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Tutorials:
Animation

2010

Autodesk® 3ds® Max 2010 Software
©

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...
Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc
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...
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The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co
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Disclaimer
THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC
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" AUTODESK, INC
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Animation Tutorials

4

Here you can learn the fundamentals of creating animation with 3ds Max
...
This classic
example is an excellent tool for explaining basic animation processes in 3ds
Max
...


■

Cop keys in the track bar
...


■

Use tangent handles in the Function Curve Editor to control in-betweens
...


■

Animate using dummy objects
...


■

Apply Multiplier curves
...


474 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Animate using Set Key mode
...

Animate the ball using the Move transform:
1

On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Open File button, navigate
to the animation\auto_key folder and open bounce_start
...

NOTE The following illustrations display the grid differently than you will see
in your viewports
...


Creating Animation Using Auto Key | 475

Perspective viewport: bounce_start
...
This is
not the standard viewport layout; the layout has been customized for
this lesson
...

The Auto Key button and the time slider background turn red
to indicate that you are in animation mode
...
Now, when you move, rotate, or scale an object, you create
keyframes automatically
...

It is displayed within white selection brackets, indicating that it’s selected
...


Creating Animation Using Auto Key | 477

The Transform gizmo appears in the viewport
...
As you move your cursor
over the Transform gizmo, the different axes and their labels turn yellow
...

As you move the ball up in the air, notice the Z value changing in the
Coordinate Display below the track bar
...

A Position key is created when you do this
...

The track bar displays the keys for whatever is selected in the viewport
...


Creating Animation Using Auto Key | 479

Keyframe created in Auto Key Mode

6 Move the time slider to frame 15
...


Coordinate Display type-in for precision animation
...

NOTE The World Origin, (0,0,0) in XYZ coordinates, is shown by the
intersection of the dark lines on the Home grid
...

Instead of moving to frame 30 and moving the ball back up in the air,
you'll use a different method
...

7 Put your mouse over the time slider's frame indicator (the grey box that
currently reads 15/100 and right-click
...

8 In the Create Key dialog, change the Source Time to 1 and the Destination
Time to 30, then click OK
...


Creating Animation Using Auto Key | 481

9

Click Play Animation to play the animation, or drag the time
slider back and forth between frames 1and 30
...


10

If you clicked Play Animation, click Stop (the same button) to
end the playback
...


11

In the time controls, click Time Configuration
...
Don’t click the Re-Scale Time button
...

3ds Max lets you work in an active time segment that’s a part of a larger
animation
...
Notice that the time slider now shows only these frames
...

13 Play the animation
...
Since the first and last frames are the same,
the animation appears to cycle as it plays
...

14 Stop the animation playback
...

Right now they are evenly distributed so the ball has no acceleration
...

You need to simulate the effect of gravity so that the ball slows to a stop
at the top of its bounce, speeds up as it approaches the table, and then
bounces up again
...
You'll also use the Ghosting feature
to help visualize what the interpolation curves are doing
...

You'll use the tangency handles available in the Curve Editor
...

Ghosting will let you see where the in-betweens are being positioned
...

2 From the Views menu, click Show Ghosting to turn on this feature
...

3 Go to Customize menu > Preferences > Viewports tab, and set Ghosting
Frames to 4 and set Display Nth frame to 3
...

The viewport displays the ghosting
...


4 Play the animation, and then stop
...

The Function Curve Editor is displayed across the top two viewports
...

6 In the Controller window on the left, click to select only the Z position
track
...
If you don’t see a plus icon, right-click
and choose Manual Navigation, hold down Alt and right-click, and then
choose Expand from the quad menu
...

Now the only curve displayed in the Keys window is the one you want
to work on
...

As you move back and forth the animation plays in the viewport
...

8 Drag around the dark dot (the position key) to select it
...

You will now manipulate the curve using tangency handles
...


9

On the Track View toolbar, click Set Tangents To Custom
...


10 Hold down the Shift key and drag the left handle on the left upwards in
the Key window
...

The curve now looks like this:

Shift key allows for manipulation of individual handles
...

Using Interactive Update:
1 On the Track View Options menu turn on Interactive Update
...
You can clearly see the changes as
you work
...
With interactive update
on, you can do this with very fine control
...


Controlling In-Betweens | 487

By manipulating this handle you can get different effects
...
The ball will appear to be bouncy,
like a tennis ball, if the two handles are similar
...

4

Turn off Views > Show Ghosting and then play the animation
...
Adjust the curve handles some
more while the animation plays
...

The ball leaves the table as quickly as it hit it, then begins to slow down
as it rises
...

The ball has bounce now
...

When you see something you like in the viewport, it's a reminder that
you should save your work
...

6 Save your work as mybounce
...

You’ve made the ball bounce once
...


Adding Parameter Curve Out-of-Range Types
You can repeat a series of keys over and over in a variety of ways, without
having to make copies of them and position them along the time line
...
Out-Of-Range Types let you choose how you want the animation to
repeat beyond the range of the current keys
...
This feature is also on the Controllers menu
...
max
...


488 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

2 If the Curve Editor isn't displayed already, select the ball in any viewport,
right-click, and choose Curve Editor from the quad menu
...

Before you repeat the keyframes, you'll extend the length of the
animation
...
This button is beneath the Go To End
button in the animation playback controls at the bottom-right corner of
the interface (not Track View)
...

This adds 90 blank frames onto the existing 30 frames
...
The ball will still be bouncing once between
frames 1 and 30
...


Parameter curve out-of-range type choices

Adding Parameter Curve Out-of-Range Types | 489

7 Click both boxes under the Cycle graph to choose Cycle for In and Out
...


8

Click Zoom Horizontal Extents on the Navigation: Track View
toolbar at the lower right corner of the Track View window
...
The
Parameter Out-of-Range curves are displayed as dotted lines
...
Any change made to the original
keys will be reflected in the looping
...

9 Play the animation
...

10 Save your work as mybounce_repeat
...
This allows you to keep the
bouncing independent from the position, and makes it easier to control
the animation
...
Then you
can animate the helper so that the ball bounces across the top of some text
...

Set up the lesson:

1

On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Open File button
...
max
...
The
only difference is that it has a text object prepared for you in the scene
and it has a longer active time segment
...
max file by going to the Application
menu and choosing Import > Merge
...
max
...
Click the Time Configuration button
and then in the Animation group change End Time to 240
...

2 Click the Top viewport to activate it, then zoom in on the ball and the
box
...


4 In the Top viewport, move the cursor over the ball
...


Make the dummy in the Top viewport
...


492 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Dummy created below the ball

Next you will align the dummy so that it is centered over the ball when
viewed from the top
...
Then in the Top viewport, click the
ball
...


7 On the Align Selection dialog, turn on X Position and Y Position, but
leave Z turned off
...

You'll see the dummy shift position so it is aligned to the ball
...
The idea is to set
up the dummy so that its pivot point will match where the ball bounces
...


Animating with Dummy Objects | 493

8

Select the dummy object, and go to the Hierarchy panel
...
This moves the object but leaves the pivot unmoved
...

The pivot icon is displayed in the viewport
...


10

Turn on Select And Move, and raise the dummy cube so its base
is level with the pivot tripod
...


494 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

You don’t want to move in any other axis, since the dummy is already
centered properly in the other axes
...


= key used to grow the transform gizmo

11 Turn off Affect Object Only
...
The dummy will become the
parent to the bouncing ball
...


Animating with Dummy Objects | 495

2

On the main toolbar, turn on Select And Link
...

The cursor changes to two interlinked boxes
...
A rubber-band line follows the cursor
...
One box is
white, showing you this object (the dummy) will be the parent of the
first object (the ball)
...


Link the ball to the dummy

You just linked the ball to the dummy
...
For something this simple,
it’s easier to link directly in the viewport
...

Verify that you've created the hierarchy:

1

2

On the toolbar, turn on Select Object
...
Choose Display
> Display Children to make sure this toggle is on, then choose Display >
Expand All
...
(You might have to click the plus (+) icon next to Scene Root in order
to see the full list
...
Rotate the dummy
in the viewport
...

4 Undo the transform after you've tested your linkage
...
You'll use simple Auto Key
animation first, so you can understand the process
...

2

Turn on Auto Key

3

On the main toolbar, turn on Select And Move
...


498 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Dummy at frame 1

5

Use the time slider to move to frame 15, or
type 15 in the Go To Frame field
...


Animating with Dummy Objects | 499

Dummy at frame 15

You just set two keys for the dummy, one at the start location at frame
0 and a second at frame 15
...


500 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Dummy at frame 30

You've now set a third key at frame 30
...

You can display the trajectory of the ball to help visualize the animation
...


8

On the main toolbar, turn on Select Object
...


9 Select the ball, and then right-click it
...

11 In the Object Properties dialog, in the Display Properties group, turn on
Trajectory
...

You see the ball bouncing onto the box and off, following the trajectory
...
When both Auto Key and Set Key are off, you are working
in what is known as Layout mode
...

1

Turn off Auto Key Mode
...


2

Move the dummy object back toward the text
...


502 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Layout Mode lets you move the animation in space
...

The ball bounces 8 times, making contact with the letters at frames 15, 45,
75, 105, 135, 165, 195, and 220
...


2 In the track bar, select the key at frame 30 and delete it
...

4 Position the dummy so the ball bounces on the double L's in the word
“Follow”
...

■

F at frame 15

■

ll at frame 45

■

w at frame 75

■

th at frame 105

■

b at frame 135

■

u at frame 165

■

c at frame 195

■

ba at frame 225

6 At frame 240, move the dummy so the ball move away from the letters
...

8 Save your work as mybounce_text
...
If you had any trouble, you can
open the file bounce_text
...

Next you will learn to use a multiplier curve to affect the height of the
bouncing ball
...

The Curve Editor window is displayed, if it wasn't already visible
...

3 On the Curves menu, choose Apply Multiplier Curve
...
Click the Multiplier Curve to highlight it,
and then hold down Ctrl and click the Z Position track
...

In the Controller window, the Multiplier curve is added beneath the Z
position track
...

The scaling of the multiplier track is quite small, so the slightest change
to a key could result in a large change in the animation
...


4

On the Navigation: Track View toolbar (at the lower right of the
Keys window), click the Zoom Region button
...


5 On the Options menu, turn on Interactive Update
...


Lowering the multiplier curve shows effect on Z position curve in Keys window

Animating with Dummy Objects | 505

Don't move it below the horizontal zero value, or you will get some
strange effects
...

While working with Multiplier curves, if you're not sure you like the
results, you can just turn them off
...


7

Click Zoom Horizontal Extents on in the Navigation toolbar to
see the entire curve again
...
In this lesson, you'll use the range function to make your
animation go faster
...


506 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Speed up the animation:
The bouncing ball doesn't have enough pep
...

1 Continue from before or open bounce_multiplied
...

2 Select the dummy object in the viewport
...


3

On the Keys: Dope Sheet toolbar, click Edit Ranges
...

The Keys window now displays the ranges for the animation
...
This way
you will adjust the ranges of all the dummy’s tracks at the same time
...
Since the bouncing
ball is the child of the dummy, you'll use the Modify Child Keys button
...

Now the changes you make to the dummy range will also be applied to
the bouncing ball
...


Range bars used to speed up the animation

Using the Dope Sheet Editor | 507

This compresses the animation for the dummy and the bouncing ball so
it happens within 100 frames
...

7 Play the animation
...
The ball continues bouncing at the end of
the animation
...

You could try to use an ease curve to stop the animation, or create keys
from the out-of-range curve, and then delete the keys
...


8

Click the Time Configuration button beneath the animation
playback controls
...

Reverse time:
You can reverse the animation by using the Time tools available in Dope Sheet
mode
...


1

On the Keys Dope Sheet toolbar, click Edit Keys
...


2 On the Time menu, choose Select
...

3 In the Keys window, on the Dummy track, drag from frame 0 to frame
100 to select the time
...


508 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Time displayed as light yellow band

4 On the Time menu, choose Reverse
The animation plays backwards
...

TIP You can easily reverse the playback of an animation using controls found
in the Time Configuration menu
...


Summary
These Animation tutorials introduced you to the techniques of creating
animation
...
Finally,
you've learned about animating with dummy objects, using the Dope Sheet
editor and weighted list controllers
...
You'll also be shown how to blend paths
...


■

Use dummy objects for animation
...


■

Set keys using the Set Keys button
...


■

Substitute high-resolution objects for low-resolution objects by using XRefs
...
You'll also set a few path parameters to improve the
flight dynamics of the spacefighter
...
max
...


■

A path, Path01
...


Assign a path constraint:
1 In the Top viewport, select the SpaceFighter object
...

A dotted line now links the spacefighter and the mouse cursor
...


Adding and Adjusting Flight Paths | 511

Once you pick the path, the spacefighter jumps to the start point of the
path
...
)

Also, the command panel automatically switches to the Motion panel
...

You'll see that Path01 has been added to the path list
...

The spacefighter moves along the path, but it doesn't point in the correct
direction
...


■

In the Axis group, change the axis to Y: the spacefighter is reoriented
and faces along the path, but it's flying backwards
...


NOTE You can change settings while the animation is playing
...

Now the spacefighter is moving along the path properly, but its flight
dynamics don't look realistic
...

You'll make it move more realistically as it enters and exits turns
...


514 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

The spacefighter now banks as it goes through the turns
...
You'll use the Bank
Amount and Smoothness settings to make the spacefighter look as though
it's banking sharply into the curves of the path
...
0
...

If you were sitting in the cockpit, positive values roll the starfighter to
the left and negative values roll to the right
...
If too high, the spacefighter will roll all the way over
...
0 before
continuing
...
0
...
Smaller values make the object more
responsive to changes in the curve while larger values smooth out
jerkiness
...
Try increasing and decreasing the Smoothness value to see
what happens
...
max
...
In this section, you'll add a bit of drama to the action by animating
some settings changes
...


2

Turn on Auto Key and set Bank Amount to 6
...


You'll see a new key added to the timeline at frame 60
...
0
...

As the spacefighter enters the second curve, it makes a drastic rolling
turn, as if evading a missile or dodging a laser
...
max
...
3ds Max allows you to combine
motion along multiple paths, which can result in some interesting effects
...
max
...

This scene includes the following:
■

A spaceship named SpaceFighter
...


■

A camera (hidden) named SpaceCam
...


The spacefighter is already constrained to Path01
...

3 Select Path02, the red path
...
This
is because each path is influencing the spacefighter equally
...

5 Activate the SpaceCam viewport, if it's not already active, and play the
animation
...

6 In the path list on the Path Parameters dialog, highlight the Path01 entry
and set its Weight value (immediately below the list) to 25
...

7 Play the animation again
...
Experiment with different Weight settings for each
path and see what happens
...
max
...

Set up the lesson:
Open the file flyingspacefighter03
...

Files for this lesson are in the \animation\spacefighter folder
...


■

A dummy object, SpaceshipControl
...


■

A camera (hidden), SpaceCam
...
You can create them from the Helpers
button on the Create panel
...

By animating a dummy, you can focus on getting your motion set up using
a simple object that doesn't slow down your system
...
Now wherever the
dummy moves, the object goes with it
...


2 Select FlightLeader and drag the cursor over the dummy, SpaceshipControl
...

FlightLeader is now linked to the SpaceshipControl
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 519

3 Link both Wingman01 and Wingman02 to SpaceshipControl
...


Click Select Object to turn it on and turn off Select And Link
...

4 From the Animation menu, choose Constraints > Path Constraint
...

SpaceshipControl jumps to the beginning of the path
...


520 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

5 In the Path Parameters rollout, make the following settings
...


■

In the Axis group, turn on Y and Flip
...
0 and the Smoothness to 1
...


6 Activate the SpaceCam viewport and play the animation
...

7 Save the scene as MyFlight01
...


Making the Camera Follow the Action
In this exercise, you'll use the Link Constraint to make the camera follow the
flight as it passes by
...
max
Add link constraint to the camera:

1

Open the Display panel and turn off Cameras in the Hide By
Category rollout
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 521

2

In the Top viewport, use Zoom Extents to view the scene
...

Also make sure the time slider is set to frame 0 (zero)
...

Click the flightpath to set the first Link Parameter at frame 0 (zero)
...


4 Move the time slider to frame 80 and click the Add Link button in the
Link Params rollout
...


522 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

5 Click Add Link to turn it off
...

The camera target is linked to the flightpath from frames 0 to 79
...

7 Save the scene as MyFlight02
...


Your Flight Leader Gets Cocky
Your flight leader is a pretty bold character
...
In this exercise,
you'll use the Orientation Constraint to control the rotation of the flight
leader's spacefighter as it performs a barrel roll
...
max
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 523

2

On the Create panel, click Helpers, then Dummy
...


524 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

3

Click Select And Link and link barrelroll to SpaceshipControl
...

The Align Selection (SpaceshipControl) dialog appears
...

6 In the Align Orientation (Local) group, turn on the X, Y, and Z Axis
controls and click OK
...


526 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

7

On the Motion panel, open the Assign Controller rollout, if it's
not open, and select the Rotation: Euler XYZ controller
...

NOTE Do not miss this step
...


Animate the victory roll:
1 Select the FlightLeader in the Top viewport
...
Move the cursor over the barrelroll dummy and select it
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 527

3 Select barrelroll and make sure that the time slider is at frame 0 (zero)
...


5

Move the time slider to frame 110 and click Set Keys again
...


6 Activate the SpaceCam viewport and move the time slider to frame 130
...


8 Click the barrelroll dummy and rotate it around the Y axis to about 180
degrees and click the Set Keys button
...


9 Move the time slider to frame 150 and rotate the barrelroll dummy around
the Y axis another 180 degrees and click the Set Keys button
...

10 Save the scene as MyFlight03
...


A Wingman in Trouble
While the FlightLeader is performing stunts, Wingman01 seems to be having
some trouble
...
In this
exercise, you'll use the Noise Controller to add some turbulence to Wingman01
flight dynamics
...
max
...

Add turbulence:

1

In the Top viewport, use Region Zoom to view the three
spacefighters, if you haven't done so already
...


2 Select Wingman01
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 529

Doing this automatically adds a List Controller to the Wingman01
...
0 percent
...

5 Stop the playback and change the Weight of the Noise Position controller
to 25
...

Now the flight path of the Wingman01 spacefighter is affected by slight
battle damage
...
max
...
You'll revisit the Link Constraint to make
Wingman02 follow the FlightLeader for a little while then take off on another
path
...
max
...

2 Create a dummy near Wingman02 and call it WingmanControl
...
Select wingmanpath and click Unhide
...

4 Make sure the new dummy, WingmanControl, is still selected and choose
Animation > Constraints > Path Constraint
...

The WingmanControl jumps to the beginning of wingmanpath
...

■

Turn on Follow, Bank, and Constant Velocity
...


■

Set the Bank Amount to 7
...
0
...


TIP
To better see Wingman02 fly away, before you play the
animation go to frame 0, activate the SpaceCam viewport, turn on the
Field-of-View navigation button, and drag downward in the SpaceCam
viewport until in frame 0 you can see the entire loop of wingmanpath,
and a bit of FlightLeader, at the right-hand side of the viewport
...

Wingman02 is no longer linked to the SpaceshipControl dummy object
...

Wingman02 will work as it did before, but the link constraint will give
you the flexibility to have it follow a different path
...

4 Click the WingmanControl dummy
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 533

5 Save the scene as MyFlight05
...

Make Wingman02 roll out of formation:
To make Wingman02 roll out of formation, you'll use the Orientation Constraint
again
...

2 Create another dummy object in the Top viewport near Wingman02 and
name it wingmanroll
...

Watch the Front and Right viewports to help you position it
...


4

Click Select And Link and link wingmanroll to WingmanControl
...

The Align Selection (WingmanControl) dialog appears
...

7 In the Align Orientation (Local) group, turn on the X, Y, and Z axis
controls and click OK
...

NOTE This is important because you want to make sure that rotation values
you give wingmanroll, later on, will be based on the initial orientation of
WingmanControl
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 535

8

On the Motion panel, open the Assign Controller rollout, and
select the Rotation: Euler XYZ controller
...

NOTE If you don't assign the TCB Rotation controller, you will not be able
to rotate wingmanroll about a local axis
...

11 Open the Animation menu and choose Constraints > Orientation
Constraint
...

You'll see wingmanroll added to the Orientation Constraint target list in
the Orientation Constraint rollout on the Motion panel
...


13

Turn on the Set Key toggle and click the Set Keys
button
...

You've added two keys that will keep Wingman02 flying normally from
frames 0 to 60
...


16

Click Select And Rotate and change the Reference Coordinate
System to Local
...


Animating the Spacefighter with Constraints and Controllers | 537

■

Enter 90 in the Y axis Coordinate Display Type-in field and click the
Set Keys button
...


■

Rotate 90 degrees around the Y axis and click the Set Keys button
again
...


■

Rotate 90 degrees around the Y axis and click the Set Keys button
again
...
Save the scene as
MyFlight06
...


538 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Taking Control of Mars, Its Moons, and the Space Station

So far, you've used dummy objects to help animate the spacefighters
...
Any object can be
used as a pivot, but dummies are great because they don't render
...
max file
...

This scene includes the following:
■

Three heavenly bodies, Mars and its two moons, Deimos and Phobos

■

A space station named SpaceStation

■

A camera (hidden) named SpaceCam

Take a few moments to familiarize yourself with the names of the objects in
the scene
...


Taking Control of Mars, Its Moons, and the Space Station | 539

Rotate Mars and its moons:
The first part of this lesson focuses on the three heavenly bodies you see in
the scene
...

1 In the Left viewport, create a Dummy object around Mars
...

Make the dummy a little larger than the planet so it's easier to pick
...

3 In the Align Selection (Mars) dialog, do the following:
■

Turn on X, Y and Z Position in the Align Position (Screen) group
...


■

Click OK to accept the settings
...


4 Select MarsControl
...
Select Rotation: Euler XYZ
...

TCB Rotation will allow you to rotate objects on their Local axes as
opposed to the World axes
...


7

8

Select Mars, then click Select And Link
...
Release the mouse button when the cursor changes
...

Mars and its two moons are now linked to MarsControl
...


9

Click Select And Rotate, and select MarsControl
...


11

Turn on the Auto Key button and move the time slider to
frame 100
...


This rotates MarsControl by 60 degrees around its local Z axis
...


542 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

13 Turn off the Auto Key and save your work as MySpaceStation
...

You will see Mars rotating on its axis, then at frame 60, Deimos swings
into view and passes by and Phobos remains off-camera
...

15 Return the time slider to frame 0 before continuing
...
You'll use the same technique for
controlling the space station
...


It doesn't matter where you place the dummy object, because you'll align
it to Mars in a few steps
...


3

Click the Assign Controller button, and choose TCB Rotation
...


4 While StationControl is still selected, choose Tools menu > Align > Align,
and click Mars
...


■

Turn on X, Y and Z Axis in the Align Orientation (Local) group
...


These are the same settings you made when aligning MarsControl to Mars
in the previous section
...


Turn on Select And Rotate and select StationControl
...

TIP You must always choose the transform (in this case, Select and Rotate)
before choosing the Reference Coordinate System
...
If you choose the coordinate
system first, it might change when you choose a different transform
...


9 In the Z axis field, below the time slider, enter 40
...

To create an incrementally saved file, use the Save As command from
the Application menu, or click the plus-sign button
...

Now the Space Station is orbiting around Mars but it's orbiting at a slower
rate
...
This last section will solve that problem
...


2 Open the Assign Controller rollout and select Rotation : Euler XYZ
...


4

Turn on Select And Rotate if it's not already active
...


546 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

5

Turn on the Auto Key button and move the time slider to
frame 100
...


Taking Control of Mars, Its Moons, and the Space Station | 547

7 Turn off Auto Key
...

Now the Space Station rotates about its own axis while it's in
geosynchronous orbit around Mars
...

9 Save your work as MySpaceStation02
...


Creating Explosions
In this tutorial, you’ll hit an asteroid with a glowing laser blast, blowing the
asteroid to bits and creating a fiery explosion
...


■

Use animated opacity mapped plane objects to simulate an explosion
...


■

Set visibility keys
...


■

Use render effects glows and blurs
...
max
...


2 Press H on the keyboard, highlight laserblast in the Select From Scene
object list and click OK
...


3

Turn on Auto Key and move the time slider to frame 10
...


5 Turn off Auto Key
...


550 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Move the time slider to frame 0, then play the animation in the camera
viewport
...


Creating a Material for the Laser Blast
Now you’ll create a glowing material for your laser blast
...


2 Move to frame 8 so you can see the laserblast clearly in the camera
viewport
...


4

Click Assign Material To Selection
...


5 In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout > Self-Illumination group, turn off
the Color check box
...

Self-illumination makes a material appear to glow
...

6 Click the Diffuse color swatch
...

Adjust the color to R:255, G:114, B:0, and click OK
...


Creating a Material for the Laser Blast | 551

Set up an effects channel:

1

On the Material Editor toolbar, click the Material ID Channel flyout,
and choose channel 1
...

2 Close the Material Editor
...

Animate the asteroid:

1

Turn on Auto Key, if it is not already on
...


3

Select And Move the asteroid down in the Z axis approximately
−135 units, or until it is positioned just inside the camera’s view
...
Rotate the asteroid
at frame 0 on both the Y and Z axes approximately 30 degrees
...
Reposition the asteroid so it is in contact with the
laserblast
...

6

Turn off Auto Key
...

The asteroid now tumbles until it’s hit by the laser blast
...
max
...

There are several different ways you can create an explosion in 3ds Max
...
This allows you to apply a movie of a
real explosion to a simple planar object
...
max
...

2 Activate the Front viewport, then press Alt+W on the keyboard to
maximize it
...


4

Go to the Create panel > Geometry > Standard Primitives
category
...


5 In the Front viewport, drag a plane over the asteroid
...
This is handy for toggling
the snaps settings when you are in the process of creating or moving an
object
...

7 In the Parameters rollout, set the Length and Width of the plane to 300
...

Set the Length and Width Segs (segments) to 1
...

8 Press Alt+W to return to four viewports
...
Press H and select the ExplosionPlane01
object from the list, then activate the Top viewport
...


556 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Moving the plane in the top viewport

11 Right-click the Camera viewport to activate it without losing the selection
of the plane
...

13 In the Align To View dialog, make sure Align Z is chosen, and click OK
...


558 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Plane aligned to view

Creating a Material for the Explosion
Next, you'll create a material for the explosion
...


2 Select an unused sample sphere and name the material Explosion
...

TIP If the plane is no longer selected, you can drag the material from the
sample slot to Explosion Plane01
...

The Material/Map Browser dialog is displayed
...

The Select Bitmap Image File dialog is displayed
...
avi
...

7 Click Open
...


8

On the Material Editor toolbar, click to turn on Show Standard
Map In Viewport
...

TIP To see the animation in the viewport, drag the time slider forward
...
)

560 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

The material sample is currently a sphere
...


9

On the Material Editor vertical toolbar (to the right of the sample
slots), choose the Cube from the Sample Type flyout
...


10 Move the time slider and watch the explosion play on the plane in the
viewport
...
The next step is to make the plane
invisible so all you see in the scene is the explosion
...


2 In the Material Editor, open the Maps rollout
...

4 Use the Select Bitmap Image File dialog to choose herculesm
...
This file
is in the folder \sceneassets\images\
...

The file herculesm
...

Using the map’s alpha channel, the Opacity map makes the plane invisible
and allows only the explosion to appear in the scene
...
Close the Maps
rollout
...

The plane is now invisible in the viewport
...


3

On the Material Editor vertical toolbar, click to turn on Background
...


Adding an Opacity Map | 563

Adjust the material settings:
■

In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout > Specular Highlights group, set both
Specular Level and Glossiness to 0
...

TIP To set a numeric field to 0, right-click the spinner next to the field
...

1 Select the plane in a viewport, then right-click and choose Object
Properties from the quad menu
...
Click OK
...

The plane doesn’t move with the asteroid
...


564 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Synchronizing the Animated Maps
Here you’ll set the timing so the animated explosion doesn’t start until impact
occurs at frame 10
...
avi
...

3 Change the Start Frame setting to 10
...


5

In the Material Editor toolbar, click Go Forward To Sibling to
navigate to the next map in the material
...


6 Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the herculesm
...

7 Close the Material Editor
...
max
...
With two planes, the asteroid appears to be in the middle
of the explosion, rather than in front of it
...
Press the Spacebar to
lock your selection
...

3 On the toolbar, open the Reference Coordinate System list, and choose
Local
...

4 Hold down Shift and drag a copy of Explosion Plane01 in the Z axis
...


Planes as seen in Top Viewport

Cloning the Explosion Plane | 567

5 A Clone Options dialog is displayed
...
Leave the settings at their default,
and click OK
...


Set properties of the new plane, and make a named selection set:
1 Right-click the new plane and choose Object Properties
...
Click OK
...

This doesn't affect the rendering
...
In the Named Selection Sets field on the
toolbar, type the name Explosions and press Enter
...

3 Right-click the selected planes and choose Hide Selection from the quad
menu
...

4 Save your scene as myexplosion2
...


Breaking the Asteroid into Flying Pieces with Particle
Array
At this point, the asteroid, laserblast, and explosion are all animated
...

Setup:
Continue working with the previous file or open
exploding_asteroid_with_2planes
...


■

Create a particle system in the scene:

1

Go to Create panel > Geometry and choose Particle Systems
from the drop-down list
...

3 Click and drag to create a PArray particle gizmo in the Top viewport
...

The name of the asteroid, in this case Sphere01, is displayed below the
Pick Object button to show that the particle system has been linked to
the asteroid
...

1 Move the cursor to the left edge of the command panel
...

2 Click and drag the edge of the panel to the left
...

3 Click the Particle Type rollout to open it
...


570 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

4 In the Particle Type rollout > Particle Types group, choose Object
Fragments
...
0
...

7 In the Basic Parameters rollout > Viewport Display group, choose Mesh
...


Adding Materials to the Particles
Add materials:
1 In the Particle Type rollout > Mat’l Mapping and Source group, choose
Picked Emitter
...


Adding Materials to the Particles | 571

The materials of the asteroid appear on the particles in the viewport
...

The cursor once again changes to a double arrow
...


572 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Now the Basic Parameters rollout appears in the first column, the Particles
Type rollout in the second, and most additional rollouts in the new third
column
...


Controlling Particle Animation
Next, you’ll add some control to the animated particles
...
In the Spin Speed Controls
group, set Spin Time to 50
...

2 Open the Object Motion Inheritance rollout and set Influence to 0
...

This will keep the asteroid movement and rotation from influencing the
movement of the particles
...
Because the
asteroid doesn’t blow up until frame 10, you’ll have to adjust the timing
of the particle animation
...
Choose Particle Generation
from the list
...

TIP This right-click menu lets you navigate to a particular rollout quickly
...

The particles don't appear until frame 11, and they persist until the last
frame of the animation
...

Now the asteroid starts to break into pieces after reaching the center of
the viewport
...

7 Save your work as myexplosion_w_particles
...


Setting Visibility Keys to Make the Asteroid Disappear
The asteroid particle system explodes into pieces; however, the original asteroid
object is still visible in the scene
...

Setup:
Continue working with the previous file, or open
exploding_asteroid_with_particles
...


■

Create a visibility key:

1

Go to frame 11 and turn on Auto Key
...

3 In the Object Properties dialog > Rendering Control group, right-click
the Visibility spinner arrows to set this value to 0
...

A red outline appears around the spinner arrows to indicate an animation
key has been set
...

5

Turn off Auto Key
...

Choose Sphere01: Visibility
...
0
...


576 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

This will make the object visible until the next key
...

The asteroid disappears and the fragments fly outward
...

Render a frame to preview the explosion effect:
1 Right-click the camera viewport and choose Unhide All
...

2 Go to frame 21
...

The single image shows you what the effect will look like so far
...


Adding Motion Blur
To help create the illusion of fast movement in your explosion, you’ll add
motion blur to your animation
...


578 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Add motion blur:
1 At frame 0 select the asteroid, then right-click it and choose Object
Properties on the quad menu
...
Click OK
...

3 Move the time slider to frame 7
...

The Render Setup dialog is displayed
...
On the Default Scanline Renderer rollout > Object
Motion Blur group, make sure that Apply is on, and that Duration (Frames)
is set to 0
...

This will create a slight motion blur
...


Motion blur on asteroid

Adding Motion Blur | 579

7 Save your scene as myexplosion3
...


Putting a Light Inside the Asteroid
Creating fiery explosions with mapping techniques is effective, but it doesn’t
actually illuminate your scene
...

Setup:
Continue working with the previous file or open
exploding_asteroid_with_motionblur
...


■

Put a light inside the asteroid:
1 Move the time slider to frame 10
...


2

Go to Create panel > Lights > Object Type rollout, choose
Standard from the drop-down list, and then click Omni
...

Because the asteroid is positioned at the center of the scene, the light
appears inside the asteroid
...

5 Go to the Modify panel and click the white color swatch in the
Intensity/Color/Attenuation rollout
...

6 Change the color to orange (R: 255, G: 111, B:56)
...

7 Set the Multiplier to 4
...

NOTE You don't need to animate the light
...


580 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

8

On the toolbar, turn on Select And Link
...
Choose Sphere01 from the list, and then click
Link
...


9

On the toolbar, click the Select button to turn off Select And
Link
...
max
...

Setup:
■

Continue working with the previous file or open
exploding_asteroid_with_lights
...


Add a render effect:
1 Choose Rendering menu > Effects
...


2 Click Add
...

3 In the Lens Effects Parameters rollout, highlight Glow and then click the
right-pointing arrow to move it into the list on the right
...

2 Change Size to 0
...

3 In the Radial Color group, click the white color swatch and change the
color to orange (R: 235, G: 120, B: 60)
...

5 In the Apply Element To group, make sure Lights and Image Centers are
off
...
It should be set to 1 by
default
...

8 Scroll up to the Effects rollout > Preview group
...

The frame renders, and then the glow is applied to the laser blast
...
max
...

Setup:
■

Continue working from the previous lesson, or open
exploding_asteroid_with_laserglow
...


Add a glow effect:
1 Choose Rendering > Effects, and highlight Lens Effects in the Effects list
...


Adding a Second Glow to the Explosion | 585

3 Scroll down to the Glow Element rollout and name the glow effect blast
...

2 Press H and in the Pick Object dialog, select inside asteroid light and click
Pick
...

3 On the Glow Element rollout, open the Options panel
...
Turn off Image and Image
Centers, if activated
...
0
...


586 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

6 Turn off Glow Behind
...

8 In the Glow Element > Parameters panel, set the Size to 30
...

9 Set the Intensity to 50
...

Preview the effect:
1 Go to frame 25 and activate the Camera01 viewport
...
Click Update Scene to see the results
...


Animating the Explosion's Glow
The glow will be more realistic if it changes over time
...

The Track View - Curve Editor is displayed
...

3 In the Controller window on the left, pan down until you can see the
label Render Effects
...

4 Click the plus icon to the left of Render Effects to expand the render
effects tracks
...
When the tracks have
been expanded, the icon changes to a minus icon
...
The tracks will no longer be visible
...

With the Lens Effects tracks open, you can see both glow effect tracks
...


588 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

All the glow attributes in the Rendering Effects dialog are listed here
...

7 Click the Intensity track to select it, then right-click and select Assign
Controller
...


8

With the Intensity track selected, turn on Add Keys on the Track
View toolbar
...

TIP When you move the time slider, the vertical blue lines in the Dope Sheet
indicate the current frame
...

10 Right-click the first key and set its value to 0
...

11 Set the Out interpolation value of the first key to Stairstep
...


12 Add another key at frame 12
...
0
...
Right-click the key and set its value to 0
...
At frame
12, set the interpolation to Linear for In and Out values, and at frame
30, set Linear for the In value
...


590 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

16 You can see the shape of the intensity curve you just created by choosing
Modes > Curve Editor
...
)

Animated intensity displayed in the Curve Editor

When the explosion begins, the Intensity rapidly rises to 75
...


Adding Streaks with Radial Blur
You can get a nice streaking effect using the Blur render effect
...

Add a blur effect:
1 In the Camera01 viewport, select the PArray gizmo, right-click it, and
choose Object Properties from the quad menu
...
Click
OK
...

4 Click the Add button, choose Blur, and click OK
...

2 On the Pixel Selections panel, turn off Whole Image, and turn on Object
ID
...

The number 2 appears in the Object ID list
...

5 In the Effects rollout, click Update Scene to preview the result
...


Animate the blur effect:
Finally, you will keyframe the values and interpolation of the Blur Radial Pixel
radius, so the particles fade out as they slow down toward the end of the
animation
...
Expand its tracks, and click to highlight
Blur Radial Pixel Radius
...
In the Key window,
click to add keys at frames 0 and 11
...
Give both these keys a value
of 0
...

4 Click to create a key at frame 18
...
0,
...


592 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

5 Set another key at frame 100 with a value of 1
...

6 Save your scene as myexplosion5
...
You can open
exploding_asteroid_final
...
Make sure that the
Common tab is displayed; click it if it isn't
...

3 In the Render Output group, click the Files button
...
avi, and press Enter
...

5 Click Render at the bottom of the Render Setup dialog
...
avi
...
Then you can use the Ram Player or other methods to turn these files
into a movie sequence such as AVI or MOV
...
You learned how to use material
effects IDs with glows, and created explosion planes with animated opacity
mapping
...
Finally you've used Render effects and motion blur
to complete the shot
...
The Walkthrough Assistant allows
you to “fly” your camera to explore your virtual designs
...

In essence, it simplifies the tasks of creating a camera, constraining that camera
to a path of your choice, and then makes it easy to edit and animate various
aspects of the camera such as tilt, pan and lens values
...


594 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:
■

Create a target camera

■

Adjust camera head tilt and angle

■

Use Set Key to animate a camera

■

Render an animation to a sequence of still image files

■

Create a movie file of your animation

Skill level: Beginner
Time to complete: 1+ hours (includes rendering time to create an animation
...
The scene contains
a camera path ready for constraining the camera, but you will first need to
create a sufficient number of frames to hold your animation
...
max
...


Calculate the number of frames:
1 In the right viewport, select the blue spline that represents the camera
path
...


2

On the Utility panel, click the Measure tool
...

NOTE For a comfortable walking pace, which is useful in architectural
walkthroughs, you'll need about a second for every 3 feet of distance
...
In NTSC format,
that translates into 30 frames for every 9 feet of distance traveled, or 3000
frames for 900 feet
...


4 In the Animation group in the Time Configuration dialog, change Start
Time to 1
...

This will provide sufficient frames for your walkthrough animation
...

Creating a basic setup using Walkthrough Assistant:
1 From the Animation menu, choose Walkthrough Assistant
...

2 In the Camera Creation group in the Main Controls rollout, ensure the
Free Camera option is chosen, and then click Create New Camera
...
The camera name,
Walkthrough_Cam01, displays in the Cameras group
...

The Pick Path button label changes to reflect the name of the selected
spline
...
It also aligns it
to follow the direction of the path
...
This is shown in the Advanced Controls rollout
at the bottom of the dialog where both these options are enabled
...
In the Main
Controls rollout, click the Set Viewport To Camera button to switch the
viewport to the Camera view
...

The camera travels along the path but the motion seems unnatural, almost
robotic
...
It is far better to control the target manually, and
choose the direction you want to look at any given time
...

In the next lesson, you learn how to animate the camera using the
Walkthrough Assistant
...

Set up the lesson:
■

Continue from the previous lesson or on the Quick Access toolbar, click
the Open File button and from the \animation\walkthrough_asst folder, open
great_wall_head
...

TIP If the Units Mismatch dialog displays, choose Adopt The File's Unit Scale
and then click OK
...
The camera is now in
place but you will use Walkthrough Assistant to animate the Turn Head
parameters
...

2 In the Advanced Controls rollout, in the Path Controls group, disable
the Follow Path option
...


NOTE Disabling the Follow Path option resets the camera orientation to its
default value (positive Y)
...


598 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

3

Make sure you are at frame 1, then turn on the Auto Key button
...
4 in order get a better viewing angle of
the brick path in the Camera viewport
...
You are now at the other side of the
hilltop
...
3 to level the
camera head, then slide the Turn Head slider to the left to adjust the
rotation
...

6 Scrub the time slider ahead to frame 408
...
5 so that you are looking at the pavers in front of you
...

7 Scrub the time slider to frame 615
...
8
and turn the Turn Head slider a little to the right until the camera is
looking at the tower again
...
Change the Head Tilt Angle to about
5
...
Move the Turn Head slider to the right until the tower opening is
centered in the camera view
...
Change the Head Tilt Angle to about
–0
...
Move the Turn Head slider a little to the left so that the camera is
tilted in anticipation of turning left after exiting the tower
...
Change the Head Tilt Angle to about
6
...
Move the Turn Head slider slightly to the left so that you're looking
the second tower in the distance
...
This time change the Head Tilt Angle
to about –10
...


Animating Camera Rotation | 601

12 Scrub the time slider to frame 1420
...
9 to tilt the camera head further down
...
You're now looking up again towards
the tower ahead of you
...
7
...


14 Scrub the time slider to frame 1860
...
4
...

15 Scrub the time slider to frame 2030
...
6
...
At this point in the walkthrough,
you are going down the hill again
...
3
...


17 Scrub the time slider to frame 2250
...
Change the Head Tilt Angle to about –12
...
Adjust the Head
turn and tilt to that purpose
...
You are now going up the path
...
7, and move the Turn Head slider
slightly to the right so that you're looking towards the end of the pathway
...

20 Play the animation in the camera view to see the results
...

NOTE The camera path will not be visible when rendered
...
max
...
You have learned to calculate the number of frames
needed for the animation and you have learned to automate the creation of
the camera and how to constrain it to a path
...


Rendering Your Walkthrough Animation
There are some specific techniques to learn for rendering your animation into
a movie file
...
The latter method is the
recommended choice
...
In addition, if you have frames that artifacts or other
errors, you can repair or remove them
...
Depending on the speed of
your computer, the rendering may take a few minutes to several hours
...
max
...

This file is similar to the one created in the previous lesson
...
Two omni lights have been added to
create additional lighting but there are no settings for Global Illumination
in order to decrease rendering time
...

2 From the Rendering menu, choose Render Setup
...


Rendering Your Walkthrough Animation | 605

3 On the Common tab of the Render Setup dialog, in the Time Output
group, choose Range
...

4 In the Output Size group, change the output resolution to 320x240
...

The Render Output File dialog opens
...
You can use the Create New Folder button to establish a
new location, if necessary
...

7 In the Save As Type field, click the drop-down arrow and choose JPEG
File (*
...

NOTE In a production environment, you may want to use a high-quality,
lossless format such as TGA or TIF, but for the purposes of this tutorial, you
will use the JPG format to keep the size of the output files small
...
jpg, then click Save
...
Accept the default values, and then click OK
...
So the first frame will be my_jog0000
...
jpg, and so on
...

Also check that the Viewport field at the bottom of the Render Scene
dialog is set to Walkthrough_Cam01 (not Top, Front, or Left), then click
Render Production
...
The dome representing the sky is an
object that is hidden in the scene
...

10 The Rendering Progress dialog displays
...
You will see the Last Frame Time, Elapsed Time, and
Time Remaining values change after the first frame finishes
...

At this point, you can work on something else while your animation is
rendered
...
This is generally a good practice so that you can study
the scene as it is rendered
...


Rendering Your Walkthrough Animation | 607

Convert an image sequence into a movie:
The RAM Player loads still image sequences into memory and plays them so
you can watch them as a movie
...
You'll simply use the RAM Player to save the files into an
AVI file
...


2

On the RAM Player toolbar, click Open Channel A
...
Highlight the name of the first file in the sequence and then ensure
the Sequence option is turned on
...

The RAM Player will now load the image files in sequential order starting
with the first file you selected
...
Here
you can use the Every Nth and Multiplier fields if you need to speed up
or slow down your animation
...
If your animation is too fast, increase the Multiplier
...

The RAM Player Configuration dialog appears
...
There are also tools here to resize your
animation, specify a range of frames to use, and split the alpha
(transparency) information into a separate file
...
JPG files do not contain any transparency
information the way TGA, TIF and PNG images often do
...
In the Loading
dialog, observe how much memory is being used and remains available
...
If
you have a low-memory system, reduce the number of frames to load
and try again
...


608 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

7

On the RAM Player toolbar, click the Save Channel A button
...


8 Choose AVI as the file type, and name the animation my_jog
...
Click
Save
...
Here you can choose a
codec (compression/decompression type) and adjust the quality of the
file
...
To reduce file size, lower the
quality to 75%
...


Summary
You have learned how to render your animation to a sequence of still image
files
...

You also learned how to assemble a still image sequence into a movie file,
such as AVI or QuickTime using the RAM Player
...
You should
also consider such aspects as wheel rotation, the link between the steering
wheel and front wheels, as well as body roll
...

In this tutorial you will establish relationships and other constraints to “rig”
these moveable car parts so they can easily be animated together
...

List controllers combine two or more controllers and can be very useful when
combining relationships between objects
...
The List
controller uses added internal controllers that lets you maintain control over
the child object’s local orientation, even though it remains constrained to
that of its parent
...
To turn the wheel
using wiring, you would have to rotate the wheel on its Y axis (based on the
orientation of the body of the car), not its X axis (the wheel’s local orientation)
...

Manually assign List controllers:
In this procedure, you will manually assign List controllers to the position
and rotation tracks of the front left wheel of your Chevy
...
max
...


Using List Controllers | 611

3 Right-click the Perspective viewport and choose Hide Selection from the
quad menu
...

4 Press H to display the Select From Scene dialog and expand the Chassis
object (the car body)
...
This hierarchy is typical to 3D car models
...

The front left wheel in the scene is now selected
...

A list of default animation controllers displays as tracks in an Explorer
format
...


612 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

8 On the Assign Position Controller dialog, double-click Position List
...

10 Click the Available track, then click the Assign Controller button again
...

In the explorer, a second Position XYZ: Position track has been created
below the first
...

Next, you will repeat the procedure by assigning a List controller to the
rotation track of the front left wheel
...


Using List Controllers | 613

13 On the Assign Rotation Controller dialog, double-click Rotation List
...

15 Click the Available track and click the Assign Controller button
...

A second Euler XYZ track is created
...

Automating the assignment of List controllers:
MacroRecorder is a simple scripting utility that records your interactions in
3ds Max
...

In the previous procedure, you manually assigned position and rotation list
controllers to a single wheel on your Chevy
...

1 Go to the bottom left corner of the interface, right-click anywhere on
the MAXScript area and choose Open Listener Window
...


3 From the menu bar, choose MacroRecorder > Enable
...

4 Select the rear left wheel of the car (the Wheel-RL object)
...


Using List Controllers | 615

As you progress, note how the pink MacroRecorder area accumulates
scripting data
...

7 On the Customize User Interface dialog, make sure the Toolbars tab is
active, then click New
...

9 Close the Customer User Interface dialog and reposition the new toolbar
to the right of the MAXScript Listener window
...


A button is created
...

12 On the Edit Macro Button dialog, choose the Text Button option and in
the Label field, type List Con and click OK
...

The MacroRecorder stops recording your interactions in 3ds Max
...

You are now ready to use the List Con tool to quickly assign list controllers
to the remaining wheels of your car model
...

16 On the myTools toolbar, click List Con
...

17 Select the last remaining wheel in the model and click List Con again
...

19 Repeat the previous step for the SWheel object
...

You must therefore click the List Con button once for each object you want
to modify
...
max
...


Using List Controllers | 617

In the next lesson, you will learn how to animate the rotation of the car
wheels
...


Let’s start by taking a look at the trigonometry involved in calculating the
wheel rotation
...
That amount of
rotation (α) expressed in radians is equal to the arc length, divided by the
radius of the circle (arc length / R), where:
■

the radius of the car wheel is constant and equal in this case to 13 units
...


618 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Therefore, the wheel rotation calculation (arc length / R) becomes distance /
13
...

Set up the lesson:
■

Continue from the previous lesson or open car_rig_02
...


Rotate the wheels (in World X coordinates):
1 In the Perspective viewport, select the car body
...

2 Right-click the car body object and from the quad menu, choose Wire
Parameters
...


Rotating the Wheels | 619

NOTE It is important to always leave the first animation controller at the top
of the list (in this case, the Position XYZ Controller) untouched, since it serves
as a “lock” for the parent/child relationship
...

A rubber band shows the link you are about to make between your two
selected objects
...

5 From the menu, choose Transform > Rotation > (2nd) Euler XYZ > Z
Rotation
...
You use this dialog to set up one
and two-way control relationships between objects
...


6 On the Parameter Wiring dialog, click the right-pointing arrow above
“control direction”
...

The bottom-right corner of the Parameter Wiring dialog displays the
wheel object Expressions panel
...

7 Next to X_Position, type /13
...


8 Click Connect, but do not close the dialog
...

Note how the front left wheel does not rotate
...
You need
to make the second position controller (the one used in the wiring process)
the active one
...

11 With the car selected, on the Motion panel > PRS Parameters rollout,
click the Position button at the bottom of the rollout
...


13 Try moving the car on its X axis again
...

The wheels now rotate and at the correct rate, but they do so in a
backward direction
...

15 Move the car on its X axis again and note how the wheel rotates in the
proper direction
...

Because the wheels were mirrored, the wheels on the right side of the car
do not need the minus sign added to their expression, whereas those on
the left side do
...


622 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Add subcontrollers for Y rotation:
In the previous procedure, you learned how to add controllers that determine
car wheel rotation for the length of distance travelled by the model along the
World X axis
...
You therefore need to add controllers
that account for the car’s displacement in a Y direction
...

The car is now oriented on the World Y axis, so you will begin working
in this coordinate system
...

3 Move the car forward and backward on the Y axis
...

To get the wheels rotating, you will need additional animation controllers,
ones that will control the car’s displacement in the Y direction
...

4 Go to the bottom-left corner of the interface, right-click the MAXScript
area and click Open Listener Window
...
rotation
...
Available
...

6 Press Ctrl+C to copy this line to memory
...
If this is the case, copy the line from this
...

7 Close the MAXScript Listener window, then select the front left wheel
(Wheel-FL)
...

9 On the Motion panel > PRS Parameters rollout, make sure that the
Rotation button is active verify that a new sub-controller has been added
to the rotation list
...
You will need this
later on in the tutorial
...

11 Select another wheel and repeat steps 8 to 10 until all four wheels have
four Euler XYZ tracks in their respective rotation lists
...

2 Select the car body, then right-click and from the quad menu, choose
Wire Parameters
...


4 Select the front left wheel (Wheel-FL)
...


624 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

6 On the Parameter Wiring dialog, click the right-pointing arrow above
Control Direction to ensure that the Chassis Y position is controlling the
Wheel-FL Z rotation
...

The expression for the left-hand wheel should be Y_Position/13
8 Click Connect
...

NOTE The expression for the right-hand wheels should be -Y_Position/13
...

11 On the main toolbar, click Select And Move, then set the coordinate
system to Local
...

13 Move the car on its local X axis
...


Rotating the Wheels | 625

14 In the Top viewport, rotate the car until the front bumper is pointing to
the left
...
max
...
The wheels will
therefore rotate properly when you manually move the car around the scene
in any direction
...
This type of animation requires a
different expression
...

1 Continue from the last procedure or open the file car_rig_03
...

2 From the main menu Selection Sets list, choose Car Path
...

3 Click Yes to display the path you will use to animate the car motion
...

5 On the Parameters rollout, turn on Box and set Size to 100
...


626 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

This increases the size of the helper gizmo and makes it easier to select
in the scene
...
The advantage
of using a Point helper is you can adjust its size without having to scale it
...

6 In the Top viewport, click a point near the car to place a Point helper
...


8 In the Align Selection dialog > Align Position group, make sure X Position
and Y Position are on and Z position is off
...


Rotating the Wheels | 627

10 In the Front viewport, move the Point helper on its X axis to the right
until it is just to the left of the rear axle of the car
...

11 On the command panel > Name And Color rollout, rename the helper
Dummy_CAR
...


628 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

13

On the main toolbar, click Select And Link, then in the Front
viewport, click the car body and drag to the Point helper
...


14

On the main toolbar, click Select Object to exit link mode
...
Click Yes to
dismiss the warning and unhide the rest of the scene geometry
...


17 In the Perspective viewport, click the Perspective label and from the
menu, choose Cameras > Camera_Wall-E
...

2 From the main menu, choose Animation > Constraints > Path Constraint
...

The helper and the linked car are repositioned at the start of the path
...
In
this case, however, it is preferable to constrain the helper parented to the car
so you can retain extra control over the car’s behavior (such as defining skids
around tight corners)
...

The car’s orientation remains constant throughout the animation
...


6 Scroll down to display the Axis group and turn on Flip
...

7 Scrub the animation again
...
This is a common behavior to paths based on a NURBS curve
...

NOTE NURBS curves, when used as animation paths, provide a smoother
“ride” than regular splines
...


9

Turn on Auto Key mode
...
9 and press Enter
...

The car is properly oriented on the path, but the wheels no longer rotate
...
The distance travelled by the car
was dependent on the X and Y displacement in the World coordinate
system
...
You must therefore
modify the expression to reflect this change
...


2 Click Measure and in the Shapes group, take note of the path length
...
(You may need to adjust the model in the Perspective viewport
to better select the helper
...


5 Click one of the car wheels and choose Transform > Rotation > 4th Euler
Rotation > Z Rotation
...

7 On the right-hand Expressions panel, type (2365*Percent)/13
...
When multiplied by the percent variable, it calculates the distance
the car has travelled at any given moment in time along the path
...

8 Click Connect
...


10

To better see the animation, click the Time Configuration button
and in the Time Configuration dialog > Time Display group, turn on
FRAME:TICKS
...


632 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Remember to add a minus (-) operator to the expression of the wheels
on the right side of the model so they don’t rotate in the opposite
direction
...
max
...
For added realism, you will also establish
a relationship between the wheel pivot and the turn of the steering wheel
...
max
...

1 In the Top viewport, zoom in on the car and press F3 to switch to
Wireframe mode
...


Pivoting the Wheels | 633

3 Click anywhere around the car body and in the Parameters rollout, turn
on Box, then in the Size box, type 50
...


4 With the helper still selected, click the List Con button on the myTools
toolbar you created earlier in the tutorial
...

NOTE If the myTools toolbar is not currently displayed on your interface,
right-click a gray area on the main toolbar and choose myTools from the
menu
...


6 In the Align Selection dialog > Align Position group, turn off X Position,
Y, Position and Z Position
...


Pivoting the Wheels | 635

These settings ensure that the car and the helper have the same
orientation
...

8 From the main toolbar, use Shift+Move and drag the helper to make a
copy
...

9 In the Clone Options dialog, name the copy Dummy_FR
...


10

In the Top viewport, select the Chassis object, right-click and
choose Hide Selection
...


636 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

11 In the Align Selection dialog > Align Position group, turn on X Position,
Y Position, and Z Position and choose Pivot Point for both the Current
Object and Target Object
...

13 Click Apply, then OK to exit the dialog
...
In the
top viewport click Wheel_FL
...


Pivoting the Wheels | 637

Point helpers aligned to front left and right wheels

You will now rework the hierarchy and parent/child relationships of the
car setup to prepare for the body roll you will rig in the next lesson
...


Link the wheel helpers to the car helper:
1 Ctrl+select the two wheel helper objects, then drag to the Dummy_CAR
object
...


638 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

2 With the Select and Link tool still active, select both rear wheels (Wheel-RL
and Wheel-RR) and drag to the Dummy_CAR helper
...


Linking front left wheel to front left wheel helper

4 Select the front right wheel (Wheel-FR) and link it to the Dummy_FR helper
...
On the Select
From Scene dialog, choose Chassis
...


2

On the main toolbar, click the Select tool
...

4 Right-click the steering wheel and choose Wire Parameters
...


6 Select the Dummy-FL object, which is the front left wheel helper, and
choose Transform > Rotation > (2nd) Euler XYZ > Z Rotation
...

8 Click Connect and leave the Parameter Wiring dialog open
...


10 Rotate the steering wheel on its local Z axis
...
You will correct this by modifying the controller expression
...
The front wheel needs to turn far
less than the steering wheel
...


640 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Steering wheel and front wheel turn in opposite directions

11 Cancel or undo the rotation you made in the previous step
...

13 In the right panel, under “Expression for Dummy_FL’s Z_Rotation”, type:
-Z_Rotation/8
...

14 Click Update and test your work by rotating the steering wheel on its
local Z axis again
...

15 Repeat steps 4 to 14 to wire the steering wheel and the front right wheel
helper
...

16 Close the Parameter Wiring dialogs
...


2

Switch to Top view, press F3 to switch back to Smooth +
Highlights mode, then use Zoom Extents so the entire animation path
is in view
...


4

5

Select SWheel and on the main toolbar and click Rotate
...


642 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Steering wheel rotation at -280 degrees about the Z axis

6 Go to frame 115, the point where the car is in the middle of the second
turn, and rotate the steering wheel until the Z axis status bar reads 500
...


8

Turn off Auto Key and test your animation
...
max
...
This
behavior is not usually apparent in modern day cars unless they are travelling

644 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

at high speed
...


Set up for the lesson:
Continue from the previous lesson or open car_rig_05
...


■

Create the body roll effect:
In this lesson, you will create the effect of body roll by rotating the car along
its local X axis
...

1 Make sure you are at frame 1 in your animation
...


3

On the main toolbar, click Rotate and make sure the coordinate
system is set to Local
...

The steering wheel rotates about its local Z axis
...

The car body rolls about its local X axis
...

7 Choose Transform > Rotation > (2nd) Euler XYZ > Z Rotation
...


9 On the Parameter Wiring dialog, set the control direction to the right so
the steering wheel rotation in Z controls the body roll in X
...

NOTE The /40 factor in the expression divides the steering wheel rotation
by 40 to ensure body roll rotation is significantly smaller than the rotation of
the steering wheel
...

11 Click the Camera viewport label and choose Camera > Camera_Wall_S
then scrub the animation to see the effect of the body roll
...


12 Save your file as mycar_rig_06
...


Adjust Driver Viewpoint
As a driver, when you use a steering wheel to initiate a turn, your eyes tend
to follow the direction of the turn
...
In this lesson, your final task is to make the
viewpoint of the driver react to the rotation of the steering wheel
...
max
...


1

On the Display panel > Hide By Category rollout, turn off
Cameras to re-display the cameras in the scene
...


648 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

Camera_Driver object

This is the camera that occupies the driver’s seat
...

The List Con script automatically adds position and rotation list
controllers, permitting you to retain control over the camera’s local
orientation
...

4 With the camera object selected, go to the hierarchy panel and on the
Adjust Pivot rollout, click Affect Pivot Only
...


Adjust Driver Viewpoint | 649

Camera swivel on Y axis

5 Click Affect Pivot Only again to exit pivot mode
...

7 Choose Transform > Rotation > (2nd) Euler XYZ > Z Rotation
...


9 On the Wiring Parameter dialog, set the control direction from left to
right so the steering wheel controls the camera rotation
...

Keep the dialog open for now
...
You can experiment with different values to produce
the results you need
...

12 Scrub the animation to observe the wiring effect
...

13 In the Wiring Parameters dialog, add a negative operator in front of the
expression, so that it reads: -Z_Rotation/10, then click Update
...

The rig is now complete
...
max
...
You also learned how to use Point helpers to animate a model along
a path and were shown how to rework the model hierarchy so that a child
object can respond to the animation of its parent
...
A biplane is poised for takeoff, but it has no sound
...
wav files and assemble them so that they
play back as the plane rolls down the runway and takes to the sky
...


Adding Sound Effects to Animation | 651

In this tutorial, you will learn how to:
■

Add audio files to a scene and control audio playback

■

Use the Dope Sheet track editor to synchronize playback of audio clips
with scene animation

■

Use track controls to lengthen or shorten audio segments

Skill level: Beginner
Time to complete: 20 minutes

Adding Sound Effects
You will start by adding a number of audio files to your scene
...

Add sound files to your scene:
1

On the Quick Access toolbar, click the Open File button, navigate
to the animation\prosound folder and open prosound_start
...


652 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

2

On the main toolbar, click Curve Editor (Open)
...


4 Right-click and from the quad menu, choose Properties
...


The Open dialog automatically opens to the sounds folder in your working
directory
...
wav, inflight
...
wav, and
takeoff
...

6 Highlight the flyby
...
wav, start_engine
...
wav
sound files, in any order, then click Open
...
While it is not
mandatory, it can be helpful to place the files in the order in which their
sounds are heard in the sound track
...
wav and
click Move Up as many times as needed to place the file at the top of the
list
...
wav and click Move Up until it displays just below
start_engine
...
Use Move Up to place the flyby
...

9 Highlight a file in the list and in the File Details group, click the Play
button to hear how it sounds
...
You can, for example, loop the file so it repeats
a specified number of times, or enter the first and last frame on which
the sound is played
...

In this tutorial, however, you will set these and other file playback
parameters in a more visual way using the Dope Sheet
...

View the sound tracks in the Curve Editor and Dope Sheet:
1 On the Curve Editor track view hierarchy, expand the Sound track to
display the master track as well as four additional tracks, each of which
represent the sound files you loaded into the scene
...
Each time you do so, highlight the track’s Waveform
component to display it
...
Soft sounds, like footsteps, produce a narrow
pattern, whereas sharp sounds, like the scrape of a chair leg, show a wider
pattern
...

Notice how only one track waveform is visible at a time in the Curve
Editor
...
)

Adding Sound Effects | 655

In this tutorial, it would be helpful to view all the waveforms together,
so you can better adjust the timing of their audio segments
...

3 On the Curve Editor menu, choose Modes > Dope Sheet
...


The first, second, and fourth sound tracks were recorded in mono and
show a single waveform
...
wav, was recorded
in stereo and displays two waveforms, one for its left and another for its
right channel
...


656 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

The segments overlap and produce a jumbled sound
...

Synchronize the audio with the animation:

1

On the Dope Sheet toolbar, click Edit Ranges
...
wav range bar and move it left and right to see how
you can reposition the audio segment anywhere on the timeline
...

3 Move the Dope Sheet window until the Camera01 viewport is visible
...


Adding Sound Effects | 657

5 Click the start_engine
...


6 For now, concentrate on just the start_engine
...


TIP Alternatively, you could temporarily mute the sound tracks in Track View
by selecting their file names in the ProSound dialog and turning off the Active
checkbox, as described in the previous procedure
...

The plane starts to move down the runway at frame 160
...
wav audio segment
...
wav range bar and drag it until the segment waveform
starts at frame 160
...

You could prolong the segment by going back to the ProSound dialog
and in the File Details group, set Loops to repeat the segment as many
times as needed
...

8 On the Dope Sheet, click the right end point of the start_engine
...


As you drag, the audio segment is repeated
...

The end of each repetition is indicated by a vertical bar, as shown in the
next illustration
...


10 Move the Dope Sheet window until the Camera04 viewport is visible
...

12 On the Dope Sheet editor, drag the flyby
...


13 Scrub the animation again
...


660 | Chapter 4 Animation Tutorials

14 On the Dope Sheet, reposition the inflight
...


15 Replay the animation to hear how all the audio segments fit together
...

16 To hear the audio in reverse when scrubbing, highlight, then right-click
the Sound track in the Curve Editor or Dope Sheet and from the quad
menu choose Properties
...


Adding Sound Effects | 661

17 Try scrubbing the animation back and forth
...

18 Compare your work with the finished version of the scene by opening
prosound_completed
...


Summary
In this tutorial, you learned how to add multiple audio files to your scene and
mix them in the Dope Sheet editor for playback during an animation

---