Ikas Blender 3D ( 3 - A little more )

Introduction - Armature and Mesh - First animation - Constraints - Weight - Weight paint -Various Tricks -

A little more:
The previous example is perfectly appropriate for character animation, but if it is a question of representing a type of mechanical motion, it is a little weak. Use the file from the previous example for the following. Erase the initial cylinder and then create three of them. They do not need to be extruded. Then lay them out, as is shown in the image below.

One by one, parent them with the armature, but this time we will select the option 'Use Bone' from the pop-up menu and then parent the first cylinder with B1, the second with B2, and the last with B3, before launching the animation.
Also, we may be interested in the IK buttons in the Edit Buttons window for the armatures:
Select the armature and switch to Edit mode ( TAB ) before selecting all of the components.

Deactivating the 'IK' buttons allows you to separate the 'bones' (Still in Edit mode) as shown in the image below. It will also be necessary to move the cylinders a little in order to adjust them to what is shown in the image. As long as you remain in edit mode, none of the different animation poses are accessible.

The 'Rest Pos' button : It is only useful in 'pose' mode (In blue). When this button is pressed, it allows you to revise the position of the origin of the entire chain. If it is critical that you find the position of the origin in a definitive way, it will be necessary to select the concerned ' bones ' and press ALT + R or ALT + S ( or both ), but at least two times in succession.
The new animation methods apply only to Ika's and not with normal objects. However, there is no need to worry. To apply these new options to any standard object, all that is required is that you create an ika with only one branch and then parent to it, any object by selecting the option 'Use object' from the pop-up menu.
To ensure that the object is centered perfectly:

1: Create an armature and press ESC as soon as it has been developed a little.

2: Press TAB to leave edit mode.

3: Press ALT+R, ALT+S and ALT+G successively to cancel all of the transformations.

4: Select the object which you wish to animate and press: SHIF+S -> 'Curs to Sel'.

5: Select the armature and press SHIFT+S -> 'Sel to Curs'.

6: Establish the parent.
This method guarantees that the centre of gravity of the ika corresponds to that of your object and that applying a rotation to the unit will not produce undesirable results.