2009

Mixer Transition Editor Dialog (Non-Biped Object)
Graph Editors menu > Motion Mixer... > Select a non-biped object clip
transition. > Motion Mixer menu bar > Transitions > Edit
The Mixer Transition Editor controls transitions on page 8157 on transition
tracks
on page 8158. You can use this dialog to change the start and end times
of transitions, change the transition focus, and perform other functions. Mix
transition blend objects are changeable from clip to clip, and any new
transition that results from cloning or adding clips initially uses the blend
options from the last clip in time.
The options on this dialog are much the same as for Bipeds, except that:
■ Mix transitions for 3ds Max objects do not have ghosting or playback
controls.
■ You can explicitly pick blend objects from any object being mixed in the
track.
■ The sub-blend capability provides further tuning of the transition.
Blending and Sub-Blending
Consider a character walking around a corner. The trajectory of the character's
root describes an arc, while the IK feet cycle along the ground. This clip
contains a few footsteps, and is used to make a mixer cycle that should take
the character around in a circle. If you set the root and the feet all to be velocity
blends, the transition will result in the root continuing around the corner
while the feet continue in whatever direction they were moving at transition
time! That is, if the right foot was just about to hit the ground with its heel,
thus pointing up a bit, it would transition upward into the next clip instead
of blending in the direction that the root’s arc is taking. If you set the root to
be a velocity blend and then set the feet to be sub-blends of the root, the
transition results in the root continuing on its arc around the corner but with
the feet blending in relation to it. That is, the upward-pointing right foot
motion will blend with the foot motion in the new clip but in the direction
of the arc, not in its own upward direction.
3768 | Chapter 15 Animation