Lock 'n' load!

Animators rejoice! In this tutorial you get an opportunity to use MotionBuilder 6 PLE, the package that’s fast becoming a popular choice for motion creators and editors. This learning edition is a fully functioning version of MotionBuilder Standard that enables you to load files created in the commercial version and to save in a special FBL format. This means there’s no excuse for not having a good tinker!

With a background in the games industry, I find MotionBuilder’s speed and range of custom tools most beneficial. Using the Story editor, moves can be blended, trimmed and tweaked in much the same way as you would use a non-linear video editor. The unique characterisation process and FK/IK Control Rig tools enable the animator to work with a variety of different characters in an environment that’s familiar each time. The ability to layer animation is essential when dealing with motion capture because keying onto a layer means you can keep all the data on the base layer intact.

In this tutorial, we’ll tidy up a gangster thug’s ambush mo-cap data so it’s ready for in-game use, correctly posed, positioned and edited. As well as learning about key areas of MotionBuilder, such as the Story editor, control rig and layering, you’ll also gain insights into some of the practises of the games industry.

Before we begin, it’ll be useful to familiarise yourself with basic navigation. There are a number of keyboard presets available – it doesn’t matter which one you choose, but get used to how the keys work, especially the differences between navigating the 3D and 2D sections of the package (for example, the Schematic view, toggled with [Ctrl]+[W] in the viewer).

Download the support files below and find the full-size copies of all the screen grabs used as well as the relevant MotionBuilder data files too. Before you start, locate the folder ‘Thug Assets’ from the tutorial section and copy it to the root of your C: drive. Once you’ve done that, we can begin the tutorial.