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In my animation my character pulls out a sword. I am using the translate to, and orient like, constraints to keep the hand on the sword. However, only the hand follows the sword. The forearm and the bicept don't move with it. Is there a particular constraint i should use to keep the arm facing the hand? Also, is there a limit to how many constraints one can have in a choreography?

 

Thanks,

MasterFunk

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In my animation my character pulls out a sword. I am using the translate to, and orient like, constraints to keep the hand on the sword. However, only the hand follows the sword. The forearm and the bicept don't move with it. Is there a particular constraint i should use to keep the arm facing the hand? Also, is there a limit to how many constraints one can have in a choreography?

 

Thanks,

MasterFunk

 

Dear MasterFunk,

 

It sounds like you wish to move the sword and have the hand as well as the shoulder and upper/lower arm move following the sword motion using IK. Well first this isn't how its normally done (at least for myself). Secondly, I guarantee you the upper/lower arm movement will look terrible. Normally you constrain 'the sword on the hand' (not the hand on the sword) and you use FK to manually move and key frame the shoulder/upper/lower arm and hand correctly using layering (the shoulder moves first then upper arm and so on), anticipation, arcs, follow through, secondary action, proper lines of action, balance and etc. to swing or jab el sword. If you move the sword and have the arm/hand follow it, the computer will not know how to add anticipation, secondary actions, arcs... and so on and it will look very bad. Comprenda?

 

Hope that helps you out,

Rusty

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If you use IK, constrain the IK hand target null to the sword, not the hand. Then have the hand orient like the sword.

 

Position the hand on the sword, then use compensate mode to constraint the hand target (translate to) and hand (orient like) to the sword.

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that was me! i have to say that i´ve never animated a fight-scene with a sword... but i´ve read that you should constrain the hand to a long thing like a sword in an e-book by sean kelley, the guy who animated yodas fight-scenes in star wars... i think he should know...!? it made sense to me as he wrote it would be very difficult to animate such a long thing like a sword in nice arcs if it´s controlled by a little thing like a hand since every degree you´ll rotate the wrist means a big movement of the tip of the sword... sounds reasonable to me... but rustys explanation makes sense too i have to admit... maybe just try what works better for you...

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  • Hash Fellow

Good looking character. I don't think you said you wanted both hands to hold the sword. To do that you need to set the arms to IK and constrain both hands to the sword. Then animate just the sword. That would greatly simplify your work.

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