Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.17
Scale the ball vertically.
Hint
Squashing the ball in steps 25 and 26 is an old animation trick to make the ball seem more alive.
It is an exaggeration of an animated element. Exaggeration is commonly used in animation to make
the animated characters or objects seem more alive. Animators refer to this as squash and stretch.
You just finished an animation in 3ds Max. How do you feel? That wasn't so hard,
now was it? Play the animation by clicking on the arrow button in the Animation
Playback controls. The ball should start in the upper-left and travel to the paddle,
squashing as it impacts the paddle and then rebounding to the lower-left of the
screen.
Character animation is more complicated than object animation. In the next sec-
tion you will learn many of the concepts of animating characters in 3ds Max.
Although character animation is complex, it is not difficult if you have a good ani-
mation tool, such as 3ds Max. Try the next example and follow it closely.
