Object Settings Dialog - Mesh Animations
The Mesh Animations page of the Object Settings dialog:
3DS Max Restrictions
In order to prevent unexpected behavior, mesh animations, skeletons, and poses are not exported if a mesh has been created in the following way:
- More than one Skin/Physique modifier is in the modifier stack - It's not possible to export such data reliably, so it is skipped.
- More than one Morpher modifier is in the modifier stack - It's not possible to export such data, so it is skipped.
- The Skin or Physique modifier, if present, is not at the top of the stack - Other modifiers, such as the Edit Mesh modifier, have the potential to invalidate the data stored in the Skin and Physique modifiers. As a result, the Skin/Physique data is skipped in such situations.
- The Skin or Physique modifier is not above the Morpher modifier - It's only possible to export the animation data correctly if the Skin/Physique modifer is above the Morpher modifer in the stack.
Mesh Animation Type
The type of mesh animation to export. The available types will depend on the type of modifiers applied to the mesh:
- Skeleton + pose animation - Add a Morpher modifer and a Skin or Physique modifier.
- Skeleton + morph animation - Add a Morpher modifier and a Skin or Physique modifier.
- Pose only - Add a Morpher modifier.
- Morph - Any mesh can be exported as a morph. This type of morph animation takes the animation track into account so that you can, for example, define separate mesh animations on the Skin and Morpher tracks and have them be exported as separate morph animations.
- Combined morph - Any mesh can be exported as a morph. This type of morph animation does not take the animation track into account. In other words, all mesh animation tracks are assumed to be for the entire object.
- Skeleton only - Add a Skin or Physique modifier.
Skeleton Settings
-
Export Skeleton - Indicates how the mesh's skeleton should be exported. This only applies if there is a skeleton.
- Yes - The skeleton is exported. The exported mesh will contain a link to the skeleton.
- No - The skeleton is not exported. The exported mesh will not contain link to the skeleton.
- Link Only - The skeleton is not exported. The exported mesh will contain a link to the skeleton.
-
Reference Pose - Indicates the initial pose used by the skeleton. This only applies if there is a skeleton.
- Bind Pose - The skeleton pose at the time the Skin or Physique modifier was applied.
- Time - The skeleton pose at the specified time.
- Skeleton Name - The name of the exported skeleton. If not specified, the mesh name is used.
- Animated Root - An object, typically animated, whose position is subtracted from the root bones of all skeleton animations. This is useful in situations where the skeleton moves around the scene, rather than in place.
- Skeleton Animation Sampling - The default rate or time interval used to sample the skeleton's animation. If 'Use Global Setting' is specified, the setting specified in the Global Settings dialog will be used.
- Export Animations to Separate Skeleton Files - Indicates whether skeleton animations should be exported to their own skeleton file.
- Link Separate Animations to Main Skeleton - Indicates whether separately exported skeleton animations should be linked to the main skeleton automatically.
- Remove Bones With No Influence - Indicates whether skeleton bones that influence no mesh vertices should be removed. If this setting is used in conjunction with objects attached to bones, be sure that the objects are attached to bones that influence at least one vertex.
Pose Settings
- Export Poses - Indicates whether the mesh's poses should be exported. This only applies if there are poses.
Morph Settings
- Vertex Animation Sampling - The default rate or time interval used to sample the mesh's animation. If 'Use Global Setting' is specified, the setting specified in the Global Settings dialog will be used.
Mesh Animations
A list of mesh animations. Animations can be added and edited with the Mesh Animation Dialog.