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Attachment Constraint 393
For example, to quickly animate an airplane
flying along a predefined path, you can use a Path
constraint (page 2–398) to restrict the airplane’s
motion to a spline.
You can use keyframe animation to toggle the
constraint’s binding relationship with its targets
over a period of time.
Common uses for constraints include:
• Linking one object to another over a perio d
oftime,suchasacharacter’shandpickingup
abaseballbat
• Linking an object’s position or rotation to one
or several objects
• Keeping an object’s position between two or
more objects
• Constraining an object along a p ath or between
multiple paths
• Constraining an object to a surface
• Making an object p oint toward another object
• Keeping an object’s orientation in relation to
another
There are seven types of constraints:
• Attachment constraint (page 2–393) attaches an
object’s po sition to a face on another object
• Surface constraint (page 2–396) restricts an
object’s position along the surface of another
object
• Path constraint (page 2–398) restricts an object’s
movement along a path
• Position constraint (page 2–401) causes the
constrained object to follow the position of
another object
• Link constraint (page 2–403) links the
constrained object from one object to another
• LookAt constraint (page 2–406) constrains an
object’s orientation s o that it’s always looking
at another object
• Orientation constraint (page 2–409) causes the
rotation of the constrained object to follow the
rotation of another object
Tip: You can use Schematic View to see all the
Constraint relationships in a scene.
Using Constraints with B ones
Constraints can be applied to bones as long as an
IK controller is not controlling the bones. If the
bones have an assigned IK controller, you can only
constrain the root of the hierarchy or chain.
Atta chment Constr aint
Animation menu > Constraints > Attachment Constraint
Attachment constraints keep the cylinders on the surface.
The Attachment constraint is a position constraint
that attaches an object’s position to a face on
anotherobject(thetargetobjectdoesn’thavetobe
amesh,butmustbeconvertibletoamesh).
By keying different attachments over time, you can
animate the position of an object over the irregular
surface of another object, even if that surface is
changing ov er time.