Datasheet

50
Part I ✦ Learning the Max Interface
Hierarchy panel
The Hierarchy panel, shown in Figure 1-11, includes three different sets of controls. You
access them by using the three buttons located at the top of the panel. These sets are Pivot,
Inverse Kinematics (IK), and Link Info. Each of these buttons when selected presents several
different rollouts of parameters.
Figure 1-11: The Hierarchy panel offers controls for
adjusting pivot points, among other things.
The Pivot button opens rollouts that let you move and reorient an object’s pivot point. A
pivot point is the point about which transformations are applied. The IK button opens roll-
outs that let you set up an inverse kinematics structure and to define how the joints of such
a structure can move. Finally, the Link Info button opens rollouts for setting locks, which pre-
vent an object from moving, rotating, or scaling along certain axes.
Check out the details on pivots in Chapter 10, “Transforming Objects — Translate, Rotate, and
Scale,” Inverse Kinematics in Chapter 37, “Using Inverse Kinematics,” and links in Chapter 8,
“Grouping and Linking Objects.”
Motion panel
Similar to the Hierarchy panel, the Motion panel has a dual personality. The two buttons at
the top of the Motion panel, shown in Figure 1-12, are Parameters and Trajectories. One com-
mon way of modifying object motion is to apply Controllers and Constraints. The Parameters
button opens several rollouts that enable you to apply animation Controllers and Constraints.
Note
04 557637 ch01.qxd 3/4/04 2:31 PM Page 50