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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.Itis,however,simplertousetheCrowd
helper controls on the Global Clip Controller
rollout to apply and use the clip controllers.
See also
Synthesis Dialog (page 2–1246)
ClipState Dialog (page 2–1253)
Gl oba l M oti on Clip
Global Motion Clips store the clips to be shared
among multiple Master Motion Clips, which are
assigned to t he cloned objects during synthesis.
Global Motion Clips also contain the logic for
performing motion synthesis on a collection of
objects with trajectories and states ass ociated with
clips. Controls for motion synthesis are found in
the Synthesis dialog.
The way the motion clip keys are scaled and
ordered depends upon user-defined states. Each
state contains one or more motion clips that will
be played when the state is active.
Master M otion Clip
Master Motion Clips are controllers that contain
motion clips, or individual clips of animation.
These motion clips are sequenced to create
animation, and overlap slightly with automatic
blending to smooth the transitions between clips.
Procedure
To use Moti on S ynth esis with non-bipedal creatur es:
All of the work involved in copying and
sy nthesizing clips takes place using controls in the
Synthesis dialog (page 2–1246).Thisdialoghas
three tabs: Motion Clips, State, and Synthesis.
This procedure assumes that the global object is
static and has animation that loops. For creatures
w ith many legs, you can animate lateral motion
on the global object a nd then str ip out the lateral
motion with the Synthesis dialog. This latter
approach serves to minimize foot sliding in a
multi-legged creature .
1. Animate an object.
Create animation in one position, like a bird’s
beating wings. Create a variety of animation
like a gliding motion (wings st ill), wings beating
slowly, and so on. To animate the object, apply
modifiers and animate their parameters.
This will be the Global object, from which
animation clip s will be derived.
2. Using the Create panel > Helpers > Object Type
rollout,addaCrowdobjectandaDelegate
object.
Create the objects in the Top or Perspective
view por t.
3. Use Scatter Ob jects (page 2–1189) in Crowd
function to clone the delegate and optionally
distribute the clones (you can also distribute
them manually).
Make sure you end up with an equal number of
delega tes and animated object clones.
Next, associate and lin k the objects to the
delegates.
4. On the Setup rollout, click the
Object/Delegate Associations button.
The Object/Delegate Associations dialog (page
2–1196) appears.