upwards, leaves the cargo box in the new location, and rotates back to its original position.

Planning an animation for an IK system

Now that the mechanical arm and cargo box are fully set up for animation it's a simple matter to pose
the arm and set keyframes. Prior to setting any keyframes you should take a few moments to plan the
action for the scene.

Planning the action usually involves sketching a simple storyboard, and writing out a brief timeline for the
action for each component. In this lesson we've provided a simple version for you. The basic premise for the action is as follows:

 The cargo box is positioned directly in front of the mechanical arm.

 The mechanical arm extends, and positions the cargo magnet to be directly touching the top of
the cargo box.

 The mechanical arm extends upwards, lifting the cargo box, and rotates to the side.

 The mechanical arm lowers the box, placing it in a new position.




 The mechanical arm extends upwards, leaves the cargo box in the new location, and rotates back
to its original position.
The table below breaks down the action indicating what action occurs for each object at the specified
keyframes.

Frame                           Mechanical                                    Arm Cargo Box
1                               Collapsed position                                Initial position
30                             Vertically extended position                    Initial position
60                             Vertically lowered so that cargomagnet
                                 is positioned on top ofcargo box            Initial position

80                             Vertically lifted to extendedposition
                                 withcargo box                                     Cargo box lifted with mechanical arm
100                       SwivelBase rotated along with arm to side   Cargo box repositioned alongwith   mechanical arm
120                   Vertically lowered along with cargo box to second positionabove surface
                                                                                           Cargo box is lowered along with mechanical arm to second
position
140                       Vertically lifted to extende position                Second position
160                      SwivelBase rotated with arm to
                                                                                              original position
                                                                                               Second position
180                     Collapsed position                                             Second position

To pose the mechanical arm you select either the ArmControl or SwivelBase nodes and set a keyframe depending on which component you want to pose:
 ArmControl controls the movement of the mechanical arm.
 SwivelBase controls the rotation of the arm.
 CargoBox's position is based on the parent constraint weights.

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