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View Full Version : opinions on spline ik setups

Soulcialism
06-03-2008, 04:52 PM
hey everyone,
i was curious to see what kind of opinions other people had on this topic...

i feel like every time i'm in a situation where i could use spline ik for an object (tails, ropes, hair, tentacles, whatever), i always end up hating the control setup for the spline ik, and most of the time i end up going back to just straight up fk because it's so much easier to control. i feel like with spline ik, i spend so much time fighting with the controls to get the pose that i'm looking for, that it rarely seems worth the trouble.

i was wondering if anyone else out in the 'rigging community' shares this kind of sentiment. while i totally support the advancement and innovation in rigging, i feel like sometimes riggers let the left side of their brains get the best of them when just having a basic fk setup might be the best thing for the situation.
thesakovich
06-04-2008, 05:26 AM
I feel your pain. However, when you say FK, do you mean, controlling every joint separatelly?

I made a quick scene showing you one of the easiest setups. Look at it, take it appart. There's an expression on the twist attribute on the splineIK. It took me no time, and it works just fine. The fun beggins when you have to make a stretchy spine.
Boucha
06-04-2008, 05:58 AM
Spline ik is a very important part of rigging process...

The curve generated from the spline ik can be smooth binded to joints, clusterred into individual groups or even be replaced with dynamic curve...Another very important thing of spline ik is the advance twist system which is very useful in distributing twist evenly along joint chain....
stewartjones
06-04-2008, 08:53 AM
Spline IK had me stumped for a while, and I know exactly where you're coming from. It took me a while to get my head around it but once you do there are a lot of features in there. However, the default setup you will get from a spline IK has to be added/changed to make it respond exactly the way you want it... Or at least everytime I use spline IK I have to edit attributes a lot and add in my own etc.
Soulcialism
06-04-2008, 08:25 PM
yeah i guess it comes down to personal preference. i know how to use spline ik, i've used it to set up stretchy spines and arms and all that fun stuff, it just always ends up feeling so... imprecise. i can't think of another term for it. i don't feel like it's as predictable as fk and was wondering if anyone else out there shared the same sentiment.

i'm talking about spline ik in terms of keyframe animation, not so much simulation. i think you can get great results with splineik by using maya hair or softbodies and that kind of thing in simulating. then again, simulating is much more of a visual thing, you are going for an 'effect' more than precision of arcs or poses like keyframe animation relies on.
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06-04-2008, 08:25 PM
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