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Cross-Reference

The Layers toolbar is covered in Chapter 6, “Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties.” •

FIGURE 35.1

The Animation Layers toolbar includes icons for defining and merging layers.

You can open the Animation Layers toolbar by right-clicking the main toolbar away from the buttons and selecting Animation Layers from the pop-up menu. Each of the toolbar buttons is labeled and explained in Table 35.1.

When a new animation layer is created using the Add Animation Layer button, a new entry is added to the Animation Layer Selection List. This list displays the default name of the animation layer as AnimLayer with a number. The original layer is named Base Layer. To the left of the animation layer name is a small light bulb icon that indicates whether the animation layer is enabled or disabled.

Caution

You cannot rename animation layer names. •

Each layer can have a weight assigned to it. These weight values control how much influence the current animation layer has. The weight value also can be animated. For example, if a car is animated moving forward 100 meters over 50 frames, then weighting the animation layer to 30 causes the car to move forward only 30 meters over the 50 frames.

Working with Animation Layers

Animation layers are good for organizing motions into sets that can be easily turned on and off, but you also can use them to blend between motions to create an entirely new set of motions.

Note

Animations can be divided into primary motions, which are the major motions, and secondary motions, which are derivative motions that depend on the animation of other parts. Using animation layers, you can separate primary motions, like foot placement, from secondary motions, like a swinging arm, and adjust them independently. •

Enabling animation layers

The first button on the Animation Layers toolbar is the Enable Animation Layers button. Clicking this button opens a dialog box, shown in Figure 35.2, where you can filter the type of keys to include in the animation layer.

FIGURE 35.2

The Enable Animation Layers dialog box lets you limit which type of keys are included.

The base animation layer can be disabled using the Disable Animation Layer button. This button is available only when you collapse all its layers. This changes the light bulb icon on the Selection list to indicate that the layer is disabled.

Note

If Animation Layers are enabled for an object whose animation is loaded into the Motion Mixer, then a dialog box automatically appears, asking if you want to create a new map file for the animation. •

Setting animation layers properties

The button to the right of the Weight value opens the Layer Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 35.3. This dialog box lets you specify the type of controller to which the layers are collapsed. The options include Bézier (for Position and Scale tracks) or Euler (for Rotation tracks), Linear or TCB, and Default. You also can specify a range to collapse.

FIGURE 35.3

The Layer Properties dialog box lets you set the controller type to collapse to.

Collapsing animation layers

By collapsing layers, you combine the animation keys on each layer into a single set of keys that includes all the various motions. Be careful when collapsing; the results can be unexpected. Collapsing animation layers is accomplished with the Collapse Animation Layers button.

Tutorial: Using animation layers for a plane takeoff

Have you ever been to a small airport and watched the commuter planes take off? Sometimes they leave the ground and then return to the ground and then finally take off. It's like they need to get a good bounce to overcome gravity. This is a good example of when animation layers come in handy.

To animate a jet's takeoff using animation layers, follow these steps:

1. Open the Mig take-off.max file from the Chap 35 directory on the CD.

This file includes a detailed Mig-29 jet model created by Viewpoint Datalabs.

2. With the jet selected, open the Animation Layers toolbar by right-clicking