Glossary

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The most basic 3D unit used in Anim8or. As building blocks for Figures, objects can be manipulated in shape and size, color and texture. Objects can be added to a figure.

Object -

Figure -

A combination of one or more objects added to a skeleton or frame. A figure can be animated through the use of, and added to, a sequence.

Sequence -

A series of frames created to animate a figure. In each frame, objects in the figure can be manipulated and moved. This series of slight changes in consecutive frames creates movement. A sequence can be added to a scene.

Scene -

A scene is composed of one or more objects that usually have at least one sequence assigned to them, although some objects may not move and do not need a sequence. Cameras, lighting, and paths of movement may be added and adjusted in a scene.

Root Bone-

The primary bone from which all other bones in a skeleton, referred to as child bones, extend. Objects cannot be added to the root bone.

Child Bone-

Any bone that extends from the root bone. Objects may be added to these bones.

Bone-

A bone is a section of a skeleton that can have an object added to it, thus making the object behave and move as the bone does. There are two typed of bones, root bones and child bones.

Skeleton-

A skeleton is a collection of bones used to make a figure move.

Material-

A material refers to the surface of an object. An object's surface properties, such as ambience, roughness, color, texture, etc. can all be adjusted to create a new material.

Modifier-

A modifier is a tool used to alter an object. Objects can be twisted, skewed, tapered, curved, or bent using a modifier.

Parametric Components-

Parametric components are defined by a small set of numeric values used to build a viewable mesh whenever they are displayed. These values may be edited but the mesh may not be changed directly.

Mesh-

Parametric Components can be converted into Meshes by using the Build->Convert_to_Mesh menu item. Once converted, however, a mesh cannot be converted back to a Parametric Component. Meshes can be fully edited and smoothed by adjusting the faces of the surface, which can be subdivided into smaller faces.