3ds Max Animation with Biped

Section III: Freeform Animation

So far you’ve worked with footsteps, so Character Studio has taken care of a lot of the details for you. As you become more skilled with Character Studio, however, you’ll want to animate your characters without footsteps, determining every detail, and making your own decisions. This method, called freeform animation, of course requires more knowledge of traditional animation principles. But in return, you get a lot more freedom when animating your character.

Freeform animation is useful when the biped’s feet don’t have to stick to the ground at any point, as when swimming or flying, for example. You can also use this type of animation to simulate footstep animation for an ordinary biped, or for unusual characters ...