animate swing set

Support Animation and Rigging
1

i have built this swing set and i would like to animate it. i think the 8 hinging points are understandable.
i’ve looked at some tutorials but non have helped yet. if someone could direct me to a tutorial i would appreciate it

untitled 2.jpg719×575 23.2 KB


thanks very much

2

Place two bones at the top hinge points that reach to the bottom hinge points call them leg-1, leg-2. extend leg-1 a little way out to the side - name this leg-1.IK. Extend leg-2 so it reaches the bottom of leg-2 call this extension bone link.

Add an IK constraint on link with leg-1.IK as the target and chain length 2. Rotate leg-1 and the rig should move as you want. Parent the legs to the “leg…” bones using CTRL+P => “Bone” - you only need two bones as the swing only swings in one axis. Parent the seat to the “link” bone. You can add transform locks to the leg bones so they only rotate in the required axis.

Enjoy! Further reading in the manual under “IK Constraints” would be useful to you. You can limit the rotation of the bones, etc.

Cheers, Clock.

3

…

Separate your Object out into 4 basic Objects…

the Frame
the Left set of Pivot Bars…
the Right set of Pivot Bars…
the Swing

Make the Frame the Parent of the Two Pivot Bar Objects…
Make one of the Pivot Bars the Parent of the Swing…

Reset your pivot points on the two Pivot Bars up High where the Bolts hold the Pivot Bars to the Frame

Reset your pivot point for the Swing at the pivot point where the Bolt holds the Swing on the Pivot Bar it is Parented too

Now take note the Pivot Bar that has the Swing Parented to it…
Select the other Pivot Bar and put a place Copy Rotation Constraint on it making the ‘Noted’ Pivot Bar as it’s target

Now select the Swing… set a copy rotation constraint on it also… using the ‘noted’ pivot bar as it’s target
except on the swing you want to check the ‘invert’ box on the proper axis to cause the swing to rotate the opposite of the ‘noted’ pivot bar…
you will have to play around with the amount of ‘influence’ in the constraint to make the swing look correct in it’s opposite swinging…

that’s it…

Take a look at this file…

SwingTime_Rigg_001.blend (871 KB)

…

4

COOL ! Thanks, I’ll get at it.