Need help with true first person animations/holding items

Hey!

Gonna do it quick.

Infos:

  1. I’m doing a true first person setup
  2. It’s listen server multiplayer
  3. I’m using a replicated aim offset for look direction

Question:

  1. How do i handle animations that are for holding items so that they are always in the players view?
    For example holding a gps, that always needs to be visible to the player, no matter if he looks up or down or whatever.

What’s the best way for this in a true fps setup?

IK targetting?
Bone rotation modifications?

I’ve tried to use aim offsets for this as well. In this case i do it for a flashlight and it works kinda meh, i’m really not happy with it AND i didnt find a way to keep the flashlight/arm so that the player always sees it in its view, just like in normal fps setups.

I would also have to create aim offset animations for standing/crouching position for each item thats being held which seems to be a lot of unnecessary work.

And the flashlight does not stay centered if other animations modify the rotation of the pelvis like running left/right.

I’m kinda desperate…

Here is the video as an example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucelTQLi2n0