Digital Art Zone

i’ve got a character, and i want them to move slightly on the spot while their feet stay in place

pretty simple, eh?

i know how IK works. i know how to do it in DS (just add pins to each foot and move the hip left and right over time). i know how to do it in Carrara using manually added Target Helper Objects (although that’s a pain, because there doesn’t seem any way to add them to a precise point in a scene, i.e. where the foot object actually is)

BUT, i’m sure there must be a better way. the manual indicates that you can use the Create IK Chain to automatically generate helper objects, but i’m darned if i can get that function to work

any assistance much appreciated

I think what you want to do is to move the target helper to the location of the foot bone, no?

To do that, you select the foot bone, shift select the target, then select Edit/Align from the menu, and click on all three axes. It should then move the helper to the precise location of the bone rotation point.

By the way, once you have done that Align move, you need to select that target helper as the goal for the foot IK. Then the foot should stay in place, as long as you have a linear tweener between frames, of course.

HI hieronymous

If you use the “File / Import” option, to load in a figure such as V4 / M4 etc.. then you’ll see an options panel where you can choose to create IK helpers. (See pic 1)

If you choose that option, you’ll need to select the Bones, and enable the IK Modifier (see pic 2)

As an IK helper is a multi-purpose object, and can be used as a Camera target, Light target , IK helper, or in several other ways within Carrara, ( much like a “Null” object in DS) then there isn’t an Automatic method to add IK targets to the scene, and send them to the body part you’re thinking of,. 

They need to be positioned manually, depending on the purpose your using them for.

You don’t need to position IK targets “precisely”, as the selected Bone will “snap to” that IK target once you’ve added and enabled the IK modifier.

Once you add a target helper object, it can be scaled, coloured, and positioned, then duplicated, and renamed.
 
Hope it helps

Oh, I just re-read your post, and it seems you also want to automatically create targets. You can, though it’s a pain, by importing the cr2 object and selecting to create IK targets. But IMO, it’s a lot quicker to just select Insert Target Helper from the dropdown. You’re probably going to have to modify the ones you get automatically, plus add more anyway.

thanks for the feedback guys, lots of good stuff there

don’t think i’d have ever come up with any of that just from reading the manual, but with the two sets of suggestions i should be able to kick on from there now

thanks again for the replies