Page 621 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 21: Understanding Animation and Keyframes

the Key Filters dialog box, shown in Figure 21.2, by clicking the Key Filters button. Available key types
include All, Position, Rotation, Scale, IK Parameters, Object Parameters, Custom Attributes, Modifiers,
Materials, and Other (which allows keys to be set for manipulator values).

FIGURE 21.2
Use the Set Key Filters dialog box to specify the types of keys to create.

Tutorial: Rotating a windmill’s blades
The best way to learn is to practice, and there’s no better time to practice than now. For this quick example,
you animate a set of blades on a windmill.
To animate a set of windmill blades rotating, follow these steps:
1. Open the Rotating windmill blades.max file from the Chap 21 directory on the DVD.
This file includes a windmill model created by Viewpoint Datalabs.
2. Click the Auto Key button (or press the N key) at the bottom of the Max window, and drag the
Time Slider to frame 50.
3. Select the “prop” object at the top of the windmill in the Front viewport. The blades are attached
to the center prop and rotate about its Pivot Point. Then click the Select and Rotate button on the
main toolbar (or press E key), and rotate the “prop” object about its Y-axis.
4. Click the Auto Key button (or press the N key) again to disable animation mode. Select the key in
the Track Bar located at frame 1, hold down the Shift key, and drag the key to frame 100 (or
press the End key).
This step copies the key from frame 1 to frame 100. Doing so ensures a smooth looping anima-
tion (even though it spins the prop forward and then backward; I guess it must be a strange wind
that’s blowing).
5. Click the Play Animation button in the Time Controls to see the animation.
Figure 21.3 shows frame 50 of this simple animation.
Another way to create keys is to select the object to be animated and right-click the Time Slider button.
This opens the Create Key dialog box, shown in Figure 21.4, where you can set Position, Rotation, and
Scale keys for the currently selected object. You can use this method only to create transform keys.
If a key already exists, you can clone it by dragging the selected key with the Shift key held down. Dragging
the Track Bar with the Ctrl and Alt keys held down changes the active time segment.

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