Page 632 - Kitab3DsMax

Part V: Animation and Rendering Basics

Clicking the Set Defaults button opens the Set Controller Defaults dialog box. This dialog box includes a list
of all the controllers and a Set button. When you select a controller and click the Set button, another dialog
box appears with all the values for that controller.
When you first start up Max, the default first frame on the Timeline is frame 0, but if you enable the Auto
Key Default Frame option, you can set the first frame to be any frame you want. This is convenient if you
like to use some frames to set up a shot or if the starting frame of the shot is not at frame 0.

Cross-Ref
You can learn more about specific controllers in Chapter 22, “Animating with Constraints and Simple
Controllers.” n

Animating Objects

Many different objects in Max can be animated, including geometric objects, cameras, lights, and materials.
In this section, you’ll look at several types of objects and parameters that can be animated.

Animating cameras
You can animate cameras using the standard transform buttons found on the main toolbar. When animat-
ing a camera that actually moves in the scene, using a Free camera is best. A Target camera can be pointed
by moving its target, but you risk it being flipped over if the target is ever directly above the camera. If you
want to use a Target camera, attach both the camera and its target to a Dummy object using the Link button
and move the Dummy object.
Two useful constraints when animating cameras are the Path constraint and the Look At constraint. You can
find both of these in the Animation ➪ Constraints menu. The Path constraint can make a camera follow a
spline path, and the Look At constraint can direct the focus of a camera to follow an object as the camera or
the object moves through the scene.

Cross-Ref
For more on constraints, including these two, see Chapter 22, “Animating with Constraints and Simple
Controllers.” n

Tutorial: Animating darts hitting a dartboard
As a simple example of animating objects using the Auto Key button, you’ll animate several darts hitting a
dartboard.
To animate darts hitting a dartboard, follow these steps:
1. Open the Dart and dartboard.max file from the Chap 21 directory on the DVD.
This file includes a dart and dartboard objects created by Zygote Media.
2. Click the Auto Key button (or press the N key) to enable animation mode. Drag the Time Slider
to frame 25, and click the Select and Move button on the main toolbar (or press the W key).
3. Select the first dart in the Left viewport, and drag it to the left until its tip just touches the
dartboard.
This step creates a key in the Track Bar for frames 0 and 25.

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