Map Nodes group

These controls let you perform automatic mapping by name or hierarchical order. Mapping is done first by node (object) name, and then within each node's hierarchy by controller (track) name.

The default method of automatic mapping is Exact Name for both nodes and controller. When you first open the Map Animation dialog, any node/controller pairs whose names match exactly are automatically mapped. To change the mapping, remove any existing assignments in the Mapped list (highlight them and then click the -> button), and then choose an alternate method.

Exact Name

This maps node to node, by name. If the names do not match exactly, the tracks will not map, and the status line will report how many nodes did not map

Closest Name

Finds a match in the object names, and uses the Controller options (described below) to confirm the match.

For example, if the incoming is R Toe 01 and the choice in the Current list is between Right Index Toe and R Toe Helper, it will look at the controller structure and compare by name, or type or order, and try to determine which node is the closest to the incoming. When the choice is close like this, the status line reports that there was another close match, and highlight the close, but unmapped, nodes in the incoming list in red.

Hierarchy

This option turns off the above options. It matches by node order; for example, Bone01>Bone02>Bone03 would map to Leg>Calf>Foot, if Controller is set to Order and the leg is mapped to Bone01. The Hierarchy option ignores the names.

Controller

Determines how automatic mapping is performed within nodes:

• Exact Name(The default.) Matches controllers by name, regardless of order. This applies specifically to lists, morph channels, maps, custom attributes, and any other tracks that are listed by a user-defined name that might be reordered for some reason.
• OrderThis maps by controller order only, regardless of name or type, and it turns the other options off. For example, it will map the first controller in a list to the first controller in a list. If necessary, it “bakes” the animation by creating per-frame keys.

  If any controllers are not mappable (for example, a Bezier controller getting mapped into a script), the status line will report the error and highlight the node that couldn’t map in the incoming list.

Type

When on, allows mapping only between controllers of the same type. It prevents mapping between two controllers of different types. For example, a controller such as Noise and its parameters will map only to another Noise controller. Default=off.

Filters group

The Filters options are similar to those available in Track View: they enable viewing only certain types of tracks. Filtering is can be a help with large, complex animation setups, because it lets you focus on tracks of specific interest and ignore the rest.

The following information describes the action of filters that are on. Unless otherwise specified, when a filter is off, the track type it applies to is hidden. In some cases, a track will not be hidden because a different filter that is on permits display of that track.

Current/Incoming

Determines whether the filters are applied to the Current list or the Incoming list.

Lock

When the Lock button is on, the filters are applied to both lists. Default=locked.

When the Lock button is off, only one of these is active at a time, and 3ds Max remembers different sets of on/off values for the filtering parameters.

Animated Tracks

Displays tracks that contain animation keys.

Include Constraints

Displays constraint tracks, even if they are not animated.

Keyable Tracks

Displays tracks that are set to keyable, regardless of whether they contain animation.

Unmapped Tracks

When on, hides mapped tracks. When off, all tracks are displayed.

Visibility Tracks

Displays visibility tracks.

Note Tracks

Displays note tracksnote tracks. When a note track is mapped, the notes are added to an existing note track in the current scene.

Custom Attributes

Displays custom attribute tracks.

Controller Types

Displays controller types (names) in the list. For example, the Position X track reads “Position X: Bezier Float.”

IK Controllers

Displays any IK controllers.

Modifiers

Displays animatable modifier tracks.

NoteIn order for modifier tracks to display in the Current column, the Base Objects filter must also be on.

Base Objects

Displays creation-parameter tracks for parametric objects such as Box and Sphere.

Map Parameters

Shows map tracks, such as Tiling for Bitmaps and Mix Amount for Mix maps.

Material Parameters

Shows tracks for materials; for example, animated Diffuse color values, Opacity, and so on.

Expose World Transforms

Displays tracks for world transforms. These let you map all transform animation between two objects using a single track, named Exposed World Transform.

Transforms

Enables or disables display of all transforms other than the exposed world transforms. The toggles that follow control display of individual transforms:

• Position/X/Y/ZThe Position check box lets you toggle display of all Position tracks, while the X/Y/Z check boxes let you toggle display of the track for each axis.
• Rotation/X/Y/ZThe Rotation check box lets you toggle display of all Rotation tracks, while the X/Y/Z check boxes let you toggle display of the track for each axis.
• Scale/X/Y/ZThe Scale check box lets you toggle display of all Scale tracks, while the X/Y/Z check boxes let you toggle display of the track for each axis.