lost. For example, if a raytraced object reflects a lamp made to glow with the Video Post Glow filter (Lens Effects Glow), the reflection glows as well. Raytracer Enable group Local Options group Enable Raytracing—Turns the raytracer on or off.
Raytrace Maps Rollout Raytraced Reflection and Refraction Antialiaser group Controls in this group let you override the global antialiasing settings for raytraced maps and materials. They are unavailable if antialiasing is turned off globally. To turn on antialiasing globally, choose Rendering > Raytrace Globals to display the Global Raytracer Settings dialog (page 2–1528).
1524 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps When you load old 3ds Max files or bring earlier materials from the Browser into the Materials Editor, the spinner values for Opacity, Specular Level, Glossiness, and Self-illumination are altered, where necessary, to maintain the equivalent material effect. Procedures To assign a map: 2. 3. Drag the assigned map button to another map button. The Copy (Instance) Map dialog (page 2–1451) is displayed. 4. Choose Copy or Instance, and then click OK.
Raytrace Maps Rollout To go to a map using the Navigator: • In the Material/Map Navigator (page 2–1447), click the name of the map, or the green or red parallelogram to the left of the map’s name. 5. The map appears on objects assigned the material in all shaded viewports. Now when you adjust the map, the viewports update to display the adjustments. The Navigator goes to the level of the map, and the Material Editor displays the controls for the map you clicked.
1526 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To change a map’s strength: • Adjust the map’s Amount spinner in the Maps rollout. The material’s sample slot reflects the change. If the new map type does not have components, it simply replaces the original map type. Interface Note: Adjusting a map’s output (in the map’s Output rollout) can also change the map’s strength. To move directly to an ancestor: 1. Click the arrow to the right of the map’s name (page 2–1448) field.
Raytrace Dynamics Properties Rollout Lock button—Locks the Environment map to the Transparency Environment map. When on, the Transparency Environment map controls are disabled, and a map applied to the Raytrace Environment applies to the Transparency Environment as well. When off, the Transparency Environment map controls are enabled, and the Transparency Environment can have a different map assigned to it. Default=on.
1528 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps friction near 1 is very difficult to create in the real world without adhesives or friction material. Sliding Friction—Sets how difficult it is for the object to keep moving over a surface. The higher this value, the more difficult for the object to keep moving. Default=0.0. these controls have no impact on the mental ray renderer, which has its own ray-tracing controls.
Raytracer Global Parameters Rollout Maximum Depth—Sets the maximum recursion depth. Increasing this value potentially increases the realism of your rendered scene, at a cost of rendering time. You can reduce this value to reduce rendering time. Range=0 to 100. Default=9. Cutoff Threshold—Sets a cutoff threshold for environment background, or is set locally in the Raytracer Parameters rollout (page 2–1704).
1530 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Fast Adaptive Antialiaser—Clicking ... displays the Fast Adaptive Antialiaser dialog (page 2–1533). • Multiresolution Adaptive Antialiaser—Clicking ... displays the Multiresolution Adaptive Antialiaser dialog (page 2–1534). Global Raytrace Engine Options group These options are comparable to the local options on Extended Parameters rollout (page 2–1519) and the Raytracer Controls rollout (page 2–1521).
Raytracing Acceleration Parameters Dialog Raytracing Acceleration Parameters Dialog Rendering menu > Raytracer Settings > Render Scene dialog > Raytracer panel > Raytracer Global Parameters rollout > Global Raytrace Engine Options group > Acceleration Controls button The controls in this dialog let you override the default acceleration values and specify your own requirements.
1532 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Tip: Another good use for exclusion can be when Exclude/Include—Choose whether raytracing will you are working on a scene where the world-space scale of objects is not realistic. For example, consider an animation of a space dog-fight, with a planet and its moon in the background. You would use a planet that was actually much smaller, relative to the fighters, than an actual planet.
Raytrace Antialiaser Dialog: Fast Adaptive Antialiaser Raytrace Antialiaser Dialog: Fast Adaptive Antialiaser Rendering menu > Raytracer Settings > Global Raytracer Settings dialog > Global Ray Antialiaser group > Turn on global antialiasing. > Choose Fast Adaptive Antialiaser from the drop-down list. > ...
1534 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Raytrace Antialiaser Dialog: Multiresolution Adaptive Antialiaser Interface Rendering menu > Raytracer Settings > Render Scene dialog > Raytracer panel > Raytracer Global Parameters rollout > Raytracer Global Parameters > Global Ray Antialiaser group > Turn on global antialiasing. > Choose Multiresolution Adaptive Antialiaser from the drop-down list. > ...
Architectural Material Blur Aspect—This is an aspect ratio that changes the shape of the blur. Usually you will not need to change it. Default=1.0. Tip: If you see aliasing that occurs mostly along horizontal lines, try increasing Blur Aspect to 1.5. This changes the shape of the blurred effect. The reverse is also true. If aliasing occurs mostly along vertical lines, try decreasing Blur Aspect to 0.5. Defocusing—Defocusing is a blur based on distance.
1536 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps mental ray Connection Rollout (page 2–1461) Templates Rollout Material Editor > Architectural material > Templates rollout The Templates rollout gives you a list of material types to choose from. A template is simply a set of preset parameters for the Physical Qualities rollout, which approximates the kind of material you want to create, and gives you a starting point.
Physical Qualities Rollout • Click to turn on Set Luminance From Light (below the Luminance setting), then in a viewport, click the light. After you choose the light, the button turns off once more. Tip: If you are using a radiosity solution (page 3–51), make sure to turn on Emit Energy (Based On Luminance) for any material whose luminance is greater than zero. This control is on the Advanced Lighting Override rollout (page 2–1540).
1538 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Transparency—Controls how transparent the material is. This value is a percentage: at 100.0, the material is completely transparent; at lower values, the material is partly opaque; and at 0.0, the material is completely opaque. In the physical world, the IOR results from the relative speeds of light through the transparent material and the medium the eye or the camera is in.
Special Effects Rollout Special Effects Rollout Material Editor > Architectural material > Special Effects rollout When you create a new Architectural material (page 2–1535) or edit an existing one, the settings on the Special Effects rollout let you assign maps that create bumps or displacement, adjust light intensity, or control transparency. Displacement controls—These controls assign a displacement map (page 2–1511) to the material.
1540 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps While a map is assigned to the material, its name appears as the map button’s label. Advanced Lighting Override Rollout Material Editor > Architectural material > Advanced Lighting Override rollout • Amount spinner—The spinner at the left sets the amount of intensity mapping to use. At 100.0, intensity mapping has its greatest effect; at lower amounts, the effect is less pronounced; at 0.0, the map has no effect; and at values less than 0.
Advanced Lighting Override Rollout Left: Excessive bleeding of the floor color onto the walls and ceiling. Right: Reducing the floor’s Reflectance Scale causes less bleeding. • You might want to increase Reflectance Scale when the scene includes a large dark area (for example, a black floor). This can lead to a very dark radiosity result. You can maintain the floor’s color but increase reflectance, giving the solution the colors you want while increasing its brightness.
1542 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps increase luminance because the object really glows (for example a neon light tube), then you should turn on Emit Energy, so that the object contributes light to the scene. Tip: Don’t use this control to increase self-illumination. Use the material’s Luminance instead. The Luminance control is on the Physical Qualities rollout (page 2–1536). Color Bleed Scale—Increases or decreases the saturation of reflected color. Range=0.0 to 100.0. Default=100.0.
mental ray Materials 2. In the Browser, choose NONE as the map type, and then click OK. The map is removed. mental ray Materials The gray levels of a cutout map determine the amount of transparency. Procedure 3ds Max comes with several materials created specifically for use with the mental ray renderer (page 3–78). These materials are visible in the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) when mental ray is the active renderer.
1544 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps The subsurface scattering materials, supported by a shader library from mental images, can model skin and similar organic materials. Note: When you wire the parameters of an object with a mental ray material assigned, names of material parameters might differ from those in the Material Editor interface. Also, parameters not supported by 3ds Max might appear as blanks in the wiring menu.
Material Shaders Rollout (mental ray Material) the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) so you can assign a particular shader to the component. Basic Shaders group Surface—Shades the surface of objects that have this material.
1546 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Shader Library 1 Ambient/Reflective Occlusion base (see note, below) Bump (page 2–1716) 3ds Max DGS Material (page 2–1580) 3ds Max Dielectric base Dielectric Material (page 2–1719) 3ds Max Edge lume Facade lume Glass lume Glow lume Landscape lume Material to Shader (page 2–1723) 3ds Max a material that uses the older version of the shader, that same version is still used in the scene, and the shader is renamed "Ambient/Reflectiv
Material Shaders Rollout (mental ray Material) Shader Library Shader Library Shader Library Ocean lume DGS Material (page 2–1580) 3ds Max Shader List (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Dielectric Material Photon (page 2–1719) 3ds Max Edge lume Glow lume Material to Shader (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Metal lume Photon Basic base SSS Physical Material subsurface scattering Translucency lume Transmat physics Photon Volume—Assigns a photon volume shader.
1548 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Shader Library Material to Shader (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Contour—Assigns a contour shader (page 3–96) to the material. Shader List (page 2–1723) 3ds Max The contour component can be assigned the following shaders: Optimization group Flag Material as Opaque—When on, indicates that the material is fully opaque.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) Templates rollout Arch & Design Material (mental ray) Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Arch & Design Material Material Editor > any material > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Car Paint Shader Note: The Car Paint material and shader appear in the Browser only if the mental ray renderer is the currently active renderer.
1550 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Diffuse group Diffuse Level—Diffuse Level (page 2–1489) controls the brightness of the diffuse color component. Range=0.0 to 1.0. Default=1.0. Note: Because the material is energy conserving, the actual diffuse level used depends on the reflectivity and transparency, as discussed in the introductory section, above. This value is the maximum value; the actual value also depends on the angle of the surface and comes from the BRDF curve.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) Glossy Samples—Defines the maximum number of samples (rays) that mental ray shoots to create glossy reflections. Higher values cause slow rendering but create a smoother result. Lower values render faster but create a grainier result. Generally 32 is enough for most cases. Available only when Glossiness does not equal 1.0. Because a Glossiness value of 1.
1552 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Refraction group Transparency—Defines the level of refraction. Range=0.0 to 1.0. Default=0.0. Due to the material’s energy-conserving nature, the value set in the Transparency parameter is the maximum value; the actual value depends on the reflectivity as well as the BRDF curve. Color—Defines the color of refraction.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) The leftmost cup looks completely unrealistic and is almost invisible. Because an IOR of 1.0, which equals that of air, is impossible in solid matter, we get no change in reflectivity across the material and hence perceive no edges or changes of any kind. On the other hand, the center and rightmost cups have realistic changes in reflectivity guided by the IOR.
1554 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Anisotropy group Anisotropy—Controls the anisotropy, or shape, of the highlight. At 1.0, the highlight is round; that is, no anisotropy. At 0.01, the highlight is elongated. One axis of the highlight graph changes to show changes in this parameter. Default=1.0. If the Map Channel setting is Automatic, the base rotation follows the object’s local coordinate system.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) material’s index of refraction. This is known as Fresnel reflections and follows the behavior of most dielectric materials such as water and glass. Special Effects rollout • Custom Reflectivity Function—When chosen, the following settings determine reflectivity based on angle of view. • 0 deg. refl.—Defines the reflectivity for surfaces directly facing the viewer (or incident ray). • 90 deg. refl.—Defines the reflectivity of surfaces perpendicular to the viewer.
1556 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps ambient light” that is then attenuated by the AO effect to create shadows. Left: Higher Max Distance value; Left: Lower Max Distance value Use AO as Detail Enhancement for GI/FG—Applies short-distance AO, multiplying it with the existing indirect illumination (Final Gathering or GI/photons) to bring out small details.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) Reflections group Max Distance—Allows limiting reflections to a certain distance, which both speeds up rendering and avoids pulling distant objects into extremely glossy reflections. Fade to end color—When on, reflections fade Objects in molten chocolate Advanced Rendering Options rollout These parameters define performance-boosting options. to this color. When off, reflections fade to the environment color.
1558 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Max Distance—Allows limiting refraction to a certain distance. Color at Max Distance—When on, the material simulates physically correct absorption. At the distance specified by Max Distance, the refracted image has the color given by Color At Max Distance, but the rays are not limited in reach. At twice the distance, the influence of Color At Max Distance is double, at half the distance half, etc. When off, transparency rays simply fade to black.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) When Caustics are enabled, transparent objects:—When not rendering caustics, the Arch & Design material uses a shadow shader to create transparent shadows. For objects such as window panes this is perfectly adequate, and actually creates a better result than using caustics, because the direct light is allowed to pass more or less undisturbed through the glass into a space such as a room.
1560 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Note that interpolation can cause artifacts. Because it is done on a low-resolution grid, it can lose details. And because it blends neighbors of this low-resolution grid, it can cause oversmoothing. For this reason it is useful primarily with flat surfaces. Interpolation does not work well with wavy, highly detailed surfaces or surfaces that use bump maps.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) best used together with a local, “pre-blurred" environment map. You can do the pre-blurring in an image-processing program or with the Material Editor > Coordinates rollout (page 2–1625) > Blur and Blur Offset settings.
1562 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps parameter’s shader, using the check box, without removing the map. Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Overview Left: Do Not Apply Bumps ...=off; Right: Do Not Apply Bumps ...=on Displacement—Lets you apply a displacement map and multiplier. Cutout—Lets you apply an opacity map to This topic serves as an introduction to the Arch & Design material for mental ray.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Overview The major features are: • Easy to use, yet flexible - controls are arranged logically in a most-used-first fashion. • Templates - allow fast access to settings combinations for common materials. • Physically accurate - the material is energy conserving, making it impossible to create shaders that break the laws of physics. • Glossy performance - advanced performance boosts including interpolation, emulated glossiness, and importance sampling.
1564 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the renderer appear in a correct linear manner on screen. However, because the response of photographic film isn’t linear either, users find that this theoretically correct value looks too bright and washed out. A common compromise is to render to a gamma of 1.8, making things look more photographic; that is, as if the image had been shot on photographic film and then developed.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Overview mental ray material) to be able to work properly, it is imperative that the energy of these photons to match the direct light cast by that same light. And since photons model light in a physical manner, decay is built in. Hence, when using GI: • Light sources must emit photons at the correct energy. • The direct light must decay in a physically correct way to match the decay of the photons.
1566 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Transparency takes energy from diffuse; that is, at 100% transparency, there is no diffuse at all. • Reflectivity takes energy from both diffuse and transparency; that is, at 100% reflectivity there is neither diffuse nor transparency. • Translucency is a type of transparency, and the Translucency Weight parameter defines the percentage of transparency vs. translucency. Many materials exhibit this behavior.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Overview Transparency features The material supports full glossy anisotropic transparency and includes a translucent component, described in detail here (page 2–1553). Solid vs. thin-walled transparency and translucency Translucency Solid vs. Thin-Walled The transparency/translucency property can treat objects as either solid or thin-walled.
1568 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps by other surfaces, and bright areas that are exposed to the environment. • Traditional AO for adding an omnipresent ambient light that is then attenuated by the AO to create details. • Use AO for detail enhancement together with existing indirect lighting methods such as Final Gathering or photons.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Tips & Tricks Performance Features Finally, the Arch & Design material contains a large set of built-in functions for optimal performance, including but not limited to: • Advanced importance sampling with ray rejection thresholds • Adaptive glossy sample count • Interpolated glossy reflection/refraction with detail enhancements • Ultra-fast emulated glossy reflections (Highlights+FG Only mode) • The option to ignore internal reflections for glass objects • The choice b
1570 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps for reflections, but if they are very weak, the viewer can often not really tell. • For moderately blurry surfaces, set an even lower Reflection Glossiness value and maybe increase the Reflection Glossy Samples value. Again, for improved performance turn on Fast (interpolate). • For extremely blurry surfaces or surfaces with very weak reflections, try turning on Highlights+FG Only. A typical wooden floor could use Reflection Glossiness of 0.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Tips & Tricks outer sphere. Don’t forget to flip the normals of such surfaces or they will not render correctly. With a blue refraction color: Glass with color changes at the surface The problems are evident: • The two glass blocks are of different thicknesses, yet they are exactly the same level of blue. • The inner sphere is darker than the outer one. Why does this happen? Consider a light ray that enters a glass object.
1572 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the more widely used Simple shadow mode. But if it is not used, the shadow intensity will not take the attenuation through the media into account properly. However, the image might still look pleasing. Water and Liquids Water, like glass, is a dielectric with an IOR of 1.33. Hence, the same principles as for glass (above) apply to bodies of water, which truly need to refract their environment. An example is water running from a tap.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Tips & Tricks the glass and an IOR of 1.5, and a second, closed surface for the liquid, with the normals pointing outward and an IOR of 1.33, leaving a small air gap between the container and the liquid. In the most common case of an interface with air, the IOR to use is the IOR of the media (because the IOR of air is 1.0), whereas in an interface between two different media, the situation is different.
1574 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To make an ocean surface with the Arch & Design material, follow these steps: 1. Set Diffuse Level to 0.0, Reflectivity to 1.0, and Transparency to 0.0. That’s right: No refraction is necessary. 2. Set IOR to 1.33 and turn on By IOR (fresnel reflections). Apply an interesting wobbly shader to Bump (Ocean (lume) works well here) and your ocean is basically done. This ocean has reflections guided only by the IOR. But this might work fine; try it.
Arch & Design Material (mental ray) – Tips & Tricks and the diffuse shading, both driven by the same color. For example, an aluminum material would need a bit of diffuse blended in, whereas chrome would not. Many small adjacent cylinders Gold, silver, and copper Brushed Metal Brushed metal is an interesting special case. In some cases, creating a brushed metal requires only turning down the Reflection Glossiness to a level where you obtain a very blurred reflection.
1576 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps choosing this method is that it works well with interpolation. 1. Create a map for the brush streaks. The possible ways to do this include painting a map in a paint program, or using a Noise map that has been stretched heavily in one direction. The map should vary between middle-gray and white. 2. Apply this map to the Reflection Color in a scale suitable for the brushing. 3.
Car Paint Material/Shader (mental ray) Interface Light facing color bias—The falloff rate of the color Diffuse coloring rollout towards the light. Higher values make the colored region facing the light smaller/narrower; lower values make it larger/wider. The useful range is 0.0 to approximately 10.0, where the value 0.0 turns the effect off.
1578 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps glittery reflections of, for example, an HDRI environment. The value 0.0 turns the effect off. This effect should generally be very subtle; a value of 0.1 is often enough. The final intensity of reflections also depends on the Flake Color and Flake Weight values. Flake specular exponent—The Phong specular exponent for the flakes. Flake density—The density of the flakes. The useful range is from 0.1 to approximately 10.
Car Paint Material/Shader (mental ray) Specular exponent #2—The Phong exponent of Glossy reflections spread—Sets the amount of Specular Color #2. glossiness. Cars are generally near-mirrors so this value should be kept small. Glazed specularity #1—Enables a special mode on the primary specular highlight called glazing. By applying a threshold to the specular highlight, it makes the surface appear more polished and shiny. For a new sports car with a lot of wax, turn this on.
1580 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Irradiance weight (indirect illumination)—The Interface influence of indirect light (photons and final gathering) on the surface. It is internally divided by pi (3.14159); for example, a value of 1.0 means the standard 1.0/pi weight. Parameters rollout Global weight—A global tuning parameter that affects the entire diffuse, flake, and specular subsystems. It does not affect reflections or dirt.
DGS Material (mental ray) Warning: You can set the value of Transparency to be greater than 1.0, but this has no effect. An anomaly of the user interface for shaders in the mental ray and lume libraries is that spinner values are not “clamped” to lie within their effective ranges, as they are for controls in 3ds Max. The value of Transparency also indirectly specifies the reflectivity of the material, which is calculated as 1.0 minus the Transparency value. Index Of Refraction—Specifies the IOR.
1582 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Shader Library Transmat physics Transparency base Two Sided base UV Generator (page 2–1724) 3ds Max Water Surface lume Wet-Dry Mixer lume create a physically accurate model of this situation, use three glass materials: one for the glass itself, one for the alcohol, and a third material for the surfaces where they touch each other. For this third material, set the “inside” IOR to 1.3, and the outside IOR to 1.5.
Subsurface Scattering (SSS) Materials Outside Light Persistence—In conjunction with the Persistence Distance, controls the percentage of light transmitted on the other side of a surface. When set to the default of black, this control has no effect. See the section “Adjacent Refractive Materials,” above. Default=black (R=G=B=0.0). Index Of Refraction (out)—Sets the IOR on the other side of a surface. When set to the default of zero, this control has no effect.
1584 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Note: The SSS Physical Material can also be used as a shader for the Surface and Photon components of a mental ray material (page 2–1544). For a downloadable tutorial offering a practical demonstration of using the SSS Fast Skin material, see this Web page . Light Controls for the SSS Physical Material The SSS Physical material includes light controls that correspond to the lights array in the parameters for the misss_physical shader.
Matte/Shadow Material Example: To see the effect of Affect Alpha and Matte Reflection: 1. Create a scene with one or more objects on a box platform, and one or more shadow-casting spotlights. Tip: If you use only one spotlight, increase its Multiplier value. 2. Assign a Matte/Shadow material to the box, and render the scene with default Matte/Shadow parameters (Opaque Alpha is on, and Affect Alpha is off). 3. In the rendered frame window (page 3–5) that is displayed, click Display Alpha Channel.
1586 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface and then renders its shadows. In this case, the shadows won’t be lightened by the fog. If you want to lighten the shadows, you need to turn up the shadow brightness. At Object Depth—This is the 3D method. The renderer first renders the shadows, and then fogs the scene. Since this varies the amount of fog over the 3D matte surface, the generated matte/alpha channels don’t blend perfectly into the background.
Compound Materials your shadows against a background image, such as video. It lets you tint your shadows to match pre-existing shadows in the image. Reflection group Controls in this group determine whether the matte surfaces can have reflections. You create matte reflections using a shadow map. Tip: Matte reflections don’t successfully create an alpha channel unless you render them against a black background. Amount—Controls the amount of reflection to use.
1588 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Procedure To have the Browser list only materials: • At the top of the Show group, leave Materials on and turn off Maps. Note: This option is available only at the material level in the Material Editor. A Replace Map (page 2–1456) dialog is displayed. This dialog asks whether you want to discard the original material in the slot, or retain it as a sub-material. Blend materials have similar controls to Mix maps.
Composite Material is visible; when it is close to full intensity, the other component is visible. Material 2. Use the check box to turn the mask map on or off. Tip: Using a Noise map for the mixing map can Mix Amount—Determines the proportion of the give good effects that have a natural appearance. blend (percentage). 0 means only Material 1 is visible on the surface; 100 means only Material 2 is visible. Unavailable if you have assigned a mask map and the mask’s check box is on.
1590 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Note: If even one sub-material has its shading set to Wire (see Shader Basic Parameters Rollout (page 2–1466)), the entire material displays and renders as a wire material. Interface ASM buttons—These buttons control how the material is composited. Default=A. A—When on, this material uses additive opacity (page 3–906). Colors in the material are summed based on their opacity. S—When on, this material uses subtractive opacity (page 3–1017).
Double-Sided Material Double-Sided Material Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Double-Sided To choose the outer material: • Click the button labeled Facing Material. The parameters for the sub-material are displayed. By default, a sub-material is a Standard material with Blinn shading. To choose the inner material: 1. Go back to the parent material (parameters for the Double-Sided material). 2. On the Double-Sided Basic Parameters rollout, click the button labeled Back Material.
1592 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the inner material "bleeds through" and is visible on outer faces. Default=0.0. You can animate this parameter. Facing Material and Back Material—Click to display the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) and choose a material for one side or the other. Use the check boxes to turn the materials on or off.
Morpher Material 5. Open the Material Editor, and click Pick Material from Object (the eyedropper), then click the sphere in the viewports. The Material Editor displays the Morpher material parameters. 6. On the Morpher Material Parameters rollout, click the Mat 1 slot. 7. On the Material/Map Browser choose Standard. 8. On the Basic Parameters rollout, click the Diffuse color swatch. 9. On the Color Selector, choose a bright yellow, and close the color selector. Leave the Material Editor open. 10.
1594 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Mixing Calculation Options group The system can slow down if there are many active materials being blended. Options in this group allow you to control when the morph result will be computed. Constantly—Choose to compute the material morph result all the time. When Rendering—Choose to compute the material morph result at render time. Never Calculate—Choose to bypass material Name Field—Displays the name of object to which blending.
Multi/Sub-Object Material the fly. See Drag and Drop Sub-Object Material Assignment (page 2–1424). 3. In the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412), choose Multi/Sub-Object and then click OK. A Replace Map dialog (page 2–1456) is displayed. This dialog asks whether you want to discard the original material in the slot, or retain it as a sub-material. You can also create a new Multi/Sub-Object material by dragging to faces selected with the Edit Mesh modifier (page 1–634).
1596 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 5. Apply a Material modifier (page 1–714), and set the material ID value to the number of the sub-material you want to assign. The viewport updates to show the sub-material assigned to the selected faces. The material ID values in the Multi/Sub-Object material and the material ID numbers in the Select Face rollout correspond.
Shellac Material undo Set Number when you have used it to delete materials. same ID, a warning message appears at the top of the rollout. Add—Click to add a new sub-material to the list. By default, the new sub-material’s ID number is one greater than the highest material ID already in use. When the Multi/Sub-Object material is applied to an object, faces in the object assigned the same material ID number render with this sub-material.
1598 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps A Shellac Color Blend parameter controls the amount of color mixing. Interface Base Material—Goes to the level of the base sub-material. By default, the base material is a Standard material with Blinn shading. Shellac Material—Goes to the level of the shellac material. By default, the shellac material is a Standard material with Blinn shading. Shellac Color Blend—Controls the amount of color mixing. At 0.0, the shellac material has no effect.
Top/Bottom Material Top/Bottom Material Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Top/Bottom to discard the original material in the slot, or retain it as a sub-material. The Top/Bottom material controls let you choose the two materials, and also the transition between them. To choose the top or bottom material: • On the Top/Bottom Basic Parameters rollout, click the Top Material button or the Bottom Material button. The parameters for the sub-material appear.
1600 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Coordinates group Controls in this group let you choose how the software determines the boundary between top and bottom. World—Faces point up or down according to the scene’s world coordinates. When you rotate the object, the boundary between top and bottom faces remains in place. The Shell material is a container for other materials, like Multi/Sub-Object. It also lets you control which material is used in which renderings.
Advanced Lighting Override Material material (upper button) or the baked material (lower button). Render—Use these buttons to choose which material appears in renderings: the original material (upper button) or the baked material (lower button). Advanced Lighting Override Material Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > Advanced Lighting Override This material lets you directly control the radiosity properties of a material.
1602 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Tip: Check the reflectance and transmittance display (page 2–1430) to get an idea of how the current material will affect the radiosity solution or light-traced rendering. Procedures To adjust a material’s reflectance and transmittance: 1. Create a material for your scene. 2.
Advanced Lighting Override Material Interface Color Bleed—Increases or decreases the saturation of reflected color. Range=0.0 to 1.0. Default=1.0. Color Bleed increases or decreases the saturation of reflected color. Transmittance Scale—Increases or decreases the amount of energy the material transmits. Range=0.1 to 5.0. Default=1.0. Override Material Physical Properties group These parameters directly control the base material’s advanced lighting properties.
1604 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps zero, no bump mapping is done for indirect light. Increasing Indirect Light Bump Scale increases the bump effect under indirect lighting. This value does not affect the Bump amount in areas where the base material is lit directly. Cannot be less than zero. Default=1.0. Interface Tip: This parameter is useful because indirect bump mapping is simulated and not always accurate. Indirect Light Bump Scale lets you adjust the effect by hand.
Ink ’n Paint Material Exterior Scene—Used for exterior daylight simulations. Note: The default value is exactly the same as the values set in the Import Lightscape Solution dialog. Apply Changes to All Lightscape Materials—Determines whether or not the changes you make in this dialog are applied to every Lightscape Radiosity material. Default=off. Disable Radiosity—Determines whether or not the radiosity is calculated.
1606 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 1. Collect the objects for cartoon rendering into a single surface model such as an Editable Mesh. 2. Assign different material ID values (page 3–969) to portions of the model you want to color differently. Typically, you would do this at the Element sub-object level, although you can certainly apply different material IDs to faces and polygons as well. 3. Create a Multi/Sub-Object material (page 2–1594).
Ink ’n Paint Material Fog BG when not painting—When paint is turned off, the painted areas of the material color are the same as the background. This toggle, when on, lets the background in paint areas be affected by fog between the camera and the object. Default=off. Turning off this component makes the object invisible, except for the ink. Default=on. Opaque alpha—When on, the alpha channel is opaque even if ink or paint is turned off. Default=off. Bump—Adds bump mapping to the material.
1608 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Increasing glossiness decreases the size of the highlight. Color component controls: These are the controls that are duplicated for each of the paint components. Each has an on/off toggle, a main control, and then on the right, a set of map controls. Increasing the value of Shaded increases the saturation of the shaded area. You can also use Shaded to assign a distinct color for shading. Highlight—The color of the specular highlight. Default=white.
Ink ’n Paint Material Mapping the Lighted component Right rear: The original, unmapped material Left: Lighted component with a falloff map applied Right front: Lighted component with a bitmap applied • Map check box—The check box between the spinner and the button enables or disables the map. Default=off until a map is assigned, then on. • Map button—Click the button to assign a map to this component. While a map is assigned and enabled, at 100 percent it completely overrides the main color component.
1610 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Width is on, the Max (maximum) spinner is also enabled, and the ink width can vary between the minimum and maximum values. Default: Min=2.0, Max=4.0. Left: One-pixel ink width Middle: Five-pixel ink width Right: Ink width varies from one to five pixels. Variable Width—When on, the ink’s width can vary between the minimum and maximum Ink Width values. Ink with Variable Width looks a bit more streamlined than ink with a constant width. Default=off.
Ink ’n Paint Material always remain between the Min and Max values, regardless of the lighting. Default=off. Outline—The ink where the outer edges of the object appear against the background or in front of a different object. Default=on. Underlap—Similar to Overlap, but applies ink to the farther surface rather than the nearer one. Default=off. • Underlap Bias—Use this to adjust artifacts that might appear in ink that traces the underlap.
1612 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Intersection Bias—When Only Adjacent Faces is turned off, use this to adjust any artifacts that appear at the boundary between two objects with different material IDs. Default=0.0. Map controls—There are map controls for each of the ink components: Width, Outline, Overlap, Underlap, SmGroup, and Mat ID. These work the same as they do for the material’s paint components, as described above. The Overlap bias is probably too high. Decrease it.
DirectX 9 Shader Material DirectX 9 Shader Material Material Editor > Type button > Material/Map Browser > DirectX 9 Shader Note: Typically, this material is visible in the Browser only if DirectX 9 is available on your system, and you are using the Direct3D display driver with DirectX 9.0 chosen as the Direct3D version. If this material is not visible, you can see it (in gray) by turning on Incompatible in the Show group.
1614 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Mapping Channel—Shows the map channel (page DirectX Viewport Shaders 3–966) this texture uses. Light Map group LightMap Shader Rollout Material Editor > Viewport Manager rollout > Choose LightMap from the drop-down list. > LightMap Shader rollout appears. When you have chosen LightMap as the DirectX viewport shader (page 2–1464), this rollout appears. The LightMap shader can display both a base texture and a lighting map.
Metal Bump Shader Rollout Interface See the section “Map Controls,” below, for a description of the individual controls. Use Alpha—When on, displays the alpha channel. When off, does not. Default=off. Mix Amount—Adjusts the mixing of the two texture maps in shaded viewports. Specular group Enable—When on, enables specular highlights for the object. Default=off. Specular Color—Specifies a specular color for the object. Click the color swatch to display a Color Selector and choose a color. Default=white.
1616 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Reflection Intensity—Adjusts the intensity of Note: If an XRef object has a material applied to it reflections in shaded viewports. in the original source file (and Merge Materials is turned off when you reference the source file), then that material is automatically externally referenced in the scene, and can be loaded in the Material Editor if you browse from the scene.
Types of Maps File name display—Displays the file name only, without the path. Path button—Click to display the Open File dialog from which you can specify a different path and file name for the source file. After you choose the file, 3ds Max displays the XRef Merge dialog (page 3–406) that lets you choose the object whose material you want to reference. Accessing Map Types You use the Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) to load a map or create a map of a particular type.
1618 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps bitmaps; other kinds of 2D maps are generated procedurally. • 3D maps (page 2–1662) are patterns generated procedurally in three dimensions. For example, Marble has a grain that goes through the assigned geometry. If you cut away part of an object with Marble assigned as its texture, the interior matches the exterior. • Compositors (page 2–1687) are for compositing other colors or maps.
Real-World Mapping mapping coordinates. You can also use UVW Map to change an object’s default mapping. See Mapping Coordinates (page 2–1405). UVW Mapping Coordinate Channels Each object can have from 1 to 99 UVWmapping coordinate channels. The default mapping (from the Generate Mapping Coordinates toggle) is always UVW 1. The UVW Map modifier can send coordinates to any of these channels.
1620 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Bitmap, provide a Use Real-World Scale check box on the Coordinates rollout (page 2–1625). Like Real-World Map Size, this check box is off by default, but when on, the U/V parameter names change to Width/Height and the Tiling label changes to Size. You can then specify the horizontal/vertical offsets and size of the texture map in current system units (page 3–850).
Output Rollout Output Rollout Material Editor > Select sample slot. > Get Material > Material/Map Browser > Turn on 2D Maps and 3D Maps. > Choose a map type (Bitmap, Cellular, Falloff, Gradient, Gradient Ramp, Mix, Noise, or Output). > Double-click a map type to apply it to sample slot. > Output rollout (displayed near the bottom of the Material Editor) After applying a map and setting its internal parameters, you can adjust its output parameters to determine the final appearance of the map.
1622 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps without affecting the Diffuse colors, adjust this value, which changes the amount of bumpiness without affecting the map’s use in other material components. Color Map group At the bottom of the Output rollout, the Color Map group is inactive until you turn on Enable Color Map. automatically constrained as they are when you manually move or scale a point. You can zoom into the graph to make detailed adjustments.
Missing Map Coordinates Dialog Bezier smooth point, you can scale the point itself or either handle. As with the move controls, scale is limited by the unselected points on either side. Add Point flyout Adds a Bezier corner point anywhere on the graph line. The point makes a sharp angle when moved. Adds a Bezier smooth point anywhere on the graph line. Handles attached to the point create smooth curves when moved.
1624 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps references bitmaps that can’t be found in their original location, or are at a location not specified via the Configure User Paths dialog (page 3–808). To open the MAX file, click the Browse button on the Missing Map Coordinates dialog. This opens the Configure User Paths dialog so you can assign one or more paths for the MAX file to access. These settings are then stored with the MAX file.
Coordinates Rollout (2D) Coordinates Rollout (2D) Material Editor > Select sample slot. > Get Material > Material/Map Browser > Turn on 2D Maps. > Double-click a map type to apply it to sample slot. > Coordinates rollout is displayed on the Material Editor. As with tiling, you can mirror in the U dimension, the V dimension, or both. The Tiling parameter for each dimension specifies how many copies of the map are shown. Each copy is flipped relative to its neighbors.
1626 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Decals • Tiling values less than one increase the size of the map relative to the object. For example, a value of 0.5 maps half of the bitmap. Decals are useful for mapping single designs, small elements such as stickers, or light switches. A 2D map used as a decal appears only once and is not repeated as with tiling.
Coordinates Rollout (2D) Changing the Tiling value changes the size of the mapped bitmap as it does when you tile the map, but with Mirror and Tile turned off, the bitmap appears only once. 4. Adjust the U and V Offset parameters to position the decal. Note: You can also use the Parameters rollout’s Cropping and Placement controls to achieve a decal effect. To offset the position of a map: • On the Coordinates rollout, set the U and V values to be between 0.0 and 100, or between -100 and 0.0.
1628 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Mapping list—Options vary depending on choice of Texture or Environ mapping: Back is turned on or not. To override this, turn off Tiling. • Explicit Map Channel—Uses any map channel. When selected, the Map Channel field becomes active, and you can choose any channel from 1 to 99. Use Real-World Scale—When turned on, applies the map to objects using the real-world Width and Height values instead of UV values. Default=on.
Coordinates Rollout (2D) When Use Real-World Scale is off Offset (Width/Height)—Move the map horizontally or vertically along the width or height of the object to which the material is applied. The offset distance is relative to the lower-left corner of the map. UV/VW/WU—Changes the mapping coordinate Offset (UV )—Changes the position of the map in UV coordinates (page 3–1028). The map moves in relation to its size.
1630 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the arcball used to rotate viewports, although dragging inside the circle rotates along all three axes, and dragging outside it rotates about the W axis only). The Angle UVW values change as you drag in the dialog. Blur—Affects the sharpness or blurriness of the map based on its distance from the view. The farther away the map is, the greater the blurring. The Blur value blurs maps in world space. Blur is primarily used to avoid aliasing (page 3–907).
Bitmap 2D Map These controls appear on the Noise rollout for many 2D maps: On—Determines whether the Noise parameters affect the map. Bitmap 2D Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Bitmap Amount—Sets the strength of the fractal function, expressed as a percentage. If the amount is 0 there is no noise. If the amount is 100 the map becomes pure noise. Default=1.0. Levels—Or iterations: the number of times the function is applied.
1632 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps that have different content but the same name. In this case, only the first map encountered will appear in the scene.
Bitmap 2D Map The reduced image "decals" on the sample sphere. The diffuse color is visible around the image. The software ignores the bitmap’s alpha channel, if present, and does not create a new one. To use the alpha channel that is part of the bitmap: Interface 1. On the Maps rollout, assign the map to the Bitmap Parameters rollout Opacity component. (You can assign a copy or instance of this map to other components, such as Diffuse, as well.) 2. Click the map button for the Opacity component.
1634 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Mono Channel Output group Some parameters, such as opacity or specular level are a single value as opposed to a material’s three-value color components. Controls in this group determine the source of the Output mono channel in terms of the input bitmap. Cropping and placement settings affect the bitmap only as it’s used for this map and any instances of the map. They have no effect on the bitmap file itself.
Select Bitmap Image File Dialog Alpha Source group Playback Rate—Lets you speed up and slow down Controls in this group determine the source of the Output alpha channel in terms of the input bitmap. the rate that the animation is applied to the map (for example, 1.0 is normal speed, 2.0 is twice as fast, .333 is 1/3 as fast). Image Alpha—Uses the image’s alpha channel (disabled if the image has no alpha channel).
1636 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps a sequence of files is selected by turning on Sequence, the Image File List Control dialog (page 3–618) is opened when you click Setup or Open. Procedures To select a bitmap image for a map: 1. In the Material Editor, open the Maps rollout. 2. Click any button in the Map column. This adds a map into the channel you’ve selected. For example, clicking in the Map column of the Diffuse channel creates a diffuse or texture map.
Select Bitmap Image File Dialog history information is saved in the 3dsmax.ini (page 1–18) file. Look In—Opens a navigation window to browse other directories or drives. Up One Level—Moves you up a level in the Info—Displays expanded information about the file, such as frame rate, compression quality, file size, and resolution. The information here depends on the type of information that is saved with the file type. directory structure. View—Displays the file at its actual resolution.
1638 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Location—Displays the full path for the file. With Procedures this information at the bottom of the dialog, you always know exactly where you are. To create a Checker map: 1. Click a map button to assign a map. 2. Choose Checker in the Material/Map browser, Checker Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Checker and then click OK. To change the color of one set of squares: 1.
Combustion Map Color #1—Sets the color of one of the checkers. Click to display the Color Selector (page 1–161). Color #2—Sets the color of one of the checkers. Click to display the Color Selector (page 1–161). Maps—Selects a map to use within the area of the checker color. For example, you could put an additional checkerboard within one of the checker colors. The check boxes enable or disable their associated map. Combustion Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button.
1640 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 3ds Max provides several types of maps (page 3–968). The most basic is a 2D map, a two-dimensional image that is typically mapped onto the surface of geometric objects. Other uses of 2D maps are as environments to create a background for the scene, as projections from lights, and as displacements to "emboss" geometry. A Combustion map is a 2D map (page 2–1624).
Combustion Map A Combustion map is assigned to the Diffuse Color, and a black material map appears in the active sample slot. 5. Click to turn on Show Map In Viewport. In the scene, the object turns black in shaded viewports. 6. In the Parameters rollout, click Edit. Paint operator in Combustion Painted object in 3ds Max This launches Combustion, which displays the New Workspace dialog. 7. Set up the new project.
1642 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Use To Display During Playback Display the mesh when you play back the animation. Color Click the color box to set the color of the mesh using a color picker. In Combustion, a mesh appears. This is an "unwrapped" projection of the 3D object. To paint directly on the 3D object: 1. Create a Combustion map. 2.
Combustion Map your animated material. For more information on animating objects in Combustion, refer to the Combustion User’s Guide. You can add Paint strokes in either program, but to modify them you must use Combustion. Note: Remember, Combustion tracks the time slider in 3ds Max, but 3ds Max does not track the Timeline indicator in Combustion. If the 3ds Max viewport does not appear to be updating as you paint in Combustion, you might be painting on a different frame than the one displayed in 3ds Max.
1644 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 3. In the Material/Map Browser, choose 5. Click the map’s Type button. Combustion, and click OK. A Combustion map is assigned to the Diffuse Color, and a black material map appears in the active sample slot. 4. In the Combustion Parameters rollout, click the Project bar. The Material/Map Browser appears. 6. In the Material/Map Browser, choose Combustion to change the type from Bitmap to a Combustion map. 7.
Combustion Map Object with painted bitmap To paint selected faces: Use a Multi/Sub-Object material to control the location of your painting. Any sub-material can have a Combustion map, so you can use Combustion to affect only the selected faces. 1. In 3ds Max, select the object you want to paint. 2. In the Modify panel, apply an Edit Mesh modifier to the object. (Choose Edit Mesh from the Modifier drop-down list.) If you are working with an editable mesh object, or a patch or NURBS surface, skip step 2.
1646 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To create a displacement map: In 3ds Max, the Displace modifier (page 1–629) acts as a force field to push and reshape an object’s geometry. You can apply its variable force directly from the modifier gizmo, from a bitmap image, or from a Combustion workspace. The grayscale component of the image is used to generate the displacement.
Combustion Map 7. In the Material Editor, Combustion Parameters rollout, click Edit. This launches Combustion. In the New dialog, set the Type To Paint, and create a grayscale image to use as a displacement map. For more information, see the Combustion User’s Guide. 8. In 3ds Max, increase the Displacement strength in the modifier Parameters rollout. 4. The Material/Map Browser appears. Select Combustion and click OK.
1648 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface 2D Mapping Coordinates Like any 2D map in 3ds Max, mapping coordinates control how a Combustion map is positioned on objects. For geometric primitives, mapping coordinates are usually provided automatically. For some kinds of geometry, such as meshes (page 1–996), patches (page 1–993), and NURBS surfaces (page 1–1078), you must apply a UVW Map modifier (page 1–922) to provide mapping coordinates.
Combustion Map Operator—Switches control to Combustion, where you can select an operator. The results of the operator appear as the image in the Combustion map. The operator does not have to be the last operator in the pipe. mapping coordinates. When paint strokes are unconstrained on an object such as a box, they can jump to the other side of the map when you cross a map’s edge. This can give erratic results. To prevent this, enable Constrain To UV.
1650 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Time group These controls relate frames in the Combustion workspace to frames in the Combustion map. See the controls under "End Condition Group" for how to handle the map when it contains fewer frames than the 3ds Max scene. Start Frame—Determines which frame of the Combustion sequence is used as the first frame of the Combustion map in 3ds Max. Duration—Sets how many frames of the backward until the rendering sequence is completed.
Gradient Map from the bottom at 0.0 to the top at 1.0. For a radial gradient, the second color’s position ranges from the inside at 0.0 to the outside at 1.0. Interface Gradient-mapped material tiled and with noise Procedures To create a Gradient map: 1. Click a map button to assign a map. 2. Choose Gradient in the Material/Map Browser, and then click OK. To change a gradient color: 1. In the Gradient Parameters rollout, click a color swatch to display the Color Selector (page 1–161). 2.
1652 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps both of these, you can rotate the gradient using the angle parameter under Coordinates, which is animatable. discontinuity at the threshold transition and thus causes less potential aliasing. Low—Sets the low threshold. Noise group High—Sets the high threshold. Amount—When nonzero (ranges from 0 to 1), applies a noise effect. This perturbs the color interpolation parameter using a 3D noise function based on U, V, and Phase.
Gradient Ramp Map Output Rollout (page 2–1621) Interface Procedure To create a material with a Gradient Ramp map: 1. Open the Material Editor, and choose an unused sample slot. 2. Close the Basic Parameters rollout, and open the Maps rollout. 3. Click the Map button for Diffuse to display the Material/Map Browser. 4. In the Browser list, click Gradient Ramp. The map appears in the upper-left of the Browser window. Click OK. Gradient Ramp map is applied to the sample slot as the Browser closes. 5.
1654 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Right-click options for gradient bar—Right-click in the gradient bar to display a menu with these options: Reset—Returns gradient bar to defaults. Load Gradient—Loads an existing gradient (.dgr file) into the gradient bar. Save Gradient—Loads your current gradient bar as a .dgr file. • Mapped—Lets you assign a map to use as the gradient. Enables the Source Map controls for specifying the map and turning it on and off.
Flag Properties Dialog The Source Map controls are available only when Mapped is the chosen gradient type. Smooth is 0, no smoothing is applied. When Smooth is 1, the maximum amount of smoothing is applied. Noise group Amount—When nonzero, a random noise effect is applied to the gradient, based on the interaction of the gradient ramp colors (and maps, if present). The higher this value, the greater the effect. Range=0 to 1. Regular—Generates plain noise.
1656 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps similar to the corresponding ones in the Gradient Ramp map: Note: Gradients are ordered from left to right. The “next” flag is to the right of the current flag; the “previous” flag is to the left. Swirl Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Swirl Ease In—Weighted more toward the next flag than the current flag. Ease In Out—Weighted more toward the current flag than the next flag.
Swirl Map Swirl map is applied to the sample slot as the Material/Map broswer closes. 5. In the Material Editor, under its toolbar, give the material a name to identify its use in your scene. Interface Swirl Amount are very high. Range=0 to 4.0; Default=0.4. Swirl Intensity—Controls the intensity of the swirl color. Higher values create a more vibrant mix of colors. At 0, the swirl effect disappears. Range=-10 to 10.0; Default=2.0.
1658 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Tiles Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Tiles Procedures Example: To create a brick wall: 1. Create a wall using a Box primitive, or use an existing surface in one of your scenes. 2. Open the Material Editor (page 2–1409). Select an unused sample slot. 3. Click the Maps rollout to open it. Click the Map button for Diffuse to display the Material/Map Browser. 4.
Tiles Map 2. On the Modify panel, choose Editable Mesh. 3. Turn on Sub-Object > Face. 4. Select the top face of the wall. 5. Open the Material Editor. Drag the wall’s tile material to an unused sample slot to duplicate the material. 6. Under Tiles Setup, adjust the horizontal and vertical count of the new material to match the side of the wall. Fine Running 7. Apply the new tile material to the selected faces on the top of the wall. 8.
1660 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Advanced Controls rollout Running Stack Show Texture Swatches—Updates to show the texture assigned by a map for Tiles or Grout. Tiles Setup group Texture—Controls the display of the current texture map for the tiles. When on, the texture is used as the tile pattern instead of the color swatch. When turned off, the color of the tiles is displayed; clicking the color swatch displays the Color Selector (page 1–161).
Tiles Map None (removing the assigned map) by dragging and dropping a None map from the Map/Material Browser. % Holes—Sets the percentage of holes in the tiled surface caused by missing tiles. The grout shows through the holes. Horiz. Count—Controls the number of tiles in a Rough—Controls the roughness of the edges of the row. grout. Vert. Count—Controls the number of tiles in a column. Color Variance—Controls the color variation among the tiles.
1662 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps width of tiles, and values less than 1.0 decrease it. Range=0.0 to 5.0. Default=1.0. including mosaic tiling, pebbled surfaces, and ocean surfaces. A value of 0.0 is a special case: When the Change value is 0.0, no tiles appears in that row, and the underlying material shows through. Dent (page 2–1667): Generates three-dimensional bumps over a surface.
Coordinates Rollout (3D) Stucco (page 2–1682): Generates a fractal pattern similar to stucco. Waves (page 2–1683): Creates watery or wavy effects by generating a number of spherical wave centers and randomly distributing them. Wood (page 2–1684): Creates a 3D wood grain pattern. Coordinates Rollout (3D) Material Editor > Select sample slot. > Get Material > Material/Map Browser > Turn on 3D Maps. > Double-click a map type to apply it to sample slot. > Coordinates rollout is displayed in Material Editor.
1664 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Cellular Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Cellular Variation: 55 Division Colors (use RGB values after clicking the color swatch): • First: 127, 150, 197 • Second: 0, 119, 163 Cell Characteristics: • Circular • Size: 2.4 • Spread: 0.43 • Fractal: off Thresholds: • Low: 0.19 • Mid: 0.65 Cellular maps create the goblet textures.
Cellular Map • High: 1.0 3. Copy the Diffuse map to the Bump map. If you increase the Bump amount, increase the Cellular bump map’s Bump Smoothing value as well. Example: To create a tile mosaic: 1. Assign the Cellular map as a Diffuse map. 2. Set the parameters as follows: Noise Type: Fractal Levels: 6.0 Size: 9.3 8. In the Mix Parameters rollout of the Mix map, set the Mix Amount to 0.5. 9. Go to top level of the material. In the Maps rollout, set Bump Amount to 82.
1666 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps greater the random effect. This percentage value can range from 0 to 100. At 0, the color swatch or the map completely determines the cell color. Default=0. Division Colors group These controls specify the color of the divisions between cells. Cell divisions are a ramp between two colors or two maps. Color swatches—Display the Color Selector for choosing a cell division color. Iterations—Sets the number of times the fractal function is applied.
Dent Map Dent Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Dent Dent bump maps At left, default parameters produce fairly uniform dents over surface. At right, increased Strength parameter creates a deeper and more irregular pitting effect. Dent diffuse maps At left, Dent as a two-color diffuse map. Dent map gives texture to the cup on the left; cup on the right has same pattern, but without dents. Dent is a 3D procedural map.
1668 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To replace a color: 1. Click a color swatch labeled Color #1 or Color #2. 2. In the standard Color Selector (page 1–161), choose a replacement color. The color updates in the color box and sample slot. Size=10, 500, and 1000 Iterations=1, Strength=20 (default) To swap a color: • Click Swap. The position of the two colors is reversed in the color boxes and sample slot. To replace a color with a map: 1.
Dent Map Size=500, Strength=60 Size=1000, Iterations=3 Strength=5, 20 (default), and 100 Iterations—Sets the number of calculations used to create the dents. Default=2. Dent is based on a fractal-noise equation. During rendering, a dented surface is calculated one or more times to produce the finished effect. Each calculation pass is an iteration. As a surface is calculated, each iteration adds to the number of dents and the complexity and randomness of the final surface (dents become dented).
1670 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Falloff Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Falloff Strength=20, 50, and 100 Size=500, Iterations=2 Iterations=2, 4, and 8 Size=500, Strength=20 Maps—Replaces colors with maps in the dent pattern. The check boxes enable or disable their associated map. You can assign maps to one or both of the Dent color slots. Any kind of map can be used, including Dent.
Falloff Map Procedure To control opacity using a Falloff map: 1. Assign the Falloff map as an opacity map. 2. Render to see the effect. 3. Adjust the falloff parameters to vary the effect. Interface Falloff Parameters rollout • Click Swap Colors/Maps (the curved arrow) to exchange the assignments. Falloff Type—Chooses the kind of falloff.
1672 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Object—Uses an object whose position determines the falloff direction. Click the wide button next to Object in the Mode Specific Parameters group, and then pick an object in the scene. The falloff direction is the direction from the point being shaded toward the object’s center. Points on the side toward the object center get the Towards value, and those away from the object get the Away value.
Marble Map Adds a Bezier smooth point anywhere on the graph line. Handles attached to the point create smooth curves when moved. On a Bezier smooth point, you can move the point or either handle. Procedures To create a Marble map: 1. Click a map button to assign a map. 2. Choose Marble in the Material/Map Browser, and then click OK. Delete Point—Removes selected points. To adjust the size of Marble veins: Reset Curves—Returns graph to its default, a straight line between 0 and 1.
1674 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Size—Sets the spacing between the veins. Coordinates Rollout (3D) (page 2–1663) Vein Width—Sets the width of the veins. Output Rollout (page 2–1621) Swap—Switches the position of the two colors or maps. Color # 1 and Color # 2—Displays the Color Selector (page 1–161). Select one color for the veins (color 1) and another for the background (color 2). A third color is generated from the two colors you select.
Particle Age Map Regular, the Levels spinner is inactive (because Regular is not a fractal function). Maps—Select the bitmaps or procedural maps to appear in one or the other noise color. • Fractal—Generates noise using a fractal algorithm. The Levels option sets the number of iterations for the fractal noise. Turn on the check boxes to make the maps active. • Turbulence—Generates fractal noise with an absolute value function applied to it to make fault lines.
1676 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps channel (page 3–946) and use a Glow (page 3–355) filter on it through Video Post. See also Particle MBlur Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Particle MBlur For functionality shared with other 3D maps, see Output Rollout (page 2–1621). Interface Particle MBlur makes particles blur as they move. Color #1—Sets the color of a particle at its birth.
Perlin Marble Map • The correct type of particle must be used. MBlur works on all particle types except Constant, Facing, Metaparticles, and PArray Object Fragments. Also, in the Standard Particles category, MBlur does not support the Triangle and SixPoint particle types. Perlin Marble Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Perlin Marble • The material assigned to the particle system must not be a Multi/Sub-Object material.
1678 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Size—Sets the size of the marble pattern. Change this to change the scale of marble, relative to the object’s geometry. Default=50. Levels—Sets the number of times the turbulence algorithm is applied. Can range from 1.0 to 10.0. The higher the value, the more complicated the marble pattern. Default=8.0. Color 1 and Color 2 groups The controls in these groups are identical. They determine the two main colors of the marble.
Smoke Map Island Factor—Sets the size of the fractal noise pattern used to generate islands and mountains. Can range from 0 to 100. At 0, the geography is very low. Higher settings create a more rugged landscape. Default=0.5. Smoke Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Smoke Ocean %—Sets the percentage of the planet’s surface that is covered by water. Default=60.0. Random Seed—Sets the seed for pseudo-random generation of the pattern.
1680 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps # Iterations—Sets the number of times the fractal function is applied. The higher the value, the more detail within the smoke, but the longer the calculation time. Default=5. Speckle Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Speckle Phase—Shifts the turbulence within the smoke pattern. Animate this parameter to animate the movement of the smoke. Default=0.0.
Splat Map Color #2—Represents the color of the background. Interface Click one of the swatches to display the Color Selector (page 1–161) and change one of these component colors. Maps—Click a button to assign a map that replaces one of the color components. Turning off the check box turns off the associated map (the Speckle map reverts to the associated color component). Splat Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Splat Size—Adjusts the size of the splats.
1682 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Stucco Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Stucco Thickness, the more the borders are blurred and the less distinct the indentations are. When you use Stucco as a bump map, the indentations are very faint at 0.5 and disappear at values not much greater. Default=0.15. Threshold—Determines how much of Color #1 is mixed with Color #2. At 0, only Color #2 is displayed; at 1, only Color #1 is displayed.
Waves Map Waves Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Waves randomly computed points along the surface of an imaginary sphere inside the object (a circle, in the case of 2D wave distribution). For calm water, set this to a low number. Use a high number for choppy water. Range= 1 to 50; Default=10.
1684 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Wood Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Wood Wood used as a bump map Procedures To replace a color: 1. Click a color swatch labeled Color #1 or Color #2. 2. In the standard Color Selector (page 1–161), choose a replacement color. The color updates in the color box and sample slot.
Wood Map Tiling—Controls grain complexity or "distortion." By increasing this parameter along a given axis, the grain becomes increasingly compressed and wavy along that axis. Default=1.0 (X, Y, and Z axes). Box A shows the default on all three axes. Boxes B and C show progressively higher Tile settings for the X axis. Increasing Tile on other axes produces similar effects. Rotated Grain: By rotating the direction of the grain around an axis, you change the rendered effect.
1686 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Axial Noise—Sets the relative randomness of the pattern on a plane parallel with the grain, along the length of the grain (cylinder A). Default=1.0. Defaults: Grain Thickness=7, Radial Noise=1.0, Axial Noise=1.0 Grain Thickness—Sets the relative thickness of the color bands that make up the grain. Default=7. The effect of thickness is relative to the context of the object.
Compositor Maps The choice of colors, along with grain pattern, is the primary way to represent different types of wood. In fairly uniform woods like yellow pine or redwood, the two colors are often near the same settings (examples B and C). Lighting also makes a difference in the apparent colors.
1688 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Composite Map 2. Choose a map type. To change the number of maps to composite: Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Composite 1. In the Composite Parameters rollout, click Set Number. 2. In the subdialog, choose the number of maps you want, and then click OK. Warning: If you reduce the number of maps, previously assigned maps can be lost.
Mask Map Mask Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Mask Mix Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Mix Mask map applies labels to the fire extinguisher. Mix map blends skull and crossbones with the reflected scene. With the Mask map, you can view one material through another on the surface. The mask controls where a second map is applied to the surface.
1690 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps To use a map as a component: 1. In the Mix Parameters rollout, click a map button next to one of the two color swatches. The Material/Map Browser is displayed. 2. Change the shape of the curve by adjusting the Transition Zone values. Interface 2. Select a map type. To exchange the two component colors: • In the Mix Parameters rollout, click Swap. To control the mix amount: • In the Mix Parameters rollout, adjust the Mix Amount value.
RGB Multiply Map Mixing Curve group The RGB Multiply map is typically used for bump maps (page 2–1506), where you might want to combine two maps to achieve the correct result. This map combines two maps by multiplying their RGB values. For each pixel, the red of one map is multiplied times the red of the second map, the blue times the blue, and the green times the green. These parameters control how gradual or how sharp the transition between the two colors being mixed will be.
1692 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Multiply Alphas—Generates a new alpha channel by multiplying the alpha channels of the two maps. Map—Displays a modal version of the Material/Map Browser so you can choose the map type. The check box turns the map on or off. Color Modifier Color Modifier maps alter the color of pixels in a material.
RGB Tint Map RGB Tint Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > RGB Tint To replace one color with another: 1. Click the R, G, or B color swatch. 2. On the Color Selector, increase or decrease Hue to change the color. Interface RGB Tint map RGB Tint adjusts the value of the three color channels in an image. Three color swatches represent these channels. Changing a color swatch adjusts the value of its associated color channel.
1694 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps can assign vertex colors using the VertexPaint Modifier (page 1–936), the Assign Vertex Colors utility (page 2–1734), or the vertex controls for an editable mesh (page 1–1003), editable patch (page 1–975), or editable poly (page 1–1029). While vertex color assignment is primarily used for special applications, such as game engines or radiosity renderers, you can also use it to create colorful, gradient surface effects.
Reflection and Refraction Maps Sub Channel—Lets you can specify that the map will use either the Red, Green, or Blue sub-channel of the specified map channel, or all sub-channels. Channel Name—After assigning the material with Flat Mirror Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button.
1696 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • If you assign Flat Mirror to multiple faces, the faces must lie in a plane. 4. Select a single face or multiple faces that lie in a • Non-coplanar faces in the same object cannot have the same Flat Mirror material. 5. Assign the faces the material ID you chose for In other words, if you want two different planes of an object to have flat reflections, you must use a Multi/Sub-Object material.
Flat Mirror Map Interface Every Nth Frame—The renderer creates the automatic flat mirror based on the frame rate (page 3–944) set by the spinner. Use Environment Map—When off, environment maps are ignored by the mirror during rendering. It’s useful to turn this off when you have mirrors in the scene and you’re rotoscoping against a flat screen environment map. A screen environment map does not exist in 3D space the way the other environment-map types do, and will not render properly. Default=on.
1698 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps A flat mirror surface that has a Bump map will appear bumpy, but its reflection won’t be distorted by the bumps unless you use this option. Use Built-In Noise—Distorts the reflection using the settings in the Noise group. Distortion Amount—Adjusts the amount of distortion to the reflected image. This is the only value that affects the amount of distortion.
Reflect/Refract Map although these are the main ways to use this map. • Raytrace map has more extensive attenuation controls than Raytrace material. Reflect/Refract Map Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Reflect/Refract • Raytrace map often renders more quickly than Raytrace material. Raytrace Map and Raytrace material have the same name because they use the same raytracer and share global parameters.
1700 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the illusion that the surrounding maps are seen through the surface. Note: Reflect/Refract is meant to be used with curved or irregularly shaped objects. For mirror-like flat surfaces that you want to reflect the environment accurately, use Flat Mirror (page 2–1695) material. For more accurate refractions, especially for an object in a refractive medium (such as a pencil in a glass of water), use Thin Wall Refraction material (page 2–1703).
Reflect/Refract Map folder and file name of the Up (_UP) bitmaps. Click Pick Object and Render Maps, and then click the object to map. The software creates the files and also assigns them to the six From File map buttons. Rendering cubic maps has the same effect as automatic with the advantage that map rendering doesn’t have to take place at scene rendering time. The disadvantage is that you can’t create an automatically animated reflections or refractions this way.
1702 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps From File—When on, you can specify the bitmaps to use. When From File is active, the controls in the Render Cubic Map Files group are also available. You can generate the six cubic reflection maps automatically and save them to files, where you can load them with the From Files controls. Size—Sets the size of the Reflect/Refract maps. The default value of 100 produces distinct images. Lower values lose progressively more detail.
Thin Wall Refraction Map You can edit one or more of the cubic maps using a paint program, then click Reload to update the material and the scene. the Basic Parameters rollout, set Opacity to a value greater than 0. Procedure Render Cubic Map Files group To assign the Thin Wall Refraction map to a material: To File—Choose a file name for the Up map (_UP). 1. Click the Map button for Refraction in the Pick Object and Render Maps—Active when you choose a file.
1704 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Render group These controls affect how the refraction should behave in animations. First Frame Only—Tells the renderer to create the refracted image only on the first frame. This is the fastest option. You can use it if the camera and refractive object don’t move. Every Nth Frame—Tells the renderer to regenerate the refracted image based on the frame rate (page 3–944) set by the spinner. no bump map assigned, this value has no effect. Default=1.0.
Raytracer Parameters Rollout Local Options group Enable Raytracing—Turns the raytracer on or off. Default=on. Even with raytracing off, Raytrace material and Raytrace map still reflect and refract the environment, including both the environment map for the scene, and the environment map assigned to the Raytrace material. Raytrace Atmospherics—Turns the raytracing of atmospheric effects on or off. Atmospheric effects include fire, fog, volume light, and so on. Default=on.
1706 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps basis, or provide an environment to specified objects when the scene as a whole has none. When you change settings for an antialiaser locally, you don’t affect the global settings for that antialiaser. Raytraced Reflection and Refraction Antialiaser group Controls in this group let you override the global antialiasing settings for raytraced maps and materials. They are unavailable if antialiasing is turned off globally.
Raytrace: Basic Material Extensions Rollout • Inverse Square—Sets inverse square attenuation. Inverse square attenuation is calculated beginning at the start range, and doesn’t use the end range. Inverse square is the actual attenuation rate for light in the real world. However, it doesn’t always give the effect you want in a rendered scene. • Exponential—Sets exponential attenuation. Exponential attenuation is calculated between the start and end range values. You also specify the exponent to use.
1708 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Reflectivity/Opacity—These controls affect the intensity of the raytracer’s results. • Spinner—Controls the amount of raytracing used by the material it is assigned to. Analogous to the Output Amount parameter in the Output rollout of the Bitmap map type (page 2–1631). • Map button—Assigns a map that controls the amount of raytracing. You can vary the amount of raytracing used over the surface of the object. • Check box—Enables or disables the map.
Raytrace: Refractive Material Extensions Rollout Interface Fog—Density fog is also a thickness-based effect. It fills the object with a fog that is both opaque and self illuminated. The effect is like smoke trapped in a glass, or wax at the tip of a candle. Colored fog in tubular objects can resemble neon tubes. • Enable—Turns fog on or off. • Color swatch—Displays a Color Selector (page 1–161) for choosing the fog color. • Amount—Controls the amount of density fog.
1710 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps mental ray Shaders In mental ray, a shader is a function that calculates light effects. There can be shaders for lights, cameras (lens shaders), materials, shadows, and so on. Note: In 3D modeling, the more common usage of “shader” signifies an algorithm that specifies how a surface responds to light. (The shaders for standard 3ds Max fall into this category.
Custom Shaders for 3ds Max • Custom Shaders for 3ds Max (page 2–1711) links to descriptions of the shaders provided in the product-specific library, 3dsmax.mi. • mental images Shader Libraries (page 2–1712) links to descriptions of the shaders provided in the three standard mental ray libraries from mental images: base.mi, contour.mi, and physics.mi. • Shaders in the LumeTools Collection (page 2–1713) includes links to descriptions of shaders in the lume library, lume.mi.
1712 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps XYZ Generator Shader (mental ray) (page 2–1729) Shader Library XYZ Coordinate Shader (mental ray) (page 2–1730) Contour Store Function contour Curvature contour Depth Fade contour mental images Shader Libraries DGS Material Photon physics Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button. > Material/Map Browser > Pick a mental ray shader other than a custom 3ds Max shader or a lume shader.
Shaders in the LumeTools Collection Shader Library • Ocean Width From Color contour • Stain • Submerge Width From Light contour • Translucency • Water Surface Width From Light Dir contour • Wrap Around • Wet-Dry Mixer Note: You can also access the mental images shader help by choosing Help > Additional Help, highlighting Mental Ray Standard Library in the list, and then clicking Display Help. Shaders in the LumeTools Collection Material Editor > Maps rollout > Click a Map button.
1714 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps The components for some mental ray materials and shaders can be assigned other shaders. For these components, the main shader button is accompanied on the right by a small button. If no shader is assigned, or the shader assigned has only a single return value, the button is disabled and shows a dot in the middle. If the shader assigned can return multiple values, text appears in this button, and a tooltip shows the parameter name.
3D Displacement Shader (mental ray) Shadows And Displacement rollout (page 3–114) of the Render Scene dialog’s Renderer panel. See also mental ray Displacement (page 3–96) mental ray Connection Rollout (page 2–1461) mental ray Material (page 2–1544) Displacement Length—This is the length of displacement when Object Independent is on, the extrusion map is at 100 per cent (white) and the Extrusion Strength equals 1.0.
1716 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps and assign the map or shader. Use the toggle at the left to turn the effect of the map off or on. The button to the right of each main shader button is for shaders that can return multiple parameters. If a shader that returns multiple parameters is assigned to the component, the button’s tooltip shows the parameter name. Clicking the button displays a Connect Parameter To Shader dialog (page 2–1713), which lets you change which parameter is being used.
DGS Material Shader (mental ray) encounter multiple return values in shaders provided with other shader libraries or custom shader code. Interface Parameters rollout DGS Material Shader (mental ray) Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Unlock the Surface or Photon component. > Click the shader button for the Surface or Photon component. > Material/Map Browser > DGS Material (3dsmax) Material Editor > mental ray material > Click the button for the Surface or Photon component.
1718 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Transparency—Specifies the transparency. The effective range of Transparency is from 0.0 to 1.0. At 0.0 the material is fully opaque. At 1.0 it is fully transparent. Default=0.0. Warning: You can set the value of Transparency to be greater than 1.0, but this has no effect.
Dielectric Material Shader (mental ray) Shader Library Bump (page 2–1716) 3ds Max DGS Material (this shader) 3ds Max Dielectric base Dielectric Material (page 2–1719) 3ds Max Edge lume Facade lume Glass lume Glow lume Landscape lume Material to Shader (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Metal lume Ocean lume Opacity base Reflect base Refract base Shader List (page 2–1723) 3ds Max Stain lume Translucency lume Transmat physics Transparency base Two Sided base UV Generator (page
1720 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps has an index of refraction (IOR) of 1.5, while the alcohol in the glass has an IOR of about 1.3. To create a physically accurate model of this situation, use three glass materials: one for the glass itself, one for the alcohol, and a third material for the surfaces where they touch each other. For this third material, set the “inside” IOR to 1.3, and the outside IOR to 1.5.
Environment Shader (mental ray) Phong Coefficient—When greater than zero, generates Phong highlights on the surface. The highlights appear in the sample slot. In general this value must be greater than 10 for highlights to be apparent. Default=0.0. Environment Shader (mental ray) Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Assign a shader to the Environment component. > Material/Map Browser > Environment (3dsmax) Material Editor > mental ray material > Assign a shader to the Environment component.
1722 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps encounter multiple return values in shaders provided with other shader libraries or custom shader code. Height Map Displacement Shader (mental ray) Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > For the Displacement component, turn off the lock button. > Click the button for the Displacement component. > Material/Map Browser > Height Map Displacement (3dsmax) Material Editor > mental ray material > Click the button for the Displacement component.
Material to Shader (mental ray) Options dialog (page 3–165) when creating the height map. Default=10.0. Height Map—The height map itself (usually a bitmap). If you need to further adjust the material, you can repeat these steps (without having to reassign the Material To Shader). Interface Material to Shader (mental ray) Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Assign a shader. > Material/Map Browser > Material to Shader Material Editor > mental ray or DGS material > Assign a shader.
1724 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps List of shaders—Shows the names of the shaders in the list. Highlight a shader’s name to alter its position in the list, or to access its parameters. Each active shader in the list is called in order, from top to bottom. Up—Moves the selected shader up in the list. Down—Moves the selected shader down in the list. Add Shader—Displays a Material/Map Browser (page 2–1412) so you can choose a shader to add to the list.
UV Generator Parameters Rollout UV Generator Parameters Rollout Interface Material Editor > Any shader with a Coords parameter (or other vector value). > Click the shader button. > Material/Map Browser > UV Generator (3dsmax) > UV Generator (3dsmax) Parameters rollout Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Unlock the Surface component and click the shader button.
1726 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the map is applied as a texture map, this value is ignored. Default=4 (screen). of the object. When off, planar mapping doesn’t render on the object’s back. Default=on. • 1 is for Spherical. This toggle is available only when Tiling is off in both dimensions. Its effect is visible only when you render the scene. • 2 is for Cylindrical. • 3 is for Shrink-Wrap. • 4 is for Screen. Screen projection projects as a flat backdrop in the scene.
Shaders Rollout (UV Generator) the map so that it is perpendicular to the surface. Default=0 (UV). amount, the greater the effect of increasing the Level value. Range=1 to 10. Default=1. • 0 is for UV. • 1 is for VW. Phase—Controls the speed of the animation of the noise function. Default=0.0. • 2 is for WU. RealWorldMapSize—Controls the scaling method Clip—When on, UVs are clipped. When off, UVs are wrapped. Default=on.
1728 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface UV Coordinate Shader (mental ray) Material Editor > Any shader with a Coords parameter or other vector value. > Click the shader button. > Material/Map Browser > UV Coordinate (3dsmax) Note: Shaders appear in the Browser only if the mental ray renderer is the currently active renderer. This shader is identical to the UV Generator shader (page 2–1724), except that it returns two values instead of one.
XYZ Generator Shader (mental ray) XYZ Generator Material Editor > Any shader with a Coords parameter (or other vector value). > Click the shader button. > Material/Map Browser > XYZ Generator (3dsmax) Material Editor > mental ray Connection rollout > Unlock the Surface component and click the shader button. > Material/Map Browser > XYZ Generator (3dsmax) Material Editor > DGS material > Assign a shader to any component.
1730 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps map channel; otherwise, it is ignored. Range=1 to 99. Default=1. Offset—Moves the map pattern in X, Y, and Z. Default=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0). shaders, you can create a shader tree that generates complex effects. Interface Tiling—Tiles (page 3–1022) the map pattern in X, Y, and Z, and makes the pattern narrower. Default=(1.0, 1.0, 1.0). Angle—Rotates the map pattern in X, Y, and Z. Default=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0).
Normal Bump Map This value is named XYZ. Interface • The XYZ coordinate’s derivative This value, also a vector, is named dXYZ. When you choose this shader, a Connect Parameter To Shader dialog (page 2–1713) is displayed, prompting you to choose which of the two values to use. You can later change the choice of value by using the “dot” button to the right of the main shader button. Normal—As a rule, contains a Normals map Interface generated by Render To Texture (page 3–144).
1732 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Method group The Method group lets you choose which coordinate to use on the normals. These controls are the same as those in the Projection Options dialog (page 3–165). • Tangent—(The default.) Project at a tangent to the target object’s surface. This is the method to use for objects that both move and deform, such as animated characters. • Local XYZ—Project using the object’s local coordinates.
Camera Map Per Pixel Map • Set Texture to the matte image you edited. • Set ZBuffer Mask to the Z-depth rendering (the RPF or RLA file). Adjusting (which usually means increasing) the value of ZFudge can improve the quality of edges of the projection. Usually it is a good idea to have Remove Back Face Pixels turned on. Another way to adjust the projection edge is to adjust this control’s Angle Threshold.
1734 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Angle Threshold—Specifies the angle to use as a cutoff when removing backface pixels. Default=90.0. At the default of 90 degrees, faces perpendicular to the camera, or at a greater angle, are not projected.
Assign Vertex Colors Utility VertexPaint modifiers are applied to the selected objects, and the vertex colors for the objects are taken from their materials and from the lighting in the scene, depending on the options you choose under Light Model. 8. Move down in the Stack to the creation Changing the material or the lighting in the scene won’t change the vertex colors. To do this, click the Update All button. 9.
1736 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface Channel group Here you’ll find tools to choose which channel type the vertex color utility will assign. If you choose map channel, you can also specify the map channel ID number. • Vertex Color—Choose this to assign a vertex color layer. • Vertex Illum—Choose this to assign a vertex lighting layer. • Vertex Alpha—Choose this to assign a vertex transparency layer. • Map Channel—Choose this to assign a specifically numbered map channel.
Assign Vertex Colors Utility Rendering Options group The options in this group let you choose whether to include shadows, texture maps, or a radiosity solution in vertex colors. Note: You can save a radiosity solution in • Lighting + Diffuse—Uses the current scene lighting and materials to affect the vertex colors. vertex colors, but not Light Tracer (page 3–44) illumination, which is not stored in the scene’s geometry.
1738 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps • Radiosity, Reuse Direct Illum. from Solution—Includes radiosity in the vertex color assignments, and uses the direct illumination from the solution. This is comparable to the choice Re-Use Direct Illumination From Radiosity Solution on the Rendering Parameters rollout (page 3–71). This choice disables the Shadows toggle, because shadows don’t need to be recomputed.
Channel Info Utility Skin Utilities (page 2–700) Select By Channel Modifier (page 1–785) UVW Mapping Add Modifier (page 1–933) UVW Mapping Clear Modifier (page 1–933) UVW Mapping Paste Modifier (page 1–934) Procedure To use the Channel Info utility: 6. To minimize a channel’s memory footprint, click the channel and then click the Clear button. This removes most all or of the data from the channel, so first make sure the data is unnecessary or is available elsewhere.
1740 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps You can copy and paste only between channels with the same topology, or you can copy from any channel to a channel with no vertices. Source and destination channels need not be of the same type. For instance, you can copy from a mesh channel to a map channel, and vice-versa. Name—Lets you rename the highlighted channel.
Channel Info Utility Update—Refreshes the displayed data to reflect any changes in the objects or mapping, or, when Lock is on, the selection. For example, if you apply mapping to an object, or change its mapping, click Update to display the changes in the Map Channel Info dialog. Channel Info table The table functions similarly to a spreadsheet. If not all rows or columns are visible, you can scroll the table using standard methods, including rolling the mouse wheel for vertical scrolling.
1742 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps the channel and choose Name from the right-click menu. choose to remove any unused sub-materials, thus consolidating your Multi/Sub-Object materials. Note: Most channels can be split into subcomponents. You can name the subcomponents separately from the channel itself. This utility searches an entire scene. You do not need to select objects or materials. Num Verts—The number of vertices in the channel.
Clean MultiMaterial Utility All unused sub-materials are deleted and the dialog closes. To clean specific Multi/Sub-Object materials: When you create a Multi/Sub-Object material, you might create extra sub-materials in anticipation of objects that haven’t been added to the scene yet. In such cases, you can prevent the utility from removing the extra sub-materials. 1. Open a scene. 2. On the Material Editor, open the Utilities menu and choose Clean MultiMaterial. The Clean Multi-Materials dialog opens.
1744 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps Interface name to turn it off and prevent the utility from cleaning it. Clean—Deletes unused sub-materials from Multi/Sub-Object materials that are turned on. Cancel—Cancels the operation. Instance Duplicate Maps Utility Material Editor > Utilities menu > Instance Duplicate Map Utilities panel > More button > Instance Duplicate Maps > Click Find All button.
Instance Duplicate Maps Utility lost from the use of this utility. For example, if two materials use the same bitmap image applied as Diffuse maps, and have the same initial Tiling settings, but their Tiling settings are animated to different subsequent values, after using the utility both maps will have the same animation as the first map. Procedures To instance all duplicate maps: To instance only specific maps: Perhaps you only want to instance a few of the texture maps found in specific materials.
1746 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps 4. From the Duplicate list, select at least two map entries. Since all three of the maps were instanced, the dialog now shows there are 42 duplicated textures. 6. Continue instancing texture or click Close when you are done. Interface If you don’t select at least two entries, you will see a warning in the status field at the top of the dialog. 5. Click Instance.
Instance Duplicate Maps Utility globally, so you do not need to select objects or materials in order to use it. The dialog consists of three parts: a status field at the top, a drop menu containing duplicated texture maps and a list of map names and the materials that belong to. Status Field The Status Field is not interactive. It shows you prompts and warnings about the duplicate textures and maps. Some of the messages displayed in this section include: • “No duplicate textures were found in the scene.
1748 Chapter 16: Material Editor, Materials, and Maps
index Index Symbols & Numerics A 1-rail sweep surface 1–1204 2 3 4 links 2–1111, 2–1150 2 feet down 2–988, 2–997 2.
1750 Index ActiveShade 3–17 commands (quad menu) 3–22 floater 3–21 glossary 3–904 quick render 3–17 viewport 3–21 actual stride height 2–992, 2–995 actual stride length 2–992, 2–995, 2–997 actual stride width 2–992, 2–995, 2–997 adapt locks 2–871, 2–980, 3–905 adaptation 3–905 adapting keyframes to edits 2–871 keys to footstep edits 2–871 adaptive antialiaser dialogs 2–1533 to 2–1534 adaptive control 1–167, 1–828, 2–1534, 2–1698 adaptive degradation glossary 3–905 override 1–34 viewport configuration dial
Index after trajectory 2–944 age test 2–211 AI import dialog 3–524 airborne option 2–988, 2–995, 2–997 airborne periods 2–878, 3–906 aliasing/antialiasing alias against background 3–826 and supersampling 2–1459 fast adaptive 2–1533 filters 1–567, 3–38 glossary 3–907 multiresolution adaptive 2–1534 align 1–462 align geometry dialog (edit poly) 1–679 and pivot point 2–488 camera 1–468 dialog 1–462 editable mesh objects 1–1011 editable mesh vertices 1–1011 flyout 1–462 grid to view 2–35 keys (Track View) 2–55
1752 Index NURBS 1–1091 preferences settings 3–828 previewing animations after attaching Physique 2–1084 sample animations in this release 2–920 saving 3–476 selecting and moving tracks 2–886 show ghosting 1–46 tips (NURBS) 1–1099 toggle animation mode 2–278 utilities 2–653 with radiosity 3–60 animation controls 3–716 animation layer weight 2–325 to 2–326 animation layers 2–325 to 2–326, 2–333 to 2–334, 3–690 animation layers toolbar 3–690 animation menu 3–681 bone tools 1–411 constraints 2–371, 2–392 to
Index explode 1–110 open 1–109 using 1–98 assembly commands 1–107 assembly heads helper objects 1–111 assembly menu assemble 1–107 attach 1–111 detach 1–110 disassemble 1–110 explode 1–110 asset browser 3–504 internet download dialog 3–515 preferences 3–514 using 1–17 asset tracking dialog 3–487 icons 3–498 open from vault 3–389 asset tracking dialog 2–920, 3–487 asset tracking dialog icons 3–498 asset tracking prompts 3–498 assign controller (Track View) 2–546 controller rollout (motion panel) 3–774 mater
1754 Index AutoCAD DWG/DXF import options dialog 3–536 AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit working with 3–440 autodesk inventor files importing 3–552 Autodesk Vault 3–487 Autodesk VIZ files 3–525 autogrid 3–913 AutoGrid 2–7 automatic auto archive 3–819 auto backup 1–19, 3–819 auto secondary (lens effects) 3–238 auto termination (IK) 2–499 automatic exposure control 3–295 unit conversion 3–815 automatic mapping rollout rendering to texture 3–163 autoplay preview file 3–815 AVI files 3–168, 3–609 avoid
Index using 3–202 batch rendering completed 3–203 before trajectory 2–944 behavior assignments and teams dialog 2–1200 behavior rollout 2–1211 behaviors 2–1159, 3–915 avoid 2–1211, 3–913 fabric 1–579 obstacle-avoidance 2–1164, 3–983 orientation 2–1214, 3–985 patch-based 3–991 path follow 2–1216, 3–992 repel 2–1218, 3–1003 scripted 2–1220, 3–1008 seek 2–1220, 3–1008 space warp 2–1221, 3–1013 speed vary 2–1222, 3–1015 surface arrive 2–1223, 3–1018 surface follow 2–1226, 3–1019 wall repel 2–1227, 3–1033 wall
1756 Index biped rollout 2–936 bipeds and crowd simulation 2–1187 correcting posture 2–925 deleting 2–854 linking objects to 2–854 moving objects 2–890 posing 2–847 posing a biped 2–925 rotating objects 2–891 scaling after physique is applied 2–1099 visible in playback 2–944 bipeds dialog 2–643 birth event 3–916 birth operator 2–143 birth script operator 2–145 bitmap map 2–1631 bitmap pager 3–828 bitmap pager statistics dialog 3–514 bitmap proxies 3–32 bitmap proxies dialog 3–496 bitmap/photometric path e
Index material IDs 1–338 overlapping elements 1–338 surface topology 1–338 troubleshooting problems with 3–885 with maps and materials 1–338 bound vertex 1–297, 3–919 boundary conditions (and tendons) 2–1147 bounding box (and envelope creation) 2–1111 bounding box (glossary) 3–919 bounds (inner/outer) 2–1085 box BoxGizmo 3–304 standard primitive 1–171 box caustics filter 3–106 box method 2–1242 box selected render bounding box/selected dialog 3–16 branching events (particle flow) 2–123 break spline at sele
1758 Index orbit/pan camera 3–749 orbit/pan light 3–755 pan (Track View) 2–595 pan (user interface) 3–743 percent snap 2–38 perspective 3–747 pick material from object 2–1448 place highlight 1–467 play/stop 3–723 previous frame 3–723 quick align 1–465 quick render 3–17 quick render (Production) 3–17 render scene 3–12 roll camera 3–747 roll light 3–753 save sequence 3–324 scale keys 2–559, 2–580 scale values 2–581 select and link 2–422 select and manipulate 2–15 select and move 1–439 select and rotate 1–43
Index multi-pass parameters 2–1383, 2–1386 orbit/pan 2–1381, 3–749 placing 1–7 roll 3–747 setting lens size 2–1373 target 2–1371 truck 3–748 using clipping planes to exclude geometry 2–1379 using horizon to match perspective 2–1380 using move and rotate to aim 2–1379 using transforms to aim 2–1379 with target 2–1371 zoom 2–1381 candela 3–965 canopy mode 1–214 cap holes modifier 1–569 cap surface 1–1195 capsule 1–195 capture viewport 1–35 car paint material and shader 2–1576 car-wheel constraint 2–757 carto
1760 Index transition 2–1048 clip controllers 2–1179, 3–921 clip frame numbers motion mixer 2–615 clip mode 2–1027 clip properties dialog 2–1027, 2–1045, 2–1059 clipping planes 2–1373, 2–1379, 3–921 clips 2–1045 combining 2–1026 create 2–1027 looping with motion-capture filtering 2–1061 menu 2–632 move 2–1027 path 2–1041 ClipState dialog 2–1253 clone 1–476 clone and align tool 1–459 clone options dialog (particle flow) 2–132, 2–136 cloning 1–476 clone 1–476 materials 2–1432 objects 1–453, 1–474, 1–483 sha
Index color clipboard files 1–950 color clipboard utility 1–165 color coding 2–945 color controls 2–1485 color modifier maps 2–1692 color palette vertexpaint modifier 1–950 color RGB controller 2–317 color selector 1–161, 3–815 color space 3–1 colors assign random 1–161 biped IK/FK keys 2–1005 biped keys in Track View 2–947 biped trajectories 2–1005 footsteps 2–869 in Track View 2–944 vertex type 2–1089 colors panel (customize UI) 3–799 COM 2–933 COM/DCOM server control utility 3–792 combining animations 2
1762 Index configure communication center 3–713 Direct3D 3–844 driver 3–821, 3–840 key mode 3–725 modifier sets 3–772 OpenGL 3–841 presets (video post) 3–327 software display driver 3–840 system paths 3–810 time 3–725 track bar 3–703 user paths 3–808 utilities button sets 3–779 viewports 3–853 configure paths 3–808 configure preset dialog 3–33 configure system paths 3–810 plug-ins path configuration 3–814 configure user paths 3–808 bitmaps 3–189 external files 3–811 file i/o path configuration 3–810 FX fi
Index default settings 3–828 Euler XYZ rotation 2–318 expression 2–320 frame duration 2–502 general-purpose controllers 2–295 limit 2–335 linear 2–341 list 2–342 local euler XYZ rotation 2–344 look at 2–344 make unique 2–550 master point 2–346 morph 2–300 motion capture 2–347 noise 2–353 on/off 2–355 paste 2–545 point3 XYZ 2–317 position XYZ 2–356 properties 2–560 PRS 2–357 reaction 2–358 scale XYZ 2–371 script 2–372 slave 2–313 smooth rotation 2–374 specifying default 2–294 TCB 2–377 time duration 2–502 t
1764 Index copy time (Track View) 2–568 copy track (Track View) 2–568 joint parameters 2–495 materials 2–1409, 2–1432 modifiers 2–544 patch surface 1–968 presets 3–437 splines 1–308 transform keys 2–283 CPY files 2–1263 crash recovery 1–20 crease at link’s joint 2–1140 at parent’s joint 2–1140 create clip 2–1027, 2–1045 envelopes 2–1111 footsteps 2–988 keys for inactive footsteps 2–865, 2–990 layer 2–974 random motion 2–1035, 2–1055 script 2–1030, 2–1048 separate tracks for biped arms 2–980 shared motion
Index footsteps automatically 2–862 freeform animations 2–886 independent surfaces from NURBS curve objects 1–1114 individual footsteps 2–863 iso curve 1–1168 lathe surface 1–1190 linear arrays 1–487 mirror curve 1–1160 mirror surface 1–1187 models with NURBS 1–1094 multicurve trim surface 1–1214 multiple footsteps 2–862 multiple slices 1–1019 multisided blend surface 1–1213 normal projected curve 1–1169 NURBS curves from splines 1–1115 NURBS CV curve 1–1110 NURBS models 1–1079 NURBS point curve 1–1106 NUR
1766 Index geometry rollout 2–1240 global clip controller 2–1241 icon size 2–1240 object/delegate associations dialog 2–1196 priority rollout 2–1235 scatter objects dialog 2–1189 select behavior type dialog 2–1205 select delegates dialog 2–1205 set start frames dialog 2–1237 setup rollout 2–1188 smoothing rollout 2–1238 solve rollout 2–1232 state dialog 2–1207 state transition dialog 2–1208 crowd simulation avoid behavior 2–1211 cognitive controller 2–1206 solving 2–1168 crowd system 3–925 CS amplitude op
Index cylinder chamfer 1–192 CylGizmo 3–306 standard primitive 1–177 cylindrical area omni light 2–1298 D damper 1–396, 2–66 damping joint action 2–466 dashpots angular 2–732 linear 2–730 data files path for 3–813 data management asset tracking dialog 3–487 open from vault 3–389 daylight IES sky 2–1312 IES sun 2–1309 DDS files (glossary) 3–611 deactivate all maps 1–50 deactivate footsteps 2–865, 2–990 decay 2–1345 default controller settings 2–294, 3–828 controllers 2–294 heights 2–1 keyboard shortcuts 1–
1768 Index key 2–904, 2–956, 2–962 keys 2–554, 3–703 layers 2–974 maps 2–1413 material 2–1413 mesh modifier 1–626 operator (particle flow) 2–146 patch modifier 1–627 Schematic View 3–652 script 2–1030, 2–1048 selected keys (track bar) 3–703 spline modifier 1–627 tendons 2–1096 time (Track View) 2–567 Track View 2–598 transition 2–1051 transitions 2–1034 delete keys 2–502, 2–554 delete selected animation 3–698 delete time (Track View) 2–567 delete Track View 2–598 delete twist pose 2–950 delete UVW mapping
Index Direct3D driver 3–838, 3–843 to 3–844 Direct3D driver setup dialog 3–843 directional parameters 2–1348 directories for network rendering 3–187 mounting 3–188 sharing 3–188 DirectX 10 3–847 DirectX 9 shader material 2–1613 DirectX 9 shaders, FX file 3–946 DirectX shaders 2–1464, 2–1613 to 2–1614 disable layer 2–325 to 2–326 disable particle system 2–121 disabling playback 2–1084 disassemble 1–110 disc (circular) area light 2–1299 displace disp approx modifier (OSM) 1–628 displace mesh (world space) 1–
1770 Index pivot 1–251 sliding 1–251 dope sheet 2–501, 2–507, 2–1002 modes menu 2–521 toolbars 2–538 Dope Sheet editing footstep timing 2–869 DOS command-line rendering 3–211 double support 2–988, 2–992, 3–930 double-sided 3–901 double-sided material 2–1591 download options (asset browser) 3–515 drag and drop and copied/instanced maps 2–1451 and instanced objects 3–456 content from web pages 3–523 maps and materials 2–1423 modifier 1–499 sub-object material assignment 2–1424 with i-drop indicator 3–523 dr
Index layer event (video post) 3–337 lens effects filter (video post) 3–345 loop event (video post) 3–342 negative filter (video post) 3–345 normals 1–634 output image event (video post) 3–339 preset settings 3–438 pseudo alpha compositor (video post) 3–382 pseudo alpha filter (video post) 3–346 range bar (video post) 3–327 ranges (Track View) 2–573 scene event (video post) 3–329 simple additive compositor (video post) 3–383 simple wipe compositor (video post) 3–383 simple wipe filter (video post) 3–347 st
1772 Index edit wire 2–412 editable mesh 1–996, 3–932 aligning 1–1011 edge 1–1006 edit geometry rollout 1–1011 element 1–1009 exploding 1–1011 face 1–1009 object 1–1001 polygon 1–1009 selection rollout 1–999 vertex 1–1003 editable objects and edit modifiers 1–506 editable patch 1–968 attach 1–986 changing vertex type 1–986 deleting vertices 1–986 detach 1–986 edge 1–980 element 1–984 geometry rollout 1–986 handle 1–979 object 1–974 patch 1–981 vector 1–979 vertex 1–975 visibility of 1–989 editable poly 1–
Index glow lens effects 3–226 lens effects 3–223 manual secondary lens effects 3–242 merging from other files 3–220 ray lens effects 3–234 rings lens effects 3–230 star lens effects 3–246 streak lens effects 3–250 elements 3–933 of rendered textures 3–146 rendering 3–130 ellipse 1–274 email notification network rendering 3–196 rendering 3–33 emission rollout (particle view) 2–136 emit start/stop values, and frame rate 2–144 emitter (particle flow) 2–135, 3–933 empty flow operator 2–209 enable ease or multi
1774 Index expanding animation tracks 2–886, 2–888 expert mode 1–51 explicit axis keys 2–297, 2–357 explode assemblies 1–110 editable mesh objects/sub-objects 1–1011 explode angle threshold 1–1011 groups 1–106 objects into faces 2–105 particle system 2–68 splines 1–308 explode angle threshold 1–1011 exploding objects 2–68 explosion 2–68 explosions 2–120 export animation motion mixer 2–624 export selected (file menu) 3–486 exporting 3D DWF 3–555 3DS files 3–532 Adobe Illustrator files 3–534 animation 2–921
Index f-stop 3–90, 3–101 face - definition 3–936 face extrude modifier 1–682 face/edge thresholds (optimize modifier) 1–748 faces assigning to smoothing groups 1–1009 beveling and extruding 1–1011 creating 1–1011 dividing 1–1011 tessellating 1–1011 faceted (glossary) 3–937 facial animation 2–1100 facial expression 1–729 fade filter (video post) 3–344 fade in/out (lights) 2–1345 falloff 2–1111, 2–1130, 2–1136, 2–1338 falloff map 2–1670 glossary 3–954 light falloff 3–753 family elements from Revit 3–457 rend
1776 Index file output 3–266 file properties 3–500 file types BIP 2–920, 3–916 BVH 3–920, 3–969 CAL 2–1070 CSM 2–1065, 3–920, 3–925, 3–969 CWS 3–135 FIG 2–936, 2–1070 .
Index arc rotate 3–744 array 1–448 default tangent types 3–721 dolly camera/target 3–746 dolly light/target 3–751 field of view 3–741 flyout (glossary) 3–943 material ID channel 2–1444 orbit/pan light 3–755 quick render 3–17 select and scale 1–440 selection region 1–80 timing preferences 3–815 use center 1–445 zoom extents 3–740 zoom extents all 3–737 focus plane 3–90 fog VRML97 helper 3–600 fog environment effect 3–282 folder motion flow editor 2–1041 foliage 1–210, 1–214 follow object binding to 2–461 gl
1778 Index free lights direct 2–1293 linear 2–1307 spot 2–1290 free-form deformation (FFD) box 2–91 box/cyl modifier 1–685 cylinder 2–95 modifier 1–683 select modifier 1–689 freeform 2–999 animation 2–902 convert to 2–999 converting to footsteps 2–885 inserting period between footsteps 2–883 method 2–833 setting period in footstep animations 2–883 freeform animation 2–886, 2–1002, 3–945 freeform method 3–945 freeze freeze rollout (display panel) 1–54 freeze/unfreeze (glossary) 3–945 freezing/unfreezing ob
Index tracker 2–671 types of 3–304 using transform gizmos 1–426 gizmos rollout 1–791 global and local exclude/include dialog (for raytraced maps and materials) 2–1531 global clip 2–1179, 2–1246 global clip controller 2–1241, 3–950 global event (particle flow) 3–949 global illumination 3–51, 3–61, 3–93, 3–106, 3–940 global illumination (mental ray) 3–80 global lighting (rendered environment) 3–272 global motion clip 2–1179 global raytracer settings dialog 2–1528 global settings and defaults for bitmap proxi
1780 Index light attributes 2–1351 shadows 3–223 styling 1–526 styling rollout 1–526 hair and fur and lighting 1–519, 3–220 rendering options 3–221 hair and fur feature components 1–517 hair and fur modifier 1–516 animation 1–520, 1–540, 1–545 display rollout 1–549 dynamics 1–520, 1–540, 1–545 dynamics rollout 1–545 frizz animation 1–520, 1–540 frizz parameters rollout 1–540 general parameters rollout 1–534 growth objects 1–517 guide hairs 1–518, 1–526 instanced hair 1–523 kink parameters rollout 1–542 ma
Index hierarchy panel 3–773 commands 2–487 IK 2–491 link info rollouts 2–499 pivot 2–487 hierarchy right-click menu (Track View) 2–516 hierarchy window (Track View) placing selected objects 2–588 selecting by name 2–589 high dynamic range images 3–613, 3–621 high-resolution rendering 3–197 highlights anisotropic 2–1492 Blinn 2–1493 metal 2–1494 multi-layer 2–1495 Oren-Nayar-Blinn 2–1493 Phong 2–1493 specular color 3–1014 hinge constraint 2–747 hinge polygons from edge dialog 1–1073 history list 3–390, 3–50
1782 Index IK rollouts 2–491 auto termination 2–499 display options 2–458 IK solver rollout 2–453 inverse kinematics 2–497 object parameters 2–491 spline IK solver rollouts 2–478 IK solvers 2–440, 2–446, 2–453, 2–461, 2–472 illegal video colors 2–1434 illuminance 3–955 image alpha filter (video post) 3–344 image file formats 3–608 image file list IFL control dialog 3–618 IFL manager utility 3–619 image filter event (video post) 3–335 image input event (video post) 3–332 image input options (video post) 3–
Index instanced hair hair and fur modifier 1–523 instanced modifiers 1–511 instanced objects AutoCAD 3–456 rendering properties 3–457 instances 1–472 glossary 3–957 make unique 2–575, 2–577 of maps 2–1451 overview 1–472 propagating materials 2–1432 propagation 2–1432 shape instance operator (particle flow) 2–178 instances in motion mixer 3–958 integration steps (particle flow) 2–139 intensity (light) 2–1276, 2–1279 intensity mapping 2–1539 intensity/color/attenuation parameters 2–1345 intensity/color/distr
1784 Index jumping dynamics of 2–878 parameters 2–861 K KBD files 3–793, 3–804 keep apart operator 2–172 key filters 2–590, 3–718 key info Bezier controllers 2–310 key info rollouts 2–304, 2–306 master track key info dialog 2–391 key info rollout 2–954 key interpolation 2–833 key mode 3–724 key modes (links) 2–430 key reduction settings 2–1070 using motion-capture filtering 2–1061 key tangents toolbar 2–535 key tools toolbar 2–535 keyable icons 2–531 keyboard additional commands 3–669 creating primitives
Index layer properties dialog 3–662 select dialog 3–438 layers toolbar 3–688 add selection to current layer 3–667 create new layer 3–667 select objects in current layer 3–667 set current layer to selection’s layer 3–667 layout (viewports) 1–26, 3–856 layout menu (Schematic View) 3–643 layout mode glossary 3–961 leg link 2–984 leg states 2–867 legacy DWG import 3–547 length 2–990 transition editor 2–1051 lens effects 3–223 auto secondary 3–238 blur 3–260 brightness and contrast 3–265 color balance 3–265 dep
1786 Index free direct 2–1293 free linear 2–1307 free point 2–1304 free spotlight 2–1290 light falloff 3–753 light include/exclude tool 2–1283 light lister 2–1285 mental ray shadow maps 2–1360 mr sky 2–1318 mr sun 2–1319 name and color rollout 2–1273 omni 2–1295 orbit/pan 3–755 photometric lights 2–1301 placing 1–7 positioning 2–1282 properties of 2–1276 roll 3–753 standard 2–1288 target area 2–1307 target direct 2–1292 target linear 2–1305 target point 2–1303 target spotlight 2–1289 truck 3–755 types of
Index list views (Schematic View) 3–645 listener listener window (glossary) 3–963 MAXScript listener 3–781 load 2–1070 buffer only 2–1065, 2–1070 file option 2–936 marker name file 2–1065 .
1788 Index macros path for additional 3–813 MACUtilities 2–665 main toolbar 3–686 main window 1–9 make absolute 3–809 make controller/object unique (Track View) 2–550 make curve on surface dialog 1–1226 make loft dialog 1–1234 make material copy 2–1442 make point curve dialog 1–1235 make point dialog 1–1235 make preview 2–1434, 3–168 make relative 3–809 make selected same size (video post) 3–328 make unique 1–504, 1–511, 2–577, 3–770 Material Editor 2–1442 particle view 2–127, 2–133 manage scene states 3–
Index marble 2–1673 mask 2–1689 mental ray shaders 2–1712 mix 2–1689 noise 2–1674 normal bump 2–1731, 3–150 ”other” (in the material/map browser) 2–1695, 2–1698 to 2–1699, 2–1703, 2–1711 to 2–1714, 2–1716 to 2–1717, 2–1719, 2–1721 to 2–1724, 2–1728 to 2–1732 output 2–1692 particle age 2–1675 particle MBlur 2–1676 Perlin marble 2–1677 planet 2–1678 procedural 3–997 projected 2–1341 raytrace 2–1698 reflect/refract 2–1699 reflection and refraction 2–1695 RGB multiply 2–1691 RGB tint 2–1693 show in viewport 2–
1790 Index applying in particle flow 2–186 applying to an object 2–1405 applying to objects 2–1409 arch & design (mental ray) 2–1549 architectural 2–1535 Architectural Desktop 3–446 assign to selection 2–1441 assigning 3–445, 3–454 AutoCAD Architecture 3–445 blend 2–1588 blocks 3–458 car paint (mental ray) 2–1576 changing 3–446, 3–454 combined when attaching objects/splines 1–295, 1–1011 components 2–1399 composite 2–1589 compound materials 2–1587 copying 2–1409 default material settings 2–1442 deleting 2
Index memory management 3–514 memory use 3–129 mental ray add/edit DBR host dialog 3–128 arch & design material 2–1549, 2–1562, 2–1569 car paint material and shader 2–1576 DGS material 2–1580 distributed bucket rendering 3–128 distributed bucket rendering rollout 3–124 glass material 2–1582 material 2–1544 object properties 1–126 satellite processors 3–128 satellites 3–124 subsurface scattering materials 2–1583 mental ray Connection rollout 2–1461 mental ray indirect illumination rollout 2–1343 mental ray
1792 Index skin wrap modifier 1–818 skin wrap patch modifier 1–824 turbosmooth modifier 1–868 working with mesh sub-objects 1–998 mesh - definition 3–972 mesh conversion 2–206 mesh density, and cloth 1–577 mesh editing 1–935 mesh object (as Physique skin) 2–1076 mesh size (reducing) 2–1099 mesher object 1–374 meshing parameters rollout (radiosity) 3–67 meshsmooth modifier 1–722 MeshSmooth modifier and cloth 1–576 meshsmooth selection dialog 1–1074 messages 3–124 meta-operators cache 2–197 metaballs 1–331,
Index and set key 2–281 and transforms 1–499 attribute holder 1–559 bend 1–560 bevel 1–562 bevel profile 1–565 camera correction 2–1392 camera map 1–513, 1–567 cap holes 1–569 cloth 1–578 conversion 1–871, 1–873 to 1–874 CrossSection 1–623 delete mesh 1–626 delete patch 1–627 delete spline 1–627 displace 1–629 displace mesh (world space) 1–514 displace NURBS (world space) 1–515 edit mesh 1–634 edit normals 1–634 edit patch 1–638 edit poly modifier 1–640 edit spline 1–680 extrude 1–680 face extrude 1–682 FF
1794 Index UVW mapping paste 1–934 UVW Xform 3–447, 3–455 UVW XForm 1–934 vertexpaint 1–936 volume select 1–952 wave 1–957 world space 1–512 WSM 1–512 XForm 1–959 modifiers menu 3–678 animation modifiers 1–557, 1–712, 1–754 to 1–755, 1–848 cache tools 1–758 free-form deformers 1–683, 1–685 mesh editing 1–569, 1–626, 1–634, 1–680, 1–682, 1–746, 1–748, 1–828, 1–834, 1–861, 1–865, 1–935 to 1–936 nurbs editing 1–557, 1–628, 1–848, 1–1101 parametric deformers 1–557, 1–560, 1–629, 1–709, 1–728, 1–743, 1–766, 1–
Index cloning clips 2–611 compare with motion flow 2–604 editor 2–646 export animation 2–624 filtering biped parts 2–645 how to use 2–604 importing clips 2–609 menus 2–629 moving clips 2–611 optimize transition 2–641 preferences 2–651 replacing clips 2–611 reservoir 2–649 toolbar 2–642 trackgroups 2–612 transitions 2–616 user interface 2–628 weight curve 2–619 motion panel 2–301, 2–303 to 2–304, 2–306, 2–463, 2–933, 3–774 motion parameters rollout 2–1183 motion synthesis 2–1172, 3–977 global clip controlle
1796 Index naming materials 2–1409 natural light 2–1280 navigating 3D space 1–21 blocks 3–460 camera and light views 1–33 hierarchies 2–416, 2–425 rendered panorama 3–173 viewports 3–735 navigating the workbench 2–1010 navigator (material/map) 2–1447 NavInfo (VRML97 helpers) 3–599 neck link 2–984 negative filter (video post) 3–345 nested expressions (HTML help viewer) 3–876 net render control (common parameters rollout) 3–79 network working folder 3–487 network plug-in configuration 3–814 network renderin
Index numbers of links that can affect a vertex 2–834 show/hide all 2–944 numeric calculator 1–12 numerical expression evaluator 1–12 NURBS 2–834 and animation 1–1091 and modifiers 1–1089 animation tips 1–1099 blend curve 1–1158 blend surface 1–1183 cap surface 1–1195 chamfer curve 1–1161 concepts 1–1091 creating models 1–1094 curve approximation 1–1238 curve fit 1–1157 curve point 1–1220 curve sub-objects 1–1135 CV curve 1–1110 CV surface 1–1103 definition 1–1091 extrude surface 1–1188 fixing problems wit
1798 Index objects 1–153, 2–960, 2–1282 aligning 2–8 arraying 1–484 binding 2–461 color 1–159 combining 1–338, 1–378, 1–388 copies/instances/references 1–472 creating 1–157 exporting 3–486 freezing and unfreezing 1–70 glossary 3–981 make controller unique (Track View) 2–550 modeling 1–5 modifying multiple objects 1–509 object properties 1–117 select and manipulate 2–15 select and move 1–439 select and rotate 1–439 to 1–440 selecting 1–61, 1–77 selecting by material 2–1439 techniques for cloning 1–474 usin
Index optimize motion flow 2–1058 motion mixer 2–641 transition 2–641, 2–1058 optimize modifier 1–748 optimize transition transition editor 2–1051 optimizing performance (particle flow) 2–120 options 3–828 grid and snap 2–46 Material Editor 2–1436 rendering 3–826 viewports 3–821 options menu Track View 2–526 options menu (particle view) 2–130 options menus (Schematic View) 3–644 to 3–645 orbit/pan camera 2–1381, 3–749 light 3–755 Oren-Nayar-Blinn basic parameters rollout 2–1482 Oren-Nayar-Blinn highlights
1800 Index parameter editor 1–129 parameter space (glossary) 3–988 parameter wiring 1–104, 2–411 to 2–412 parameters custom attributes 1–129 HD Solver 2–491 notes 1–145 parameter collector 1–138 parameter collector menu bar 1–142 parameter editor 1–129 wiring 2–411 parameters panel (particle view) display of 2–129 glossary 3–988 parameters rollout 1–791 parametric (glossary) 3–989 parametric stride length 2–992, 2–995, 2–997 parametric stride width 2–992, 2–995, 2–997 parent overlap 2–1130 PArray 2–256, 2
Index particle motion blur 2–240 particle spawn rollout (PArray) 2–271 particle type rollout (PArray) 2–262 positioning 2–147 to 2–148 rendered as 2–206 rotation 2–153 scaling 2–156 size 2–176 spawn particles 3–1014 speed 2–123, 2–159, 2–162, 2–167, 2–172 spinning 2–154 synchronize animated bitmap textures 2–121 testing particle scale 2–227 unexpected spawning 2–122 viewport display 2–202 PASS file mental ray renderer 3–990 paste 2–1141, 2–1147 a material, map, bitmap, or color 2–1418 paste controller (Tra
1802 Index mr sky light 2–1318 mr sun light 2–1319 photometric webs 2–1326 preset lights 2–1302 target area light 2–1307 target linear light 2–1305 target point light 2–1303 web 2–1326 web parameters 2–1355 photometry 3–993 photon map 3–994 photon maps 3–93, 3–106 photorealistic renderer 3–38 PHY files 2–1098, 2–1106, 2–1263, 3–994 physical scale 3–295 to 3–297, 3–300 physique 2–834, 2–1080, 2–1083, 3–994 and changing geometry 2–1104 and FFDs 2–1104 and groups 2–1083 and other modifiers 2–1104 applying 2–
Index point surface 1–1102 glossary 3–996 sub-object 1–1181 point-path constraint 2–762 point-point constraint 2–750 point3 XYZ controller 2–317 polar snapping mode 2–39 poly select modifier 1–762 polygon - definition 3–936 polygon count 1–1253, 3–861 polyhedra 1–187 POmniFlect space warp 2–78 ponytails 2–984 pose copying and pasting 2–966 pose adjustment 2–1070 poses 3–996 adding 2–1096 copying between bipeds 2–910 reference 2–1076 posing bipeds 2–847 position changing 1–423 ranges (Track View) 2–574 posi
1804 Index priority rollout 2–1235 prism 1–205 prismatic constraint 2–754 PRJ files 3–531, 3–902 problems 3–883 problems caused by unit settings 3–891 ProBoolean 1–378 procedural maps dent 2–1667 glossary 3–997 wood 2–1684 procedures 2–1264 process options rollout 3–124 processing panel mental ray 3–86 processing parameters rollout (radiosity) 3–64 ProCutter 1–388 production render 3–17 productivity 2–833 profile 2–1141 profile view 2–1114 program window 1–9 progressive morphing 1–737 project file format
Index quadtree 3–999 quaternion rotation 2–916, 2–948 quaternion/tcb 2–916 quaternions 2–318 queue video post 3–312 queue manager 3–999 queue monitor client (glossary) 3–999 quick align 1–465 quick render ActiveShade 3–17 flyout 3–17 production 3–17 quick start (batch rendering) 3–201 quickslice 1–676, 1–1058 QuickTime movies 3–621 R radial dialogs density 3–256 falloff 3–257 size 3–259 radial scale 2–1130, 2–1136 parameters (links) 2–1091 radiance file format 3–613 radiance map 3–613 radiance picture fil
1806 Index reactor analyze world 2–813 angular dashpot 2–732 car-wheel constraint 2–757 cloth 2–778 cloth collection 2–781 cloth modifier 2–778 collisions rollout 2–810 compound rigid bodies 2–722 constraint solver 2–736 constraints 2–724 cooperative constraints 2–735 create animation 2–806 deformable bodies 2–777 deformable constraints 2–795 deforming mesh collection 2–794 deforming meshes 2–793 display rollout 2–812 FFD soft bodies 2–786 fracture 2–770 frequently asked questions 2–821 gravity 2–808 hing
Index refine editable spline segments 1–303 editable spline vertices 1–297 glossary 3–1002 refining curves and surfaces (concept) 1–1091 reflect/refract map 2–1699, 3–83 reflectance display 2–1430 reflection maps 2–1508, 2–1695 reflections 3–88 refraction maps 2–1509, 2–1695 refractions 3–88 refresh content communication center 3–715 refresh viewport display 1–50 regathering 3–61 region 1–65 selection 1–65, 1–80, 1–89 to 1–91 selection method (edit menu) 1–92 selection preferences 3–860 zoom region (partic
1808 Index elements separately 3–137 email notification 3–33 large images 3–828 on multiprocessor systems 3–828 portions of scene 2–1379 preferences settings 3–826 presets 3–23 reactor toolbar 3–688 render farms 3–180 render operator (particle flow) 2–206 rendering method 3–853 scene 1–9 shapes 1–262 to texture 3–144, 3–146, 3–150 with caustics (mental ray) 3–80 with global illumination (mental ray) 3–80 with motion blur 3–89 with shadow maps 3–89 rendering algorithms rollout 3–116 rendering commands rend
Index tint 2–1693 right-click menus 3–694 additional quad menus 3–696 animation 3–697 customize display 3–787 display option 3–821 display preference setting 3–821 event display (particle view) 2–133 HTML help viewer 3–879 material editor copy and paste 2–1418 modifier stack 3–766 morpher modifier 1–729 named selection sets 1–85 NURBS 1–1082 sample slot 2–1422 Schematic View selection 3–653 snaps 2–41 spinner 2–282 Track View 2–516, 2–534 Track View toolbar 2–603 viewports 3–731 XRef entities list (XRef ob
1810 Index sample range (glossary) 3–1004 sample rate 3–98 sample slot 2–1420, 2–1422 active 2–1441 adding bitmap 2–1631 and material name 2–1396 background 2–1433 backlight 2–1432 cool 2–1442 default 2–1442 display adjustment 2–1436 hot 2–1442 right-click menu 2–1422 sample type cube 2–1432 cylinder 2–1432 sphere 2–1432 sample UV tiling 2–1433 samples animations 2–920 motion files 2–920 samples threshold (motion capture) 2–655 sampling 3–1005 filters 3–98 sampling quality rollout 3–98 thresholds 3–98 sat
Index scene motion blur (glossary) 3–1007 scene state camera properties 3–518 camera transforms 3–518 delete 3–520 environment 3–518 layer assignments 3–518 layer properties 3–518 light properties 3–518 light transforms 3–518 materials 3–518 object properties 3–518 rename 3–520 restore 3–520 save 3–520 selected parts 3–518 scenegraph 3–581 scenes 1–4 animating 1–8 archiving 1–19 backing up 1–19 importing 1–16 managing 3–385 merging 1–16 rendering 1–9 replacing 1–16 Schematic View delete Schematic View 3–65
1812 Index by link 2–1089, 2–1150 clip/transition 2–1027, 2–1045 multiple biped links 2–895 nearest bulge angle 2–1095, 2–1114, 2–1141 select all (edit menu) 1–87 select and link button 2–422 select and manipulate 2–15 select background image dialog 1–42 select bitmap image file dialog 2–1635 select invert (edit menu) 1–88 select keys by time (Track View) 2–563 select layers dialog 3–438 select linked objects dialog 3–440 select none (edit menu) 1–88 select object (main toolbar) 1–77 select objects dialog
Index self-illumination 2–1480 to 2–1482, 2–1487 self-illumination (glossary) 3–1009 self-illumination mapping 2–1502 send out test 2–230 separate tracks options 2–888, 2–980, 2–1002 separating particles 2–172 server setup and managing (network rendering) 3–182 set all 2–1070 set as skin pose 1–116 set bulge angle 2–1114, 2–1141 set current layer to selection’s layer 3–667 set free key 2–956 set key 2–280, 2–904, 2–956, 2–962, 3–718 set lowest starting foot height to Z=0 2–936 set multiple keys 2–965 set p
1814 Index shortcuts 3–871 Biped 2–1006 Crowd 2–1182 particle flow 2–140 Physique 2–1111 shortcuts - default keyboard Track View 2–510 unwrap UVW 1–900 show show curves button 3–705 show dependencies (views menu) 1–47 show end result (Material Editor) 2–1446 show end result (modifier stack) 1–503 show frame numbers (viewports preference) 3–821 show ghosting (views menu) 1–46 show home grid (views menu) 2–34 show key times (views menu) 1–46 show last rendering (rendering menu) 3–25 show map in viewport (Ma
Index slider manipulator 2–31 slider, time/frame 3–701 sliding 2–1136 angle 2–1070 distance 2–1070 footsteps 2–1064, 3–1013 parameters (links) 2–1091 sliding and rotational joints (HI IK solver) 2–459 sliding angle 2–1070 sliding distance 2–1070 sliding door 1–251 sliding joints 2–485 to 2–486, 2–496 sliding key defaults 2–956 sliding window 1–261 smart scale 1–440 smart select 1–77, 1–80 smoke map 2–1679 smooth 2–1111 smooth modifier 1–828 smooth rotation controller 2–374 smooth twist mode 2–952 smoothing
1816 Index spawning particles 2–215, 2–230, 3–1014 special controls 1–12 special-purpose controllers 2–296 specification 3–597, 3–954 specify conversion parameters once option 2–1075 specify parameters for each file option 2–1075 specifying default controller values 2–294 default controllers 2–294 reference coordinate system 1–435 speckle map 2–1680 specular color 3–1014 color mapping 2–1500 level mapping 2–1501 specular highlight 2–1481 specular highlights anisotropic 2–1492 Blinn 2–1493 metal 2–1494 mul
Index spiral 1–235 straight 1–239 u-type 1–243 standard flow operator 2–209 standard helpers 2–16 compass 2–27 dummy 2–16 expose transform 2–17 exposetm 2–17 grid 2–20 point 2–23 protractor 2–26 tape 2–24 standard lights 2–1272, 2–1288 skylight 2–1296 standard material 2–1465 standard materials shaders (glossary) 3–1010 standard primitives 1–170 box 1–171 cone 1–172 cylinder 1–177 GeoSphere 1–176 plane 1–185 pyramid 1–182 sphere 1–174 teapot 1–183 torus 1–180 tube 1–179 standard snaps 2–11 standard user gr
1818 Index propagation 2–1432 styling hair hair and fur modifier 1–518, 1–526 styling rollout hair and fur modifier 1–526 sub-materials 3–815 sub-object chamfer curve (NURBS) 1–1161 common controls 1–1122 glossary 3–1017 material assignment 2–1424 selection 1–74, 1–506, 1–508, 1–998, 1–1084 sub-objects Physique 2–1129 subanim controller 2–896 subdivide 1–986, 1–1011, 1–1019 subdivide modifier 1–839 subdivide modifier (world space) 1–555 subdivision displacement rollout editable poly 1–1063 subdivision sur
Index taper modifier 1–863 targa files (glossary) 3–633, 3–997 target and particles 2–218 camera 3–746 lights 2–1289, 2–1292, 2–1303 to 2–1305, 2–1307 target area light 2–1307 target camera 2–1371 target distance 3–90 target linear light 2–1305 target map slot 3–150 target objects - look at controller 2–344 target point light 2–1303 TCB 2–957 controllers 2–377 glossary 3–1020 TCB (biped) 3–1019 tcb rotation controller 2–891 teapot 1–183 techniques cloning objects 1–474 NURBS 1–1094 tee 1–287 teeter deforma
1820 Index and HD IK solver 2–463 color 2–1681 to 2–1682 edge visibility 1–1006 error (camera tracker) 2–677 explode angle 1–1011 LOD 1–1253 motion capture samples 2–655 noise 2–1650, 2–1652, 2–1674, 3–282, 3–288 optimize 1–748 planar 1–719, 1–996 position/rotation (IK) 2–463 reduce keys 2–572 safe video 2–1434 sound 2–386 super black 3–826 supersampling 2–1459 use secondary (IK) 3–830 weld 1–297, 1–842, 1–888, 1–920, 1–1011, 3–542, 3–586 thumbnails open file 3–387 viewport image 3–819 ticks (glossary) 3–
Index displaying toolbars 3–787 dope sheet 2–538 extras 3–688 extras dope sheet toolbar 2–541 HTML help viewer 3–878 icon scheme 3–806 layers 3–688 main 3–686 ranges toolbar 2–541 reactor 2–706, 3–688 render shortcuts 3–689 Schematic View 3–649 snaps 3–690 toolbars panel (customize UI) 3–794 troubleshooting when missing 3–893 video post 3–323 toolbox (NURBS) 1–1083 tools for low-polygon modeling 1–1252 Material Editor 2–1427 precision 2–1 rename objects 1–128 tools menu 3–674 align 1–462 align camera 1–468
1822 Index ranges toolbar 2–541 selecting with 1–69 shortcuts 2–510 sound options 2–520 status bar/view controls 2–588 time menu 2–526 tracks menu 2–524 utilities 2–561 to 2–564 utilities menu 2–533 value display 2–594 view menu 2–532 working with 2–503 workspace 2–504 zoom 2–596 zoom horizontal extents 2–595 zoom region 2–597 zoom selected object 2–588 zoom value extents 2–596 Track View utilities current value editor 2–565 tracker gizmo 2–671 trackgroup filter 2–645 trackgroup filter dialog 2–631, 2–645
Index translucency 2–1491, 2–1538 glossary 3–1027 translucent highlights 2–1496 translucent shader 2–1484 transmittance display 2–1430 transparency 2–1537 TRC convert into CSM 2–665, 3–577 importing 3–577 tri patch 1–995 triangle count 1–1253, 3–861 triangle pelvis 2–984 and physique 2–846 trigonometric functions 1–150 trim clips motion mixer 2–615 trim overlapping segments 1–308 trim/extend modifier 1–866 troubleshooting 3–883 assertion failed errors 3–883 basic troubleshooting start point 3–896 Boolean o
1824 Index unhide all 2–1150 unified motion create 2–1038 uniform scale 1–441 unify normals 1–166, 3–429 units and display of mouse position 3–709 automatic unit conversion 3–387 file load units mismatch 3–852 mismatch 3–852 setup 3–848 synchronizing between programs 3–422 system setup 3–850 troubleshooting problems with 3–891 unit scale preference 3–815 using 2–2 universal deflector 2–89 universal naming convention (UNC) 3–1028 unlink selection 2–422 unlock character 1–115 unlock assignments 2–1150 unloc
Index select by name 1–67 selection filters 1–68 shapes 1–262 shift+clone 1–478 spawned particles 2–242 standard view navigation 1–29 transform gizmos 1–426 transforms 1–424 transforms to aim a camera 2–1379 units 2–2 using crowds behaviors 2–1162 crowd helper 2–1157 delegate helper 2–1157 using props 2–898 using the track sets list 2–590 utilities animation 2–653 asset browser 3–504 assign vertex colors 2–1734 camera match 2–1387 camera tracker 2–667 channel info 2–1738 clean multimaterial 2–1742 collapse
1826 Index vertex 2–1089 operations 2–1150 settings 2–1111, 2–1113 vertex sub-object 2–1150 vertex - definition 3–1030 vertex alpha 1–938 vertex color 1–936 rendering 2–1693 vertex color map 2–1693 vertex count 1–1253, 3–861 vertex display size 3–822 vertex illumination 1–938 vertex normals (scaling) 1–996 vertex to link assignment initialization 2–1123 vertex type 1–975 vertex weld modifier 1–935 vertex-link assignments 2–1111, 2–1113 vertexpaint modifier 1–936 adjust color dialog 1–949 brush options 1–9
Index lens effects filters 3–345 lens effects gradient colors 3–381 lens effects gradient options 3–378 lens effects gradient types 3–379 make an object glow 3–315 make same size 3–328 manual secondary flare parameters 3–357 negative filter 3–345 new sequence 3–323 open sequence 3–323 pseudo alpha compositor 3–382 pseudo alpha filter 3–346 queue 3–312 render in reverse 3–315 resize images 3–315 save sequence 3–324 simple additive compositor 3–383 simple cross fade 3–315 simple wipe compositor 3–383 simple
1828 Index viewport navigation walkthrough 1–30, 3–738 viewport properties menu 3–731 viewport renderer (glossary) 3–1030 viewport rendering 3–853 viewport shaders 2–1464 lightmap 2–1614 metal bump 2–1614 viewport shading 3–853 viewports 1–22, 3–729 and display of modifier effect 3–760 arc rotate snap angle preference 3–821 background 1–38 configuring 3–853 controlling rendering 1–27 create snapshot of 1–35 DirectX manager rollout 2–1464 general concepts 1–22 grab 1–35 layout 3–856 navigating 3–735 prefer
Index water 2–801 rendering 2–803 space warp 2–801 wave wave modifier 1–957 waveform controller 2–381 wave space warp 2–100 wavefront files (obj, mtl) 3–588 Wavefront material files 3–590 Wavefront object files 3–589 waves map 2–1683 web distribution 2–1325 to 2–1326 web distribution (photometric lights) 2–1355 web parameters rollout 2–1355 web site getting content from 3–504 weight 2–1114, 2–1141, 2–1150 assignments (Skin modifier) 1–807 assignments (vertex) 2–1092 vertices (Skin modifier) 1–791 weight ta
1830 Index MapScaler 1–551 PatchDeform 1–552 PathDeform 1–552 subdivide 1–555 surface mapper 1–556 SurfDeform 1–557 world-space tripod 3–729 wrap cursor near spinner 3–815 wrectangle 1–284 WSM modifier 1–512, 1–550 camera map 1–513 displace mesh 1–514 displace NURBS 1–515 MapScaler 1–551 PatchDeform 1–552 PathDeform 1–552 subdivide 1–555 surface mapper 1–556 SurfDeform 1–557 X XAF files 3–472 adding to motion mixer 2–609 adjust time in motion mixer 2–615 adjusting in motion mixer 2–611 combining with mix
