Overview

The following are a few important rules that need to be observed and followed when prepping animations:

• Every loop-animation must all start out on the same foot, take the same number of steps, have the same arm swing phase (this is recommended but not always possible).

Animating the Locator

General Rules

• The orientation of the locator in an idle to move transition should remain looking forward until frame 10.
• When the orientation changes (left, right, left reverse or right reverse) this should occur in the following 6 frames so the new orientation is complete at frame 16.
• When changing the orientation 180 degrees for reverse transitions, make sure you rotate the locator 0.1 degrees back to it's original orientation to avoid flipping of the character.
• For swimming transitions or vehicle transitions the locator can be a straight blend between the ground position of 0,0,z and end at the Bip01 location and forward looking direction of the character.
• For loops, only setting keys for the start and end of the animation is necessary if you wish to add a locator to them. They are technically not needed, but for batch processing it keeps the database clean.

Practical Example

Start by setting a key for the prop, then navigate to the prop menu under the Key Info group of the biped motion menu and set both position and rotation space to world. This will allow you to animate the node independent of the root of the character.

When creating an animation in which the character has to turn quickly (such as a start run transition) the locator essentially needs to be a projection of the Bip01 on the ground, yet travelling in a straight line on one axis. It's height is zeroed out, but one axis in the direction of travel, either X or Y should match the Bip01 as closely as possible.

Take the following example. This is a run start transition facing forward and turning around to run in the opposite direction (combat_runStart_rifle_reverse_fast_lfoot_01). Below the film strip are a few zoomed in images of the same motion showing how the locator itself moves and rotates in this motion.

This should give you a basic understanding of this particular animation. The locator is the small red arrow beneath the character. The following set of images shows how the rotation is setup for the motion above.

• Here is the transition at frame 10. The arrow is still pointing forward during the anticipation for the turn itself. It follows the Y direction of the bip, but does not deviate on the X axis.

• Here is the transition at frame 13. It has begun to turn linearly with rotation, yet still a projection of the Bip01 Y coordinate.

• The transition at frame 16 now fully rotated.

Keep in mind that the locator should be moving in a straight line in the direction that the character is travelling. In other words, no deviation to either side. However the actual translation of the locator in it's forward moving direction should follow the Bip01 as closely as possible.