You'll need to create a new object to control the hand.  I was going to do it with Action objects, since in our other tutorials we've been integrating the models in the choreography, but when I actually tried it, I found that the Action Objects are still a little bit buggy in terms of constraining back and forth.  So we'll go with the tried and true Choreography functions, eh?

Create a new object.  Name it 'Right Hand Controls'.  Bring up the object window for Right Hand Controls, and the object window for DojoBot.

First, you want to change the default bone of Right Hand Controls so that it can be easily constrained to follow the Right Hand of the DojoBot.  Click on the Right Hand Target bone in the DojoBot, and look at the Properties dialog.  This will list the position of the start and end points of the bone.  Write them down.  In my copy of DojoBot, they looked like this:
 
  -55cm    -65cm 
  111cm    111cm 
  0cm    0cm 
Click on the Right Hand Controls object window.  Click on Bones mode.  Click on the Right Hand Controls object in the Project Workspace.  This will bring up the Default bone for the object.  In the Properties dialog, enter the same values that you wrote down above.  This will assure that the Default bone has the same basic length and orientation as the Right Hand target.

Now create a Choreography.  Drag DojoBot into it.  Drag the Right Hand Controls into it.  Remove the Choreography action from both of them, to center them properly.  The Right Hand Controls should be placed exactly over the actual right hand.

Make sure that the action is in "Skeletal" mode.  Click on the shortcut to the Right Hand Controls. Right-clicking should give you the option of creating a New Constraint.  Create a new Translate To constraint. Go to the Property dialog for the constraint, and in the Object drop-down select DojoBot.  In the Bone drop-down select Right Hand Target.  Your bone will now be constrained to the position of the Right Hand (although it will not move visibly, since it was already in position).

Create another new constraint, this one an Orient-Like. Go to the Property dialog for the constraint, and in the Object drop-down select DojoBot.  In the Bone drop-down select Right Hand Target.  This will assure that when the hand rotates, the hand controls will rotate with it.   Likewise, constrain the control object to Roll-Like the Right Hand Target.

Now you've got the controls set to follow the hand.  It's time to actually create some controls.  We'll handle that on the next page.



Previous Page
Next Page
Back to Dojo