- iClone 4.31 3D Animation Beginner's Guide
- M.D. McCallum
- 547字
- 2021-08-27 12:20:52
Time for action - placing the iProp
We will load a pre-animated iProp into the scene for our male character to pick up:
- Locate the Beer iProp in the
iPropsfolder on the left side menu within the Content Manager. Drag-and-drop the beer into the iClone workspace or double-click the beer if you prefer to load it into the center of the workspace. What? Where did it go? - Click on the Pick Parent button in the linkage section of the right side menu.
- Use the Eyedropper tool to select a section of the handrail.
- Click on the Link To button.
- Correct the rotation and unlink the prop.
The following image shows the sequence of events:
What just happened?
The beer iProp was actually placed at the right place but it may be hidden by the house or any other prop. We used the Link button to link it to the handrail of the porch then clicked on the Link To button next to the Link info box.
When the popup window appeared, we selected the Position and Rotation option and clicked OK. This placed the prop on the linked object. It may be rotated incorrectly but we can solve that. If the prop does not appear in the viewport, then Unlink the prop, select another section of the porch, and use the Link To button again. We can also select the prop and press Camera View button once to center the camera on the object.
Why not use the Position option instead of the Position and Rotation option that may rotate the object improperly? The Position option does not always place the prop where you want it, but the latter option will always properly place the prop in relation to the chosen object even if it is rotated incorrectly.
Tip
Locating lost props by using the link feature
Linking a prop to another prop that is visible in the workspace and using the Link To feature with Position and Rotation checked, will bring the unseen prop to the forefront of the camera that you are working with and will save a lot of time usually spent looking for the errant prop.
- Import or drag-and-drop the Beer iProp into the scene. Locate the prop via the Link To method described previously. Then unlink the prop once it becomes visible.
- Reduce the scale of the beer to 50% in the Scale input boxes on the right menu.
- Rotate and move the beer to place it properly on the porch handrail.
What just happened?
In the next image, we have placed the Beer iProp on top of the rail, ready for interaction once we add the characters to the scene:
Tip
Scene viewing
We can view the scene from different angles by selecting a prop that is central to the scene and which can rotate the camera; it will rotate around the prop you have selected. You can also select any object in the scene and press the Home button or Center button located on the top toolbar to move the camera to that object.