MAXON Computer Cinema 4D Tutorials: Blending Motion in MOCCA

Tips & Techniques - MOCCA

MOCCA:
Blending Motion in MOCCA
Download:
Project Works with:
XL, Studio, MOCCA Requires:
Version 9.012

With version 2.0 of the MOCCA module, the motion blending has been vastly improved. This allows for seperate motions of a character, or any object for that matter, to be blended into one flowing motion!

Step 1: To begin this tutorial you will need to download the attached .zip file and open the MotionBlend_Start.c4d scene file. This scene file contains a rig with multiple motions.

Step 2: The first thing that you need to do is apply the motion blend sequence tracks for the character that will recieve the blended motion. Select the Character object in the Object Manager and use the Setup Motion Blend Tracks function (Plugins=>MOCCA=>Setup Motion Blend Tracks).

Open the Timeline window (Shift + F3) and three tracks will be created for the Character object. The sequences themselves need to be created for these tracks so hold the Ctrl key as you click and drag out a new seqence for each track. The sequences should somewhat similar to the image shown.

Step 3: With all three of the sequences selected, disable the Left Influence and Right Influence checkboxes in the Attributes Manager.

Step 4: Now select only the Motion A sequence. Make sure that the Motion Blend tab is selected in the Attributes Manager. From the Motions hierarchy drag and drop the Walking object into the Motion link field

Since the squence for this motion track was drawn out randomly, it does not match the length of the Walking motion. To easily adjust this click the Resize to Orig. Length button at the bottom of the Motion tab. This will automatically adjust the length of the sequence.

Select the sequence for the Motion B track and apply the Running object in the Motion link field. Also resize the length of the sequence to match the actual length of the motion.

Step 5: In the Timeline, the motions can now be moved in a non-linear fashion. Position the sequences as shown in the image.

Note: The Transition sequence is the actual sequence that controls the blending between the two motions. By selecting this sequence you can control how fast, or how slow, the motions will be blended.

Step 6: Play the animation. The character will blend back to meet up with the Running motion. To fix this, move the Time Slider to the center of the Transition sequence.

Select the Running object and move it down the Z-Axis until the Display Transitions match up. The character rig should update in real-time as you adjust the motions position!

Essentially this is how the motion blending works within version 2.0 of MOCCA. Part 2 of this tutorial will show you more of the options available for the motion sequences.