Motion using Inverse Kinematics

Inverse kinetatics can be used to calculate different angles of jointed angles such as
moving limbs.
By placing the object between two keyframes Flash with calculate the angles of the joints for the
inbetween frames.

1. Open the crane.fla file, select the crane layer. Drag the cranearm1
movie clip symbol from the library to the stage. Put it above the rectangular
base.

Using the same layer drag an instance of cranearm1 to the stage, place
next to end of cranearm1 mc. Drag another cranearm2 onto the stage
and put at the end of the previous instance.

Drag cranerope mc from the library and put next to the

last cranearm2 instance.

Using the Bone tool

The Bone tool tells Flash how a series of movie clip instances are connected. The connected
movie clips are called the armature, each movie clip is called a node.

2. Select the Bone tool, click on the base of cranearm1 and drag the Bone
tool to the base of cranearm2 instance.

The bone is shown as a long triangle with a round joint at the base and tip.

Click on the base of cranearm2 and drag to the base of the next
cranearm2.

Do the same for the last cranearm2.

You should now have tree bones
defined.

Look in the timeline to see how the layer has changed to a Pose layer. It has a new icon and
keeps the armatures seperate from other objects on the timeline.

Rename the Pose layer as cranearmature and delete the

empty crane layer.
Armature Hierarchy

Select one of the bones created and look in the property inspector. The
first bone is the parent, bones linked from this are refered to as child
elements. Child elements from the same parent can be siblings.

Using the arrows in the property inspector you can navigate up and
down the hierarchy of these relationships. The side arrows can navigate
between siblings.

Inserting Poses

A pose is a keyframe for your armature. Add two additional poses for the crane.

3. Move the playhead to frame 25. Click the hook and drag down to the water. A new pose is
automatically added at frame 25. Notice how the bones keep all the different movie clips (nodes)
together.

4. Move the playhead to frame 56. Select the hook and drag up out of the water. Another pose is
added. Save and preview.

Isolating the rotation of individual Nodes

5. Select the pose at frame 56. Hold the shift key, click and
drag on the second node in the armature to rotate it so it points
downwards.

Holding the shift key, click and drag on the third node in the
armature to rotate it upwards

Keep holding the shift

key to drag the cranerope
downwards

Note. Editing armatures

Use the freetransform tool to rotate or move your nodes to a new position. Holding alt while
dragging can move the node to a new position.

Constraining joints

Angles and joints can be restricted to make them look more realistic. At the moment the joints on
the crane can rotate 360 degrees.

1. Click on the second pose at frame 25, Ctrl click to clear pose. Do the same for the last one in
frame 56.

2. Move the playhead to frame 1. Choose the Selection tool and click on the second bone in the
armature on the stage.
In the property inspector tick the Constrain option in the joint:Rotation selection.

Set the minimum to 0 degrees and maximum to 90. Look at

the bone on the stage to see how the angle indicator chang-
es on the joint.

3. Select the third bone. Constrain the joint rotation setting the minimum to -90 and maximum to 0.

Constraining the translation of joints

In CS4 you can set the joint to slide in x or y direction and the limits on how far they can travel.

1. Select the first node in the armature on the stage. Deselect the Enable option in the
Joint:Rotation section in the Property Inspector. The circle around the joint disappears indicating
it can no longer rotate.

2. Select the Enable option in the Joint:X Translation section. Set the minimum X translation
to -50 and the maximum to 50. The arrows
change to bars indicating how far in the x
direction the first bone can move.

3. Grab the hook and pose the crane in the first keyframe to lower the hook to the water. Move to
the last frame and put the hook up from the water. The constraints on the joint rotation and joint
translation limit the poses and create a more realistic animation. Save and preview.