IK Rig supports a variety of IK Solvers to affect a wide range of Bone hierarchies. They are used to create the Inverse Kinematic solution to rotating and positioning Bones in a chain. Multiple Solvers can also be used at the same time to further customize the IK effect.
This page provides an overview of the different Solvers you can add within the IK Rig editor, and their properties.
Prerequisites
You have created and opened an IK Rig Asset. See the IK Rig Editor page for how to do this.
You are familiar with how to create IK Goals.
Creating Solvers
The primary way to create Solvers is by clicking Add New Solver in the Solver Stack panel, then selecting a Solver.
If a Solver does not already exist in your IK Rig, then creating an IK Goal will also prompt you to create a Solver, which automatically binds to that goal. Click the Solver Type dropdown menu to select a Solver.
Solver Usage
All IK Solvers require either a root Bone, IK Goal, or both to be specified. These two starting and ending Bones will complete the IK chain for that Solver.
The root Bone at the start of the hierarchy chain.
The goal, or effector Bone at the end of the hierarchy chain. This is driven by an IK Goal.
Connecting to Bones and Goals
To set the root Bone to a Solver, select the Bone in the Hierarchy and the Solver from the Solver Stack, then right-click on the Bone and select Set Root bone on Selected Solver.
If your Solver requires an IK Goal, connect it by selecting the goal from the Hierarchy and the Solver from the Solver Stack, then right-click on the goal and select Connect Goal to Selected Solver.
Once Bones and goals are connected to a Solver, selecting the Solver will highlight those objects within the Hierarchy, as well as in the Viewport.
Multiple Solvers
Multiple Solvers can also be added to the Solver Stack, which provides extra functionality for your IK Rigs. The order of multiple Solvers will matter, as they evaluate in sequence, denoted by the number next to their name.
For example, in most leg IK setups, you may want to ensure that the Set Transform Solver on the hips evaluates first, before the Limb IK leg chains. This is so the legs can properly compensate for the movement of the hips beforehand.
Solvers can be rearranged by dragging them up and down in the Solver Stack.
Excluding Bones
Bones within an IK chain can be excluded from the hierarchy, causing them to be ignored by all Solvers. This can be useful to correct bad poses, or to simplify a complex chain.
To exclude Bones, select all the Bones to be excluded, then right-click on them and select Exclude Selected Bone From Solve. Excluded Bones are denoted with a different icon.
You can re-include excluded Bones by right-clicking them and selecting Include Selected Bone In Solve.
Solver Types
The following is a list of the different Solvers you can use in IK Rig.
Body Mover
The Body Mover Solver will translate and rotate the root Bone based on the location of other connected IK Goals, which are typically the feet. Using Body Mover allows IK Rig to generate large-scale, gross movement of the body resulting in a more natural final pose
Setup
Body Mover requires a root Bone and at least two IK Goals to be connected. However, it can support several goals if the character is quadrupedal or multi-legged.
Usage
Body Mover is mainly intended for ground alignment, and should be used as the first Solver paired with other Solvers, such as Limb IK or Full Body IK.
For example, on its own, Body Mover does not produce correct looking results as an IK Solver.
However, once other IK Solvers are set up to evaluate after it, and with appropriate settings applied, then Body Mover will function more naturally.
Settings
Selecting the Body Mover Solver will reveal additional settings in the Details panel.
These settings are used to control the degree of movement exerted on both position and rotation axes, including their channels. In certain cases it may be necessary to adjust these properties to provide a more natural looking pose.
For example, on humanoid characters, setting Rotation Alpha to 0 will resolve the character leaning unnaturally towards the offset goal.
However, on quadrupedal or multi-legged creatures, it may be more natural to keep this root rotation and not change any settings.
Goal Settings
Selecting a Goal Setting located underneath a goal assigned to the Body mover solver will reveal additional properties in the Details panel.
Influence Multiplier is used to increase or decrease the amount of influence this goal exerts on the Body Mover solver, and can be useful if you want a goal to have more influence compared to others.
Limb IK
Limb IK provides a cheaper-performance single-chain IK Solver. Typically you will want to use this for individual limbs, such as arms and legs.
Setup
Limb IK requires a root Bone and a single IK Goal to function. It follows typical IK rules in that you specify the starting bone (root), and an ending bone (goal). This Solver requires at least three Bones in the chain, in order to work correctly.
In most cases, you should specify the shoulder or arm as the root, and the hand as the goal. For legs, you should specify the upper leg or thigh as the root, and the foot as the goal.
Settings
Selecting Limb IK from the Solver Stack panel will reveal additional properties in the Details panel. These properties are only valid if your Limb IK chain is made up of more than 3 Bones. So if you are using Limb IK for a normal humanoid Thigh > Leg > Foot solve, then these properties will not affect its behavior.
|
Name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Root Bone |
The root Bone assigned to this Limb IK solver. |
|
Reach Precision |
This value controls the accuracy threshold of the effector reaching the goal's position. Lower numbers are more accurate and higher numbers are less accurate. |
|
Hinge Rotation Axis |
The normal plane for the solver chain. |
|
Max Iterations |
Increasing this value will cause the joint chain to better converge on the goal location, but increases the CPU cost of the Limb IK chain. |
|
Enable Limit |
Enables rotational limits on the joint chain between the root and effector. |
|
Min Rotation Angle |
If Enable Limit is enabled, this forces at least this input angle between the parent and child bone. |
|
Average Pull |
Enables an average pull distribution along the joint chain. |
|
Pull Distribution |
Manual control of the weight of the pull distribution along the chain if Average Pull is disabled. Lower numbers favor the effector, and higher numbers favor the root. |
|
Reach Step Alpha |
Moves the end effector towards the target and limits displacement. |
|
Enable Twist Correction |
Enables twist correction along the solver chain by comparing the orientations of bones along the chain. |
|
End Bone Forward Axis |
Which axis to favor if Enable Twist Correction is enabled. |
Full Body IK
Full Body IK (FBIK) is a fully-featured multi-goal IK solver that supports Bone limits, stiffness, and preferred angles. This Solver is useful if you want to create a large-scale IK system for multiple goals, with each of them exerting natural influence upon the whole body.
Setup
A root Bone and at least one IK Goal must be connected for Full Body IK to function. However, unlike Limb IK, multiple goals may be added to allow the skeleton to reach for multiple locations simultaneously.
Usage
FBIK differs from other solvers in that you can create settings for any of the Bones affected by the Solver. This is so you can further refine the movement of a specific Bone within the FBIK chain.
To create a Bone setting, select the Full Body IK Solver, then right-click a Bone you want to create settings for and select Add Settings to Selected Bone.
Selecting the Bone setting in the Hierarchy will reveal the following Bone settings in the Details panel:
|
Bone Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Stiffness |
Rotation and Position Stiffness properties are used to control how much a bone in the IK chain can be affected by goals and effectors. Use these properties to change the degree to which the pelvis bone will be affected by the movement of the controls. A value of 0 results in completely free movement, whereas a value of 1 completely locks the bone from movement. In this humanoid example, the pelvis bone is specified as the root Bone for the FBIK chain, however in its base state it is rotating too aggressively. Increasing the Stiffness properties resolves this.
|
|
Limits |
Limits can be used to limit the range of, or completely lock, the rotation of bone axes along the IK chain. Each axis can be set to the following:
Using limits can help with correcting unnatural joint movement. For example, these limits can be used to correct the unnatural ankle rotation issue. A value of -50 is set for Min Z and 40 for Max Z, and the Z axis is set to Limited.
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|
Preferred Angles |
Preferred Angles can be used to prioritize joints rotating along a specific axis to reach the effector. In some cases they can be used to resolve rigid issues in joint rotation. Enabling Use Preferred Angles will cause the rotation to reference the Preferred Angles. The Preferred Angle properties you specify depend on the type of character, and its joint structure. For this example, the mannequin's knee should be bending more along the Z axis, therefore the Z property is increased.
|
Settings
Selecting the Full Body IK Solver reveals the following properties in the Details panel:
|
Name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Iterations |
Increasing this value will cause the effectors to converge on their goal locations, but increases the CPU cost of the FBIK chain. The addition of Stiffness, a high Mass Multiplier, and Rotation Limits can all affect the convergence rate and may require more adjustments to this value. |
|
Mass Multiplier |
This is a global value that affects how much the bones resist rotations and translations. Typical values range between 0.0 and 10.0, with 0.0 being completely loose and 10.0 being very stiff. Increasing this value also requires you to increase Iterations in order to achieve convergence. Increasing Mass Multiplier can resolve severe convergence problems within FBIK, which occur most commonly with larger characters.
|
|
Min Mass Multiplier |
Keep this value as low as possible as long as the Solver provides stable results. Lower values improve the convergence of the chain. |
|
Allow Stretch |
Enabling this will cause bones along the IK chain to translate to reach their effector. Position Stiffness values affect this result, where higher stiffness will cause less stretching. |
|
Root Behavior |
Controls the translation behavior of the root Bone. You can select the following options:
|
|
Start Solve from Input Pose |
When enabled, the Solver is reset each tick to start from the current input pose. If disabled, then the incoming animated poses are ignored and the solver starts from the results of the previous solve. |
Goal Settings
Selecting a Goal Setting located underneath a goal assigned to the Full Body IK Solver will reveal additional properties for that goal in the Details panel.
|
Name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Strength Alpha |
This property affects the strength of this effector's influence on the IK chain. Lower numbers will cause this IK Goal to not pull the chain towards it as strongly, causing other goals to take priority. |
|
Pull Chain Alpha |
When enabled by setting the value greater than 0.0, the FBIK solver will partition the skeleton into "chains" which extend from the effector to the nearest skeleton hierarchy divergence. Using this can improve results for sparse bone chains, but cause undesirable results for more complex constrained bone chains. |
|
Pin Rotation |
Blends the effector bone rotation between the rotation of the effector transform (1.0), and the rotation of the input bone (0.0). |
Pole Solver
The Pole Solver provides Pole Vector controls for a single Bone chain, which is used to orient middle joints to face an IK Goal, like elbows or knees. Typically this Solver should be used in conjunction with other Solvers, such as Limb IK.
Setup
Pole Solvers differ from other solvers in that you must specify both a root and end Bone. This is done by right-clicking on the root and end bones and selecting Set Root / End Bone on Selected Solver. In this example, the upper arm is set as the root, and the hand is set as the end.
An IK Goal must also be used which will act as the Pole Vector. In most cases you must create it for the first child bone of the root.
For example, in a simple three-bone chain, the IK Goal must be created on the first child Bone of the root. This would place it on the middle joint.
In longer chains, the first child will not be the middle joint, making the IK Goal located closer to the root.
Once the root, end, and goal is specified, you can manipulate the IK Goal to preview the Pole Solver.
Usage
In most cases you should pair the Pole Solver with another Solver, with the Pole Solver executing last. In this example it is being paired with an IK Limb Solver.
Set Transform
Set Transform will translate and rotate a bone to match a goal. No IK system is involved as this Solver simply translates and rotates a single Bone and any children. In most cases this Solver should be paired with others to achieve a more complex IK effect.
Setup
This Solver only requires a single IK Goal to be connected, which is used as the transform point.
Usage
Typically you may want to pair this Solver with other solvers, with Set Transform executing first. In this example, Set Transform on the hips is being paired with Limb IK on the legs.
