orientConstraint

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This node implements an orientConstraint. Each constraint has a set of targets that are connected under the target attribute, a single constrained object that is connected to the constraint* attributes, and possibly other information to help compute the correct results. In the case of the orientConstraint, there is no other information.

The orientConstraint 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: targetRotate, targetRotateOrder, targetParentMatrix, and targetWeight.

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

orientConstraint attribute	connected to
targetRotate	rotate
targetRotateOrder	rotateOrder
targetJointOrient	jointOrient (joints only)
targetParentMatrix	parentMatrix[i]
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 orientation.

The orientConstraint node uses these inputs to compute the world space orientation of each target object. It then computes a weighted average of the these orientations in quaternion space. This weighted average is called the target orientation.

The constrained object is connected to the constraint* attributes. For an orientConstraint, the attributes constraintRotateOrder, constraintJointOrient, and constraintParentInverseMatrix are inputs to the orientConstraint. The attribute constraintRotate is the only output.

The orientConstraint node computes an output rotation value such that the orientation of the constrained object matches the target orientation.

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

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

constraintJointOrient, constraintJointOrientX, constraintJointOrientY, constraintJointOrientZ, constraintParentInverseMatrix, constraintRotate, constraintRotateOrder, constraintRotateX, constraintRotateY, constraintRotateZ, interpCache, interpType, lastTargetRotate, lastTargetRotateX, lastTargetRotateY, lastTargetRotateZ, offset, offsetX, offsetY, offsetZ, restRotate, restRotateX, restRotateY, restRotateZ, target, targetJointOrient, targetJointOrientX, targetJointOrientY, targetJointOrientZ, targetParentMatrix, targetRotate, targetRotateCached, targetRotateCachedX, targetRotateCachedY, targetRotateCachedZ, targetRotateOrder, targetRotateX, targetRotateY, targetRotateZ, targetWeight, useOldOffsetCalculation

Long name (short name)	Type	Default	Flags
target (tg)	compound	n/a
bundle of matrix, input position, and weight
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
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
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
constraintParentInverseMatrix (cpim)	matrix	identity
parent inverse matrix of the object
constraintRotateOrder (cro)	enum	0
Input constrained object rotate order value.
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.
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
offset (o)	double3
object offset
offsetX (ox) angle (double) 0.0deg object X offset
offsetY (oy) angle (double) 0.0deg object Y offset
offsetZ (oz) angle (double) 0.0deg object Z offset
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
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 orient 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.
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 orient 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.
useOldOffsetCalculation (uooc)	bool	false
Turning this on switches the offset calculation from computing an offset rotation matrix, to simply adding the individual offset values to the x, y, and z rotation value computed by the constraint.