Trouble with Arm Bending

[mksalva]

During the record process I want to bend a character's arms. While using the dragger on the hand, I can get the arm to bend one way and look natural, but not the other. See below. How can I determine which way the arm will bend?

Any ideas?

This is what the arm looks like in the Rig, in case it matters.

Thanks!

[alank99101739]

There are two approaches I use.

In the older version (v1.5) I used the dragger on the elbow and often added a second dragger behavior. I would record the wrist dragger first, then record the occasional elbow drag using the second dragger behavior. Using a second dragger behavior shows you the first dragger resulots so you can drag the elbow where you want it to go for a frame or two. Once its started in the right direction it seems fine.

With the latest version (v2.0) there is a new IK Arm behavior you can use to control elbows and arm stretchiness more. Check out the Adobe tutorials for details. There are a few settings to control which ways the elbow bends. Note that you can record the properties - sometimes if you want the elbow to bend both directions in the one take you will need to record values for the other properties like strength to make the elbow flip half way through the scene. It is a little cumbersome but does work. You have to get the rigging right though - e.g. put the shoulder handle on the main body (not the arm).

[ScooterD76]

I am dealing with the same issues, and the above tips do help greatly. The draggable elbow can create some wonkiness that needs smoothing, but gets desireable results for extreme situations. Also to note, CH calculates things in real time so scrubbing or playing from particular spots in the timeline, the arm will be bent the wrong way. I feel i have to force certain bends and I have to play from certain points to view it properly.

( to clarify: from beginning to end, the animation works as it should, but starting from the middle, results vary )

[ScooterD76]

Also noteworthy- Thankfully my puppet holds it together once imported into AE