Setting Extended Bones - IK/FK Editing (New for 5.4 and for Pro only)

The extended bones can not onlybe given Spring Effects, but also can be used for setting motion layer keys via the IK (inverse kinematic) method.

Since non-standard charactesr generally have at least four limbs, if the loaded model contains more bones than the vintage bone structure, the bones that are not mapped will be stiff and can not be animated when the character acts.

The un-mapped bones will be stiff and unable to be adjusted in iClone

By setting the unmapped bones as Extended Bones, you are able to animate them via the motion-layer-key-editing method in iClone, which eliminates the unnatural and stiff condition of the excess body parts.

Before starting to set extended bones, please first load the bone-skinned model, mapped and activate the body bones appropriately.

A bone-skinned model is loaded

The body bones have been mapped and activated in the Convert to Non-standard procedure.

Mapping the Body Extended Bones

If some of the bones that are left un-mapped and you intend to animate them, then set them as extended bones (In this case, the two spare hands).

  1. Switch to the Face / Extended Mapping page by clicking the button with a head icon above the dummy pane.

    The modify panel will switch to the Face / Extended Bone mapping mode.
  2. Under the Unused Body Bone node, select the bones that are not mapped and that you intend to animate later, from the Scene Tree, 3D Viewer or the Bone List under the Assign Bone Tags.

    Select from the 3D viewer.

    Select from the scene tree or the bone list.

    Note:

    • Please note that these unused body bones are marked in white.
    • Because sometimes it is hard to pick bones one by one from the 3D viewer, if you want to set a string of connected bones as extended bones, then simply select the bone with the highest level from the Scene Tree or the Bone List under the Assign Bone Tags. The entire string under the bone will be set as extended bones simultaneously.
  3. Click the Map to Extended Bone button in order to map the selected bones to the Extended Bone >> Body (blue node) of the standard bone hierarchy.

    Click the Map to Extended Bone button.

    The selected bone nodes will be moved under the Extended Bone >> Body (in blue) node.

    Note:

    • If you find the mapping is incorrect, then click the Map to Unused Body button to move the bone nodes back to unused body nodes.
    • The extended bones are marked in purple and ready to be animated in iClone.

    The two spare hands are able to be animated in iClone.