Solve Rollout

Command entry:

Create panel

(Helpers)

Object Type rollout

Crowd

Solve rollout

Command entry:Select a Crowd object.

Modify panel

Solve rollout

Once you've set up the crowd simulation, use this rollout to set solution parameters and to solve the simulation. You can solve continuously or a frame at a time, starting at any frame.

Interface

Solve: Runs the crowd simulation continuously, applying all specified behaviors to delegates to which they are assigned. Solving a simulation overwrites any previous solutions.

To abort a solution in progress and save all keys generated up to that point, press the Esc key. Alternatively, with complex simulations, you can save time by pressing Shift+Esc to abort a solution without saving keys.
Step Solve: Runs the crowd simulation one frame at a time, starting at the current frame as specified by the time slider position. Press the spacebar to advance one frame.

To abort a solution in progress and save all keys generated up to that point, press the Esc key. When you do so, character studio disregards any non-default settings for Save Every Nth Key. Alternatively, with complex simulations, you can save time by pressing Shift+Esc to abort a solution without saving keys.

NoteStep Solve always starts at the current frame; it disregards the Simulation Start setting.
Simulation Start: The first frame of the simulation. Default=0.

To make the solution repeatable, set this and keep it the same.
Start Solve: The frame at which you begin solving. Default=0.

This value must be greater than or equal to that of Simulation Start. If greater, the solve will begin in the middle of the simulation.

Start Solve should equal Simulation Start the first time you solve, so that when you set Start Solve to start in the middle of the simulation, the simulation up to that point will be correct.

NoteIf you set Start Solve to a frame number lower than the first frame of the active time segment, character studio changes the first frame of the time segment to the Start Time value.
End Solve: Specifies the last frame considered for the solution. Default=100.

NoteIf you set End Solve to a frame number higher than the last frame of the active time segment, character studio changes the last frame of the time segment to the End Solve value.
Delete Keys before Solve: Deletes the keys of active delegates in the range over which the solution takes place. Default=off.

This option leaves the first two keys so that the delegate doesn't end up with no keys and then pop to its current position. This is a useful feature for biped crowds; it lets you watch each biped compute, one after another, without the ones not yet computed still performing their old animation.
Save every Nth Key: Lets you specify the number of position and rotation keys saved after the solution.
Positions/Rotations: The frequency with which keys are saved for delegate positions and rotations. If 0, no keys are saved. If 1, a key is saved every frame. If 2, a key is saved every other frame, and so on. Defaults=1.

Display During Solve group

Update display: When on, motion produced during solution of a crowd simulation appears in the viewports. Default=on.
Frequency: How often the display is updated during the solution. If 1, the update occurs every frame. If 2, the update occurs every other frame, and so on. Default=1.
Vector Scale: Globally scales all force and velocity vectors that are displayed during the simulation. Default=10.0.

Scaling vectors up helps to see them better when they are very small. It does not effect the simulation.

MAXScript group

This feature lets you execute a MAXScript script at each frame. Its primary purpose is for working with bipeds; specifically, to take advantage of available MAXScript calls to Biped that let you specify which clip the biped will be likely to choose next when using the shared motion flow feature. With this feature, you can write a script that dynamically selects the biped's next clip during the Crowd simulation, based on which clip is currently being used, the frame number, the proximity of other bipeds, or anything else that you can find out in a script. Of course, this scripting feature can be used for other purposes as well.

Use MAXScript: When on, a user-specified script is executed at each frame during the solution. Default=off.
Function Name: The name of the function to be executed. This name must also specified in the script.
Edit MAXScript: Click this button to open a MAXScript window for displaying and modifying the script.

Bipeds group

When solving simulations that use bipeds linked to delegates, it is strongly recommended that you use all three options in this group.

Biped/Delegates Only: When on, only biped/delegates are included in the computation. Also, the options to use priorities and backtracking become available. These options are available only for biped-only computations. Default=off.
Use Priorities: When on, biped/delegates are computed one delegate at a time, in order of their Priority values, from lowest to highest. Also, backtracking becomes available, and Step Solve becomes unavailable. Default=off.
Backtracking: Turns on backtracking functionality when solving a crowd simulation that uses bipeds. Default=off.

When Backtracking is on during the solution, in the case of an impending collision between bipeds, the Crowd system will back up the simulation to the beginning of the current clip, and then try a different traversal of the lower-priority delegate/biped's motion flow graph. If necessary, the system will back up two or more clips.