When you install Softimage, the Behavior Export tool is also automatically installed as an add-on. All you need to do to access it is to open the toolbar.
For more information about add-ons in general, see Working with Add-ons [ Customization ].
To open the Behavior Export toolbar
• Choose View > Toolbars > Behavior Export from the main menu.
Overview for Preparing Characters for Behavior
To prepare Softimage characters to be imported into Behavior, you need to make a Behavior-ready character called an actor. These are the basic steps—more information about each step is on the following page:
1. Create a character in Softimage that you want to export to Behavior.
See Building Skeletons, Envelopes, and Character Rigging for more information.
2. Set up the character’s hierarchy for Behavior using the guidelines described in Setting Up Your Character’s Hierarchy for Behavior.
3. Animate the character in any way and store those animations into action sources. Make sure to remove the original animation from the character as you do this, or remove the animation later.
For information about storing animation in action sources, see Actions [ Nonlinear Animation ].
4. Open the Behavior Export toolbar (choose View > Toolbars > Behavior Export from the main menu) to do the following steps to set up the Softimage character for Behavior.
5. Initialize the character to give it an actor description that Behavior recognizes—see Initializing the Character.
6. Set the character’s default (home) pose, which is the pose you want the actor to have as a starting pose in Behavior—see Setting the Character’s Home (Default) Pose.
7. Tag some key nodes on the character for Behavior to recognize, such as the feet and COG node. You can also add collision spheres to any node on the character (such as the feet) to help with collision detection in Behavior—see Tagging Nodes for Behavior.
8. Convert the character’s action sources into Behavior skills—see Preparing the Character’s Animation for Behavior.
9. Generate (create) a new behavior-ready actor from your Softimage character—see Generating a Behavior-Ready Actor.
10. Save the Behavior actor in a dotXSI file and import it into Behavior—see Saving the Behavior-Ready Actor.
Optional Tasks
• Import a Behavior or Biovision actor into Softimage—see Importing and Exporting Actors.
• Add collision spheres to any node on the character—see Adding Collision Spheres.
• Set limits on a joint’s range of movement—see Setting Joint Limits.
• Create a floor prop object—see Creating a Floor (Terrain Actor).
• Set the visibility options for each node to determine what’s shown in the Behavior viewer—see Setting a Node’s Visibility.
• Set up the render options to create MI files for the scene and target render models to be exported to Behavior—see Setting Up the Scene and Models for Rendering.
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5