I don't think there is a way to do exatly what you want in Max. Rig it and animate it. You maybe could have it as a second object and use a cloth or physics sim... but then you may as well animate it because it will take less time (since the physics in Max is a complete nightmare to work with it).
hey guys, still cracking on with animating. now im trying to work on hair i have a question. does anyone remember the pimpin thread for bobo's awsome little winged creature? just about everyone skinned him. then one guy, by the name of Podman, started to rig and animate it. using Maya (i believe) he managed to create a…
Do you mean secondary spring-like animation, where it just lags behind the head/body motion slightly? Many ways to do this, perhaps easiest is the Flex modifier, via vertex selection. There's also the Spring controller if you want affect the bones instead.
yeah thats basically right, but i would also like the option of adding some simple collision modifiers, so that it never clips through the body. im pretty new to animating, so the advanced physics stuff is kinda beyond me. but pointing in the right direction is enough
Just add Skin Wrap to the object. When it hits the object its linked to it just deforms around it. Not sure if the flex or spring would be effect by this but it is one way I know of.