I have to use 3dsmax. Does Epic recommend using BIPED or CAT? Epic, if you had to choose, which would you rather use? Biped or Cat rigs?
I can’t speak for Epic, but as a long time max animator if you don’t have the luxury to build your own rigs, then my personal recommendation would be to use Biped over Cat for Bipedal characters mostly, quadrupeds perhaps Cat may be more interesting:
Pros:
1 - Stability over Cat. Much more stable and almost bug free.
2 - More control over the rig in some areas.
3 - Flexibility for save and load files and mocap use.
4 - Hand/feet/finger pivots.
5 - Versatile in transferring motion in case need be regardless of skeletal shape and size.
6 - Can add additional Biped bones and also save those animations in a clean way.
7 - Seamless and auto IK/FK switch.
Things to watch out for:
1 - Animating with it needs a slight getting used to if you are new to it.
2 - With Unreal. Personally I never export Biped as is to Unreal, it is always made to “drive” a clean underlying skeleton, its more setup time but it’s worth it to keep a clean workflow especially to have Root bone setup which is a must for Capsule and root animations:
Have a look at this and study it:
Hope that helps.