Add auxiliary and pivot effectors

You can add auxiliary and pivot effectors to a character’s Control rig to provide another level of IK control. See also Control rigs, effectors, and pivots.

To add auxiliary or pivot effectors

1. In the Character representation of the Controls tab, right-click an IK Control rig effector cell.
   
2. In the menu that appears, select Create Aux Effector or Create Pivot Effector.

   The auxiliary or pivot effector is placed at the same position and rotation as the corresponding IK effector.

   

   In the Controls tab, the effector cell updates to indicate the effector now has auxiliary or pivot effectors.

   

To select auxiliary effectors or pivot effectors

1. Do any of the following:
   • Click the corresponding cell in the Character representation to select the current auxiliary effector or pivot effector ).

     (When you create auxiliary or pivot effectors, cells update to indicate the current object. The current effector is either the last created, or the last selected.)

   • If you have multiple effectors per cell, click the + icon to expand the cell and select the effector you want to set as 'current' for the corresponding cell.
     

     You can then collapse the cell view and continue to select the current auxiliary effector or pivot effector by selecting that cell.

   • Right-click the corresponding cell in the Character representation, then select the auxiliary effector or pivot by name from the menu that appears.

To adjust the position of pivot effectors in the scene

1. Select the pivot effector you want to adjust, then select the Move tool .

   Move manipulators display on the pivot effector.

2. Press D + drag to position the pivot effector.
   Tip: You can also press Insert + drag to move pivot effectors independently from the rig.
   

   The D and Insert hotkeys let you move pivot effectors independently from the rig. Moving the pivot effector without pressing D or Insert lets you adjust the position of the character.

Tip: If you create multiple pivot effectors and want to animate the character based on different pivots at different points in time, for example to have the foot rotate around different points as the character takes a step, key the pivot effector reach values to 1.00 (fully on) for the pivot you want to rotate around at that point in time.

To adjust the position of auxiliary effectors in the scene

1. In the HumanIK window, click > Edit Control Rig and turn off Align/Synchronize Control Rig.
2. Select the auxiliary effector you want to adjust, then select the Move tool .

   Move manipulators display on the auxiliary effector in your scene.

3. Drag to position the effector.
4. In the Controls tab, adjust the IK Blend T and IK Blend R sliders.

   With Align/Synchronize Control Rig turned off, this lets you preview the effect of manipulating the reach between the auxiliary effector and your rig.

To remove auxiliary or pivot effectors

1. Do either of the following:
   • To delete individual auxiliary effectors and pivots, select them in the scene and press Delete.
   • To delete all auxiliary and pivot effectors for an effector, right-click the corresponding IK cell in the Character representation and select Clear Extra Effectors from the menu that appears.

Related topics

• Create a Control rig
• Control rigs, effectors, and pivots