(This is a repost from the Max forum, and I felt it might be more suited here)Once again, MAX confuses me(but what else is new)...I think I'm understanding keyframing wrong.Ok, I'm creating an animation.Now, as I'm doing it, I create the keyframes at certain frames(moving different parts of my human mesh at different keys).Ok, this is probably hard to understand, but I want each keyframe to key the position for all bodyparts, even if I don't move them all.Maybe an example would help.Ok, In my first keyframe, I set the chest the way I want it.In the next keyframe, I don't mess with the chest, I bend an arm.In the third keyframe, I bend the chest over.Now, if I play the animation, the chest bends all the way from keyframe one, to keyframe three, because those are the only two keys for the stomach.I want it to only bend from the second keyframe, to the third, as that's the only place I want the bending of the chest.How would I do this, or is it even possible? Thanks again

The simplest solution to figure out would be this: go back to the second keyframe, where you set the bend for the chest. Bend the stomach back into the starting position. that'd do it. With a little forethought, you can place "null" keyframes beforehand, by twisting the body part a little, then twisting it back. This way, it really hasn't moved for the frame, but a keyframe has been placed. That's really all I can tell you. I'm not familiar with max's animation tools.

Well, that's not the most ideal solution, but it most certainly is a solution, and one I will most definitely use(I'm animation starved)I really appreciate it.Thanks a lot

Hi I don't have max, Poser and any app used for animation use some type of interpolation between key frames. Unless you are using constant interpolation, Poser (the default is spline interpolation) will interpolate from keyframe to keyframe ...I'll almost bet max works this way also. So if you don't want the part to move you will have to set a key frame for that part. It sounds like a pain, but it will save you alot of headaches in the long run. Ed

A good way to understand keyframing in Max is to begin animating a simple scene. If you've got your character boned, IK set up and are using mesh deformation, well, you've come a long way, if not... Let me try to illustrate this for you... Create three spheres in the top viewport and place them side by side. Turn on your animate button. Move your time silder forward to frame 30. Now select the sphere on the left (in the top viewport) and move it on the y axis to the top of the viewport. Now move the time slider to 40, select the next speher and move it to the top of the viewport, now move the slider to 50, select the last sphere and move IT to the top of the viewport. Playing this animation will show the three spehers moving to the top of the viewport, but at different speeds. This is because. When you animate ANYTHING in MAX, a keyframe is generated automatically and placed at the zero frame value of the animation. Click now on the last speher you animated. You'll notice the keyframes for this object are visible below the time slider. Click on the last keyframe for that sphere. It should be located at 50 and drag it out to 100. Play the animation and you'll see that it takes from frame 0 to frame 100 for it to reach the top of the viewport. Now, drag the first keyframe, located at fram 0 and drag IT to frame 50. You'll notice now, when playing the animation, that there is no transform value for the last sphere between frame 0 and 50, therefore it sits in one spot. Now move your slider to 75 and drag the last speher down to the bottom of the top viewport. Play the naimation and you'll notice the change in movement. You might also notice the sphere seems to slow down before it changes direction and moves to the top. This is the keyframe interpolation. MAX, by default sets Bezier keyframing. This gives movements more realistic "natural" movements. This, however isn't always warranted and can be easily changed. (more complex animations demand linear interpolation and or ease ins and outs). We'll change the interpolation of the sphere so you can see the difference. Right click on the first keyframe and that keyframe's information window will pop up. Move up to the top where you'll see the Position transform and click. You'll see two boxes denoting Bezier interpolation under in and out. Click on the in box and drag the cursor down to the next value. That is the linear value. Clicking the right arrow under the in, will pass that value to the out. Do so. Clicking the right arrow under the out will pass that value on to the NEXT keyframe's IN box. Now right click on the SECOND keyframe and repeat the steps, you'll already have linear interpolation for the IN, just click the arrow to pass it on to the out and then pass it from the out to the last keyframe. Playing the animation now will show that the sphere has taken a much more deliberate motion, there's no more slowing down before changing directions. Now, taking your problem into consideration. Remeber, when you animate, all objects begin at frame 0 respectively. When you want the chest to bend from frame ten to frame 20, you need to ensure that the FIRST keyframe for the chest is located at frame 10. Also... at any time, you can select the entire mesh, right click on the time slider, and create a keyframe for EVERY object in your scene for rotation, scale and position. Be careful though because generating uneeded keyframes is a good way to get "lost" within your animation. Hey, drop me a line if I can help out anymore. Hope this was helpful for you. Good luck.