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Chapter 21: Understanding Animation and Keyframes

Creating Image File Lists
Anywhere you can load a bitmap map, you can also load an animation file such as a Microsoft Video (AVI)
or a QuickTime (MOV) file. Another way to create animated material is with Image File Lists, which is a
text file that lists each separate image file contained in an animation. Max supports two different image file
formats—Autodesk ME Image Sequence File (IMSQ) and 3ds Max Image File List (IFL) files.
IMSQ and IFL files are text files that list which images should appear and for which frames. You save them
with the .imsq or .ifl extension and load them using the Bitmap map. Image file lists can be created during the
render process by selecting the Put Image File List in Output Path option in the Common Parameter rollout of
the Render Scene dialog box. There is also a Create Now button to create an image file list at any time.
To manually create an IMSQ or IFL file, open a text editor and type the name of the image followed by the
number of frames for which it should appear. Be sure to include a space between the name and the number
of frames. The images are displayed in the order they are listed and repeated until all frames have been dis-
played. Once applied, the image file list is visible in the sample slot if you drag the Time slider, or you can
create a material preview.

Note
You can also use the * and ? wildcard characters within an IFL file. For example, flyby* includes any image file that
begins with “flyby,” and flyby? includes any image file that begins with “flyby” and has one additional character. n

Generating IFL files with the IFL Manager Utility
If you don’t want to create text files by yourself, you can use the IFL Manager Utility to generate IFL files for
you. To use this utility, open the Utilities panel and click the More button. Then select the IFL Manager
Utility, and click OK.
In the IFL Manager rollout, shown in Figure 21.15, the Select button opens a File dialog box where you can
select a sequential list of images to include in an IFL file. After you select a list of images, you can specify
the Start and End images. You can cause the images to be displayed in reverse by placing a greater number
in the Start field than is in the End field. The Every Nth field can specify to use every Nth image. You use
the Multiplier field to specify in how many frames each image should appear.
The Create button opens a File dialog box where you can save the IFL file. The Edit button opens an IFL
text file in the system’s default text editor for editing.

FIGURE 21.15
IFL Manager Utility can help to create IFL files.

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