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This node is used internally by some of the flexor operations. It serves several purposes:
1) It calculates the bend vector at a joint given the joint above, the joint below and the joint itself.
2) It calculates a bend angle. The bend angle is based on the type of joint guide specified for jointGuideAxis. If "auto" is chosen then straight = 0 deg and completely bent = 180 deg.
3) It calculates a bend magnitude. If jointGuideAxis is set to "auto", this is a mapping of the bend angle to the range [0, 1]. For all other settings of jointGuideAxis, it maps the bend angle to the range [-1, 1]. Typically this parameter is used as the motor for high-level joint/bone lattice behavior.
4) It serves as a central location for the typical drivers available for flexors --> rotateX/Y/Z, maxXYZ and autoGuide. This means that the flexor node can connect all of its default drivers to the outputs of the guide node.

Node nameParentsClassificationMFn typeCompatible function sets
guidenodemathkGuidekBase
kNamedObject
kDependencyNode
kGuide

Related nodes

flexorShape, jointCluster

Attributes (15)

autoGuide, bendAngle, bendMagnitude, bendVector, bendVectorX, bendVectorY, bendVectorZ, jointAboveMatrix, jointBelowMatrix, jointGuideAxis, jointXformMatrix, maxXYZ, rotateX, rotateY, rotateZ

Long name (short name)TypeDefaultFlags
jointAboveMatrix (am) matrixidentityoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The matrix of the joint above the motor joint.
jointXformMatrix (jm) matrixNULLoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The matrix of the motor joint.
jointBelowMatrix (bm) matrixidentityoutputinputconnectablestorablehidden
The matrix of the joint below the motor joint.
jointGuideAxis (ga) enum0outputinputconnectablestorable
This controls how the joints determine the output for bendAngle/bendMagnitude. Valid values are 0 = "auto", 1 = "max xyz", 2 = "x", 3 = "y", 4 = "z", or 5 = "none".
bendVector (bv) float3outputconnectablehidden
Bisector of a vector representation of the upper/lower bones.
bendVectorX (bx) float0.0outputconnectable
Bend vector X value.
bendVectorY (by) float0.0outputconnectable
Bend vector Y value.
bendVectorZ (bz) float0.0outputconnectable
Bend vector Z value.
bendAngle (ba) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The bend angle at the motor joint, as specified by the jointGuideAxis.
bendMagnitude (mg) distance (double)0.0cmoutputconnectable
A [-1, 1] or [0, 1] remapping of the bend angle.
rotateX (rx) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The generated X rotation of the xform joint.
rotateY (ry) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The generated Y rotation of the xform joint.
rotateZ (rz) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The generated Z rotation of the xform joint.
maxXYZ (ma) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The maximum of rotateX/Y/Z.
autoGuide (ag) angle (double)0.0degoutputconnectable
The auto guide angle generated by the guide algorithm.