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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 me thods in 3ds Max:
• Animation Concepts and Methods (page 2–275)
provides informa tion 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. For specifics about controllers, see
Animation Controllers (page 2–307).
•Aspecialtypeofanimationcontrolleris
the constraint; for details, see Animation
Constraints (page 2–392).
• A powerful method for creating sophisticated,
procedural animation is covered in Wire
Parameters (page 2–411).
• For animating characters both humanoid
and other, as well as complex mechanical
assemblies, it’s important to know about
Hierarchies and Kinematics (page 2–416).
• Track View (page 2–501) gives you access
to powerful tools for analyzing and editing
animation.
• Animation Utilities (page 2–653) can help ease
tedious animation tasks.
•Whenanimatinganumberofdifferentobjects
the same way, or transferring animation from
oneobjecttoanother,it’susefultoknowthe
information covered in Saving and Loading
Animation (page 3–472).
•TheMotion Mixer (page 2–604) is a powerful
tool for combining individual movements i nto
complex animations.
• Another way of combining animation segments
is the Animation Layers (page 2–326) system.
Animation Concepts and
Methods
W ith 3ds Max, you can create 3D computer
animation for a variety of applications. You can
animate characters or vehicles for computer
games, or you can animate special effects for film
or broadcast . You can create animation for serious
purposes such as medical illustration or forensic
presentation in the courtroom. Whatever reason
you have to animate, you ’ll find 3ds Max a capable
environment for achieving your goals.
Animation