Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max

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8/12/2013 6:03 PM

Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

3D Characters are animated by using a skeleton that moves their mesh The skeleton fits inside the mesh and is connected to it. The movement of the skeleton is based on Inverse Kinematics

Set up character in usual pose facing the front and arms stretched wide. Select all body parts and hit Alt-X, which turns it semi-transparent. Right-click and freeze it.

Create a Biped
Click on the Create tab, and go to the Systems button. Click on the Biped button. In the front viewport, click and drag to create a Biped next to your character.

Configure the Biped

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With Biped selected Click on Motion tab Click on the little icon that resembles a stick figure. This will

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

conform to our character. Figure Mode is used for rigging our character, as well as changing settings without affecting animation

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click on the Structure rollout Set the structure according to your character Simple characters require simple biped structures. You can for example reduce the number of spine segments and remove fingers if you don't want to use them in an animation

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

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Move Biped inside of the character in Front view. Do this by select the Centre of Mass: called Bip01 Use the front and left/right views to position the biped carefully inside your character Use Select & Scale to adjust sizes of legs and arms and (on the left side only) and of the spine segments The Biped must fit well within the character mesh Use Select & Rotate to rotate arm and leg bones to match the character

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

set up, its time to get the rest of the Biped in order. A very nice thing about 3DS is the Copy/Paste rollout. Drag your mouse and select the left side of the biped. Then, click on the Copy/Paste rollout and under that, click Create New Collection and the Posture button. Click on Copy Posture. Now hit Paste Posture Opposite. This will take all of our changes that we made to the left side, and bring them to the right side, thus making the Biped symmetrical.

Attach Mesh to the Biped - Physique Modifier

To attach the mesh to the

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

clicking and Unfreeze All Select all components of the character (you may need to use the Select by Name list) and apply Physique from the modifier menu

Click Attach to Node (the little stick figure with a red dot in the middle) From the selection list select the COM (Bip01) and click Pick. On the pop-up window click Initialize

Adjust Envelopes

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

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Open the Physique modifier Select Envelope from the section type (The Envelope determines which vertices of the mesh belong to which bone of the Biped ) The physique modifer has already assigned mesh to individual bones but it may be necessary to tweek this Click on the yellow lines to select different envelopes for different bones

Adjust the envelopes so that the red (inner envelope) covers the vertices of the mesh appropriate for a given bone. In the picture on the left this should cover most of the upper arm. Adjust the Radial Scale to increase the cross-section of the envelope Adjust Parent Overlap to lengthen the envelope backwards Adjust Child Overlap to lengthen the envelope forwards You may need to come out of

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Rigging a Character in 3DS Max - Spotlight Multimedia

http://www.spotlight-multimedia.com/tutorials/3ds-max/78-rigging-a-ch...

When the Physique modifier is fully adjusted the character biped can be animated and mesh will move with it

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