Hey! Animating a character in Autodesk 3ds Max is pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it. Here’s a quick guide to get you started:
First, you’ll need a character model—either create one in 3ds Max or import one (like an FBX file). Once you’ve got that, you’ll want to rig it with a skeleton. 3ds Max has two great tools for this: CAT (Character Animation Toolkit) or Biped from Character Studio. CAT’s awesome for non-human characters (think dragons or dogs), while Biped is perfect for humanoid figures. Pick one, add it to your scene via the Create panel, and adjust the bones to fit your character’s shape. Then, use the Skin or Physique modifier to attach the mesh to the skeleton so it moves naturally.
Now, for the animation part: turn on Auto Key mode (bottom of the screen), move the time slider to a frame (say, frame 10), and pose your character—like lifting an arm. 3ds Max will record that as a keyframe. Jump to another frame (like 20), tweak the pose again, and it’ll fill in the motion between them. You can refine it using the Curve Editor (Graph Editors > Track View) to adjust timing and smoothness.
If you’ve got motion capture data, you can apply that to your rig instead of keyframing manually—super handy for realistic moves. Just import it via the Motion panel. Play it back with the time controls to see your character come to life!
That’s the basics—rig, keyframe, tweak. Want to dive deeper into something specific? Let me know!
