2 Bone IK Foot Placement System - Number Five One

Distribution UE Marketplace
1

The 2 Bone IK Foot Placement System has been released!

Marketplace:
https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/2-bone-ik-foot-placement-system

Overview Video:

Playable Demo:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jq0y4ah4nshyufn/FootPlacementSystem%20-%20v1.0.3%20Demo.zip?dl=0

Hey everyone! So, for those of you who have been following the progress, thank you for the feedback and support! Based on all the conversations and feedback I have received I was able to submit a project that I think many people will like and benefit from. I have simplified the system a little for the initial release, making quicker and easier to migrate.

It uses a trace on each foot and detects when the foot is attempting to pass through the ground. When this happens the system activates and offsets the foot and hip based on the offset of the foot and ground.

It should be noted that the system does not use any IK bones. So your rig does not need them, nor do your animations need to animate them for this to work. I will be adding that back into the system at a later time, once I create some animations I can include with the package. Now because we are not using any IK bones we do have a couple small limitations that I am working to reduce.

The first is when the bottom of the foot is not the same angle as the ground it can float a little. This will be solved by comparing the two angles and then converting the offset to local bone space. This is being worked on and should be included in a future update. Currently if this is an issue for your crouch position you can simply call the disable event while crouching in that position.

The second is when your foot is moved up, and because of the pose the foot moves back and the trace drops back down. This will create a loop of the foot going up and down. This is simply a limitation of tracing from the foot.

This does have replicated variables and you can enable foot placement for all players, or you can have it only run locally. Local only means that you will see your characters feet adjust, but you WON’T see it on other players.

2

Recommend this to everyone, works great, priced right, five stars.

Just a few questions.

First, do you have a list of animations or conditions for which I will need to disable, and/or enable, the IK system? I know swimming, and prone. What about sitting, ledge climbing, jumping ninja style off things, dropping through the air like in “Just Cause,” or wall running?

Second, is there any way you can post here your event solution, some explanation and blueprint graphic?

I know you will provide this with an update, but as an early adopter of your system I could really use your help on this right away. Because the solution is tied to my next question.

Lastly, in my project, in addition to switching the IK system on and off, I also need to switch between different animations for the same movement…for example, when in combat, moving backwards or sideways/strafing requires a different animation, from the backwards movement when just exploring. I see this in many AAA games today. I am thinking this can all be done in the state machine, and will not cause any issues with your IK disabling/enabling solution. Am I right?

Also, when I switch off the IK system, then change animations, how do I keep the IK system off or switch it back on as needed, with each animation change? If you could share your solution here for us, so we don’t have to wait for your update, and provide any help on these other issues, it would be greatly appreciated. But I am looking forward to more features in the future.

And I do hope to tackle a basic root controller as your next Marketplace offering. I trust your tutorial on how to implement and tailor it would be concise and easy to follow…your IK tutorial was the best yet, and believe me I have looked at everything on IK, none of them worked…yours works perfectly.

3

What is the advantage of this tool over some other IK solutions on Marketplace? In terms of performance, ease of use? I am currently checking few not sure which one to go with.

4

Hay janpec,

Great question, looking forward to the answer from kevinraz. But what “other IK solutions on Marketplace” are you looking at? This is the only IK solution I found on the EPIC Marketplace. I must have missed the others…can you fill me in on what you have found? I am aware of products sold by companies through their on-line store, middleware, and much more expensive than this product. One did have IK for hands, so your character could do things like rock climb and always put hands and feet on the targets. This is a feature I hope will be added in the future to this product. But for a reasonably priced IK foot placement system, this is the best I found. I was up and running in 10 minutes, and it works as advertised. Just waiting to learn how to turn it on and off for unique animations.

5

Pick this up today but the rig we are using is not the provided Epic but a custom version of our own design. Managed to get it hooked up as per instructions but no joy. A few errors at the start as to assigned bones but simple enough to change them to our rigging but named the sockets as per instructions.

Any chance you could do a vid tutorial of how to apply the IK to a Mixamo model?

6

After I buy the System.capsule is none???Why