Plotting (Baking) Shape Animation
You can plot shapes to “bake” together shape animation to create a new shape source. For example, if you have shape animation on different clusters on an object (such as a face with mouth and eyebrow clusters), you can plot the object’s shape animation to store it as a whole in a new source.
Plotting saves the shape of a selected cluster or object in a source for each frame that you specify. You can choose to save the plotted shapes at each frame within a single shape source (key) or as multiple shape keys (one for each plotted frame) within a compound shape source.
You can also immediately create shape clips in the mixer for each shape key that is created. If you choose to create multiple shape keys within a compound source, a compound shape clip is created, containing the individual shape clips.
To plot shape animation
1. Select what you want to plot:
- Select a cluster to plot its shape.
- Select (tag) points to create a cluster and plot its shape.
- Select an object to create a cluster containing all its points and plot its shape.
2. Choose Tools > Plot > Shape from the Animate toolbar.
3. In the Plot Shape dialog box that opens, set the options as described here:
4. Click OK. The animation plays back, storing shape keys as it goes.
• Select Single Source to create one shape source (one shape key) for the whole plotted shape animation. Plotting to a single source is faster and takes up less space than plotting to multiple, individual sources. This is useful for copying shape keys to other objects (see Sharing Shape Animation between Objects, Models, and Scenes).
When you create a shape clip from the resulting source, it acts as a non-static pose clip which means that it can be cycled, bounced, or timewarped (only from the Time Control property editor).
• If you deselect Single Source, a shape source (key) is created for each plotted frame of shape animation. These shape keys are available on their own as well as being stored within a compound shape source.
If you select Apply Keys to create clips, you will see a compound clip for the plotted shape animation. Double-click the compound clip to see the shape clips for each frame inside it.
Creating Shape Clips for Plotted Sources
• Select Apply Keys to automatically create shape clips in the mixer for each shape source (key) that is created.
If you deselect this option, the shape keys are stored as any other shape key in the model’s Mixer > Sources > Shape folder, but are not added to the mixer as shape clips.
• If you select Apply Keys and are plotting to multiple shape sources (Single Source is not selected), you must set the shape clips’ Instantiation Mode to determines how the individual shape keys are applied in the mixer.
You can choose from any of the four standard instantiation modes (see Choosing a Shape Instance Mode for Shape Clips) or Use Current Mode, which uses the mode that is currently active in the Shape menu.
• Enter a Shape Name for the resulting plotted shape source.
If you are plotting to multiple shape sources (Single Source is not selected), this name is also used as a prefix for each of the shape keys within the compound shape source.
• From the Shape Content list, select the deformation that’s being stored for the selected cluster or object:
- Shape Authoring Deforms plots only the deformations that are in the shape region in the construction mode history. This means that only the deformation resulting from the shape authoring deformation tools are plotted for the selected object or cluster.
- All Deforms plots deformations that are in all regions of the construction mode history. This means that all deformations on the selected object or cluster are plotted, whether or not the deformation is a product of the tools that were used for authoring the shape animation.
For information on construction modes, see Creating Shapes in the Shape Modeling Construction Modes.
• Select an option from the Reference Mode list to determine the initial (reference) shape for the selected cluster or object’s plotted shape animation. See Deformations and Shape Reference Modes for more information.
• Set the Start and End values to specify the range of frames to plot.
• Set the Step Value to specify the frame step increment.
- If this value is 1, the shape is plotted at every frame.
- If this value is 2, a shape is plotted at every other frame, and so on.
Autodesk Softimage v.7.5