Animation Lesson 3: Beyond the lesson
In this lesson you learned how to:
Create a motion path animation using a NURBS curve as the motion path.
When you draw your own curves remember that a curve has a defined start and an end point
based on how you create it. If your object is initially positioned at the wrong end of the curve,
you can reverse the direction of the curve by setting the Menu Set to Modeling and then
selecting Edit Curves > Reverse Curve Direction.
If your objects are not oriented correctly on the path initially, you can change the options in the
Attach to Motion Path Options window. See Animate > Motion Paths > Attach to Motion Path in
the Maya Help.
Adjust the timing and rotation of an object when it travels along the motion path.
In this lesson you were shown how to keyframe the roll (bank) of the aircraft. The Attach to
Motion Path Options window provides an option called Bank. The Bank option rotates an object as
it travels around curved portions of a motion path. It is useful for simple motion path animation.
Blend between keyframe and motion path animation types on the same object.
For more information on how this works, see pairBlend in the Maya Help.
Animation Lesson 4: Introduction
Nonlinear animation allows you to create and edit an animation sequence by arranging smaller animation
sequences (known as clips) on a timeline. A clip is a time-independent sequence of animation that you
create from an existing animation (keyframe animation, expressions, constraints, and motion capture data
- except motion path animation).
Nonlinear animation tools in Maya® Trax give you the ability to experiment with your animation
sequences and character animations without having to redo all of your work when you want to modify or
construct a different animation.
Nonlinear animation is a non-destructive process. You can modify a particular clip's attributes without
affecting the source animation: the source material remains untouched. This makes nonlinear animation
useful when you want to experiment, iterate, or change a particular animation sequence.
The primary tool for working with nonlinear animation is the Trax Editor. You can also store your clips for
future use by creating a library of clips.
In this lesson you learn how to:
Key animation sequences for use as nonlinear clips in Trax.
Create clips from your animation sequences for use in the Trax Editor.
Use the Trax editor to position, modify, and arrange clips in order to create and modify animation
sequences in the scene.
Scale clips to modify the timing of an animation sequence.
Trim clips to remove unwanted motion.
Cycle clips to create motion that repeats.
Use the Graph Editor to modify the animation of a clip.
Use the Trax Editor to work with motion capture data.
Reuse clips using the Outliner and the Visor.
Animation Lesson 4: Open the first scene for the lesson
This lesson is presented in two parts. You work with two separate scene files we've created for your
use. In the first part of this lesson, you learn some of the fundamental techniques for working with clips
in the Trax Editor by animating an aircraft taking off and landing.
1. Make sure you've done the steps in Animation Lessons: Preparing for the lessons.
2. Open the scene named Trax_Lesson1.mb.
You can open the scene named Trax_Lesson1.mb from the Maya Documentation, Lessons, and
Extras CD or from the drive where you copied the Getting Started files.
The scene contains a model of an aircraft. For the first part of this lesson, you create and work
with animation clips to control the motion of the aircraft.
3. In the Time Slider, set the Playback range as follows:
o Playback Start Time: 1
o Playback End Time: 240
To work more efficiently with the scene and the Trax Editor, you need to set a panel layout.
To set a panel layout for use with the Trax Editor
1. From the perspective view's menu, select Panels > Saved Layouts > Persp/Trax/Outliner.
The panel layout updates to display the Perspective view, Outliner, and Trax Editor
simultaneously. This allows you to easily work with these windows without having to open and
close them repeatedly.
Next, set the Outliner so it displays clips. The Outliner allows you to manage the various clips that get
created with Trax.
To set the Outliner to display clips
1. In the Outliner menu, select Display > DAG Objects Only to uncheck the DAG option.
2. In the Outliner menu, select Show > Objects > Clips.
The Outliner displays an empty list until you create your first clip.
In this lesson you learned how to:
Create a motion path animation using a NURBS curve as the motion path.
When you draw your own curves remember that a curve has a defined start and an end point
based on how you create it. If your object is initially positioned at the wrong end of the curve,
you can reverse the direction of the curve by setting the Menu Set to Modeling and then
selecting Edit Curves > Reverse Curve Direction.
If your objects are not oriented correctly on the path initially, you can change the options in the
Attach to Motion Path Options window. See Animate > Motion Paths > Attach to Motion Path in
the Maya Help.
Adjust the timing and rotation of an object when it travels along the motion path.
In this lesson you were shown how to keyframe the roll (bank) of the aircraft. The Attach to
Motion Path Options window provides an option called Bank. The Bank option rotates an object as
it travels around curved portions of a motion path. It is useful for simple motion path animation.
Blend between keyframe and motion path animation types on the same object.
For more information on how this works, see pairBlend in the Maya Help.
Animation Lesson 4: Introduction
Nonlinear animation allows you to create and edit an animation sequence by arranging smaller animation
sequences (known as clips) on a timeline. A clip is a time-independent sequence of animation that you
create from an existing animation (keyframe animation, expressions, constraints, and motion capture data
- except motion path animation).
Nonlinear animation tools in Maya® Trax give you the ability to experiment with your animation
sequences and character animations without having to redo all of your work when you want to modify or
construct a different animation.
Nonlinear animation is a non-destructive process. You can modify a particular clip's attributes without
affecting the source animation: the source material remains untouched. This makes nonlinear animation
useful when you want to experiment, iterate, or change a particular animation sequence.
The primary tool for working with nonlinear animation is the Trax Editor. You can also store your clips for
future use by creating a library of clips.
In this lesson you learn how to:
Key animation sequences for use as nonlinear clips in Trax.
Create clips from your animation sequences for use in the Trax Editor.
Use the Trax editor to position, modify, and arrange clips in order to create and modify animation
sequences in the scene.
Scale clips to modify the timing of an animation sequence.
Trim clips to remove unwanted motion.
Cycle clips to create motion that repeats.
Use the Graph Editor to modify the animation of a clip.
Use the Trax Editor to work with motion capture data.
Reuse clips using the Outliner and the Visor.
Animation Lesson 4: Open the first scene for the lesson
This lesson is presented in two parts. You work with two separate scene files we've created for your
use. In the first part of this lesson, you learn some of the fundamental techniques for working with clips
in the Trax Editor by animating an aircraft taking off and landing.
1. Make sure you've done the steps in Animation Lessons: Preparing for the lessons.
2. Open the scene named Trax_Lesson1.mb.
You can open the scene named Trax_Lesson1.mb from the Maya Documentation, Lessons, and
Extras CD or from the drive where you copied the Getting Started files.
The scene contains a model of an aircraft. For the first part of this lesson, you create and work
with animation clips to control the motion of the aircraft.
3. In the Time Slider, set the Playback range as follows:
o Playback Start Time: 1
o Playback End Time: 240
To work more efficiently with the scene and the Trax Editor, you need to set a panel layout.
To set a panel layout for use with the Trax Editor
1. From the perspective view's menu, select Panels > Saved Layouts > Persp/Trax/Outliner.
The panel layout updates to display the Perspective view, Outliner, and Trax Editor
simultaneously. This allows you to easily work with these windows without having to open and
close them repeatedly.
Next, set the Outliner so it displays clips. The Outliner allows you to manage the various clips that get
created with Trax.
To set the Outliner to display clips
1. In the Outliner menu, select Display > DAG Objects Only to uncheck the DAG option.
2. In the Outliner menu, select Show > Objects > Clips.
The Outliner displays an empty list until you create your first clip.
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