- 1). Open or import the file of the character you will animate in 3ds Max by clicking "File" and then "Open." For an amateur user, choose a character that is easy to animate like a ball with simple facial details. If your character requires complex movements, like in a man or animal, don't rush in perfecting the animation yet. Make simple movements first, which typically involve the entire body being moved or animated as one whole element. Take note that an animated project with a character like a person would require very detailed animation of the different parts of the body. For instance, on the face alone, you have to individually animate each eye, eyebrow, nose, lips, head and even the hair and earrings or other possible accessories. Each part of the face requires a different type of movement, which is quite challenging to do in terms of time, skill and effort in animation.
- 2). Wait until your character loads in your project. You will notice that your character appears within a three-dimensional plane. Using your mouse, drag your character on one edge of your 3D plane.
- 3). Click the "Rotate Arc" button. This allows you to instruct the program to generate the required movements you want to do with your character.
- 4). Click the "Auto Key" tool and wait until its icon appears red. This serves as your cue that you successfully selected the tool and you are ready to mark key frames, which are your starting and ending points for your character's first animated movement.
- 5). Click the "Time Slider," which serves as an animation scroll bar. This can point to any number representing the project's frame numbers. From "Frame 0," drag the "Time Slider" over to the right -- how far depends on which frame you want the animated movement to end. For instance, you can drag it to "Frame 30."
- 6). Click the "Rotate" tool, then select the value you want to use for the rotational movement. For instance, you can rotate your character by 180 degrees.
- 7). Move your character on another area of the plane. To show a significant change of position, drag your character to the opposite edge of the 3D plane. This should be the last stop of your character after the movement that will happen alongside the 180-degree rotation the character will do within the span of 30 frames.
- 8). Click the "Auto Key" tool again to instruct 3ds Max to finish the animation process for the particular set of actions you just made. This includes the traveling of the character from one edge of the plane to the other, and at the same time, rotating it by 180 degrees.
- 9). Drag the "Time Slider" back to "Frame 0," then click the "Play" button. Look at your "Preview Monitor" to see how your character moves according to your instructions.
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