8

Using Objects as Bones 387
Bone Fins group
Side Fins—Lets you add a s et of fins to the sides of
the bones you create.
•
Size—Controls the size of the fin.
•
Start Taper—Controls the star t taper of the fin.
•
End Taper—Controls the end taper of the fin.
•
Fr o n t Fin—Lets you add a fin to the front of the
bone you create.
•
Size—Controls the size of the fin.
•
Start Taper—Controls the star t taper of the fin.
•
End Taper—Controls the end taper of the fin.
Back Fin—Lets you add a fin to the back of the bone
you create.
•
Size—Controls the size of the fin.
•
Start Taper—Controls the star t taper of the fin.
•
End Taper—Controls the end taper of the fin.
Generate Mapping Coords—Creates mapping
coordinates on the bones. Since the bones are
renderable, they can also have materials applied,
which can use these mapping coordinates.
Usi ng Obj ects a s B ones
Select a linked o bject or multiple objects linked to each
other. > C harac ter menu > Bone Tools > Object Properties
rollout > Bone On toggle
You can use arbitrary objects as bones, controlling
their animation as if they were bones in a
bones
system (page 1–381)
.Youcanapplyan IK solver
(page 2–421)
to the boned objects.
Touseobjectsasbones,turnontheBoneOn
toggle in the Object Properties rollout of the
Bone
Tools dialog (page 1–388)
.
Wa rni ng: When you turn on Freeze Length, this has no
visible effect unless you transform the
child of the objec t
to which Freeze Length is applied.
Once the objects have been boned, applying an
IKsolutionbehavesasitdoesforstandardbone
objects. The geometry of the boned objects can
stretchorsquashduringanimation.
Procedure
To use objects as bones:
1.
Link the objects you want to display as
bones.
2. Select all of these objects.
Note: Yo u c a n t u r n o n B o n e f o r a s i n g l e o b j e c t ,
but this doesn’t have much use.
3. Choose Character > Bone Tools.
The floating Bone Tools dialog is displayed.
4. OntheObjectPropertiesrollout,turnonBone
On.
3dsMaxnowtreatsth
e selected objects as
bones.
5. Select the object to use as the start of the
IK chain.
6. Choose Animation
>IKSolvers>HISolver.
You can choose a di
fferentIKsolver,buttheHI
Solver is the preferred choice.
7. Click to select the end of the IK chain.
No w when you transform the boned objects,
their movement is governed by the IK solver.