3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [297]
To link a character model using the Schematic View, follow these steps:
1. Open the Futuristic man.max file from the Chap 25 directory on the CD.
This file includes a simplified version of a futuristic man created by Viewpoint Datalabs with no links between the various parts.
2. Select Graph Editors⇒New Schematic View to open a Schematic View window, and name the view Linked character. Click the Region Zoom button in the lower-right corner, and drag over the nodes at the left end of the Schematic View.
For this model, you want the pelvis to be the parent node.
3. Click the Connect button on the toolbar (or press the C key), and drag from the handr node to the armr node to link the two nodes. Continue linking by connecting the following nodes: handl to arml, head to neck, pupil to eyes, bootr to legr, bootl to legl, and torso to pelvis.
4. Select the eyes, mask, patch, and hair nodes, and drag them all to the head node.
5. Finally, grab the armr, arml, neck, and katana nodes, and drag them to the torso node and the legr and legl nodes to the pelvis node.
This completes the hierarchy.
Note
Typically, when rigging characters, you want the pelvis to be the parent object because it is the center of most of the character movement. •
Figure 25.18 shows the final geometry object nodes of the linked character. If you move the pelvis part in the viewports, all the parts move together.
FIGURE 25.18
All character parts are now linked to the man's pelvis part.
Setting Schematic View Preferences
The Preferences button (or the Options⇒Preferences command) opens the Schematic View Preferences dialog box, shown in Figure 25.19, where you can set which items are displayed or hidden, set up grids and background images, and specify how the Schematic View window looks.
FIGURE 25.19
The Schematic View Preferences dialog box lets you customize many aspects of the Schematic View window.
Limiting nodes
When the Schematic View window is opened, Max traverses the entire hierarchy looking for objects and features that can be presented as nodes. If you have a complex scene and don't intend to use the Schematic View to see materials or modifiers, you can disable them in the Include in Calculation section of the Schematic View Preferences dialog box. This provides a way to simplify the data presented. With less data, locating and manipulating what you are looking for becomes easier.
The Include in Calculation section includes options for limiting the following:
• Base Objects: The geometry type that makes up a node. The node is the named object, such as Earth; the Base Object is its primitive, such as Sphere (Object).
• Modifier Stack: Identifies all nodes with modifiers applied.
• Materials/Maps: Identifies all nodes with materials and maps applied.
• Controllers: Identifies all nodes that have controllers applied.
• Static Values: Displays unanimated parameter values.
• Master Point Controller: Displays nodes for any subobject selections that include controllers.
• Skin Details: Displays nodes for the modifiers and controllers that are used when the Skin modifier is applied to a bones system.
You also can limit the number of nodes by using the Include Only options. The Selected Objects option shows only the objects selected in the viewports. The nodes change as new objects are selected in the viewports. The Visible Objects option displays only the nodes for those objects that are not hidden in the viewports, and the Animated Objects option displays only the nodes of the objects that are animated.
Object categories that can be hidden include Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Bone Objects. Figure 25.20 shows a single sphere object in the Schematic View window with all the Include in Calculation options selected.
FIGURE 25.20
Without limiting