3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [274]
Tutorial: Wagging a tail with the Spring controller
One of the best uses of the Spring controller is to gain the secondary motion associated with an existing motion. For example, if a character moves, then an appendage such as a tail can easily follow if you apply a Spring controller to it.
To wag a row of spheres using the Spring controller, follow these steps:
1. Open the Dog wagging tail.max file from the Chap 22 directory on the CD.
This file contains a linked row of spheres with the head sphere animated rotating back and forth.
2. Select the smallest sphere, and choose the Animation⇒Position Controllers⇒Spring menu command. This moves the sphere to its parent. Choose the Select and Move button (or press the W key), and return the sphere to its original position.
3. Repeat Step 2 for the remaining spheres, moving from smallest to largest.
4. Click the Play Animation button (or press the / key) to see the resulting motion.
Figure 22.14 shows a frame of the final motion. Notice that the spheres aren't lined up exactly. The smallest sphere is moving the greatest distance because all the springs are adding their effect.
FIGURE 22.14
The Spring controller adds secondary motion to the existing motion of the largest sphere.
Position XYZ controller
The Position XYZ controller splits position transforms into three separate tracks, one for each axis. Each axis has a Bézier controller applied to it, but each component track can be assigned a different controller. The Position XYZ Parameters rollout lets you switch between the component axes.
The Rotation tracks use a variety of controllers, many of them common to the Position track. This section lists the controllers that can be used only with the Rotation track.
Scale XYZ controller
Max has one controller that you can use only in Scale tracks. The Scale XYZ controller breaks scale transforms into three separate tracks, one for each axis. This feature enables you to precisely control the scaling of an object along separate axes. It is a better alternative to using Select and Non-Uniform Scale from the main toolbar because it is independent of the object geometry.
The Scale XYZ Parameters rollout lets you select which axis to work with. This controller works the same way as the other position and rotation XYZ controllers.
Summary
Using the Animation⇒Constraints menu, you can apply constraints to objects. This menu also lets you select a target object. You can use the various constraints to limit the motion of objects, which is helpful as you begin to animate. If you're an animator, you should thank your lucky stars for controllers. Controllers offer power flexibility for animating objects—and just think of all those keys that you don't have to set by hand.
This chapter covered the basics of using the Expression controller. Using mathematical formulas to control the animation of an object's transformation and parameters offers lots of power. You also can use the values of one object to control another object.
In this chapter, you accomplished the following:
• Constrained an object to the surface of another object using the Attachment and Surface constraints
• Forced an object to travel along a path with the Path constraint
• Controlled the position and orientation of objects with weighted Position and Orientation constraints
• Shifted between two different controlling objects using the Link constraint
• Followed objects with the LookAt constraint
• Learned about the various controller types
• Discovered how to assign controllers using the Motion panel and the Track View
• Saw a few examples of using controllers
In the next chapter, you learn to final render a scene so you can have some output to hang on Mom's fridge.
Chapter 23: Rendering a Scene and Enabling Quicksilver
IN THIS CHAPTER
Setting render parameters and preferences
Using the Rendered