Quadruped Controls

 
 
 

Scales the different parts of the rig after it's created.

To display: Select a quadruped guide and choose Create Character Rig from Quadruped Guide from the Animate toolbar. This custom parameter set appears after you have created the rig.

To redisplay: In an explorer, click the Controls custom parameter set icon under the Quadruped Rig model.

For more information on quadruped rigs, see Creating Quadruped Rigs [ Character Animation ].

Scale

Dynamically reproportions the quaternion spine's length. If you selected the Fixed Length type when you created the rig's spine (see Chest), this is the only way in which you can scale the spine.

If you created a quaternion head spine (neck) (see Head), there is a separate Scale slider that lets you control its length.

Volume Factor

Scales the quaternion spine vertebrae as the length of the spine changes. This may also result in the scale being inherited by the upper body controls (front legs, spine, neck, and head). Use positive values to shrink the upper body and negative values to expand it.

If you don't want the head and front legs to be scaled down the vertebrae by the volume factor, select them, press Ctrl+K to open the Local Transform property editor, and deselect the ConstrainScaling option on the Options page.

If you created a quaternion head spine (neck) (see Head), there is a separate Volume slider that lets you control the neck's volume.

Back Left/Back Right Foot Roll 1/2

Set the angle at which the break points of the hind legs' foot roll propagate rotation.

For example, an elephant walks with a very shallow foot roll angle, which is basically the width of the foot's bottom. Bears, on the other hand, have a back foot more like humans so there is a more exaggerated stepping angle, closer to 20 degrees.

Back Left/Back Right Lock Percentage

These sliders determine the length percentage that will lock the two lower bones of the hind legs. For example, if this value is set to 1, the two lower bones cannot rotate forward beyond a straight line as you rotate the leg's extension control. If you set the lock percentage value to 0.95, the bottom leg bone cannot rotate beyond 95% of the length of a horizontally-locked leg.

For creatures like an ostrich that can rotate the two lower leg bones very straight while running, a value like 0.97 would make sense. For creatures like a cat, this maximum reach is not as straight, so a value like 0.95 would work better.

Front Left/Right Foot Roll 1/2

Set the angle at which the break points of the front leg's foot roll propagate rotation.