CATWindow >
Hierarchy panel > Click LimbPhases.
The LimbPhases panel
provides global settings for the motion of arms and legs in CATMotion.
FootPrints group
Footprints are helper
objects that show and let you edit individual foot placement. As
you edit the footprints the pelvis of the rig automatically repositions
itself.
NoteYou can animate footprints.
For instance, you can keyframe the location of footprints to create
actions such as a character slipping as it runs around a corner.
You can also bind footprints to space warps, or use the Attachment
constraint to make a character walk over an animated surface.
Tip The extent to which
editing a footprint affect the location of the hub depends on the
number of legs on the hub. For example, if a hub has two legs, the
hub positions itself halfway between its footprints. If a hub has
four legs the hub will move a quarter of the distance towards the
footprint.
- Step Masks
-
When on, the rig automatically
comes to a stop when successive footprints are layered on top of
each other; that is, when the Path Node stops.
- Create
-
Click to show footprints in
order to view and edit them.
- Delete
-
Removes the footprints. The
software remembers the footprints and any edits, but any footprint
animation is lost. Use Create to restore the footprints
- Selected/All
-
This choice determines whether
the Reset and Pick Ground commands affect only selected footprints
or all footprints.
- Reset
-
Returns footprints to their
original, unedited positions.
- Pick Ground
-
Automatically aligns created
footprints to a ground surface, such as a Plane primitive with the
Ripple modifier applied. After clicking Pick Ground, select the ground
object.
TipIf Auto Key is on,
using Pick Ground will key the footprints, so you can fit the footprints to
an animated surface by applying Pick Ground every fourth or fifth
frame. This is a more intuitive way to constrain your footprints
to an animated surface than using an attachment controller and constrain
each footstep manually, because the Path Node and changes to Global
settings are respected.
Limb Phase Sliders
Limb phases can also
be though of as limb cadence. It basically is the timing of the
motion of the limbs.
The LimbPhases panel
contains a slider for each limb on your character. Each arm and
leg is driven by a phase offset. The phase offset defines the overall
offset of the motion of that limb relative to the overall motion
of the body. If several sliders are at the same value, the respective
limbs move at the same time. If the sliders are exactly half a slider
length apart in value, then the limbs will be exactly out of phase.
The legs on a biped should be exactly out of phase so that each
leg is taking steps when the other leg is planted on the ground.
Tip Each slider’s label
is the limb name, which you can edit in the Modify panel when a
limb bone is selected. See
Using 3ds Max CAT's Naming System.
If you modify a limb name while the LimbPhases panel is displayed,
refresh the panel by switching to a different panel and back again.
