9

Using Physique with a Biped 1079
After MeshSmooth is applied to the simplified
mesh,renderingsofthetwomodelslookidentical.
However, the second model works much better
with Physique.
Usi ng Phy si que with a B iped
The skeleton to which you attach a skin using
Physique can b e a 3ds Max hierarchy, b ones in
a hierarchy, bones not in a hierarchy and splines.
Physique deforms the sk in based on the relative
position of the bone or links in the hierarchy.
Specifically, it uses the length of each link and the
angle b etween two connected links; it c an also use
the sca le of a link.
Theskeletonhierarchycanalsobea3dsMax
system object that defines a behavior as well as a
hierarchy. Three kinds of object s that are especially
useful with Physique:
• Bipeds are provided by character studio.
• Bones are a standard Systems object provided
with 3ds Max.
• Splines can be used rather than a “bones”
hierarchy.
You create both bones and bipeds using the
Systems object categor y on the Create panel.
Bones are useful for facial animat ion, a face with
moving lips for example, or for non-bipedal
characters. Bipeds are the system of choice for
humanoid and other bipedal characters.
Usually you create the Physique skin before you
create the sk eleton, because you must adapt the
skeleton’s dimensions to the dimensions of the
skin, in order to optimize vertex assig nment to the
links in the hierarchy.
This Physique hierarchy is created with dummy objects linked
to each oth e r.
Physique mesh with a biped skeleton.
Physique can use a spline to defrom the mesh.