Hello there (:
At the moment i’m really enjoying something i’m animating. But truth is is that when it comes to an IK rig… I’m a bit of a noob d:
Havn’t done much with them yet that involves alot of moving around.
My question has to do with the root bone.
When i Animate the character say spinning or jumping, should the Root bone/controller follow him? (Spin with him/Jump up in the air with him) or should it stay on the ground beneath him?
The root bone should stay put when the character is walking, because Inverse Kinematics won’t keep the foot from sliding if the whole rig (ie: the root bone) is moving as well. I’d say that would also apply to spinning, since you want to have control of how the foot reacts to the ground without the complications of compensating for the addition of the root bone movement as well.
But, when the character jumps, the foot slippage issue goes away, since the feet are in the air. Still, I’d say leave the root on the ground fixed in place. This keeps your animation work flow consistent, and you don’t have to remember whether you’d previously moved the root or not.
However, this style of animation isn’t one you can ‘automate’ by, for example, moving the root along a path while the character does a walk cycle, with the combination making it look like a walk through 3d space rather than marching in place. In the ‘automated’ style, you’re moving the root anyway, so you might as well move it for spins and jumps, too.
So I guess the real answer is: be consistent. If you move the root and plan your shots so any foot slippage is minimized, unnoticeable or off camera, then move the root for spinning or jumping. If you keep the root in place for walks and runs, keep it in place for spins and jumps as well.