Using Twist Links

Using Twist Links

Materials and Mapping Tutorials

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials > Character Animation Tutorials > Biped Beyond the Basics > Using Twist Links > 

Twist Links

Add twist links:

1. Open Jacket_with_no twist_links.max.

   

   This model was provided courtesy of Paul Neale and Erin Nicholson. Some objects were hidden so you can concentrate on the arms.

2. Play the animation.

   The hand flips over to twist the lower arm.

3. Select any part of the biped in the viewport and then go to the Motion panel.
4. On the Biped rollout, click Figure Mode, and then expand the Structure rollout.
5. In the Twist Links group, turn on Twists.
6. Set the Upper Arm and Forearm to 10.

   

   Twist Links group

   These settings specify the number of twist links for each body part.

7. In the viewport you can see the extra links created. By default, they are gray and frozen.
8. Right-click in the viewport and choose Unfreeze all.
9. Select the jacket object BromGirl_GEO_Jacket01, and hide it. Press F3 to change the viewport shading method to Wireframe so you can see the multiple twist bones.

   

   Upper Arm and Lower Arm twist bones set to 10

10. Turn off Figure Mode and drag the time slider to scroll through the animation.

    

    You can see the twist bones changing in the lower arm. In order for these to better influence the mesh, you can add them to the Skin modifier.

11. In the viewport, right-click and choose Unhide By Name, and then unhide the jacket object.
12. Select the jacket object and go to the Modify Panel.
13. On the Parameters rollout, click the Add button to add more bones.
14. From the list, add the 10 Bip01 R ForeTwist bones and the 10 Bip01 RUparmTwist bones.

    

15. To see the result clearly, hide everything except the jacket object. Because the jacket is selected, the easiest way to do this is to right-click in the viewport and choose Hide Unselected. Set the viewport to Smooth+Highlights display mode.

    

Set twist poses:

1. Unhide the Bip01 R UpperArm link and then select it.

   

   Upper arm bone selected

2. Expand the Twist Poses rollout. Click the Add button. A new pose named Pose06 appears in the pose name field.
3. Unhide the Bip01 RUparmTwist bones.

   

4. Hide the jacket and set the viewport display to Wireframe.
5. Adjust the Twist value to set the initial twist for the start of the upper arm, then adjust the Bias value to set the twist bias down the length of the chain. Try a Twist value of -60 and a Bias of 0.35.
6. Click Set to preserve the value changes.
7. Rotate the upper arm object about the X axis and observe the effect on the chain of twist bones. Play with different Twist and Bias setting to see the results.

   

   Hide the other objects to see the bias affecting the chain.

8. Save your work as my_jacket_with_twist.max.