Skip to content

FKChain Settings

Author: Asaf Ben-Zur
Best used for: General Chain, Spine, Neck, Tail, Elephant-Trunk, Tentacle
This Module when used in it's basic state, will create a simple FK hierarchy control chain.
Altough this module contains many layers with many features such as Variable FK, Spring, Embedded IK, Secondary IK chains (interpolation controls).
Use as many layers an in any combination to create any form of FK chain behaviour.

Attributes

GlobalSettings

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
doInterpolationJoints False Create interpolation joints for this module
interpolationJoints 2 Amount of interpolation joints
isolatePolesRotation False If this is set to True, the first and last interpolation joints orientation will be isolated. This is primarily used in combination with the EmbeddedIK feature to achive a stable spine setup
offsetX 20.0 Up curve X value offset for the interpolation joints
offsetZ 0.0 Up curve Z value offset for the interpolation joints
scaleMode 2 Default scale mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsPointsOnCurve node to learn more about each mode
squashMode 0 Default squash mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsPointsOnCurve node to learn more about each mode
doPrimariesSpaceSwitch False If this is set to True, primary controls will receive a space switcher
doIntepJntsSpring False If this is set to True, a mnsSpringCurve node will be created on top of the primary curve controling the interpolation joints

FK

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
FKcontrolShape circle FK controls shape
doFKSeconderyIK False If this is set to True, another level of IK controls will be created below the FK controls
FKSecondaryIKControlShape diamond Secodary IK controls shape
primaryCurveDegree 3 Primary interpolation joints curve generation degree. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about curve generation degree
primaryCurveMode 0 Primary interpolation joints curve sampling mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsPointsOnCurve node to learn more about curve each mode
primaryInterpolaion 0 Primary interpolation joints curve generation interpolation mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about each mode
FKChannelControl
T R S
X v v v
Y v v v
Z v v v
FK controls channel-box settings

EmbeddedIK

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
doEmbeddedIK False This feature is mainly used to create a spine setup, where another layer of IK control is needed. The result of this feature is three IK controls - Root, Mid and End controls, which will allow IK control over the entire chain
defaultVisibilityMode 1 Default visibility settings. FK and IK main controls can be used in combination, or indevidually- hence a manuall visibility switch
embIKMode 1 Setup mode. btcTranslation is legacy, please use btcRotation
ikCurveInterpolation 0 IK curve interpolation mode
embIKCurveDegree 3 Embedded IK curve degree. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about curve generation degree
doMidTangentCtrls True If this is set to True, two extra tangent controls will be build from the IK Mid control
embIKControlShape flatDiamond Main shape for the embedded IK controls
embIKChannelControl
T R S
X v v v
Y v v v
Z v v v
Embedded IK controls channel-box settings

IK_Secondaries

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
doSecondaryIKCtrls False This feature will create a secondary IK controls layer below the primary FK chain controls. The number of IK Secondaries MUST be equel or greater then the number of guides/Primary FK controls for this layer to execute. This layer's will not execute without creating Interp-Joints.
numIKControls 2 Amount of secondary layer controls, this value MUST be equel or greater then the number of guides/Primary FK controls.
isolateSecPolesRotation False If this is set to True, the first and last controls orientation will be isolated.
IKControlShape dial Secondary IK layer control shape
secondaryCurveDegree 3 Secondary IK curve generation degree. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about curve generation degree
secondaryCurveMode 0 Secondary IK curve sampling mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsPointsOnCurve node to learn more about curve each mode
secondaryInterpolaion 0 Secondary IK curve generation interpolation mode. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about each mode
doIKSpring False If this is set to True, a mnsSpringCurve node will be created on top of the secondary curve
IKChannelControl
T R S
X v v v
Y v v v
Z v v v
Secondary IK controls channel-box settings

VariableFK

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
doVariableFK False This will create a veriable FK setup on this chain. NOTE: Setting this attribute to True when the curve mode is set to PARAMETRIC, will force the joint structure curve mode to UNIFORM. This layer's will not execute without creating Interp-Joints.
numVarFKControls 2 Number of variable FK controls
varFKControlShape pinchedCircle Variable FK control shape
varFKDegree 3 Variable FK curve degree. Please refer to the documentation of mnsBuildTransformsCurve node to learn more about curve generation degree
defaultFalloff 0.5 Default falloff value for the variable FK controls
varFKSubsteps 20 The variable FK setup is able to re-sample the curve to any amount of control points to refine the fidelity of the setup. This is the default sampling value
doVarFKSpring False If this is set to True, a mnsSpringCurve node will be created on top of the variable FK controls
varFKChannelControl
T R S
X v v
Y v v
Z v v
Variable FK controls channel-box settings

Tweakers

Attribute NameDefaultDescription
doTweakControls False This feature is a global extra layer to tweak the final result cuvre samples rotation and scale. This layer's will not execute without creating Interp-Joints.
numTweakers 2 Number of tweak controls to create
tweakControlShape dialSquare Tweak controls shape
tweakersChannelControl
T R S
X v v
Y v v
Z v v
Tweak controls channel-box settings