Page 618 - Kitab3DsMax

Part V: Animation and Rendering Basics

TABLE 21.1
Time Controls

Toolbar Button Name Description
Go to Start Sets the time to frame 1.

Previous Frame/Key Decreases the time by one frame or selects the previous key.

Play Animation, Play Selected Cycles through the frames; this button becomes a Stop button
when an animation is playing.
Next Frame/Key Advances the time by one frame or selects the next key.

Go to End Sets the time to the final frame.

Key Mode Toggle Toggles between key and frame modes; with Key Mode on, the
icon turns light blue and the Previous Frame and Next Frame
buttons change to Previous Key and Next Key.
Current Frame field Indicates the current frame; a frame number can be typed in this
field for more exact control than the Time Slider.
Time Configuration Opens the Time Configuration dialog box where settings like
frame rate, time display, and animation length can be set.

The default scene starts with 100 frames, but this is seldom what you actually need. You can change the
number of frames at any time by clicking the Time Configuration button, which is to the right of the frame
number field. Clicking this button opens the Time Configuration dialog box, shown in Figure 21.1. You
can also access this dialog box by right-clicking any of the Time Control buttons.
Setting frame rate
Within this dialog box, you can set several options, including the Frame Rate. Frame rate provides the con-
nection between the number of frames and time. It is measured in frames per second. The options include
standard frame rates such as NTSC (National Television Standards Committee, around 30 frames per sec-
ond), Film (around 24 frames per second), and PAL (Phase Alternate Line, used by European countries,
around 25 frames per second), or you can select Custom and enter your own frame rate.
The Time Display section lets you set how time is displayed on the Time Slider. The options include Frames,
SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture Technical Engineers), Frame:Ticks, or MM:SS:Ticks (Minutes and
Seconds). SMPTE is a standard time measurement used in video and television. A Tick is ⁄4800 of a second.
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Setting speed and direction
The Playback section sets options for how the animation sequence is played back. The Real Time option
skips frames to maintain the specified frame rate. The Active Viewport Only option causes the animation to
play only in a single viewport, which speeds up the animation. The Loop option repeats the animation over
and over. The Loop option is available only if the Real Time option is disabled. If the Loop option is set,
then you can specify the Direction as Forward, Reverse, or Ping-Pong (which repeats playing forward and
then reverse). The Speed setting can be ⁄4, ⁄2, 1, 2, or 4 times normal.
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