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FIGURE 35.10

The Morpher modifier's rollouts

As you animate, you can specify the amount of each morph target to include in the frame using the value to the right of the channel name in the Channel List rollout. The slim color bar to the left of the channel name designates the status of the channel. You can find information on what each color represents in the Channel Color Legend rollout.

The Channel Parameters rollout also includes a Progressive Morph section. This feature lets you define an intermediate step for how the morph is to progress, with the final step being the morph target. Using these intermediate steps, you can control how the object morphs.

Tutorial: Morphing facial expressions

The Morpher modifier is very helpful when you're trying to morph facial expressions, such as those to make a character talk. With the various sounds added to the different channels, you can quickly morph between them. In this example, you use the Morpher modifier to change the facial expressions of the general character.

Tip

When creating facial expressions, be sure to enable the Soft Selection features, which make modifying the face meshes much easier. •

To change facial expressions using the Morpher modifier, follow these steps:

1. Open the Morphing facial expressions.max file from the Chap 35 directory on the CD.

This file includes a head model created by Viewpoint Datalabs. The model has been copied twice, and the morph targets have already been created by modifying the subobjects around the mouth.

2. Select the face on the left, and select the Modifiers⇒Animation Modifiers⇒Morpher menu command to apply the Morpher modifier.

3. In the Channel List rollout, select channel 1, click the Pick Object from Scene button, and select the middle face object. Then select the second empty channel from the Channel List rollout; in the Channel Parameters rollout, again click the Pick Object from Scene button and select the face on the right.

If you look in the Channel List rollout, you'll see “cheesy smile” in Channel 1 and “frown” in Channel 2.

4. Click the Auto Key button (or press the N key), drag the Time Slider to frame 50, and then increase the “cheesy smile” channel in the Channel List rollout to 50. Drag the Time Slider to frame 100, and increase the “frown” channel to 100 and the “cheesy smile” channel to 0. Then return the Time Slider to 50, and set the “frown” channel to 0.

5. Click the Play Animation button in the Time Controls to see the resulting animation.

Figure 35.11 shows the three facial expressions. The Morpher modifier is applied to the left face.

Tip

Be sure to keep the morph target objects around. You can hide them in the scene or select them and save them to a separate file with the File⇒Save Selected menu command. •

FIGURE 35.11

Using the Morpher modifier, you can morph one facial expression into another.

Using the Flex modifier

The Flex modifier can add soft body dynamic characteristics to an object. The characteristic of a soft body is one that moves freely under a force. Examples of soft body objects are clothes, hair, and balloons. The opposite of soft body dynamics is rigid body dynamics. Think of a statue in the park. When the wind blows, it doesn't move. The statue is an example of a rigid body. On the other hand, the flag flying over the library moves all over when the wind blows. The flag is an example of a soft body.

Cross-Reference

Soft body objects can also be defined and simulated using reactor, which is covered in Chapter 43, “Simulating Physics-Based Motion with MassFX.” •

Another way to think of soft bodies is to think of things that can flex. Objects such as a clothesline flex under very little stress, but other objects like a CD flex only a little when you apply a significant force. The settings of the Flex modifier make it possible to represent all kinds of soft body objects.

Figure 35.12 shows many of the rollouts available for the Flex modifier.