9

898 Chapter 14: character studio
with Biped” for an example of animating the
weights.
1. Add a controller to a biped object, using either
method outlined above.
2. Immediately after adding the controller select
the appropriate BipScaleList, BipRotationList,
or BipPositionList entry in the controller list,
and expand it to see the Weights.
3. Expand the Weights and select Weight 0.
4. In the Keyframing Tools rollout on the
Motion panel, click the Manipulate SubAnims
button.
Three new rollouts appear in the Motion panel:
Posit ion List, Scale List and Rotation List.
5. Navigate to the appropriate List rollout. In the
Layer window h ig hlight the C ontroller you
wish to weight.
The Weight field becomes available
6. Turn on Auto Key, move t he t ime
slider and enter values in that field, or use the
spinner to set keys to animate the weights.
Wa rning: Don’t even think a bout using the 3ds Max
Set Key button to animate the weights. Avoid using
this button with character studio as a rule. Use
Auto Key or use the Key Info rollout set key buttons
instead.
Usi ng Pr ops
Propsareobjectsthatabipedcouldbeholdingor
carrying, such as a gun, sword, or briefcase. They
are represented as boxes that are additional links
in the biped hierarchy, an extension of the biped
structure you can access at creation time or in
Figure mode. If you are loading motion-capture
data that contains prop information, this will
transfer to the biped prop.
Each biped can have up to three props. Prop data
w i ll work seamlessly with other advanced features
of character studio:intheMixer,MotionFlow,
Unification, and Layered edits.
Props are defined in the Structure rollo ut.
Props appear as boxes in the biped hierarchy.
They can be moved, stretched, and scaled in
Figure mode as other biped parts can. Props are
supportedbyPhysique,andareanimatedusing
the biped Transform controller in the same wa y as
other objects. Create your prop and position it in
relation to the biped in Figure mode. Props can
be made to follow the motion of either hand by
keyframing the Position and Rotation coordinate
space of the prop.
Bipeds with multiple props as swords
Animating Pr op L ink age
Props c an change lin ked parents (similar to the
3ds Max Link controller) at any keyf r ame. This
is done using the Position Space and Coordinate
Space lists in the Prop section of the Key Info rollout
(page 2–954). Onceakeyissetonthepropata
givenframe,youcansetorchangethecoordinate
space in which it is transformed by choosing a new
space from the drop-down list. You set rotation
and position coordinate space independently.