IK Chains

VIArts

I click G1's thigh, then his foot in the vviewport. I'm not getting IK Targets where they should be. Sometimes i get it for the foot, but not the thigh and sometimes i get both  foot and thigh, but can't get it on the other leg.

Dunno how thiis works, actually. Doi I have to apply them a certain way?

evilproducer

You mean Genesis 1?

I think the IK is already there. If you move the foot, the whole leg should move, correct?

If you select any bone on the figure, and then look at the Modifier tab, you should see the IK modifier, and depending on the bone, the IK Terminator modifier.

If you need a bigger handle to grab to manipulate a certain limb, or lock foot or hand onto something, stick in a Target Helper Object and position it so that it lines up with the desired bone, maybe the foot for example. Then go to the foot's modifier tab, and under the IK modifier select the target helper as the object to track. If you want to track the orientation, then you can enable that as well. Now, whenever you move the target helper, the foot and rest of the leg should move. Conversely, if you were to move the hip in any way, the foot will track the target helper and do its best to stay in one place within the limits of the joints. Note that if you move the rest of the rig ten feet away from the target helper, the foot that is tracking the target will still try and track it, but it won't be able to reach it.

The IK Chain tool is made more for Carrara made skeletons. The wireframe cubes at the end (or is it beginning since it's Inverse Kinematics?) serve essentially as target helper objects and provide an easy to grab manipulator. You don't actually need the IK chain tool, as you can set up the IK chains for your homemade skeleton when you set the constraints when using the Set IK and Constraints command under the Animation menu.

Here is an example of using a V4 with target helpers and IK tracking to make her ride a bike. The IK Chain is already built into the figure, I just gave the feet and hands something to track, by having them track target helpers parented to the pedals and handle bars. It does help to get the limbs in the general area you need them to be before enabling tracking, because even with constraints, sometimes the initial attempt to reach what is being tracked doesn't look natural. In the case of the bike rider, I lifted one foot up making sure that the leg was bent correctly. When the IK tracking was enabled, the foot snapped into place and since the initial joint bends were close to what I wanted, when the foot (and leg) snapped into place, I could enable the spin modifiers on the sprocket and pedals and the leg followed correctly.

3DAGE

HI LOH :)

As Mr Evil points out,. IK is aready built into the figures sold here,.

However,. in the case of Genesis, the bones and IK are set up differently from previous figures,. so,. in Carrara,. if you move genesis's foot,. the other leg can also move in the opposite direction,. which isn't right.

To fix that,. select each Thigh and go to modifiers and add an "IK Terminator",... Do the same for the arms, by selecting each shoulder and adding an IK terminator.

That will allow you to pose and move the figure normally.

Also,. Faba has a kit on shareCG,. which are modifiers and constraints, you can drag from the browser and drop onto genesis to set up the IK terminators.

edited for spelling

VIArts

Oh, that explains it. Doh!

I'm trying to make myself a walk ctycle or so. I think I need to use the graph editor thingy. IU never messed with it, but I've seen it used in video tuts (which are hard to follow because I'm deaf). Could someone explain this as well?

evilproducer

3DAGE said:

HI LOH :)

As Mr Evil points out,. IK is aready built into the figures seold here,.

However,. in the case of Genesis, the bones and IK are set up differently from previous figures,. so,. in Carrara,. if you move genesis's foot,. the other leg can also move in the opposite direction,. which isn;t right.

To fix that,. select each Thigh and go to modifiers and add an "IK Terminator",... Do th same for the arms, by selecting each shouldber and adding an IK terminator.

That allow you to pose and move the figure normally.

Also,. Faba has a kit on shareCG,. which is modifiers you can drag from the browser and drop onto genesis to set up the IK terminators.

 

Thanks for that information Andy. I didn't know that. I was able to work with Genesis briefly, but didn't really do any animations with it.

3DAGE

HI :)

To make a walk cycle,.you should be able to do that by creating keyframes,. as you pose the figure at different points in the timeline,.

or,. Use the Puppeteer grid to "record" the different Key poses (as pose dots),. then apply those to the figure,. wherever i need them in the timeline.

There shouldn't be a need to use the Graph editor at this point,. it's mainly for fine adjustments and Global adjustments , (adjusting a selection of keyframes at the same time)

for example : adjusting the foot rotation or position for a selection of keyframes.

You can also click and drag out a selection area, around keyframes,. and then push/pull that rectangular selection area to Scale, squash or Stretch the selected keys.

It's a really powerful editor,. but you should be able to create a walk cycle without it.

 

 

3DAGE

Hi Kevin :)

I'ts because of the Hip / Pelvis in genesis,. rather than just a Hip in Generation 4 figures.

it makes it a pain to manually animate in Carrara, without adding the IK terminators.

so, i've not done much animation with Genesis either,. and it's actualy easier to use poser or DS to apply V4 animations to Genesis figures.

EG: The Belly dancer clips in another thread, all use Genesis 2 base female,. but the animations were built for V4