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1160 Chapter 14: character studio
w ith the character studio Crowd system is an
assortment of beha viors that let you simulate a
range of crowd activ it ies.
Behaviors let you assign procedural ac t ivity ty pes
to delegates, which in turn affect objects linked
to delegates. You can associate any number of
behaviors w ith each crowd object (page 2–1187),
and then link delegates and teams of delegates to
each behavior. A specific behavior assigned to a
Crowd object belongs only to that crowd; it cannot
be assigned to any other crowds.
Following is a list of available behaviors:
• Avoid Behavior (page 2–1211)—Prevents
delegates from colliding with objects in the
scene, or with each other. Avoidance can use
any combination of turning, braking/stopping,
repelling, and vector field.
• Orientation Behavior (page 2–1214)—Applies
a fixed orientation or orientation range to
delegates, s o they face a specific direction
insteadoftowardthedestination. Youcan
specify orientation in absolute terms, or relative
tothedirectionthedelegatecurrentlyfaces.
• Path Follow Behavior (page 2–1216)—Restricts
motion to a spline or NURBS curve; options
include back-and-forth patrol-type movement.
• Repel Behavior (page 2–1218)—Forces
delega tes to move away from a target.
• Scripted Behavior (page 2–1220)—Uses
MAXScript to specify behavior.
• Seek Behavior (page 2–1220)—Moves delegates
toward a target or targets.
• Space Warp B ehavior (page 2–1221)—Uses
any dynamics-oriented space w arp to control
movement, including wind and gravity. Vector
Field, a crowd-specific space warp that lets
delegates avoid irregularly shaped objects while
following their contours, is included with
character studio.
• Speed Vary Behavior (page 2–1222)—Lets
delegates change speed for more realistic
movement.
• Surface Arrive B ehavior (page 2–1223)—Lets
delegates move toward and land on a surface,
w ith custom speed and acceleration parameters.
• Su rface Follow Behavio r (page
2–1226)—Delegates move along a surface,
which can be animated. Also, you can specify
whether the delegates are to move straight
ahead or skirt hi lls and depressions.
• Wall Repel Behavior (page 2–1227)—Uses a
grid to repel delegates; ideal for keeping objects
inside an enclosed, st raight-sided room.
• WallSeek Behavior (page 2–1229)—Uses a
grid to attract delegates. You can use this as a
doorway for crowd-controlled bipeds to walk
through.
• Wander Behavior (page 2–1231)—Induces a
realistic semi-random movement for characters
such as shoppers at a mall.
Tip: If you need custom behaviors, you can create
your own with scripting.
The first time you add a behavior to the scene, a
new rollout appears for the behavior below the
Setup rollout. This rollout lets you change settings
for the behav ior. Certain behaviors, such as Seek
and Avoid, let you specify "target" objects.
Tip: Behav iors are assigned generic names by
default.It’sagoodideatorenamethemwithmore
meaningful descriptors; for example, "Seek Ball"
or "Avoid Fire".
To display the rollout for a different behavior in
the scene, choose it from t he drop-down list in the
Behaviors group. To see the controls available in
the rollout for a behavior type, follow the link from
its entry in the above list.
In addition to the controls available in behavior
rollouts, you can use the Behavior Assignments