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Preparing Softimage Characters for Export to Softimage Behavior

Softimage Behavior is a powerful programming system that allows you to create complex and compelling behavioral animation for simulating crowd animations, or for generating motion animations for other purposes. Behavior features an event-based state-machine programming environment, originally based on technology that combines motion synthesis of 3D characters with real-time control systems.

The basic workflow between Behavior and Softimage is to create actors and actions in Softimage and then export them to Behavior. These special actors are loaded into the XSI Viewer that is integrated into the Behavior Editor. Then, you can create the behavior animation by developing scripts and HFSM (hierarchical finite state machines), and the animation is recorded as actions in dotXSI files.

Finally, after the simulation is running and looks good, you take the data from Behavior to the renderer directly using the Behavior-to-mental ray™ pipeline, or record the data in the format required by your rendering pipeline.

The Behavior Export tool helps streamline the process of porting characters between Softimage and Behavior. Basically, it provides a set of commands that help you set up your Softimage character as Behavior likes it, tag certain key nodes on the character, generate a Behavior-ready actor from your Softimage character, and save the actor in a dotXSI file using special operations.

For information about using the Behavior software in general, see the Behavior Tutorials guide and Behavior User guide.

Autodesk Softimage v.7.5     <     >