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| Q: What versions of 3ds Max does ACT 1.6 Pro support? |
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| A: ACT 1.6 Pro will work with 3ds Max 4.2x, 3ds Max 5.x, 3ds Max 6.x and 3ds Max 7.x. It will not function on any earlier versions. |
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| Q: What kind of training comes with ACT 1.6 Pro? |
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| A: ACT 1.6 Pro comes with 8 written tutorials to give you a solid foundation of how the plug-in works. In addition, it contains almost an hour of video training tutorials to show you some of the techniques that you can use with ACT to get the most out of this tool. |
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| Q: Is there a limit to how many muscles my characters can have? |
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| A: No. And as the cgMuscles and cgTubes are highly optimized base class objects, you can add as many as you like without bogging your system’s performance down. |
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| Q: Who are cgAdam and cgEve? |
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| A: cgAdam and cgEve are completely rigged model sets that come with ACT 1.6 Pro. They are simply .MAX files that include a complete skeleton, a full compliment of cgMuscles for all major muscle groups, a rigged sub-skin and skin surface as well. They can be used for quick animation, or can be dissected for informational purposes to see the various ways that the cgMuscles can be rigged. |
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| Q: How much control do I have over the way the skin is deformed by the cgMuscles? |
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| A: The control modifier for the skin and cgMuscles interaction is called the cgMeshDeformer, and it provides you with 6 different engines (called Stages) that you can use to define the way the skin surface behaves. In fact, the cgMeshDeformer pipeline is plug-in based, so that new stages can be added as they become available. |
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| Q: Does ACT 1.6 Pro provide skin deformation? |
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| A: Not yet. You still need to use another skinning system such as the built-in Skin modifier or character studio’s Physique, but ACT does come with a modifier you use in concert with your chosen skin system called the cgMeshDeformer. This modifier pushes the skin around to accommodate the muscles that lie underneath the surface. In a planned future version of ACT, there will be an all new skin system called cgSkin. Stay tuned… |
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| Q: I'm trying to use MAXScript to script several calls within the system, but I am having difficulty getting the actGetMuscleCrossSectionCenter () call to return anything. What am I missing? |
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| A: Actually nothing. There was a typo in the MAXScript access that is causing the problems. Instead of using the call as printed, using actGetMuscleCrossSectionCentre (notice the last two letters are inverted), you will get the correct output from the system. |
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| Q: I can create ACT muscles in the 3ds Max viewports, but when I attach them to other objects, they don't want to move or deform. What am I doing wrong? |
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| A: This is a common problem for users running 3ds Max in Direct3D mode. Fortunately, there is a simple solution. Do the following:
1. Within 3ds Max, select Customize -> Preferences.
2. Within the pop-up dialog, choose the Viewports tab.
3. Click Configure Driver.
4. Within the Configure Direct3D dialog, make sure that the Use Cached D3DXMeshes checkbox is OFF.
5. Save your settings.
At this point, the ACT muscles should deform correctly within the 3ds Max UI. |
