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Option to convert IK animation to FK when deleting connector

TheBeardyMan

At present, when a connector is deleted, any IK animation on the child object is also deleted. This limits the usefulness of connectors as temporary constraints.

For example, suppose that I want an object's animation to rotate it about the scene's z axis until a point that started at the grid aligned position [5, 0, 0] ends up at the also grid aligned position [4, 3, 0]. The angle is arcsin(3/5), which is irrational, so I can't animate it precisely by rotating it. But if I could use a bolt to constrain its rotation to be about the z axis, I could move that point precisely. The reason why I can't use a bolt that way is that the animation that I get would be IK and it would be deleted when I delete the bolt.

But this workflow would be possible if when deleting a connector there were an option to convert IK animation to FK instead of deleting it. We wouldn't even need a new control combination for this. A creator using connectors in this way is putting more thought into what happens when they delete objects, and they could select the delete tool and enable IK to FK conversion with a checkbox - just like what we do to enable live cloning in the clone tool.

1 comment Date Votes
  • TAPgiles
    Great answers

    You may have IK and FK mixed up in your post. When I try, I see that it records as FK--which is actually keyframing the bolt's rotation. So when I delete the joint, that keyframe isn't affecting that joint's rotation because it no longer exists.

    We can actually turn FK into IK, by recording, then selecting the object, and click the "Convert to IK" button in the context menu. So that will now record the position of the child block itself, and not the joint rotation. Then you can delete the joint. And the keyframe will still put it where you put it--just as you want.

    If I understood correctly?

    You can also swap the other way--convert IK to FK, making it record the rotation of joints. This is good for things like positioning the hand with IK. Then turn it into FK, so the animation is smoother.

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