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Bill Culbertson has been selected to be a guest speaker at Autodesk University, 2025. His talk, Releasing the Power of the "CAT" in 3ds Max for Animating Video Game Character Loops, is adapted from his textbook, 3ds Max Basics for Modeling Video Game Assets, Volume 2.
The Character Animation Tool (CAT), built into Autodesk 3ds Max, is a versatile system for creating dynamic character animation loops designed for export into game engines like Unreal and Unity. With CAT, you can build custom rigs—including characters with multiple or non-standard limbs—without the hassle of manually placing footsteps. Using the intuitive CATMotion editor, you’ll learn how to quickly develop and tweak essential game animations like idle, walk, run, jump, and die. CAT also supports integration with custom motion data, making it ideal for both original content creation and iteration. Whether you're a game developer or an educator working with students, CAT empowers even beginners to produce polished, expressive animations full of personality and emotion. In this session, we’ll walk through the fundamentals—from rigging a mesh to exporting animation-ready FBX files—so you can confidently add CAT to your game asset pipeline.
The Character Animation Tool (CAT), built into Autodesk 3ds Max, is a versatile system for creating dynamic character animation loops designed for export into game engines like Unreal and Unity. With CAT, you can build custom rigs—including characters with multiple or non-standard limbs—without the hassle of manually placing footsteps. Using the intuitive CATMotion editor, you’ll learn how to quickly develop and tweak essential game animations like idle, walk, run, jump, and die. CAT also supports integration with custom motion data, making it ideal for both original content creation and iteration. Whether you're a game developer or an educator working with students, CAT empowers even beginners to produce polished, expressive animations full of personality and emotion. In this session, we’ll walk through the fundamentals—from rigging a mesh to exporting animation-ready FBX files—so you can confidently add CAT to your game asset pipeline.
