9

Creating a Skin 1077
Meshes for Physique
A skin used with Physique can be any 3ds Max
objectthathasverticesorcontrolpoints.
Specifically, a skin can be:
• An editable mesh or editable poly object. This
isthemostcommonlyusedtypeofobjectfor
Physique. Often, it has b een collapsed from an
object with modifiers, or a compound object.
• An uncollapsed object with modifiers or a
compound object.
• A parametric geometry primitive such as a
cylinder.
Geometric primitives are useful mainly for
simple ap plications of Physique; for example, a
cylinder with two bone links to depict an arm.
•Apatchobject.
•Asplineortextshape.
•ANURBSobject.
• A Free From Deformation (FFD) modifier.
•Ameshobjectyouimportfromanother
application such as AutoCAD®.
Tip: Although you c an apply Physique to a
compound object or an object with modifiers, you
should collapse the stack befor e applying Physique,
if possible. This will maximize perform ance and
reduce the amount of work you’ll need to do to
get Physique working properly. An exception
is the Optimize modifier, w hich can be useful
for improving performance when applied below
Physique on the stack.
Wa rn in g : After you collapse a compound or modified
object, you can no longer edit it parametrically. If you
work ex tensively 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.
You can create a figure’s skin out of several objects.
For example, you could have separate objects for
the torso, legs and arms. In this case, select all the
objects and apply Physique to all of them at once.
Posi ng the Skin
Whenyoucreateaskintousewithabipedfigure,
you should pose the arms and legs of the skin in a
standard reference pose.
Mesh in reference pose for use with bipeds
Use the following positions when you create the
reference pose:
• Spread the legs somewhat apart, at a parade
rest position.
• Spread the arms wide, level with shoulder
height. The hands should be level with the
arms, not dangling: palms facing down, fingers
straight and slightly spread apar t.
• Position the head so it will face in the correct
directionwhenyouloadthebiped’sat-rest