Now we need to close the grill cover, which will require the character reaching towards the cover, appearing to grasp the handle and closing the cover. We will accomplish this by triggering the Close Top animation on the grill and then matching the character's movements to that action:
Select the male character.
Right-click on the male character and choose Motion Menu | Edit Motion.
The following image displays the character right-click menu and the Edit Motion Layer popup:
In the Edit Motion Layer window select the upper body by clicking on it.
Next select the Rotate tool in the upper toolbar.
The Move and Rotate tools are highlighted in the following image:
What just happened?
We selected our male character, invoked the right-click menu, then selected the Edit Motion option from the Motion menu to invoke the Edit Motion Layer popup. We are ready to proceed with direct limb manipulation, but first we will discuss some movement basics.
Animating the limbs
The Motion Editor (Edit Motion Layer window) is a far more powerful tool than it first appears to be. We will use this tool to move different axes of the limbs and in the 3D space that means it covers a lot of movement.
Note
The Rotate tool works on all three axes. With the character's limb selected, right-click to change between the three axes. Each axis will have its own color coded rotation gizmo; however, this gizmo only works on one axis at a time.
You move the axis by selecting the gizmo while holding down your left mouse button and then moving your mouse or using the wheel on your mouse if so equipped.
Tip
Invoking the Rotate Tool Axis
If a rotate tool axis does not appear when the Motion Editor is invoked, Rotate will need to be selected from the top toolbar. In some cases you may have to click on the body part to see the axis if the Rotate tool is already selected.
Working with the limbs of characters will take some thought as to how to get the character into a pose. You must keep an open mind and focus on the fact that you are working in three dimensional space. You may need to move an arm up to reach a certain point, but in mimicking human movement you may need to bend the forearm at the elbow and swivel it in or out and then up or down to reach your target.
It depends on the motion being used and if there will be any collisions between the body part and the prop. If at all possible we do not want the elbow or arm going through (colliding with) any part of the grill.
Setting the starting point key frame
Before we move the arm we need to set a new key frame 50 to 100 frames in front of the frame that starts the arm movement. Otherwise the character will start moving his arm too soon and the timing will be off.
Pick a key frame after the character sits down the beer and finishes his turn towards the grill. Make sure that he has completed all the previous animations so the new movement will not interfere with them. There will be times when we will want to trigger animations while another animation is already playing, but in this case we are keeping it simple to learn the concept.
Note
Every animation you create has a starting point and an ending point. We always designate our ending point when we animate the movement. That automatically creates a key frame, but we do not have to set our starting point; this can lead to trouble and unexpected results if you do not get into the habit of setting a starting point key frame.
A starting point key frame is essentially a snapshot of what is taking place at that moment on the timeline. Only action after that starting point will change.
Double-click on a blank key frame to generate a new key frame (starting point). In this example it is around frame 650.
The double-click places a key frame marker which stops any movement after that key frame from affecting movement before that key frame, and vice-versa.
The red boxed key frame shown in the following image is the key frame we created with the double-click:
With the male character selected, click on the upper torso and swivel it slightly down towards the grill. Nothing drastic. Try to keep it looking natural:
What just happened?
We first created a starting point for the torso to swivel down. Then we actually swivelled the upper torso down towards the grill.
As soon as we swivelled the torso a new key frame was created on the timeline, just as happens with all movements. This movement initiates the entire sequence of closing the grill.