EDITING KEYS

KEY INFO

Under the Motion tab (the unicycle) when you have the biped selected, you will see the 'Key Info' bar. Click it to extend the rollout:



This provides key information about the selected bone relevant to the current frame (denoted by the slider bar). If there is no key for this bone on this particular frame, then the red-spot button will be active. This button creates a key for the selected bone at this frame, recording it's current position and rotation.


Should you wish to delete the selected bone's key from this frame, then the delete button is the one next to the 'create key' button with the white spot and black cross though it.


Should you wish to jump immediately from key to key (for the selected bone) then you can use the back and forth arrows. The key number is listed above them:

The current frame is shown below the create/delete buttons:


And if it is relevant to the bone, you may adjust the XYZ position of the selected bone using the manual input sliders below the time box:


Finally, the animation easer controls are to be found here...

Easers control the dynamics of an animation's movement. The dictate how rapidly an object or it's movement accelerate from it's starting point, whether it slows or speeds up in the middle and how it comes to a stop, suddenly, or dampened?


Playing these controls will yield different results. On the whole, I fond that I do not need to alter them but occasionally I need to put the continuity and tension down to zero for a steady, mechanical movement. I suggest that you maybe have a play with these controls to see what effects you can create.

TIME TRACK

The other way of editing the key info on objects is the Time Track. As with most things in MAX, there are numerous wonderful things you can do with the time track, and to be honest, I could be sat here all week writing pages on it. I can't do that unfortunately, so I will simply explain how to adjust and edit the keys using the default track. You can open the Time track either buy selecting 'Track View'/'Open Track View' from the menus or by clicking the Track View button:


You will be rewarded with the following window for your efforts:


The Track view is laid out like this: To the left is the list of all objects in your scene, stacked, tree-like in order of their hierarchy. i.e.: parents are listed down the left hand side and children step down and right, branching off each parent object.
To the right is each object's animation data laid out as a table. Each object has a bar that relates, not only to itself but also it's properties. The bar is divided into segments by the ruler on the top. This denotes each frame in the animation sequence. You will note that the center area is light grey. This is the active time segment. The dark grey areas either side are outside the active time segment. It is possible to place keys outside of the active time segment but they will not be seen in the animation (though they will affect it inside the active time area).
When you initially open the Time Track, you will see a short list like this:



Any object with a plus sign next to it has branches emanating from it. Simply click on the plus sign to expand them.
If you right-click on the word 'Objects' at the bottom and select 'Expand Objects', you will see a complete list of all objects in your scene unfold down the screen.
IF you select 'Expand All' you will see absolutely every track expand down the left hand side. This gets quite messy so What you can do is set the track view to only show the object that you select. Click the 'Filters' button in the top left of the Track View.


You will see this options window:



Make sure that you check 'Selected Objects' as I have done here, and now only the branch with the bone you have selected will appear in the Time Track. Handy, no?

Over on the right hand side, you will notice the grey and white spots in the tracks. These are the keys. That's what they look like. Not much. White spots are selected, grey spots are not.
Each key spot is positioned on the track at a certain frame to denote that that bone or object has a key at that point in time. It is possible to drag keys along the track. The closer to each other you place keys, the faster the animation becomes. Similarly the further apart the keys are, the slower it becomes.
It is possible to copy keys, by holding down the shift key and dragging a key or group of keys selected by first dragging a box around them.

Now, to edit a key, simply right-click on it and you will be presented by an editing box similar to the Key Info box under the Motion tab (see above).


The options work the same as the controls under the Key Info bar under the Motion tab.
To delete keys, either select them and press the delete key on your keyboard, or click the delete button on the Time Track's top bar:


To create a new key on a track, click the create button:


...and click anywhere in the transform bar of the object/bone to create the key. This only works in relevant bars such as the position, rotation or scale bar under the transform branch of the object's properties. In the same way as clicking the little red spot button in the Key info area (motion tab - see above), the new key adopts the position, rotation and scale info currently relevant to the object at that point in time.

Okay, this is a bewildering array of information to take in at once and I have really barely scratched the surface of the Time track and Studio MAX animation in general, but I honestly think the only really important things you need for Half Life animating is the ability to add/delete and move keys and the ability to adjust the easers. Everything else, I think is essentially superfluous.

LOCKING

Something I find particularly useful is Locking the feet when positioning a figure. I find that Bipeds can suffer somewhat from slipping feet even though you try to keep them still. It is possible to lock the hands and feet so that they do not move no matter what you do. This will not do as a solution alone. In order to get them to stay there when they are unlocked, you need to create keys at every frame you wish them to be locked. The way that you lock them is this:
With any part of the Biped selected, go over to the motion tab and you will see the Key Framing rollout:



You will notice the hands and feet symbols to the right. Each button corresponds with a hand or foot on the biped. Green = green, blue = blue. You get the idea. If you activate a button the relevant hand or foot will lock and not move under almost any circumstances until it is unlocked. The downside is this is just a working tool. It locks the relevant hand or foot across the animation and does not carry over to the SMDs when exported. So, what I usually use it for is I decide when a foot is supposed to be planted on the floor and I lock the foot, and go through each frame one at a time (usually only three or four) and set keys. Then I unlock the foot and it plays back fixed.

BIP FILES

Tutorial created by Scarecrow, THANK YOU !!!

© http://www.Planetfortress.com/TF2Models

TF2 is trademark of Valve Software and of Sierra Online.
© 2000 TF2 MODELS - Hosted by Planetfortress
Web designer/Webmaster : IXNAY