General Category > Ongoing Anim8or Development
IK tool
daniel99:
johnar: I totally agree. I've been thinking a lot about that. But it seems sometimes would be very helpful to have the locked feet follow the body (example: jumping), but also other times would be essential to have the feet stay in place... I don't really know which would be better...
Steve:
johnar: I agree. What I want is both locked effectors that won't move no matter what, and "goal" effectors like it works now. There are a lot of other options that might be useful, or might just make the interface too complicated: locking an individual axis, locking rotation, limiting movement in a direction (i.e. don't let the effector go below Y=0 (the ground) but let it move higher.) But this is all for sometime later.
#098-092 - End effectors don't show after adding a Figure to a Scene. -- Thanks for the bug report.
johnar:
steve
you're welcome
--- Quote ---locked effectors that won't move no matter what, and "goal" effectors like it works now.
--- End quote ---
Perfect. The 'sometime later' things sound awesome also, but "locking the effectors, along with the goal effectors we have now", will make the IK system 'a proper runner'.
daniel99
--- Quote ---sometimes would be very helpful to have the locked feet follow the body (example: jumping)
--- End quote ---
The way i see it, when you lock the foot/feet to the ground, i'm imagining that will set some kind of 'locked key' (?) So on the last frame before the feet leave the ground, locked effectors will be locked, and on the next frame, double click the effector and 'unlock it', so it can move from it's previously 'locked' position. ie: Leave the ground. (or where-ever it was locked too.)
On another IK related subject, i've been moving between IK and FK 'a lot', (in the same animation), and haven't had a problem for 99% of the time. Haven't had a reproduce-able freeze yet. Am keeping alert for it tho, in mind of having something 'reportable' if i can reproduce it.
EDIT: Started anim8or after last post and was reminded, there is a glitch which i've found, but its in FK mode, when swapping between the two, (IK/FK), and is trackball related.
I'll get back later when i can give more precise info. If its a trackball issue, and not related to IK, i'll post it in the trackball thread.
Cheers
daniel99:
johnar I agree :D About the crashing/freezing. Fortunately, I haven't had a freeze since Steve fixed it, a couple of builds ago, I believe. It happened kinda often when dealing with IK. I'm glad this didn't happen for a while, but i I'll have some more problems with that, I'll let you know/screen rec.
johnar:
Hi steve, and An8 users
Got a bit carried away with this post, but will take a gamble and post it.
I'm trying to work out the easiest, most fluent method(s) for character aniamation using the tools available in Anim8or.
IK and a few other upgrades have thrown some brilliant options into the mix.
It seems a commonly accepted point,(?), that when animating with IK, the joints in the IK chain may need to be 'tweaked' using the FK system.
Ok, so that's fine. Therefore, a fluent method of character animation would require being easilly able to flick back and forth between IK and FK.
Fastest way, of course, is shortcut keys.
Cool. So, we can jump back and forth quickly and easily, thats half the problem solved. (from a users point of view anyway).
The next part of keeping fluidity in the animation process would be to be able to continue animating as quickly as possible once you have changed into either IK or FK
As it is now, going from FK to IK is fast and straight forward. Click into IK, the effectors are showing, the green key is on, and you can continue animating 'step unbroken'.
IK and away.
From IK to FK is not so 'clean'.
If an IK chain is selected when you change to FK, the trackballs of all relevant bones, (selected), are showing. In reality, trying to use the trackball when its overlapped with other trackballs, is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
I also notice the z axis often wont rotate all the way to its limit. (?) (using trackball)
The trackballs are a superb addition, but, imho, there are times when you just can't beat the LMB, MMB, RMB on the bone itself, for moving that bone exactly how you want it.
(some situations the trackball is better, some situations not)
Progress in finding 'the easiest and most fluent method(s)' for animating in Anim8or has just recently taken a huge step, with the introduction of IK, and the key and shortcut keys available.
I'm a fan of double keying for complete stillness. Its quicker than needing to set a step key at the beginning of a movement, and brings movement to a complete stop when required.
ie: an IK limb is selected by clicking on the effector. The bones are selected. Press 'k', and they're keyed. Press 'Ctrl-C' copies the keys. Arrow moves 1 frame fwd. Press 'Ctrl-V' keys are pasted. (just made a double key) Move fwd a few frames, rotate selected IK Chain etc ...
At some point along the timetrack, it can become difficult keeping up with the keys on multiple limbs. 'Key all bones' is a good fix for that. And double keying all bones is a fresh clean ''re-starting' point.
So, i guess what this post is getting at, in my quest for a fluid method of animating, is actually a re-quest:
Quick key(s) for jumping between IK-FK-IK-etc.
Quick key(s) for turning trackballs on and off
and a Quick key for key all bones. You could just select the entire figure and press k, but that would also key morphs, which wouldn't always be what you want to do. So a seperate quick key for key all bones would be a usefull/(crucial) option.
??
Thanks for reading.
EDIT: Have posted an possible alternative to 'Quick key(s) for turning trackballs on and off'
(In trackball thread)
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