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.
p218
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.
p218
