Life Forms only animates segmented models. When you build a model that will be animated, consider how it is going to move. This helps you to determine how many segments the models should have and where the pivot points of each segment should be. There are no restrictions to the model’s zero-angle position ( the position where all joints have no rotation values. ) Life Forms can animate and apply motion to models with any zero-angle positions. However, when building a segmented model ensure that:

• joint names are unique.
• joint names have no spaces or special characters.
• the polygon count for the model is less than 10,000.
• the model is a reasonable size. Model height of 1 - 5 meters is recommended.

Props must be no larger than 50 m by 50 m..
Tip: if your model is very detailed, create a lower resolution. You can animate the low resolution model and apply the motion to the high resolution model before rendering. Note, however, that the low and high resolution modelsmust beidentical except for the resolution.

Download pdf Life Forms & 3D Studio Max User Guide