DanceForms Exercises are From: The Practical Guide (see the PDF)

Handout #04

Moving into Part B of the Practical Guide

Exercise 7 - Basic Terms

Learn to:
1 start a new figure
2 name the basic plans of motion and the basic movement directions

To add a dancer

• From the Figure menu
• choose "New Figure"
• choose any figure (in the examples they use Female Modern)
  

  Each dance figure has 54 moveable parts. You, of course, have more but you don't have to think about them.

Anatomical Position

Anatomical: This is normally the body face forward to you, feet slightly apart, palms of hands to open the front
DanceForms version: all the same except that the palms of the hands are facing the thighs (toward body)

Anatomical Planes of Motion

Sagittal (forward and backward) - flat from the side
Horizontal - flat from the top
Lateral - flat from the front

Terms:

1. Flexion (or forward flexion) - movement of whole arm or leg forward
2. Hyperextension (or backward flexion) - movement of whole arm or leg to the back
3. Extension - movement back to "neutral" (from forward or backward)
4. Rotation - movement around the long axis of and arm or leg
5. Lateral Rotation - rotating arm or leg outward
6. Medial Rotation - rotating arm or leg inward (to the body centerline)
7. Abduction - moving arm or leg outward (straight out, side move)
8. Adduction - moving arm or leg inward (straight) toward center of body
9. Circumduction - composite action (all of the above)
   

To view what each joint can do in terms of movement see Apendix A.
To view the range of motion load RangeOfMotions.lfa and click the play button.

From a Blank Slate

Start from Scratch:
  File Menu ->> New Animation
Get a new figure:
  Figure menu ->> New Human ->> Female Modern
  Make sure the Studio window is also open (Windows ->> Studio, if not)

Exercise 8 - Moving a Body Part

Learn to:
Move specific body parts
Bring up the body parts menu to select specific part
Which parts move other parts down the line

Open One File:
  Exercise8.lfa

Body Parts Menu

To select a specific part it is sometimes easier to use the body parts menu than it is to click on the correct body part

1. In the Studio window
2. Position the cursor somewhere near the body
3. Click and hold the mouse
4. (make sure to hold [wait]) for a second or so
5. The body parts menu will now pop up
6. You can make a selection from here

   Computer Trivia Note: the popup menu and all overlapping windows were made possible by Diana Merry in 1972/73 working for the famous Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) which is properly credited with inventing the entire windowing and electronic office environment. The particular piece of machine-language code which Merry invented is called BitBLT for the Xerox Alto computer and stands for "Bit Block Transfer". Diana Merry invented this for the Smalltalk-72 language. Until Merry's solution for transfering memory to display memory the electronic office was being bogged down with laborious memory copying operations.

Pelvis

1. Click on the title bar of the Studio window to activate it
2. To view from the front - press the "F" key on the keyboard.
3. Click on the Pelvis
4. Put the cursor near the top of the pelvis, hold down the mouse button, move the mouse to the left
5. To position the figure horizontally type "90" in the "Z" box on the lower left of the Studio window
6. To return to the start: pull down the Edit window and click on "Reset to Default Shape"

Arms and Legs

1. Arms move from the shoulders.
2. To move the whole arm click on the Upper Arm. The rest of the arm is carried along.
3. To move the whole lege click on the Upper Leg. The rest of the leg is carried along.
4. Notice all the other items in the Studio window which change (X, Y and Z boxes)
5. You can also move the arm by typing and angle into the X, Y or Z boxes
6. Return to the start: pull down the Edit window and click on "Reset to Default Shape"
7. Legs move from the hips
8. Forward and Backward
9. To view from the side - press the "R" key on the keyboard
10. Click on a thigh
11. Drag the limb forward
12. Note the other controls (X, Y, Z boxes and graphic controls.
13. Leg Rotation
14. Change the view to the front - press the "F" key on the keyboard
15. Click on a thigh (RUpperLeg)
16. Move it outward about 45 degrees
17. Get the same turnout on the other leg using the Mirror command
    1. Click on the other thigh (LUpperLeg)
    2. Press the Control-M key
18. Return to the start: pull down the Edit window and click on "Reset to Default Shape"

To Bend at the Knees click on the calf (LLowerLeg or RLowerLeg)

To Bend at the Elbows click on the forearm (LLowerArm or RLowerArm)

 

Foot

Flex the Foot

1. Get a side view (press the "R" key)
2. Select the left foot directly (click on it, or use the body parts menu)
3. Now click the "S" key to zoom in on the selected body part
4. Move the round slider in the "X" box window to flex the foot
5. To return the part to Neutral Hold the Alt key and press the "/" (forward slash) key Alt+/

 

Point the Foot

1. This is progressive and moves a set of parts, one after the other
2. Start with the foot (above) and decrease the "X" box value
3. Do the same with the arch
4. Then the toes
5. -
6. To make the other foot the same (the mirror command again)
7. Select the other foot from the body parts menu and...
8. Again get the body parts menu. Now select All Descendents command (near the top of the body parts menu)
9. As before, Hold Control and hit the "M" key. Control-M to give the opposite foot the same settings

 

Studio "Cheat Sheet" keyboard shortcuts

 

A key All of the model is scaled for size and moved to the center of the window
F key Front view
L key Left view - because this is from the right side I have to assume they mean audience left (??)
R key Right view - always shows left side so I assume (as above) they mean audience right (??)
T key Top View
M key Each hit on the "M" key moves the model upward in the window
Z key Scales the image up, leaving the floor line where it is in the frame.
X key Scales the image down, leaving the floor line where is is
S key with a selection 1 - Select a body part then ... 2 - Click the "S" key to zoom in to a particular part.
C or V key Tilts floor up or down C = up V = down
B or N key Rotates floor right or left, depending on key
> key Move image to right
< key Move image to left
		View Image as:
Y key or Control-5 View image as stick figure
U key or Control-6 View as bounding boxes
I key or Control-7 View as countours
O key or Control-8 View as outlines
P key or Control-9 View as surfaces

 

 

 

Key Shortcuts Please note: On Two-Button Mice, Shift Right Click = Middle Mouse Button	MB=Mouse Button	LMB=Left Mouse Button MMB=Middle Mouse Button RMB=Right Mouse Button
	Mac	Win
Selections
Select All figures in Stage, All joints in Fig. Ed	Cmnd A	Ctrl A
Select All Frames in Timeline	Cmnd [	Alt [
Fit selected joint to view (Figure Editor Only)	S	S
Fit entire stage to view (Stage Only)	D	D
Fit Figure to view	A	A
Navigation
Frames
Back Step	Left arrow (Also Cmnd-B)	Left arrow
Forward Step	Right arrow (Also Cmnd-F)	Right arrow
Return to first frame	Home	Home
Go to last frame	End	End
Open the Goto dialog box	Cmnd G	Ctrl G
Select Pasted Frames	Cmnd J	Ctrl J
Views
Display Front view	F (also Cmnd-1)	F (Also Ctrl-1)
Display Top view	T	T
Display Right view	R	R
Display Left view	L	L
Zoom in (fine-tuning)	Z	Z
Zoom out (fine-tuning)	X	X
Mouse Controls for View
Pan view	MB	LMB
Zoom view	Cmnd + MB	RMB
Rotate view	Option MB	MMB
Other View Nav keys
Tilt the foreground of the Stage down	V	V
Tilt the foreground of the Stage up	C	C
Rotate the stage to your right	B	B
Rotate the stage to your left	N	N
Pan up	M	M
Pan down	?	?
Pan to the Right	>	>
Pan to the Left	<	<
Windows
Open or make Figure Editor active	Cmnd E	Ctrl E
Open or make Stage window active	Cmnd L	Ctrl L
Open or make Timeline window active	Cmnd T	Ctrl T
Open or make Rendered window active	Cmnd R	Ctrl R
Open File Browser	Ctrl O	Ctrl F
Open or make Joint Material window active for Selected Joint	Option + Cmnd J
Open or make Panel window active	Option + Cmnd P
Display
Display or hide paths of Selected Figures	Cmnd K	Cmnd K
Toggle Always Display Path of All Figures	Option + Cmnd K
Display selected figures in Sticks Style	Cmnd 5	Ctrl 5
Display selected figures in Bounding Box S	Cmnd 6	Ctrl 6
Display selected figures in Contours	Cmnd 7	Ctrl 7
Display selected figures in Outline	Cmnd 8	Ctrl 8
Display selected figures in Surfaces	Cmnd 9	Ctrl 9
Operations
Stop Playback	ESC	ESC
Playback	Tilde	tilde
Copy	Cmnd C	Ctrl C
Paste	Cmnd V	Ctrl V
Paste Special	Option + Cmnd V
Insert Blank Frame	Space bar	Space bar
Import Figure	Cmnd I
Remove Selected Figure	Option + Cmnd F
Mirror selected joints	Cmnd M	Ctrl M
Undo	Cmnd Z	Ctrl Z
Playback selected figures	Cmnd Y	Ctrl Y
Playback in whole screen (toggle)	Cmnd U	Ctrl U
Print		Ctrl P
Open Walk Generator	Cmnd ]	Alt]
Keyframe all attributes in current keyframe	Cmnd ' (tilde key)	Alt ' (tilde key)
Reset to default shape	Cmnd /	Alt /
Revert	Cmnd -	Alt - (keypad)
Add to Palette	Cmnd =	Alt =
Mouse Controls for Rotating Joints
Rotate around X axis	Ctrl + MB	Ctrl + LMB
Rotate around Z axis	Ctrl + Option + MB	Ctrl + RMB
Rotate around Y axis	Ctrl + Cmnd + MB	Ctrl + MMB
Workspace management
Arrange windows	Cmnd D	Ctrl D
Hide All but Top window	Cmnd ;	Alt ;
Bring next animation's windows to front	Option + Tab	Ctrl + Q
Make next window active	Ctrl + Tab	Ctrl + Tab
Snap
Resnap	Shift + Cmnd + R	Alt + Shift + R
Snap Same as Previous	Shift + Cmnd + P	Alt + Shift + P
Position Same as Next	Shift + Cmnd + N	Alt + Shift + N
Snap	Shift + Cmnd + S	Alt + Shift + S
Auto Snap	Shift + Cmnd + A	Alt + Shift + A
Clear Snap	Shift + Cmnd + C	Alt + Shift + C
Snap Altitude	Shift + Cmnd + T	Alt + Shift + T
Snap Location	Shift + Cmnd + L	Alt + Shift + L
Keyframes Only	Shift + Cmnd + K	Alt + Shift + K
Adjust Following frames	Shift + Cmnd + F	Alt + Shift + F
Left Toe Tip	Ctrl + Cmnd + T	Ctrl + Shift + T
Right Toe Tip	Option + Cmnd + T	Ctrl + Alt + T
Left Toe	Ctrl + Cmnd + B	Ctrl + Shift + B
Right Toe	Option + Cmnd +B	Ctrl + Alt + B
Left Heel
Right Heel
Left Fingers	Ctrl + Cmnd +H	Ctrl + Shift + H
Right Fingers	Option + Cmnd + H	Ctrl + Alt + H
File
Open	Cmnd O	Ctrl O
Save	Cmnd S	Ctrl S
Save All	Option + Cmnd S
Close	Cmnd W	Ctrl W
Close All	Option + Cmnd W
New file	Cmnd N	Ctrl N
Export	Option + Cmnd E
Application
Exit	Cmnd Q	Alt F4