How can I link bones from the same armature? Head to Tail and Vice-versa?

Question

Hey guys.

So I'm trying to rig the lamp in the picture(s) but I'm running into a technical difficulty with the armature. I've already read up on the other questions posted in here but they don't really apply to my problem as far as I understood them.

The bone nodes that have been circled are part of the same armature. What I want to do is close the loop of the armature and make one close loop armature as a whole. So I was hoping I could just merge the nodes that have been circled or even link them so that when I move one set of the bones the others shift automatically (I have Auto IK ON) and not disconnect like it's happening in the second picture.

Any suggestions if I can do what I want? Thanks.

Related: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21239/join-bones-in-a-armature — masterj2001, Oct 31 '17 at 09:20

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 31 '17 at 10:30

0

IK is indeed the solution. It looks similar in principle to rigging a piston, which is just a type of four-bar linkage: https://vimeo.com/25357097

I think the main insight to make your rig work is the use of IK "Target" bones. For example, where you want the spring to connect, create a small bone parented to the link's bone. Give the spring bone an IK modifier with chain length of one and allow stretching. That should be all it takes.

answered Oct 31 '17 at 10:30

dixiepig

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Thanks a bunch for the link. I solved the issue for the spring but I still need to figure out how to link the two separate parts of the lamp form disconnecting when one side moves. Will update if I find out how to do it. If anyone has an idea please let me know. The LINK was extremely helpful for it got me to think in the right direction. – Enxh K Oct 31 '17 at 20:06
Could you post a link to the .blend file for me to take a look at it? – dixiepig Nov 01 '17 at 12:50
I have no idea how to post a link to the .blend file. But I did manage to fully rig the model perfectly. It seems that it's a lot easier to rig the lamp if I keep all the different parts of the lamp objects as separate instead of joining all the parts. All I had to do is assign each object to its respective bone. But I had to change the setup of the bones a bit. See Last pic. – Enxh K Nov 04 '17 at 23:42

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 04 '17 at 23:47

I did manage to fully rig the model perfectly. It seems that it's a lot easier to rig the lamp if I keep all the different parts of the lamp objects as separate instead of joining all the parts. All I had to do is assign each object to its respective bone. But I had to change the setup of the bones a bit.

How can I link bones from the same armature? Head to Tail and Vice-versa?

2 Answers2