parentConstraint

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This node implements a parentConstraint. Each constraint has a set of targets that are connected under the target attribute and a single constrained object that is connected to the constraint* attributes.

The parentConstraint node can have any number of target inputs. Each target is connected to attributes inside a single element of the target attribute. For example, the first target object would be connected elements of target[0], the second target object would be connected to elements of target[1], etc. The elements of each target are: targetTranslate, targetRotate, targetScale, targetRotatePivot, targetRotateTranslate, targetParentMatrix, targetRotateOrder, targetOffsetRotate, targetOffsetTranslate, and targetWeight.

The elements of each target are normally connected to the target objects as follows:

parentConstraint attribute	connected to
targetTranslate	translate
targetRotate	rotate
targetScale	scale
targetRotateOrder	rotateOrder
targetRotatePivot	rotatePivot
targetRotateTranslate	rotatePivotTranslate
targetParentMatrix	parentMatrix[i]
targetOffsetTranslate	set to constrained object's translational offset from target, in target's local space
targetOffsetRotate	set to constrained object's rotational offset from target, in target's local space amd rotation order
targetWeight	set to 1.0

The targetWeight attribute is not generally connected to the target object. Instead, it may be animated by other means to adjust the weighted average computation for the target parent. Similarly, targetOffsetTranslate and targetOffsetRotate are generally not connected to the target object, but rather a calculated to determine an appropriate offset from that target in the target's local space.

For each target, the parentConstraint node uses these inputs to first rotate the constrained object to match that of the target, then computes the world space position of the pivot point of the target. It then computes a weighted average of the these transformations.

The constrained object is connected to the constraint* attributes. The constraintRotatePivot, constraintRotateTranslate, constraintRotateOrder and constraintParentInverseMatrix are inputs to the pointConstraint. These values are used to determine counter-translations and -rotations which are used to compensate for any transformation induced by the constrained object's parent, changes to its rotate pivot, and so forth.

The attributes constraintTranslate and constraintRotate are the only outputs.

Although the all the constraint nodes inherit from transform, they do not actively use any of the attributes from transform.

Related nodes

parentConstraint, orientConstraint, scaleConstraint, poleVectorConstraint, geometryConstraint, tangentConstraint, normalConstraint, aimConstraint, lookAt

Attributes (86)

The following quick index only shows top-level attributes (too many attributes to show them all): constraintJointOrient (3), constraintParentInverseMatrix, constraintRotate (3), constraintRotateOrder, constraintRotatePivot (3), constraintRotateTranslate (3), constraintTranslate (3), interpCache, interpType, lastTargetRotate (3), restRotate (3), restTranslate (3), rotationDecompositionTarget (3), target (44), useDecompositionTarget

Long name (short name)	Type	Default	Flags
constraintJointOrient (cjo)	double3
Input constrained object joint orient value.
constraintJointOrientX (cjox) angle (double) 0.0deg Input constrained object joint orient X value.
constraintJointOrientY (cjoy) angle (double) 0.0deg Input constrained object joint orient Y value.
constraintJointOrientZ (cjoz) angle (double) 0.0deg Input constrained object joint orient Z value.
constraintParentInverseMatrix (cpim)	matrix	identity
inverse of the parent matrix of the object
constraintRotate (cr)	double3
output orientation
constraintRotateX (crx) angle (double) 0.0deg output X orientation
constraintRotateY (cry) angle (double) 0.0deg output Y orientation
constraintRotateZ (crz) angle (double) 0.0deg output Z orientation
constraintRotateOrder (cro)	enum	0
Input constrained object rotate order value.
constraintRotatePivot (crp)	double3
object rotate pivot
constraintRotatePivotX (crpx) distance (double) 0.0cm object X rotate pivot
constraintRotatePivotY (crpy) distance (double) 0.0cm object Y rotate pivot
constraintRotatePivotZ (crpz) distance (double) 0.0cm object Z rotate pivot
constraintRotateTranslate (crt)	double3
object rotate pivot translate
constraintRotateTranslateX (crtx) distance (double) 0.0cm object X rotate pivot translate
constraintRotateTranslateY (crty) distance (double) 0.0cm object Y rotate pivot translate
constraintRotateTranslateZ (crtz) distance (double) 0.0cm object Z rotate pivot translate
constraintTranslate (ct)	double3	0.0, 0.0, 0.0
output point position
constraintTranslateX (ctx) distance (double) 0.0cm output X point position
constraintTranslateY (cty) distance (double) 0.0cm output Y point position
constraintTranslateZ (ctz) distance (double) 0.0cm output Z point position
interpCache (inc)	integer	0
This attribute controls the interpolation type when the interpType attribute is set to "cache". The cache is not usually necessary, except when the parent constraint is controlled by multiple targets and "no flip" interpType is used to prevent flipping. The "no flip" calculation is dependent on the previous frame, so a cache is required to consistently provide identical results on a given frame.
interpType (int)	enum	1
Interpolation type, used when weighting between more than one target. When there is only one target, no interpolation is used and this attribute is ignored. The meaning of the types of interpolation is as follows: No Flip When constraining between multiple targets, this attribute prevents flipping. Since this attribute is dependent on the previous frame, it requires a runup to provide consistent results, or a cache can be created using the Create Cache button in the parent constraint attribute editor. Average The quaternion average. This setting can cause flipping since the previous result is not taken into consideration. Use the "No Flip" setting in order to prevent flipping. Shortest Use the shortest path between the targets. Longest Use the longest path between the targets. Cache Use the cached result.
lastTargetRotate (lr)	double3
Last computed orientation helps interpolator avoid flips
lastTargetRotateX (lrx) angle (double) 0.0deg X component of last computed orientation
lastTargetRotateY (lry) angle (double) 0.0deg Y component of last computed orientation
lastTargetRotateZ (lrz) angle (double) 0.0deg Z component of last computed orientation
restRotate (rsrr)	double3
rest orientation
restRotateX (rrx) angle (double) 0.0deg rest X orientation
restRotateY (rry) angle (double) 0.0deg rest Y orientation
restRotateZ (rrz) angle (double) 0.0deg rest Z orientation
restTranslate (rst)	double3	0.0, 0.0, 0.0
rest translation
restTranslateX (rtx) distance (double) 0.0cm rest x translation
restTranslateY (rty) distance (double) 0.0cm rest y translation
restTranslateZ (rtz) distance (double) 0.0cm rest z translation
rotationDecompositionTarget (rdta)	double3
Decomposition target. It is used to set to which vector the quaternion is decomposed near when the offset between the constrained object and the target object is maintained during constraint creation. By default, it is always set to be rotation of the first parent target.
rotationDecompositionTargetX (rdtx) distance (double) 0.0cm Decomposition target in X axis.
rotationDecompositionTargetY (rdty) distance (double) 0.0cm Decomposition target in Y axis.
rotationDecompositionTargetZ (rdtz) distance (double) 0.0cm Decomposition target in Z axis.
target (tg)	compound	n/a
bundle of matrix, input position, and weight
targetParentMatrix (tpm) matrix identity input world position
targetWeight (tw) double 1.0 input weight for the position
targetRotateCached (ctr) double3 Cached orientation. This attribute is used internally by the constraint and should not be modified by the user. targetRotateCachedX (ctrx) angle (double) 0.0deg cached X orientation targetRotateCachedY (ctry) angle (double) 0.0deg cached Y orientation targetRotateCachedZ (ctrz) angle (double) 0.0deg cached Z orientation
targetTranslate (tt) double3 input translation targetTranslateX (ttx) distance (double) 0.0cm input X translation targetTranslateY (tty) distance (double) 0.0cm input Y translation targetTranslateZ (ttz) distance (double) 0.0cm input Z translation
targetRotatePivot (trp) double3 input rotate pivot targetRotatePivotX (trpx) distance (double) 0.0cm input X rotate pivot targetRotatePivotY (trpy) distance (double) 0.0cm input Y rotate pivot targetRotatePivotZ (trpz) distance (double) 0.0cm input Z rotate pivot
targetRotateTranslate (trt) double3 input rotate pivot translate targetRotateTranslateX (trtx) distance (double) 0.0cm input X rotate pivot translate targetRotateTranslateY (trty) distance (double) 0.0cm input Y rotate pivot translate targetRotateTranslateZ (trtz) distance (double) 0.0cm input Z rotate pivot translate
targetOffsetTranslate (tot) double3 Constrained object's translational offset from the target targetOffsetTranslateX (totx) distance (double) 0.0cm Constrained object's x-translational offset from the target targetOffsetTranslateY (toty) distance (double) 0.0cm Constrained object's y-translational offset from the target targetOffsetTranslateZ (totz) distance (double) 0.0cm Constrained object's z-translational offset from the target
targetRotate (tr) double3 input orientation targetRotateX (trx) angle (double) 0.0deg input X orientation targetRotateY (try) angle (double) 0.0deg input Y orientation targetRotateZ (trz) angle (double) 0.0deg input Z orientation
targetRotateOrder (tro) enum 0 Input target object rotate order value.
targetJointOrient (tjo) double3 input joint orientation targetJointOrientX (tjox) angle (double) 0.0deg input X joint orientation targetJointOrientY (tjoy) angle (double) 0.0deg input Y joint orientation targetJointOrientZ (tjoz) angle (double) 0.0deg input Z joint orientation
targetOffsetRotate (tor) double3 Constrained object's rotational offset from the target targetOffsetRotateX (torx) angle (double) 0.0deg Constrained object's x-rotational offset from the target targetOffsetRotateY (tory) angle (double) 0.0deg Constrained object's y-rotational offset from the target targetOffsetRotateZ (torz) angle (double) 0.0deg Constrained object's z-rotational offset from the target
targetScaleCompensate (tsc) bool true Indicates whether to compensate for the scale of the target parent joint.
targetInverseScale (tis) double3 Input target object scale of the parent joint. targetInverseScaleX (tisx) double 1.0 X component of aTargetParentScale. targetInverseScaleY (tisy) double 1.0 Y component of aTargetParentScale. targetInverseScaleZ (tisz) double 1.0 Z component of aTargetParentScale.
targetScale (ts) double3 Target's scaling. Used to properly determine constraintTranslate from the given target. targetScaleX (tsx) double 1.0 Target's x scaling. targetScaleY (tsy) double 1.0 Target's y scaling. targetScaleZ (tsz) double 1.0 Target's z scaling.
useDecompositionTarget (udt)	bool	false
Indicates whether to use rotation decomposition target when decomposing the rotation of the constrained object.