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1. Open the Alligator spline IK.max file from the Chap 38 directory on the CD.

This file includes an alligator model created by Viewpoint Datalabs, a simple bone chain, the Skin modifier, and a spline.

Tip

If you're having trouble seeing the bones located inside the alligator, you can enable the See Through option in the Object Properties dialog box or press the Alt+X keyboard shortcut. •

2. With the first bone in the tail chain selected, choose Animation⇒IK Solvers⇒SplineIK Solver.

A dragging line appears in the viewport extending from the first bone.

3. Drag and click the cursor on the last bone in the bone tail chain.

4. Another dragging line appears; drag and click the spline, and the bone structure moves to match the spline's curve.

Figure 38.17 shows the bone structure for the gator's tail. You can now control the gator's tail by moving the dummy objects along the spline.

FIGURE 38.17

The IK Spline solver is perfect for creating objects such as snakes and animal tails.

Summary

Understanding the benefits of a bones system helps if you ever need to customize a rig or create a new rig from scratch. Inverse kinematics (IK) provides a unique way to control and animate hierarchical structures by transforming the child node. In this chapter, you learned how to create and work with bones systems and the Bone Tools. This chapter covered the following topics:

• Creating bones systems

• Setting bone parameters and the IK Solver

• Using the Bone Tools

• Making objects into bones systems

• The basic concepts behind IK

• Exploring the difference between interactive and applied IK methods

• Creating and animating an IK system

• Using the IK settings in the Preference Settings dialog box

• Learning how to use IK solvers

Now that you've learned the process for rigging a character and using IK, we look at using the Character Animation Toolkit (CAT) next and discover the benefits of using a pre-rigged skeleton.

Chapter 39: Animating Characters with CAT

IN THIS CHAPTER

Learning the basics of creating characters

Creating and editing a CAT preset rig

Creating a custom CAT rig

Animating using CAT

Working with muscles

Max has always had a great way to create and animate characters, but in early versions of Max, it was available only as a separate plug-in known as Character Studio. Happily, Character Studio has been integrated into Max to the point that it isn't distinguishable as a separate package. Character Studio was a good first step, and it still exists in Max, but it has lots of shortcomings that make it difficult to work with.

Another plug-in package known as Character Animation Toolkit, or CAT for short, has been embraced by many Max animators, and now CAT is embedded within 3ds Max. CAT offers a simple interface that gets great results whether you're building your own custom rig or animating an existing preset rig.

Although Max includes other features for rigging characters, if you plan on animating a character, then CAT is definitely the way to go. It's an incredible time-saver.

Character Creation Workflow

A typical workflow for creating characters in Max involves first creating a skin mesh object. After the skin mesh is complete, you can create a skeletal rig to drive its animation. The skeleton consists of a pre-rigged set of bones that provide an underlying structure to the character. Animating these bones provides an easy way to give life to the character.

With a skeletal rig created, position the rig within the skin mesh and match the bone links to the relative size and position inside the skin mesh. The bones do not need to be completely within the skin mesh, but the closer they are to the skin mesh, the more accurate the movements of the character are.

After the rig is sized and matched to the skin mesh, use the Skin modifier to attach the skin mesh to the rig. This automatically sets all the envelopes that govern which skin parts move with which bones.