Footsteps are a central compositional tool in Biped. Footsteps are biped sub-objects, similar to gizmos in 3ds max. In view ports, footsteps look like the diagrams often used to explain ballroom dancing. Each footstep's position and orientation in the scene controls where the biped steps. While the placement of footsteps appears in view ports, the timing appears in Track View. There, each footstep appears as a block of time, with each block representing the time when the foot is planted in a footstep
In general, we compose a footstep pattern with these actions:
1. Select the biped and access the Motion panel.
2. Click Biped rollout > Footstep Mode.
3. In the Footstep Creation rollout, click Walk, Run or Jump to choose the gait (a method or pattern of moving on foot). The gait sets the initial timing for footsteps you create.
When we first create them, footsteps are inactive. They exist in the scene but don't yet control the biped's motion.
4. Create the footstep pattern in view ports. we can create footsteps in a few different ways, each available in the Footstep Creation rollout:
• Automatically create a number of footsteps with Create Multiple Footsteps, or
• Individually place each footstep with Create Footsteps (append) or Create Footsteps (at current frame). Use Auto Grid to create footsteps on a surface of a mesh.
5. Edit footstep placement by moving or rotating footstep icons in view ports. .
6. Activate the footsteps to create keys for the biped. The biped will now move through the footsteps using the placement and timing you set up.
7. Play the motion to test it out, looking only at the leg and foot motion and disregarding the upper body for now. If the footstep motion isn't right, deactivate the footsteps, make changes to footstep placement or timing, reactivate the footsteps and play it again. Do this until the foot and leg motions are correct.
When footsteps are activated, keys are created for each of the tracks of the figure: the head, spine, pelvis, arms, legs, and, if appropriate, tail and ponytails. These keys form an initial sketch of your animation. The default keys, when interpolated, form the basic, minimal motion required to animate the figure according to the footstep pattern. Most likely you will want to adjust or replace these keys.
