Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Ragdolls can be simple or complex. Likewise, they can be more or less restricted in their range of motions.
A less-restricted ragdoll can more accurately mimic the range of positions of a human, but it is also more likely
to get into impossible positions. Setting up a ragdoll is similar in some ways to setting up an armature but with
an important difference: An armature is intended to be posed by hand, so if it is more flexible than necessary,
this is not usually a problem. A ragdoll is intended to be “posed” only by the forces that act on it; therefore,
it must be very carefully constrained so as to avoid getting into unnatural positions. At present, constructing a
very sophisticated ragdoll like this in Blender is a painstaking and difficult process, so we'll work with a very
simpleragdoll.Whenyoucreateyourownragdoll,youcanusewhatevershapesyoulike:cylinders,spheres,or
other convex polyhedrons. Don't use objects that are too small, though, because this can cause instability in the
simulation. In this example, because I am using mainly the mesh objects to control the movement of empties
and an armature, we will use the simplest possible construction of just boxes, most of which are approximately
the scale of the default cube.
1.
Composearagdollof11separateCubeobjects,scaledandpositionedasshownin
Figure8-53
.
Rename
theseobjects
Head
,
Torso
,
Midriff
,
UArm.L
,
UArm.R
,
LArm.L
,
LArm.R
,
ULeg.L
,
ULeg.R
,
LLeg.L
,
and
LLeg.R
.Whenyouhavetheobjectsscaledandplacedasyouwantthem,pressCtrl+Aoneachobject
to apply scale and rotation.
Figure 8-53
The objects that compose the ragdoll
2.
The shoulders, elbows, and knees of this ragdoll should now be joined by Hinge constraints. The con-
straints themselves have no built-in restrictions, but by placing the hinges correctly, it is possible to make
