CGTalk - TRAX EDITOR: request for TIPS ON WHAT BREAKS IT

View Full Version : TRAX EDITOR: request for TIPS ON WHAT BREAKS IT

Sheperoo

02-18-2004, 09:22 AM

im a new user to maya and i thought id just post this open invitation for tips and advice on the DOs and DONTS of using the trax editor

i bow to your might collective geniuses- or should that be genii- whatever

on the 1 hand the trax editor looks like a very neat tool for storing and building up a library of anim clips

on the other my initial trial of it has been at times a world of pain and i seem to be repeatedly breaking it

ive been loading clips in from previous versions and all kinds a crazee sh*t has been happening

i guess u cant alter the list of attributes in a character set right?

(because the attributes wont know where they belong when imported im guessing)

thats one pitfall i think ive met with. what about others?

if u can rack your brains and say what other errors i might be introducing thru lack of experience id really appreciate it

im also exporting to a game engine and i cant be sure if that might be breaking my anims as well

jdj

02-19-2004, 08:54 AM

Trax is truly a love-hate thing.

By trial and error I have found out two things:

- Never. Ever. touch your CS setup. Let It Stay The Same And Trax Will Be Good To You.

- Keyframe all CS attributes to 0 in the first frame and keyframe all of them to 0 in the last (with flat in/out tangents). If you want to add animation after the Trax-tracks it is vital, otherwise you might end up with a character that slowly crouches, floats off, stretches, flails etc. as the positions are added ontop of the Trax positions. If your character suddenly starts to drift off - check this.

With this in mind, Trax has worked for me the few times I have used it. But handle Trax with care and never. ever. change your CS setup... oh - I said that didn't I :)

Cheers
/ Daniel

MikeRhone

02-19-2004, 03:31 PM

Character set order needs to stay the same. Period. This also goes for transferring animation clips across characters. Make sure your rig is the exact same and the character set is identical in all aspects. I reccomend lots of sub-character sets to make your life easier on more in depth rigs.

Joint orientation needs to be exactly the same across multiple characters as well.

Its a beast but its really handy.

m

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