Align Actor Motion

As you are combining motions for the actor, you may find it hard to locate the actor to start a motion at the same location as the one at the end of the previous motion. iClone provides a feature, Align Actor Motion to auto align the actor pivot, and let the next motion start from the ending location of the previous motion.

Actor Root? Motion Root?

Before we start to describe the Align Actor Motion feature, we need to understand what Actor Root and Motion Root are.

	The Actor Root (BoneRoot, Pivot)		The Motion Root (LowerTorso)
Actor Root: It is also known as the BoneRoot or the Pivot of the character, which determines the actor's actual location, i.e., the value of the transformation data (Move, Rotate). Actor Root changes only when transformation is being applied in the Editor Mode, WASD or right-click menu/Move command is used in the Director Mode. The data is kept on the Transform track.		Motion Root: It is also known as the LowerTorso node in the actor's bone hierarchy. All applied motion clips affect the transformation change of this node, thus you might see kick or dance motion. However the Actor Root remains in the original position. All applied motion clips, either from the Editor Mode or from the perform command in the Director Mode, are kept on the Perform track.

Problem: When you apply motions to an actor the Motion Root will sometimes be moved away from the Actor Root. Each time a motion finishes, the Motion Root aligns back where the Actor Root in order to blend with the Idle Motion. (The Idle Motion is designed to have the two roots aligned) Therefore, a motion composed of several motion clips will always have annoying back-to-the origin situation at the interval among clips.

A "Run" motion is applied to the Motion Root.	The motion clip brings the Motion Root away from the Actor Root.	If the Auto Add Idle Motion is on, you might find the motion being dragged back to the Actor Root, because the Actor Root is still there, and the idle motion always aligns with the Actor Root.

Purposes of Align Actor Motion

There are two purposes for the Align Actor Motion:

• To always have the Actor Root align with the Motion Root to ensure the connectivity between motions.
  Please refer to the Connective Motions without Back to Origin section for more information.

• To have the perform motion act along the terrain.
  Please refer to the Motion along the Terrain section for more information.