Hello everyone :]
I have a little question: l would like to know how to rig a character in 3ds max (bone, parent link, constraint position,constraint orientation, controller script, etc.) to make it “scalable” (I mean the possibility to select the character’s root and to use the scale function of max in order to adjust the rig to futur scene).
If somebody has a clue, I would be happy to hear it !! 
Thanks
Before we start, I would just like to impress upon anyone reading this that naming conventions is so important
in setting up a character. Every object should have a unique name. Not just the point helpers, bones etc. but
everything. Including materials, maps etc. Some of my students negelct this when they are starting to rig and
often have issues when importing multiple characters derived from one rig. NAME EVEYTHING! You will thank
yourself later.
ok, so there is a feature inside max that has been hidden from the main toolbar for the last few versions. The
toolset is called Character and can be added to the main toolbar by going to the Customize User Interface
options.
Within this set of tools is the ability to add ALL your character parts under one node. If you create a
character node, you have several functions that you can utilise to add control and effect of your rigged
character. You can save and load animation and even use the motion mixer to embelish any animation clips you
make.
I do not know why Autodesk has hidden it from users, but after playing around with it, I do have some tips for
using it though.
like negative scaled or mirrored bones.
Draw the bones, edit them, reset them. Carry on.
Be methodical about your set up and stay away from scaling in the rig. I know you want to scale, and this can
be done, but do not do it on any point helpers etc.
Once you have set up the rig, select ALL components, go to Character on the toolbar (see above) and use the
Create Character function in the Character drop down. You will see that there is an icon at the feet of your
character called Character001 or similar. Rename it to your naming convention. You can use this as a
placeholder to position your character and scale the character.
There is also the added feature of being able to save the character as a .chr file. This is basically a file
that has all the rig under a character node that you can merge into other files.
This is the workflow that I use.
Set up the character rig and controls. no mirroring or scaling of any object
Skin the character using skin, skin morph etc.
In Schematic view, select all components of the character.
Goto the main toolbar, select Character - Create Character to make the node.
Rename the node to fit the ccharacter. For Example Demon_Character.
Goto Character - Save Character to save the whole character as a .chr file.
Save the scene you are working in.
Open a new file or scene. Goto Character - Insert character to place the character in the scene. It will be
selected but cannot be posed untill you got Character - Unlock character. Once this is done, you can animate
the character and scale it via the character node icon. Only do your scaling on this object.
is visible in the window next to the Auto Key function. Change the key filters to suit the animation keyframes
that you want to create.
to create a keyframe on all control objects at the start and end frame of the clip, even if the animation of
some controls may not start or end at the frame range of the animation clip you are creating. I do this because
any clips I want to repeat (a walk cycle for example) have to have a keyframe to start the new clip from. It
saves any unwanted animation.
As an alternative workflow, if you are setting up a caharacter which needs to be replicated or used multiple
times in one scene, do this.
Create your mesh, lets call it Mesh for now. Unwrap it to provide a UV template.
Set up your rig with a generic naming convention. leftHip, leftKnee, leftAnkle, neckPointHelp etc.
Skin the character to the rig so that it moves properly. Use skin Morph if needed.
Save the file as something like Generic_MaleRig.max. This will be your base file that you will create
multiple characters from.
create the node.
Back in Scematic view, select all the components again, including the new character node.
Goto Tools - Rename objects and give a prefix to all the objects that is in line with the name of the
character. For example, after you have added the prefix, your objects could be named as follows:
Troll_LeftHip, Troll_LeftKnee, Troll_NeckPointHlp etc.
Troll_Rigged.chr. This will create a file which you can insert into other files.
right?), open the generic file, ignoring any save change request, so that you now have just the generic
file/rig in the scene. Repeat steps 5-9 giving a new prefix name.
If you do this, you will wnd up with as many similar characters generated from the original generic file. You
can insert them into a new scene without naming clashes. If you created a uv template, you can create
individual textures to make the characters individual.
The beauty of a workflow like this is that you can create animation clips under the banner of the character
node and reuse it on any character that was generated from the original file.
If you follow a setup regime on all your characters that has similar controls, you can swap animation between
all sorts of characters.
I hope this helps. Again, please be methodical in your approach.
After rereading your post I may have mis judged what you are after. Do you want to be able to scale certain parts of the rig after making it so that it fits other characters or just to scale the rig as a whole process?
The only fool-proof way I’ve ever found for building scalable rigs is to script the whole construction process and include an easily scalable intermediate stage (a bunch of marker dummies from which you can derive the bone pivots, for instance). So when you want to scale the whole rig you convert it back to marker dummies, scale it, then re-convert to a new rig. If you want it scalable when it’s already animated, then that’s harder.
Thanks for your answer, now the problem seems clearer !
@EMJAY1970 : I just want to scale all my Rig,not stick to another character :]