Ik handles problem

[Anonymous]

Hi there. I've just started to learn how to animate stuff and I've managed to rig my model and create Ik handles on legs for easier posing. I have also managed to create a walking animation without moving the mesh ( Only the legs are moving, the body is static). I am currently unable to figure out two issues:

After finishing leg animations, I wanted to move the body with all the joints by selecting the pelvis, however when I try to move the body It doesn't change the position of foot joints because I guess they have IK handles within them. They behave like they are stuck to the ground. If I try to disable the IK Blend by making it 0, it gives really weird results.

The second issue is , when I apply IK Handles to some joints, and start setting keys to them , I am no longer able to rotate the joints with handles or the ones between them. Is there a way to solve this? 

Thank you very much.

[gautham.chandran47 · Accepted solution]

If you want to move the whole character around and you don't have the main control, simply select the root control and all the IK handles ( its controller if you're using one ) and move.

For a better IK leg setup you can refer this;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxogLUq1rd4&t=581s

[kttender]

Some of the issues you're describing can't really be solved because IK, by nature, does not let you do those things. For example:

"The second issue is , when I apply IK Handles to some joints, and start setting keys to them , I am no longer able to rotate the joints with handles or the ones between them"

The reason you can't rotate the joints with the handles or the ones in-between them is that the whole point of IK, or inverse kinematics, is that the motion of a joint chain is controlled by the end joint. FK, or forward kinematics, is when you control a joint chain by rotating the individual members. If you have an IK handle (and it's active), you're not going to be able to rotate the joints in the chain because if you could do that, you wouldn't be able to control the chain via the last joint.

"I wanted to move the body with all the joints by selecting the pelvis, however when I try to move the body It doesn't change the position of foot joints because I guess they have IK handles within them. They behave like they are stuck to the ground. If I try to disable the IK Blend by making it 0, it gives really weird results."

You're right about why the feet position don't change. The feet behave like they're stuck to the ground because that's the point of IK...to keep a body part in one place, even if joints higher up the chain are moving. If you want to be able to move the whole body, you need to make a controller that has both the pelvis joint and the IK handles underneath it. Maybe elaborate what you mean by "weird results?" If you're really only using a joint chain with an IK handle, once you disable IK blend, you should be able to rotate the joints FK-style

I agree with @gautham.chandran47 to look for tutorials on leg setup. Usually people don't actually animate the joints or IK handles. They make controllers, constraint the IK handles and joints to the controllers, and animate the controllers. It's cleaner and makes your rig less likely to break when you animate it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your explanation. I am kind of a newbie on animation and the complexity of rigging is overwhelming. I'll look for tutorials on the subject.