8

1052 Glossary
If you wanted to create a school of swimming
fish, you mig ht begin by making many instanced
copies of a single fish. You could then animate the
swimming motion by applying a ripple modifier
to any fish in the school. The whole school would
swim with exactly the same motions.
Instance (Motion Mixer)
The term instance has two meanings in 3ds Max.
One is the
standard definition (page 3–1051) ;the
other is specific to clips in the Motion Mixer.
In general, an instance is a completely
interchangeablecloneoftheoriginalobject.
Modifyinganinstancedobjectisthesameas
modif ying the or iginal.
In the
Motion Mixer (page 3–1070) ,whenthe
same clip is used more than once on tracks, the
clip versions are either instances or
adaptations
(page 3–999)
of each other.
The same clip used more than once for one biped,
or for different bipeds of the same size, is an
instance. The same clip used for different-sized
bipeds is an adaptation.
For example, suppose you scene contains two
bipeds that are exactly the same size, and you
use the same clip in both bipeds’ mixes. The
clips within one biped’s mix are instances of
one another, and clips within the m ixes of the
two same-sized bipeds are also instances of
one another. Instances have the same number
appended to the ends of their clip names in the
Mixer.
Suppose you then add a third biped of a different
size, and use the same clip in that biped’s mix.
The new version of the clip is an adaptation of the
clip used on the first two bipeds. An incremental
number is added to the end of the clip name in
the Mixer.
These terms are used b ecause the Mixer adapts
each loaded clip to the biped’s size. The first time a
clip is loaded, the Mixer adapts the clip as needed,
but no distinction is made between instances and
adaptationsatthatpointbecausetheclipappears
only once .
When the clip is cloned or loaded again, the
Mixer adapts the new clip to t he biped as needed,
then compares the change to previously loaded
versions. If the change is the same, the new clip
and its previous versions are instances of one
another. If not, the new clip and previous versions
are adaptations of one another.
Interactive Renderer
Another term for the Viewport Interactive
Renderer (page 3–1124)
.
Interpolation
Interpolation is the calculation of intermediate
values. For example, when you set two keyf r ames
for a moving object, the object’s position
on intermediate frames is determined by
interpolation.
Inver se K inematics
Inversekinematics(IK)isapositioningand
animation method that is built on top of the
concepts of hierarchical linking. To understand
howIKworksyoumustfirstunderstandthe
principles of hierarchical linking and forward
kinematics.
Inverse kinematics starts with linking and pivot
placement as its foundation and then adds the
following principles:
• Joints are constrained with specific positional
and rotational properties.