2009
footstep appears as a block that represents a support period in time for each
of the biped's feet. You can move footsteps in time in Track View. The footstep
position and orientation in the viewport controls where the biped will step.
There are three ways to create footsteps for the biped:
■ Place footsteps individually.
■ Use the footstep tools to automatically create a walking, running or
jumping animation.
■ Import motion-capture data to footsteps.
A key advantage of the footstep method is the natural adaptation of the biped
that occurs when the footsteps are edited in time and space. Editing footsteps
in the viewports allows you to reposition all of the footsteps to move the
entire animation. In Footstep mode, stride, length, width, and direction can
be changed quickly for an entire animation and the biped automatically
adapts.
Using the Footsteps Show/Hide button on the Display rollout, all footsteps
can become visible. Move the footsteps in the viewports to position them for
proper ground collision with the terrain object. For example, if the biped toes
are rotated for the Lift key at the last frame of a footstep (to create more toe
curl as the character walks) the leg automatically repositions itself to maintain
foot contact with the ground (footstep).
These adaptations speed up the process of creating and editing animation for
the biped. If necessary, the animator can prevent biped adaptation by using
the
Adapt Locks parameters on page 7900 on the Dynamics & Adaptation rollout
on page 4417.
Foot States
Within a footstep animation, there can be four
foot states on page 7986: move,
touch, plant, and lift. These correspond to the state of the biped feet in
relationship to the footsteps. Use the foot state displays in the Biped rollout
to determine the state of the biped feet when you are editing the biped foot
or leg keys. The foot states can be displayed in the viewport by turning on
Leg states in the Display group of the expanded Biped rollout. The Foot states
are represented as colored keys in Track View - Dope Sheet.
4180 | Chapter 17 character studio