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Converting Between Footstep and Freeform
Animations
There might be times when you want to convert a footstep animation to a
freeform animation, or vice versa. This can occur when someone gives you
an animation file that's animated in one mode, while you prefer to work in
the other.
Animators tend to develop a preference for either freeform or footstep
animation. The ability to convert between the two means you can work in
either format without concern for compatibility with other artists.
Using the Convert tool on the Motion panel > Biped rollout on page
4331, you can convert between footstep and freeform animation.
There are no special considerations when converting from footsteps to
freeform; this procedure works for all footstep sequences. However, to convert
successfully from freeform to footstep animation, you must observe certain
rules in order for footsteps to be generated.
Converting from Freeform to Footsteps
When converting from freeform to footsteps, footsteps are generated for a
foot only during periods between two planted keys. In other words, the
conversion process looks for times when a foot has two consecutive, identical
keys with an IK Blend setting of 1 and Object space selected. In this case, a
footstep icon is placed at the foot's location, with the duration of the footstep
set by the time between the two identical keys. This is the only condition
under which foosteps are generated.
If converting freeform animation to footsteps does not create the expected
result, your freeform animation might need adjustment prior to conversion.
See
Using IK Keyframe Parameters on page 4259 for information on setting
freeform planted keys.
If your freeform motion hasn't been prepared with planted keys for converting
to footsteps, you can convert it to footsteps by loading it as a motion capture
file and specifying footsteps as the extraction method. This technique uses a
different method to determine footstep location and duration, and so can
sometimes successfully convert to footsteps where the Convert command
cannot. See
Importing Motion-Capture Data on page 4576.
Footstep Animation | 4231