Riskmandel Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 what exactly are nulls and how are they used? I can't seem to figure out when, where, why and how I would go about using them for, say, constraining a bone movement... Any help would be much appreciated. risk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentothemax Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Nulls are pretty much just things to be used as targets for constraints. For instance, if you have an Anti Aircraft gun, you would have the turret aim at a null constrained to the plane it was shooting at. Another example is eyes, you could aim the eyes of a character at a null. There really just things to constrain to, without actually having to put another model or bone in there. (I think if anyone knows any other uses, please tell!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted May 18, 2005 Admin Share Posted May 18, 2005 What Ben said! You may also want to check out Seven's tutorial on the subject of Nulls. Null Steam Engine Tutorial ...and here are the basics of Nulls from the Tech Ref: Null Object Information Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riskmandel Posted May 18, 2005 Author Share Posted May 18, 2005 Thanks so much! just to make sure I'm understanding this---so nulls are really like invisible reference points to create a relationship to other actions...like the movement of eyes or the gun turret...?... How would I use a null to constrain the movement of say, knees or a wrist or elbow? Are nulls the best/easiest way to do this? Should I be using a different kind of constraint to keep elbow, etc., from bending in un-natural positions? risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishman Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 Go to this page and download Jeff Lew's two free models for A:M. They both have a great set of constraints that show an excellent use of nulls as trargets for controlling IK legs as well as constraining knees so they bend properly. You'll learn a boat load. I love this rig. http://www.jefflew.com/DVD_support.html Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentothemax Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 For an elbow . . . smartskin or an extra bone. I like the method of adding an extra bone that controls the elbow cps, then just set that to orient like the forearm 50%. Usually looks great and is easy, after you make that action, make it an on/off pose and hide the bone that controls the elbow cps, so you dont accidentally mess up the rigging in the chor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seven Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 I have done a tutorial using nulls for a steamengine. I hope someone will do a tutorial on rigging using some bones and some nulls. Perhaps Rodney can do it? A short one... Just an arm? Or Fisherman? He helped me with rigging a coffee cup... 3DArtz is also a nice guy - but you have to talk to him very neat - so he do not get upset... but he is clever - so perhaps just an arm! And there are several ways to do that arm rigging... sonofpat is a clever guy too I believe - itsjustme - a clever guy --- someday they can do a little tutorial - WINKing a bit - who knows... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amarillospider Posted May 18, 2005 Share Posted May 18, 2005 For controls where I'm going to be translating as well as rotating (like IK targets) I find Nulls much easier to grab and move than regular bones, and I don't confuse which ones I can translate with the ones I can't (which I do if everything is bones only) -Alonso Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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