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Using Animation
Layers, Modifiers, and
Complex Controllers CHAPTER

J ust as layers can be used to organize a scene by placing unique objects on IN THIS CHAPTER
different layers, you also can separate the various animation motions into
different layers. This gives you great control over how motions are organized
and blended together. Using animation layers
If you’ve worked to animate some Max object and are pleased with the result, Saving and loading animation
you can save the animation clip and reuse it. Several animation clips can be files
mixed together to create an entirely new animation sequence.
Using the Point Cache modifier
Modifiers can be used to deform and otherwise alter the geometry of objects, but
they also can be used to affect other aspects of an object, including animated Using the Morpher modifier
changes. One such important animation modifier is the Point Cache modifier. Adding secondary animation
This modifier lets the movement of each vertex in the scene be saved to a cached with the Flex modifier
file for immediate recall and for animating multiple objects simultaneously.
Animating geometry
The Modifiers menu also includes an Animation submenu that contains many
such modifiers. These modifiers are unique in that each of them changes with deformations
time. They can be useful as an alternate to controllers, but their resulting effects Using other animation modifiers
are very specific. Included with this submenu are modifiers such as Morpher,
which allows an object to move through several different preset shapes, and Flex, Examining controllers
which is used to add soft-body dynamics to your scene. Other animation modifi-
ers include Melt and PathDeform.
This chapter also discusses all those miscellaneous Controllers that weren’t cov-
ered earlier. These Controllers are more complex and enable a wide range of
unique motions.

Using the Animation Layers Toolbar

Behind the scenes, animation layers add several new controller tracks to objects
that are visible in the Motion panel and in the Track View interface, but the front
end is accessible through a simple toolbar. The Animation Layers toolbar, shown
in Figure 34.1, is similar in many ways to the Layers toolbar.

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