In this example, we set up the Electra test geometry for the full body IK tool:

1. On the Electra SOP, set the Output parameter to Skin Surface. This outputs Electra’s shape as its 1st output, and Electra’s skeleton as its 2nd output.

2. The APEX Pack Character SOP adds Electra’s shape and skeleton to a character folder structure.

   • By default, Shape Path is set to /Base.shp, and Skeleton Path is set to /Base.skel. These are the names given to Electra’s shape and skeleton once they are packed into the folder structure.

   • Turn on Add FK and Bone Deform Components. This creates a rig (set to the Rig Path name, /Base.rig) and adds it to the character folder structure.

   • You can view the character folder structure in the rig tree view. In the rig tree view, set Type to Packed Folders.

3. The APEX Map Character SOP maps Electra’s rig controls to skeleton joints and creates a mapping property on the rig. This mapping property is used by the APEX Configure Character SOP downstream to set up the character for the full body IK tool.

   • Set Rig Path to /Base.rig.

   • Set Skeleton Path to /Base.skel.

   • If the Map By Name parameter is turned on, an automatic mapping is performed between controls and joints that have the same name.

   • To manually map the controls and joints, enter the Map Character viewer state - select the APEX Map Character SOP, turn on its display flag, and click Show Handle on the left toolbar or press Enter over the viewport. In the viewer state, click between the controls and skeleton joints. This automatically creates entries in the Mappings multiparm:

4. The APEX Configure Character SOP configures the full body IK properties on the character. Turn on Full Body IK.

5. The APEX Scene Add Character SOP adds the character elements (shape, skeleton, rig) to a character in an animation scene. We need to do this because the full body IK tool works on packed characters in a character folder structure, not unpacked character elements like a rig. On the APEX Scene Add Character SOP, the Character Name is the name of the character that appears in the selection sets HUD in the animate state.

6. Enter the animate state - select the APEX Scene Animate SOP, turn on its display flag, and click Animate on the left toolbar or press Enter over the viewport.

7. Enter the full body IK tool by clicking on the top toolbar, or selecting Full Body IK from the radial menu (press C over the viewport).

When you move a character’s joints in the full body IK tool, its other joints are pulled along with it:

Adjust the influence of a pinned joint ¶

To adjust the amount of influence that a pinned joint has on the rest of the joints, change the Weight and Priority parameters.

Priority

The priority determines the joints that take precedence when posing with full body IK - the position of a higher priority joint is more strictly enforced. If you want certain joints to drive the character’s pose, set a higher priority on those joints.

In the example below, the character’s right hand is pinned with a priority of 1, and the right foot is pinned with a priority of 2:

On the left video below, the hand that is pulled has a priority of 2, so it has more influence over the other hand, but not as much influence over the pinned foot. On the right video, the hand that is pulled has a priority of 3, so it has a lot more influence on the other pinned joints.

Note

A lower priority joint cannot move a higher priority joint.

Weight

The weight determines how strongly a joint influences the rest of the joints' movement and allows the rest of the body to partially follow the joint. A higher weight makes it harder to pull the joint away from its current position. Specify a weight when you want the joint to influence the character’s pose less rigidly than a priority.

If you want to enforce a strict order of precedence and resolve conflicts between multiple joints (for example, hand vs. foot vs. head), set a priority. If you want to fine-tune the influence of a specific joint, set a weight (for example, keeping the wrist at roughly the same position but allowing for some flexibility).