IK stands for inverse kinematics and are useful when rigging parts like arms, legs, anywhere that bends. It’s usually used to control joints that move in relation with each other. In this section you will learn how to set up basic IK handles and how to control them.
– Create IK handle
– Where is this tool
– How to use
— Situation 1(ideal case)
— Situation 2 (not bending right)
Quick Tutorial(not mine): Maya IK Handle in a Minute — YouTube
Official Documentations: IK handles overview | Maya 2020 | Autodesk Knowledge Network
Here are some basic terminologies that we will use in this guide:
- Start Joint/End Joint — the start and end of the IK Handle
- Bend Joint — the “middle” joint; this is not an official terminology, just what I came up with to describe it.
Ready? Let’s start by creating your first IK handle!
Create IK handle
Where is this tool:
In the rigging menu, skeleton->(IK)Create IK handle.
***Important: click the box next to the tool to bring up Tool Settings, make sure the IK tool is set to Rotation Plane Solver, you can turn on Sticky if you like (useful when rigging legs)
How to use:
Once selected the tool, first click on the joint higher in the hierarchy(start joint), then click on the joint lower in the hierarchy(end joint). You should see the IK affected joints turn orange.
If doing this on arms, first click on the shoulder, then on the wrist; if on legs, first click on the hip, then click on the ankle.
Depending how your rig is set up, there may be additional steps you need to take to make sure IK handle works the way you want it to.
Situation 1(ideal case):
Your joints that you’re setting applying the IK handle onto are constrained within the vertical or horizontal plane, and with the bend joint(s) is already bent in the desired direction. In this case, your IK handle should behave as expected right away :D
Situation 2 (not bending right):
You set up the IK handle, but it’s not bending in the direction you want it to. This can be fixed easily by manually telling Maya which direction you want the joint to bend via Set Preferred Angle.
That’s it! Feel free to move onto the next article about Setting Preferred Angles!
