Export and characterize a 3ds Max skeleton in MotionBuilder

In the following procedure, you export a conventional 3ds Max bone system skeleton and use the 3ds Max Send To feature to open it in MotionBuilder for animation.

To export a skeleton in FBX format:

1. Launch 3ds Max.
2. From the Application menu, select Open > Open.
3. In the Open File dialog box, navigate to the MotionBuilder root directory and in the Tutorials folder, open the skeletons.max scene file.
   Note If the File Load: Gamma & LUT Settings Mismatch dialog appears, select Adopt the File’s Gamma and LUT Settings and click OK.

   

   File Load: Gamma & LUT Settings Mismatch

   NoteIf the File Load: Units Mismatch dialog appears, select Adopt the File's Unit Scale and click OK.

   

   File Load: Units Mistmatch

   The skeletons.max file opens, displaying two skeletons. Skeleton A is created with the conventional 3ds Max bone system, and skeleton B is created with the 3ds Max Biped creation option.

   

   Two 3ds Max skeletons A. Conventional 3ds Max bone system skeleton B. 3ds Max Biped skeleton

   The skeletons are positioned in a “T” stance, the pose used by animators for skinning.

   Note Always place your characters in the “T” stance before exporting to MotionBuilder.

   To learn how to export skeletons created with the 3ds Max biped creation option, see Create and export a 3ds Max biped.

4. Drag across all of Skeleton A to region-select it.
   

   Biped oriented in a T-stance

   The skeleton will characterize perfectly because its bones are named according to MotionBuilder conventions, and is in a T-stance.

   See Bone naming conventions.

5. From the Application menu, select Send to > Send to MotionBuilder > Send as New Scene. MotionBuilder launches.
   NoteIf you have a version earlier than version 2012 of MotionBuilder and 3ds Max, you do not have access to the Send to option. Refer to the MotionBuilder Help.

   The 3ds Max bone system skeleton loads into MotionBuilder.

   3ds Max skeleton displayed in the Viewer window

To characterize your skeleton:

1. In the MotionBuilder Asset browser, expand Templates > Characters and drag the Character asset onto one of the skeleton bones.
   

   The bone lights up when the asset makes contact with it.

2. Click Characterize in the menu that appears.

   The following dialog box reminds you that the character must be in a “T” stance and face in the positive Z axis (the equivalent of the negative Y axis that you converted when exporting the .max file into the FBX file format).

   

3. Click Biped in the Character dialog box that appears to indicate the type of rigging to apply to the character.
   

   Character stance dialog box

   The skeleton is now characterized, which means that it is ready to accept a Control rig you can animate.

4. From the Character Controls window > Character menu, select Character.
5. From the Character Controls window > Source menu, select Control Rig. (You can also select > Create > Control rig, but setting the rig as a Source makes the skeleton an active character in the scene.)
   

   Character Controls Source menu

   You must use the Control Rig Input setting if you intend to keyframe your character.

   The Create Control Rig dialog box appears.

   

6. Click FK/IK.

   FK/IK is the method commonly used to animate characters.

   This setting activates the Control rig and the Character Controls Character representation. The Character representation is an image of a human form meant to represent the biped skeleton. It contains all the effectors you need to animate the Control rig, as shown in the following figure.

   

   Skeleton with FK/IK Control rig

   Your character is now rigged and ready to receive animation.

7. In the Character Controls toolbar, click the Full Body icon.
   

   Character controls A. Full Body icon

   This lets you move the body using the entire Control rig.

8. On the Character representation, select the Right Wrist effector.
   

   Character representation A. Right Wrist effector selected

9. Click in the Viewer window and press T.

   The transformation handles appear.

10. Translate (or move) the hand down as shown in the following figure.
    

    Notice as you move the hand, the arm extends and the rest of the body follows in a natural movement. You can now transform the characterized skeleton.

    NoteIf you wish to see the result of this procedure, open the bone_skeleton_characterized.FBX file.