Maya 8 at a Glance Chapter 9: Animation

Ways to Animate 2 Creating Keyframes Path Animation Set Driven Keys Nonlinear Animation Expressions Simulations

Keyframe Animation 3 Keys record attribute changes over time The ‘Set Key’ command sets keyframes on all keyable attributes You can right-click on channels in the Channel box to keyframe specific attributes Auto Key will detect changes in attributes and automatically generate keyframes

Path Animation 4 Allows you to draw out a path that the object will take through the scene Commonly used for vehicles and other objects that animate using routes

Set Driven Keys 5 Allows you to let the motion of one object drive another Used commonly for character rigging, such as making teeth move along a jaw opening

Nonlinear Animation 6 Uses the Trax Editor to combine animation clips to build animation Clips can be trimmed, stretched, cycled, and blended together to create new motions Used a lot in character animation

Expressions 7 Mathematical equations, programming commands, and MEL commands that can precisely control an object’s motion Used in rigging and for motion that requires mathematical equations, such as a tire rotating based on the motion of a car

Simulations 8 Simulates physics to create motion Soft and Rigid Body dynamics let you set up initial conditions, apply forces, and then run simulations Often used for special effects

Graph Editor 9 Displays keyframes as curves

Tangent Types 10 SplineLinearClamped FlatSteppedPlateau

Character Animation 11 Character sets collect all the attributes associated with a character in one place Character sets allow you to animate characters a pose at a time

Trax Editor 12 Trax is Maya’s nonlinear animation editor Stores animation as clips Clips can be layered, trimmed, and edited to create new sequences Animation used in Trax must be part of a character set

Clips and Poses 13 A clip is a collection of animation curves for a character Source clips are added to the character’s scene and are the ‘Master’ copy Regular clips are inserted under its character in the Trax editor and can be edits of the source clips A Pose is a clip that is only one frame long