Page 660 - Kitab3DsMax

Part V: Animation and Rendering Basics

Position XYZ controller
The Position XYZ controller splits position transforms into three separate tracks, one for each axis. Each
axis has a Bézier controller applied to it, but each component track can be assigned a different controller.
The Position XYZ Parameters rollout lets you switch between the component axes.
The Rotation tracks use a variety of controllers, many of them common to the Position track. This section
lists the controllers that can be used only with the Rotation track.

Scale XYZ controller
Max has one controller that you can use only in Scale tracks. The Scale XYZ controller breaks scale trans-
forms into three separate tracks, one for each axis. This feature enables you to precisely control the scaling
of an object along separate axes. It is a better alternative to using Select and Non-Uniform Scale from the
main toolbar because it is independent of the object geometry.
The Scale XYZ Parameters rollout lets you select which axis to work with. This controller works the same
way as the other position and rotation XYZ controllers.
Summary

Using the Animation ➪ Constraints menu, you can apply constraints to objects. This menu also lets you
select a target object. You can use the various constraints to limit the motion of objects, which is helpful as
you begin to animate. If you’re an animator, you should thank your lucky stars for controllers. Controllers
offer power flexibility for animating objects—and just think of all those keys that you don’t have to set
by hand.
This chapter covered the basics of using the Expression controller. Using mathematical formulas to control
the animation of an object’s transformation and parameters offers lots of power. You also can use the values
of one object to control another object.
In this chapter, you accomplished the following:
l Constrained an object to the surface of another object using the Attachment and Surface
constraints
l Forced an object to travel along a path with the Path constraint
l Controlled the position and orientation of objects with weighted Position and Orientation
constraints
l Shifted between two different controlling objects using the Link constraint
l Followed objects with the LookAt constraint
l Learned about the various controller types
l Discovered how to assign controllers using the Motion panel and the Track View
l Saw a few examples of using controllers
In the next chapter, you learn to final render a scene so you can have some output to hang on Mom’s fridge.

612

6/30/10 4:28 PM
31_617779-ch22.indd 612 6/30/10 4:28 PM
31_617779-ch22.indd 612