INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Motion Capture Editing

character studio can use motion capture files in the form of .csm, .bvh, and .bip files. To load a motion capture file onto Biped, you have to go to the Motion Capture rollout and click Load Motion Capture file (Figure 15.33).

If you want to load the motion file directly, select the file to load and click OK in the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog. Now the motion file will be loaded and the Biped should animate accordingly. One great way to edit raw motion data like this is to add some layers and adjust the motion of the character to fit your needs. If you wish to edit the motion capture data as you import it, there are many options available in the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog that pops up just after you select the file to use (Figure 15.34).

The two drop-downs on the upper left of the dialog contain some powerful tools for working with mocap. The Footstep Extraction drop-down allows you to extrapolate footsteps from the data on import. This means that the keys that make up the foot placement and movement will be turned into footsteps that you can then edit like any other footstep in character studio. The Conversion drop-down allows you to reduce the keys of the mocap file. This can save significant amounts of time when editing the mocap data, as there will be far fewer keys to deal with. Most of the time this is a good option, but it can result in some sloppy animation that may need to be fixed later.

Sometimes, when you import a motion capture file, your Biped will collapse into a heap on the ground (Figure 15.35).

This leads us to the next issue, which is Up Vector. Usually the Z axis is a good choice for Up Vector, but when you get a crumpled Biped, changing the Up Vector to another axis will fix this problem most of the time.

The last option I'd like to talk about in the Motion Capture Conversion Parameters dialog is the Talent Definition section. Often you will spend a lot of time adjusting the figure structure of a character to fit the mesh correctly and then want to use motion capture with it. Be sure to save out the .fig file and use it here. Also make sure the check box is checked after you browse for the .fig file. This will preserve the structure of the figure and adapt the incoming data to it. Note that importing .bip files will not allow the Up Vector to be selected.

Once you have imported some motion capture data to a Biped and edited the animation to your liking, you may need to repurpose this animation to simple bones or even other packages. Using the 3ds max FBX exporter, you can export the Biped animation into .fbx (Filmbox) format and then re-import it as simple bones (Figure 15.36). You may also import the animation and bone setup to other applications that support .fbx.