Cineversity

Hi,

Is there a preferred joint aim axis in Cinema4D?
I checked the character object and all joints seem to aim at the Z axis (blue arrow). (See attached reference)
But I’m not sure since I couldn’t see any documentation around it.

Will I get instability if I don’t aim mine with the Z axis?

Thank you for looking at my problem

Regards,
Ben Traje

Hi Ben Traje,

If you go through all of the Character Object options, you will find that your observation is not correct. (E.g., Mixamo Set up).

But yes, typically it is the Z direction. The idea is to have a continuity in the setup, so any change, later on, can be done quickly. To have each rig differently is certainly not improving the productivity. For a single rig it should be unified.

You will find different approaches, and you need to know who will use the rig and what his/her preferred set up is, including if the Joint is Frozen (PSR) or not.

Communication with everyone involved is crucial.

All the best

Hi Dr Sassi,

Sorry for the confusion.

Let me rephrase it:
Does C4D place particular importance on the Z aim axis? Is it more stable than the other axis for the constraints etc?

Ben Traje,

Do you have a reason to use anything but the Z axis? If you look at the IK tag, if the Auto option is on, it aligns along the Z axis. But yes, any axis can be set. That would be one default, to point out that Z is preferred.

Example, for other alignments, as in none, going by the joints direction: Like with Maximo-rigs, where every axis in the T-Pose have 0º and can be reset quickly, even without the need to have been frozen before.

We could go deep into the rabbi-hole and explore the rotational hierarchy, finding out that the B axis is the last one which will be rotated until we see that someone even changed that default as well. This is my idea about, but I haven’t found that in any Cinema 4D (or so far I had access) in any other rigging source, so I can’t really quote anything here at all.

Joints can be aligned:
https://www.cineversity.com/vidplaytut/character_rigging_in_r12_aligning_joints

Cheers

Gotcha. So basically, C4D do not place particular important Z axis.

Thanks for the confirmation!

Hi Ben,

Well, most tools assume that it is Z, and if setting up things differently everywhere is not a problem, then I can agree, I have not found anything that speaks against using other orientations. I mentioned the pipeline and its members (people and apps) already.

Enjoy.