The following is an excerpt from the HyperMatter user manual produced for 2ndNature Industries by Forcade Associates. This project consisted of working closely with the development team to create the manual's tutorials and illustrations as well as the program lexicon and features. The 245 page two color manual was written, designed, and illustrated by Forcade Associates. This excerpt covers a portion of one of several tutorials created for this character animation plug-in for 3D Studio MAX.

TUTORIAL 2 - Daredevil Mouse
As you might imagine, HyperMatter is capable of accomplishing considerably more sophisticated animation than the previous simple example. In fact, HyperMatter’s comprehensive toolset makes creating impossible effects and animation not only possible, but practical even when faced with demanding scripts and tight production deadlines. The following tutorial is designed to give you a taste of what you can accomplish using just a few of HyperMatter’s advanced capabilities.

Although the following scene file contains a somewhat complex HyperMatter animation, the tutorial has been streamlined to take you quickly through the process used to create character animation with HyperMatter. You will see how HyperMatter Solids can be applied to an entire character or just to selected parts of a character. You will also see how HyperMatter Constraints can be used to control both object motion and shape. In this tutorial you will:

• Examine an advanced HyperMatter character animation

• Compare the differences between Object and Sub-Object Solids

• See how Constraints affect Object motion and deformation

• Enable and Disable selected HyperMatter Solids to enhance performance.

View the Animation
You will begin by opening CH2_dd01.max, a 3DS MAX scene depicting a mouse which is fired from a cannon and crashes into a platform as another mouse recoils from the impact. The collision uses a hidden HyperMatter Walls Object with the floor aligned to the CrashPlatform. The animation opens as SaluteMouse salutes the camera and slowly disappears into the cannon. Because SaluteMouse is not required to deform or react, a keyframed MAX mesh was used. At frame 50 SaluteMouse stops and H_CannonMouse begins its ascent from the cannon and flies wobbling, through the air.

H_CannonMouse is a Object Level Solid which contains all of the character’s geometry and thus is entirely under HyperMatter control. As you will see, the character’s trajectory, as well as its deformation is guided by a combination of HyperMatter substance properties along with several Constraints. In the following steps you will load the scene and an AVI file of the animation.

1. Start 3DStudio MAX and open CH2_dd01.max.
A scene is loaded consisting of three mouse characters, a cannon, and two round platforms.

2. Choose File/View File, and select Daredevl.avi from the browser. The animation opens with a mouse character facing the camera and saluting from inside the cannon.

3. Play the preview. The SaluteMouse descends into the cannon as the camera orbits and dollies back. The cannon then fires and recoils as H_CannonMouse exits the cannon and flies through the air toward the CrashPlatform. On impact H_CannonMouse collapses like an accordion and rolls about from inertia.

4. Select Scale/Frames from the Media Player Menu Bar and click drag along the Media Player timeline to closely examine the animation. As H_CannonMouse flies through the air, H_SpectatorMouse follows its motion path finally reacting to the impact at frame 216. H_SpectatorMouse is jolted from the impact of H_CannonMouse, and as its head rotates toward camera its ears , snout, and left hand react to the changes in its head and body positions.

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