| Editing
animation using Track View in 3D
Studio MAX ( 3DS MAX ) - Tutorial
/ Lesson |
Track View is a graph based
editor that we can use to fine
tune the animations that we
create in 3D Studio MAX ( 3DS
MAX ). It lets us view the change
of position, rotation etc of
objects in a graphical form.
Hence we can alter the bend
and curve in the graph to make
the animation closer to our
mental picture. If you don't
have the animated ball bouncing
scene with you, download
it here (chap4-ball-bounce-intermed.max)
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With
the scene opened in 3D Studio
MAX ( 3ds max ), and the ball
selected, click Graph
Editors > Track View - Curve
Editor from the main
menu. The Track view window opens
up. Make sure that the ball is
our currently selected object
in the scene, because Track View
in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ) displays
the animation information of the
selected object. What you see
inside the Track View is the graphical
representation of the animation
of the ball. On the left side,
you will see the name of our ball
- Sphere01 and below that we have
several items. Click on the Z
Position item within
it under the Position category.
Now the Track view displays a
smooth curve. This curve is nothing
but the Z axis displacement of
the ball over the whole 50 frames.
Z axis displacement represents
the motion of the ball up and
down during the bounce. So literally,
the curve is nothing but the bouncing
of the ball. |
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The
Track View in 3D Studio MAX (
3ds max ) is shown above. The
1. Bounce Position
is the point at which the ball
touches the floor during the bounce.
The 2. Time display shows
the time from 0 to 50 frames just
as in the main window. A thin
vertical bar shows the current
Time Slider position in the Track
View. The Z Position is pointed
by 3. Track being viewed
in the figure. Now we
have chosen only the Z Position
channel or track. We can see the
graphs of other Tracks by simply
clicking on them. The 4.
Panning/Zooming tools is
nothing but the usual tools we
have seen in the viewport tools
section of 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds
max ). These tools can be picked
and used to pan and zoom the graph
view in the Track View. Now lets
observe things closely in the
figure below |
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The figure to the right
shows a closer view of
our ball bouncing graph.
Notice a grey spot at
the place of bouncing?
Click on it. It gets highlighted
as shown by the arrow
marked by 2.
That spot is nothing but
a keyframe. Once you made
the keyframe selected,
two tangents appear in
light grey color extending
along both sides from
the spot as shown by the
arrows marked by 1.
These tangents have endpoints
that we can move to control
the curve of the graph
at that point in 3D Studio
MAX ( 3ds max ).
So the real problem lies
in the shape of the graph
at the bouncing keyframe.
What we need is a sharp
V at the junction to simulate
the fall and bounce. Got
it? To do that Right click
on the keyframe spot marked
by arrow 2 in
Fig 1.
A Tangent In/Out window
appears as shown. This
window has an In parameter
and an Out parameter that
can be changed by choosing
the large buttons pointed
by the mouse pointer in
the Fig 2.
The In
parameter specifies the
curve shape incoming at
the keyframe and the Out
parameter specifies the
curve shape outgoing from
the keyframe. Inorder
to change the junction
to a sharp V shape, click
on the In button
(large button having the
mouse pointer over it
in Fig 2). It shows a
list of incoming shapes.
Choose the 4th shape from
the top. Now the button
shows the new shape on
it. Similarly click the
Out button
and choose the 4th shape
from the top. Now the
In/Out window should look
like Fig 3. Look at the
graph shape now. It looks
exactly the way we want
- a sharp V Shape at the
center.
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Now
close the Track View and play
the animation in 3D Studio MAX
( 3ds max ). The ball bounces
exactly as it should. Right? The
Track View is an indispensible
tool in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max
) 's keyframe animation. How ever
planned we create keyframes, fine
tuning using Track View will be
inevitable in most cases. More
techniques on Track View will
be discussed in the advanced lessons.
Lets refine the scene a bit more
in the next page of this tutorial |
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