Datasheet

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Part I ✦ Learning the Max Interface
Table 1-3: Constraints and Controllers Menu Items
Menu Submenu Items
Constraints Attachment Constraint, Surface Constraint, Path Constraint, Position
Constraint, Link Constraint, Look-At Constraint, Orientation Constraint
Transform Controllers Link Constraint, Position/Rotation/Scale, Script
Position Controllers Audio, Bézier, Expression, Linear, Motion Capture, Noise, Quaternion (TCB),
reactor, Spring, Script, XYZ, Attachment Constraint, Path Constraint, Position
Constraint, Surface Constraint
Rotation Controllers Audio, Euler XYZ, Linear, Motion Capture, Noise, Quaternion (TCB), reactor,
Script, Smooth, Look-At Constraint, Orientation Constraint
Scale Controllers Audio, Bézier, Expression, Linear, Motion Capture, Noise, Quaternion (TCB),
reactor, Script, XYZ
The Add Custom Attribute menu command opens the Add Parameter dialog box. Using this
dialog box, you can add new parameters to an object. These new parameters, once defined,
show up in the Custom Attributes rollout of the Command Panel. You can use the Wire
Parameters menu command and Parameter Wire dialog box to make objects respond to the
changes of another object. For example, you can make a character object move up a tree
when a bear character moves closer.
Previews give you a chance to see your animation (rendered in the active viewport) before
you spend time rendering it. Preview commands include Make Preview, View Preview, and
Rename Preview. Previews are saved to a temporary buffer.
Although the basics of animation, including parameter wiring and previews, are covered in
Chapter 30, “Animation Basics,” Constraints and Controllers are covered in Chapter 31,
“Animating with Constraints and Controllers,” and the IK Solvers are covered in Chapter 37,
“Using Inverse Kinematics.”
The Graph Editors menu
The Graph Editors menu includes commands for opening the Track View (including the Curve
Editor and Dope Sheet), the Schematic View and the Particle View (keyboard shortcut, 6)
windows, along with several menus of commands for creating, opening, and deleting saved
views. The Track View editors provide a detailed way to examine the object and animation
parameters as graphs and bars.
The Schematic View is a high-level, node-based view of the scene. It actually provides the eas-
iest way to link objects and clearly represents the relationships between different objects.
The newcomer in this menu is Particle View. The Schematic View interface has been
endowed with many new features.
New
Feature
Cross-
Reference
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