Inverse kinematics

By default, joint hierarchies work like any other hierarchy—the rotation of one joint is transferred to the lower joint nodes. This is known as forward kinematics. While this method is powerful, it makes it hard to plant a character's feet or move a hand to control the arm.

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Character joint hierarchy

Inverse kinematics lets you work with the hierarchy in the opposite direction. By placing an IK handle at the end of the joint chain, Maya software will solve all rotations within that joint chain. This is a lot quicker than animating every single joint in the hierarchy. There are three kinds of inverse kinematic solvers—the IK spline, ...

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