I have searched but cant find any resources (mostly I'm sure because finding the right search terms is impossible). is it possible to have an object hierachy where for example you have a man and the hierarchy is: torso -> upper leg -> lower leg -> foot and then from within this hierachy move the feet, but rather than have the whole body move, fix the torso so that the torso doesnt move, the feet move, and the upper/lower leg hinge in the appropriate fashion. I realise this is asking a lot and I am not expecting the answer to be yes, but I am new to this so am not aware of its capabilities. If the answer is no, i would appreciate any hints, either personal or to resources, which may show methods of dealing with these situations. Many thanks. Mitch.

I think you are looking for Inverse Kinematics.
While I don't know much about it, I do have this link saved in my bookmarks. Hope it helps.

Quote:Original post by Gaenor
I think you are looking for Inverse Kinematics.
While I don't know much about it, I do have this link saved in my bookmarks. Hope it helps.

Cheers, some reading up on it says that it is indeed what I'm after.

If anyone wants a good example I found this site
http://www.nbb.cornell.edu/neurobio/land/OldStudentProjects/cs490-97to98/yen/

Thanks again for your help.

Just for completeness sake IK was more than I could handle in the timeframe, so I stuck with some simple harmonic motion for the upper and lower leg, wasn't perfect (his foot come off the pedal on the upward stroke) but otherwise worked ok.

Thanks for your help!

Mitch