keying a constrained control will break the connection

[gimble]

Hello,

as the title suggests this is the problem I am having. Is there a way to NOT break the connection on a constrained object in Maya? Seems like a simple thing but I can't figure it out. I bake things a lot in animation, and this always breaks my connections.

Also if there is a way to do this, why is this not the default behaviour in Maya? If an animator spends time setting up constrained objects for his animation to work correctly, why would I want them to break by setting a key on the control that is constrained. Seems dumb. 

Thanks,

Craig.

[znelsonTPBXT]

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@mcw0 wrote:

This raises the question of why one would be keying a constrained object if one didn't want to transition away from the constraint. 

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With a model like the one above, the base is the parent of the yoke (the U-shape piece that rotates), and the yoke is the parent of the head (the cylinder of the light that tilts up/down). So it all needs to parent  properly, but you also need to key each separately on a given axis. So the yoke needs a key on its Z, and the head needs a key on its X/Y, but if you rotate yoke the head must follow, and if you move the base everything comes along for the ride. The problem with hitting 's' is the other axes get stepped on and it breaks the constraints entirely. Been fighting this for months! You have to be very careful to only key the one specific axis that you want in this case or it all breaks.

[mcw0]

Sorry but I'm completely lost.  There are no constraints in your example.  So how does this relate to the original post?

In regard to your example, the setup should have unused channels locked.  I don't see how there would be any issues animating the hierarchy you described.

[dinofiguera]

I think you should not use that preference option that keeps the constraint active because this does not add the blend parent attribute which is one of the most useful attributes for animators.
 instead, you should avoid setting keyframes to constrained objects, Unless you need it to animate the constraint on/off.

In your gun rig, for example, you should have your main control, with all the gun attributes, a parent transform node to have the chance to freely offset your object position, and finally, another parent control which is the one to constrain. 
This way you have all the freedom to add as many keyframes as you want in your gun and be sure to not touch the constrained attribute.
when you want to detach the gun from the hand, you can then keyframe the constrained parent.
D

[ragnar_vanzante]

You have saved my life. I have been up all night working on my first animation project. I have no Idea how to rig but am a proficient modeler and sculptor so my model was extremely complicated and there were no rigging tutorials I could just copy and paste from. I finally got my bodged rig working so that my platemeil coif underneath my Gjermundbu helmet moved correctly and when I finally started animating about 12 hours ago I ran into this issue and have been trying to fix it since. Thank you!!!