Hi:
I’m trying to rig a set of folding doors using IK, but I’m not having any success making them bend the way I want.
The attached scene uses an IK setup on the right and a setup that uses an Aim constraint on the left.
In my attached scene, when the End Goal on the right moves to the left the doors fold back in the +Z direction. They’re supposed to fold towards us, in the -Z direction, as is happening in the setup with the Aim constraint.
I think this is happening due to the way the pivots are set up; the middle pivot is farther back than the axis of the Pivot Panel and END, so the chain wants to bend in the +Z direction. This arrangement emulates how the real doors are built. The middle hinge is on the back and the pivot panel and end of the handle panel run along a track that’s a few inches forward of that middle back hinge.
I’m not super-versed in IK, so I’m hoping there’s a simple solution I’m missing.
As seen on the left I can get so-so results by animating the rotation of the Pivot panel and using an Aim constraint on the Handle panel to fake it being in its track, but it’s not very smooth. The target of the Aim constraint has to move in a weird way to make the end of the Handle panel look like it’s in its track.
Any suggestions?
Thank you.
Shawn Marshall
Marshall Arts Motion Graphics