8

Topology-Dependent Modifier 1117
from one to the other would cause the object to
crumple or turn inside out as it morphs.
Topol ogy -Depend ent M od if ier
Topology-dependent modifiers perform
operations on explicit, topological sub-object
selections. The Edit Mesh and Mesh Select
modifiers are examples of modifiers that perform
operations or selections on explicit vertex or face
numbers. When these modifiers are present in
the stack, you can adversely affect their results if
you visit previous stack operations and change
the topology (the number and order of faces and
vertices) being passed to them. When you do this,
atopology-dependencewarningalertsyoutothe
situation.
Touch
In footstep animation (page 3–1037) ,thestateof
the biped foot on the first frame of a footstep.
Track
A track is a linear representation of animation
occurring over time. You can think of a track as a
long, straight rai lroad t rack, with the animation
starttimeatoneend,andthefinishtimeatthe
other. Keys are placed on the track at intervals that
correspondtothetimealongthetrack.
The term
track is used in several areas of character
studio, including the following:
• E ach animatable object and parameter in
3ds Max and character studio has its own
animation track, which you can v iew and edit
in
Track View (page 2–746) .
• Tools are available especially for working with
bipedtracks.Thecenterofmassisuniquein
that it has separate t racks for horizontal and
vertical animation, which you can select on the
Motion panel >
Track Selection rollout (page
2–800)
.Youcan copy and paste tracks (page
2–781)
on biped objects to other bipeds with
the
Copy/Paste rollout (page 2–818) .
•Inthe
Ke yframing Tools rollout (page 2–816) ,
you can clear all animation or just selected
tracks.
•Inthe
Motion Mixer (page 2–581) ,thelinear
areas that hold motion clips are called
tracks .
Several tracks can be stacked on top of one
another to use animation from all tracks at the
same time.
Track View
Track View provides a visual representation
of animation keys, allowing you to view, edit,
copyandadjustoneorseveralkeysatatime.
This is where you control the timing of your
animation, through the manipulation of keys,
cur ves and ranges. You can also assign animation
controllers to interpolate or control all the keys
and parameters for the objects in your scene.
Track View has two windows, a Controller window
and a Key window. The Controller window shows
the hierarchy of linked objects, as well as the
modifier stack and transform tracks. The Key
window displays keys, curves and ranges. Keys are
color coded to show what is animated.
Track View uses two different modes.
Curve Editor
mode (page 2–489)
displays key interpolation as
curves, and allows you to edit the curves.
Dope
Sheet mode (page 2–489)
displays the animation
as a spreadsheet of keys and r anges. Dope Sheet
has two modes, Edit Key and Edit Ranges.