Introduction

If you're familiar with 3ds Max's Character studio, then you're familiar with the Biped system. The biped is an easy and fast way to rig a character. Some people don't even have characters, they simply use the bipeds as characters. Well, if you've ever tried animating the biped, you know it can be quite quirky at times. I'm going to show an easy rigging process to make animating bipeds a hell of a lot easier.

This tutorial assumes you have basic knowledge of 3ds Max. Although you can still follow along if you're a beginner.

Getting Started

Things you will need:
-3ds Max 6 or above
-10 minutes of free time
-Basic knowledge of 3ds Max

First off, assuming your copy of Max is open, go to File > Reset just to make sure. When prompted, click yes to reset everything.

The very first step is to create a biped. Go to the systems tab in the command panel and click on the Biped.



Start at the center of the stage in the perspective viewport (or wherever you like) and drag up to create the biped.



With the Biped still selected (by default) go the motion tab in the command panel and click on figure mode.



Click the structure rollout and change the settings to your preferences. Here is how mine looks, after a few modifications:



Meow, in the front viewport, drag the arms up to create a T-Pose (be sure figure mode is now turned off):



For the sake of time, go to the helpers panel and create a point helper.



(The alternative would be to create a NURBS curve that follows the shape of the hands and feet, but again, for the sake of time). In the front viewport, create the point helper on the bipeds hands. You could even go one step further and color coordinate them, i.e. blue is left and red is right.




Now, this is where the fun begins, the actual "rigging." Technically the Biped is already rigged as far as Inverse Kinematics go, we're simply adding helpers to make it easier to animate. Next, select the bipeds hand, the left hand to start with. Go back to the motion tab in the command panel. Go to the Key Info rollout, and find the +IK sub-rollout:



With the hand still selected, click the red dot to set a keyframe. The options from the +IK rollout now become active. Click the white arrow next to the box, and select the blue helper for the hand. Then increase the IK Blend to 1.0. Click the object button:



Now all you have to do is animate the helper instead of the hands and feet. Repeat the process for the right hand, and the two feet. Be careful when you're animating though, I recommend only using the helpers to move your biped around. If, for example, you rotated the arm from the shoulder into a different position, the helper would stay in the same position, yet it still controls the hand. Next, to rig the head, repeat the above steps, but instead of in the +IK rollout, use the +Head Rollout. You'll notice that the head snaps back when you set the IK Blend to 1.0, but this is fine, simply move the helper out in front of the head and it follows it nicely.

Lastly, select the link tool. Press H to bring up the selection menu and select Bip01



And link the Bip01, the little diamond thing, (press F3 to be able to see it) to the helper you've now created for the pelvis area. (Link by clicking the diamond and then dragging to the point helper.) Your completed Biped should look something like this:



Here's the completed Biped (Max 9 only):

Download

Hope this helped. Happy animating!

I've been looking for a tutorial on this, thanks!

Really? Then I guess it helped then huh.

One thing though that I have to emphasize: Only animate the point helpers. It can get really quirky if you try to animate the limbs separately from the motion panel.

I wish you could create a biped that easily in Maya >.>, nice tutorial Camaro, you seem to be good at rigging.

Dude... its way easier in Maya.
Get your facts straight.

Nice tutorial man. Keep up the great stuff.
Make some more.
Just ask around what people need.

I can't get this to work with max 8. :[

Talk to me on MSN.

And as far as Maya vs. Max goes, it's all about who's using the tool to get the job done, not which tool is used. Because face it, the end product is always the same.

Skitzabix wrote:

I wish you could create a biped that easily in Maya >.>, nice tutorial Camaro, you seem to be good at rigging.

Thanks, but not really. This is simply an easy method I found for rigging, but mostly animating, an already rigged character.

Personally, I think animating is shitloads easier in Maya, but modeling is easier in Max. In the long run I'll end up using Maya more since I'm an animator, not a modeler.