Page 885 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 34: Using Animation Layers, Modifiers, and Complex Controllers
FIGURE 34.8
Use the Retargeting rollout to specify how the scale changes between mapped objects.

Baking Animation Keys with the Point
Cache Modifier

When you add keys to an object to control its animation using modifiers, the modifiers remain with the
object and can be revisited and altered as needed. However, if you have multiple objects that follow the
same set of keys, such as for a crowd scene, then including a set of modifiers for each object can increase
the overhead many times over. A simple solution is to bake all the keys into the object, allowing all the keys
to be pulled from an external file. This frees the resources required to animate multiple objects and makes
the animated keys portable. The Point Cache modifier makes this possible.
You also can use the Point Cache modifier when playback in the viewport is too slow because Max needs to
compute the vertex positions of a huge number of vertices. Reading their position from a separate file increases
the playback speed. You also can use the file on a cloned object to control its motion at a different speed.

The Point Cache modifier records the movement of every vertex of an object to a file. Point Cache files have
the .xml extension, but they can also be saved using the older .pc2 extension. To create a Point Cache file,
click the New button and name a new file on the hard drive. Then set the range of the animation to capture
and click the Record button. Once recorded, the total number of points along with the sample rate and
range are displayed for the active cache.

Caution
Point Cache files can be loaded and used only on objects with the same number of vertices as the original used to
record the file. n
If you select the Disable Modifiers Below option, then all modifiers below the Point Cache in the Modifier
Stack are disabled. You can enable the Relative Offset option and set the Strength value to cause the cached
animation to be exaggerated or even reversed. In the Playback Type section, you can control the range of
the animation.

837