" ..... I've never played with this "pinned" checkbox ! It must be so usefull and I am so blind ..... " 

 Hey Walvince - me too ... lol


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please be patient with me ..... I don't always 'get it' the first time 'round - not even the 2nd time! :(  - yikes! ... 

● MSI GT72VR Laptop, i7 7700HQ 4-Core 3.8 GHz 16GB RAM; Nvidia 1070, 8GB Vram ● iClone-7.93 ● 3DXChange Pipeline 7.81 ● CC-3 Pipeline 3.44 ● Live Face ● HeadShot ● Brekel Pro-Body ● Popcorn FX ● iRAY ● Kinect V2 ● DaVinci Resolve17 ● Mixcraft 8.1

Damn I've never played with this "pinned" checkbox ! It must be so usefull and I am so blind, thanks !

Thanks Rampa - these are more valuable 'clues' to the puzzle ....
Ordinarily I would have gradually 'progressed' towards this rather complicated motion via more 'simple' exercises.
This 'climb' however is one of the most important shots in the animation I'm doing - hence the need for 'nailing it'.

So 'armed' with these extra insights (pardon the pun) - I should be able to get a convincing result ....


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please be patient with me ..... I don't always 'get it' the first time 'round - not even the 2nd time! :(  - yikes! ... 

● MSI GT72VR Laptop, i7 7700HQ 4-Core 3.8 GHz 16GB RAM; Nvidia 1070, 8GB Vram ● iClone-7.93 ● 3DXChange Pipeline 7.81 ● CC-3 Pipeline 3.44 ● Live Face ● HeadShot ● Brekel Pro-Body ● Popcorn FX ● iRAY ● Kinect V2 ● DaVinci Resolve17 ● Mixcraft 8.1

I always like to add in some extra ideas that may be overlooked. That said, I should have included the easier method here as well. That is to lock the hand and use the rotate gizmo on the shoulder. :)

To lower the elbow, you can lock the hand and shoulder bones in the motion layer and then use either the rotate or transform gizmo to move the elbow. 

The hand has a quick lock that you can just click, while the shoulder requires that you first select the bone and then check the boxes for pinning it in place. With both ends of the arm pinned, you can move the elbow to where you need. A gentle touch is required. Be ready to use the "undo"! ;)

The reach effectors and look-at do override any existing motion. They are the "topmost" layer of IK, if you will.

In my tutorial, I chose not to use them, and use the motion locks in the motion layer instead. These do allow for a rotation option with position remaining locked. But there is that wiggle bug (which I put in the tracker).

If you do want to use reach targets for their "complete lockedness", then maybe the reach effectors are not the best choice. Instead, try adding dummies to each rung for the reach target, and select and de-select them as needed.

My experience using the reach effectors is that they are very good in some situations, but not so great in others. It is not a good idea to ever release the reach from one and reattach it. They are actually accessories to your character, and this can cause strange behavior.

I didn't realize that you used effectors, but I have had the same problem with them. They seem to override the motion of what they effect so what you see in the curve editor for the hand may not reflect what is actually happening.

In my case I had to animate the effectors as well to get what I wanted. So leaving them off initially is good advice.

---

Mark ..... you may have 'demystified' things somewhat for me ....
Yeah - the keyframes - I think I need to 'simplify' my approach. Rampa's video was good to get me going, but the 'hard' part for me is the arms.
As the avatar moves up, and changes his 'reach' (with alternating grabs between left & right), the 'angles' become difficult.
One moment the arm is stretched to it's very limit, then the same arm has to transition to holding that rung at a much closer distance, with the arm 'tucked-in' closer to the chest. The elbow during this 'change' has to move side-ways adding more dynamics to the mix. And all this has to occur without dislocating the shoulders or causing unnatural 'twisting' of limbs - lol ....
If the hand could be made to easily 'pivot' around the rung (constrained by position only but not by rotation) - it would be easier to animate this.
They should have a 'Flexible' Reach Target that 'allows' for rotations .....

@Walvince -- thanks - I'll try your suggestion of key framing the rotation separately - I never thought of that .... 

Here's what I meant about the hand being locked down in a 'rigid' way:




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please be patient with me ..... I don't always 'get it' the first time 'round - not even the 2nd time! :(  - yikes! ... 

● MSI GT72VR Laptop, i7 7700HQ 4-Core 3.8 GHz 16GB RAM; Nvidia 1070, 8GB Vram ● iClone-7.93 ● 3DXChange Pipeline 7.81 ● CC-3 Pipeline 3.44 ● Live Face ● HeadShot ● Brekel Pro-Body ● Popcorn FX ● iRAY ● Kinect V2 ● DaVinci Resolve17 ● Mixcraft 8.1

illusionLAB (12/17/2018)

---

you'll probably have more success if you animate the character to the best of your abilities without the reach effectors as a 'first pass'.  When things look pretty good, you make a second pass using the reach effector to solidify your already mostly good animation.

I never thought to animate this way, it should indeed give better results, thanks for the advice ;)



If you still want to adjust the hand after having applied the reach effector, you can still rotate/move the reach prop itself with the gizmo and keyframe it. It will move/rotate the hand in the same way.

Hey Steve, Power to you for persevering with the "by hand" animation (no pun intended... well, maybe a little!).  You seem to have a lot of keyframes... is this because you sampled the motion or did you create them one by one?  You're correct in your deductions that the reach effectors are the root of these troubles - they aren't meant to be part of the animation structure as much as 'temporary constraints'... that is, you'll probably have more success if you animate the character to the best of your abilities without the reach effectors as a 'first pass'.  When things look pretty good, you make a second pass using the reach effector to solidify your already mostly good animation.  As it is right now, you're animating against the constraint, which is like pinning one end of an elastic band - sure it holds the elastic where you want, but it also allows you to stretch it a little too far, so when the pin is released the elastic snaps to it's natural state.