2008

Talent Figure Mode
When you work with motion capture on page 4493 , after you load a raw marker
file
on page 7841 , you can turn on Talent Figure mode to scale the biped relative
to the markers. Calibration for the entire marker file takes place when you
exit Talent Figure mode.
Tangents
The tangent of a function curve affects the interpolated values between the
keys of an animation. Most animation controllers use fixed tangents to define
the function curve at a key location.
By default, 3ds Max assigns smooth tangents to the keys in a Position function
curve. This is the reason that an animated object moves in smooth curves
through the key frames. 3ds Max assigns smooth tangents because they usually
provide the most natural motion.
Of course, you also need a way to add some corners and abrupt turns when
you need them. The
Linear controller on page 3118 uses a discontinuous tangent
that points at the preceding and following keys, producing an abrupt change
in motion at that key.
The two large flyout buttons at the bottom of the Key Info dialog provide five
different types of predefined tangent types on page 3054 , plus a sixth type that
lets you create your own custom tangents.
If you look at a single key dot and the line running through it, the line on
the left side of the key dot is the incoming tangent, and the line on the right
is the outgoing tangent. Using the tangent flyout buttons, you can assign a
different tangent type to the incoming and the outgoing lines for each key
dot.
The button on the left assigns the incoming tangent at the left side of the
selected key dot, and the button on the right assigns the outgoing tangent on
the right side of the selected key dot.
TCB (Biped)
TCB is short for Tension, Continuity, and Bias. These parameters quantify the
traditional animation technique of ease in and ease out (also known as “slow
7944 | Glossary