Just a little rigging/scripting demo. A client of mine needed a simple way of switching from IK to FK and back while maintaining the same pose. This is something pretty standard in many Maya rigs but not something I've really seen done very much in Cinema so I thought I'd post it.
I wrote the tool in Python and it's based on similar methods I've used in MEL but it goes a little beyond them as it has a built-in test for the FK elbow being off axis (if the animator has rotated it in H or B as well as the standard P rotation). If the script detects that the elbow is off axis it still matches the IK pose to the FK as close as possible but it doesn't switch mode, which means the animator can blend from FK to IK over a few frames to avoid a pop in the pose. If the elbow is not off axis (ie only rotated in P) then the script will do all of the processes, match pose, switch mode, and key the relevant controllers.
Cast:Brian Horgan
Tags:c4d, cinema4d, rigging, character, animation, scripting, python, IK and FK