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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.
Compar i ng the M otion M ix er a nd M oti on
Flow
Both the Motion Mixer and Motion Flow (page
2–1026) canbeusedtocreatetransitionsbetween
a consecutive series of BIP files. However, there
are a few significant differences between the two
features:
•WiththeMotionMixer,severalBIPfilescanbe
usedatthesametimetoaffectbipedmotion.
Compare with Motion Flow, w here only one
BIP file, or a transition between two consecutive
BIP fi les, affects the biped at any given time.
•WiththeMotionMixer,youcanspecifythata
BIP file w ill affect only one part of the body.
ThisfeatureisnotavailableinMotionFlow.
•IntheMotionMixer,youcanuseamixdown
to automatically lock feet during transitions
between biped foot-based motions. Motion
Flow does not perform this function.
• A Motion Flow network can be used in
conjunction with the Crowd feature, giving the
bipeds a choice of motions over the course of
the simulation. The Motion Mixer doe s not
generate motion for biped crowds.
• A Motion Flow network can be used to
randomly generate different motion scripts for
oneormorebipeds.Thisfeatureisnotavailable
in the Motion Mixer.
Use the Motion Mixer when you want to create
a specific animation for an object from several
clips, or you want to specify that some motions b e
appliedonlytospecificbodyparts.Ifyouwantto
work with biped crowds or creat e random motion,
use Motion Flow.
If you’re creating a st raight series of transitions
between motions, you can use either one.
However, the Motion Mixer has additional tools
for improving foot-based transitions.
Openin g t he Mo tion Mi xer
YouopentheMixerbyeitherclickingtheMixer
button on the Motion panel > Biped Apps rollout
(page 2–935) or choosing Motion Mixer from the
Graph Editors menu (page 3–682).
When you open the Mixer while a biped is selected,
a trackgroup (page 3–1024),acliptrack,anda
balance track (page 3–914) are assig ned to that
biped. If a non-biped object is selected, the Mixer
opens empty.
1. Trackgroup
2. Clip track
3. Balance track
These items are discussed in detai l in the sec tions
that follow.
Procedures
To access the Motion M ixer fr om the Motion panel:
1.
Select a biped.
2. Access the Motion panel.
3. On the Biped Apps rollout (page 2–935),click
the Mixer button.
The Motion Mixer opens, and displays t he
selected biped and two tr acks. To learn about
these tracks, see Adding Tracks to the Mixer
(page 2–607).