The first steps are to configure animation for the walk cycle, and then to adjust the biped

Set up the lesson:

• On the Quick Access toolbar, click (Open File), navigate to the \character_animation\quadruped folder, and open quadruped_walk_1.max.
  NoteIf a dialog asks whether you want to use the scene’s Gamma And LUT settings, accept the scene Gamma settings, and click OK. If a dialog asks whether to use the scene’s units, accept the scene units, and click OK.

  This file contains the biped used for the dog. It is posed on all fours, and has a tail.

  

If you prefer to start from scratch, you can duplicate this pose by rotating and moving the biped’s pelvis, arms, and head.

Configure time and Auto Key behavior:

1. Click (Time Configuration) to open the Time Configuration dialog.

   This button is located among the animation playback controls.

   

2. In the Frame Rate group, choose Film. This sets the frame rate to 24 frames per second.

   

   The rate of 24 fps is easier to work with, given our choice of a 12-frame cycle for each pair of limbs. If later you want to output to NTSC video, which has a frame rate of 30 fps, you can change the rate before you render.

3. In the Animation group, change Start Time to 1 and End Time to 25.

   

   This gives a 24-frame animation, with an extra frame at the end so the walk cycle loops smoothly when you play it as feedback in 3ds Max viewports. When you’re done, frame 1 and frame 25 will have the same pose. If you were using the walk cycle in another context (for example, moving the walking dog along a path), you would trim off frame 25 and use the cycle of frames 1 through 24 in the larger animation.

4. Click OK to close the Time Configuration dialog.
5. Choose Customize Preferences, and go to the Animation tab. In the Auto Key Default Frame group, make sure On is turned on, and change the frame value to 1.

   

   This sets Auto Key to set an original-value key at frame 1, the first of this animation, when you create a key at a different frame.

Set the biped to use ForeFeet.

1. Click any part of the biped to select it, then go to the Motion panel.
2. On the Biped rollout, click (Figure Mode) to turn it on.
3. Open the Structure rollout, and then click ForeFeet to turn it on.

   ForeFeet causes the biped fingers to behave like toes. You can think of this option as “Four Feet.”

   NoteThis biped has just one toe for each foot and one finger for each hand. For most quadrupeds, the toes move as a group when walking, so the simplest model works well.
4. Click (Figure Mode) again to turn it off.
5. Change the viewport to a Left view, then click (Zoom Extents).
6. Select the biped’s right finger, and rotate it so it is parallel with the ground plane: about –30 degrees in the local Z axis.
7. Use (Select By Name) to select the biped’s left finger (Bip01 L Finger0), and rotate it as you did the right finger.

Save your work:

• Save the file as my_quadruped_adjusted.max.