2009

What is character studio?
character studio is a set of components that provides a full set of tools for
animating characters.
character studio lets you create skeletal hierarchies for two-legged characters
(called bipeds) that can be animated quickly using a wide variety of methods.
If your character walks on two legs, the software provides unique
footstep
animation
on page 4176 that automatically creates movement based on gravity,
balance, and other factors.
If you want to animate motions manually, you can use freeform animation
on page 4232. This type of animation is also suitable for characters with more
than two legs, or characters that fly or swim. With freeform animation, you
can animate the skeleton with traditional inverse kinematic techniques.
You can also animate a biped skeleton by
loading motion capture files on
page 4309. You can convert back and forth between these methods to take
advantage of their several benefits.
character studio also provides tools for skinning a character using the biped
skeleton, or any other type of linked hierarchy.
The software provides a unique ability to separate the motion of the animation
from the structure of the character. Thus you can animate a giant walking
and apply that motion to a tiny elf. Or you could animate a fat character and
retarget the same motion to thin one. Using a library of motions, you can
animate a character doing hundreds of different actions as easily as loading
a file.
The software provides a comprehensive range of tools for motion editing. You
use motion scripting to sequence animations with transitions. You can overlay
different animations with layers, or blend them with the nonlinear
Motion
Mixer
on page 3699.
Function curve editing, available on the track bar and in Track View, as well
as in the Animation Workbench on page 4476, lets you alter animations. The
workbench also provides specialized tools for analyzing and correcting motion
errors. Finally, the software provides options for creating crowds of bipeds on
page 4761 or other objects with a procedural-animation system that uses forces
and behaviors to drive character motion.
character studio consists of three basic components:
■ Biped
®
provides tools to create and animate skeletons.
4128 | Chapter 17 character studio