Foundation
The fundamentals, worked through on screen: bouncing balls, pendulums, weight and the walk cycle.
Nine videos, in order, taking someone from opening 3ds Max for the first time to a finished walk cycle. Each one introduces a single new idea and keeps everything before it in play, so the sequence matters more than any individual video in it.
They pair with the foundational rigs. Download the rig, then follow along. Each video has its own page below with what it covers and what to watch for.
Bouncing Ball (2D)
The first exercise. A shape, a timeline, and the smallest possible introduction to keys, timing, and squash and stretch.
Bouncing Ball (3D)
The same bounce, rebuilt in 3ds Max. Navigation, creating objects, and getting the timeline to behave in three dimensions.
Pendulum
A platform with a rope hanging from it. The first exercise where one part of an object has to answer to another.
Hammer Strike
A weighted swing, and the first exercise built around in-betweens: what happens between the poses, and how easing decides it.
Legs Jump
The introduction to body mechanics. Foot contact, centre of gravity, anticipation, and everything that follows from a body leaving the ground.
Heavy Lift
Picking something up and carrying its weight. Constraints, secondary action, and making an object look like it has mass.
Walk Cycle (Part 1)
The lower half. Leg positions, the key poses of a walk, and the pelvis carrying the weight through the cycle.
Walk Cycle (Part 2)
The upper body. Counter rotation through the chest, the arms and clavicles, the wrists, and what the head is doing.
Walk Cycle (Part 3)
The polish pass. Refining the feet and the poses, then cleaning the animation up properly in the Curve Editor.