An introduction to DynamicAnimControl
The centerpiece of Minie is DynamicAnimControl, a kind of PhysicsControl.
Adding a DynamicAnimControl to an animated model
provides ragdoll physics and inverse kinematics.
DynamicAnimControl can also be used to simulate ropes.
Adding the control to a spatial
Configuration of DynamicAnimControl mostly takes place
before the control is added to a model spatial.
Adding the control to a spatial automatically creates a ragdoll,
including rigid bodies and physics joints.
No ragdoll exists before the control is added to a spatial,
and removing a control from its spatial destroys the ragdoll.
The controlled spatial must include the model’s SkinningControl
(or its SkeletonControl, if using the old animation system).
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Often this is the model’s root spatial, but not always.
If unsure about a model’s structure, use |
DynamicAnimControl positions itself just before the SkinningControl
(or the SkeletonControl) in the spatial’s list of scene-graph controls.
There it can read the armature’s joint transforms (skeleton’s bone transforms)
after they’ve been written by canned animations
and store new values before the transforms get applied to any meshes.
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In Minie documentation,
the word skeleton refers to both In contexts where "joint" might be ambiguous,
the phrases physics joint (for |
Physics links
A model’s ragdoll is composed of rigid bodies joined by physics joints.
Within DynamicAnimControl, each PhysicsRigidBody is represented by
a PhysicsLink, and the links are organized in a tree hierarchy.
PhysicsLink has 3 subclasses:
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BoneLink: manages one or more bones in the model’s skeleton. EachBoneLinkhas a parent link, to which it is jointed. Its parent may be anotherBoneLinkor it may be aTorsoLink. -
TorsoLink: is always the root of a link hierarchy, so it has no parent link. It manages all root bones in the model’s skeleton. It also manages any skeleton bones that aren’t managed by aBoneLink. -
AttachmentLink: manages a non-animated model that’s attached to the main model by means of an attachment node. AnAttachmentLinkcannot be the parent of a link.
Configuring a ragdoll
The default constructor for DynamicAnimControl is configured to create a
ragdoll with no bone links, only a TorsoLink.
Before adding the control to a spatial, specify which bones
should be linked, by invoking the link() method for each of those bones.
The order in which bones are linked doesn’t matter.
I recommend starting with a default LinkConfig and a generous range of motion
for each linked bone:
dynamicAnimControl.link(boneName, new LinkConfig(), new RangeOfMotion(1f, 1f, 1f));For a simple example, see HelloBoneLink.
When you run HelloBoneLink, press the space bar to put the control into
dynamic mode.
You’ll see the linked bones go limp while the remainder of the Ninja model
stays rigid.
As an alternative to hand-coding the control configuration, you can generate configuration code for a specific model using the DacWizard application, which samples animation tracks to estimate the range of motion for each linked bone.
You probably don’t want to link every bone in the model’s skeleton.
For instance, if the model has articulated fingers, you probably want to link
the hand bones but not the individual finger bones.
Unlinked bones will be managed by the nearest linked ancestor bone.
The TorsoLink will manage any bones for which no ancestor bone is linked.
If you link too many bones, the ragdoll may become inflexible or jittery
due to collisions between rigid bodies that don’t share a PhysicsJoint.
Link modes: dynamic/kinematic
Once a DynamicAnimControl is added to a spatial,
the next step is to add it to a PhysicsSpace.
Then, on the next simulation step,
the ragdoll automatically becomes "ready for dynamic mode".
Within such a ragdoll, each link can be independently configured as dynamic (controlled by physics) or kinematic (unaffected by physics). Initially, all links are kinematic.
Kinematic mode has 4 submodes.
The default submode is Animated, which applies bone rotations obtained
from the model’s AnimComposer or AnimControl.
This is the submode you’d use to play an AnimClip on the ragdoll.
The other kinematic submodes are:
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Frozen, which freezes bone rotations at their current values, -
Bound, which sets bone rotations based on the bind position of the model’s skeleton, and -
Amputatedwhich reduces bone scales to simulate amputated limbs.
Dynamic mode includes options for locking rotational axes and applying uniform acceleration (to simulate gravity).
To make an entire ragdoll go limp, use setRagdollMode().
DynamicAnimControl doesn’t actually have a "ragdoll mode".
setRagdollMode() is a convenience method
that puts all links into dynamic mode, applies gravity,
and releases most attachments.
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Since each link can be independently configured, it’s possible for a ragdoll to be part dynamic, part kinematic. For instance, you can make an NPC flee in terror (kinematic torso and legs) while its injured arm dangles limply (dynamic mode).
To make a subtree of a ragdoll go limp, use setDynamicSubtree().
You can also configure the links individually using PhysicsLink.setDynamic().
To avoid sudden jumps when a link transitions from dynamic mode to kinematic mode, there’s a configurable blending period.
Inverse kinematics
Given a set of rigid bodies joined by rotational constraints, the problem of finding joint angles to satisfy additional constraints is referred to as an inverse-kinematic (IK) problem. For example, you might want to ensure that:
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a character’s nose stays at a particular location, or
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a character’s forearm remains horizontal, or
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a character’s eyes gaze toward a moving vehicle, or
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the tip of a character’s thumb touches their ear, or
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a character’s feet stay within 5 cm of the ground plane, or
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a character’s center of gravity stays directly above their left foot, or
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2 characters hold hands.
In the context of a DynamicAnimControl ragdoll, you can solve such problems
by adding joints and/or controllers to its physics links.
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An IK joint (
IKJoint) is simply a physics constraint that’s been augmented for use withDynamicAnimControl. -
A IK controller (
IKController) is a software object that calculates forces, impulses, and torques and applies them to aPhysicsLink.
| Both mechanisms work only on dynamic links, not static ones. |
For instance, to constrain a character’s nose to be at a particular location,
you might add a single-ended IK joint to the head’s BoneLink.
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An IK joint that constrains both location and orientation is called a fix.
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An IK joint that constrains location but not orientation is called a pin.
(More documentation to be written)