At last, this commit introduces the Spline IK Constraint to Blender. Spline IK is a constraint that makes n bones follow the shape of a specified curve.
Simply add a chain of bones, add a curve, add a Spline IK Constraint to the tip bone and set the number of bones in the chain to make it work. Or, try the following test file:
http://download.blender.org/ftp/incoming/250_splineik_spine01.blend
Screenshots of this in action (as proof):
http://download.blender.org/ftp/incoming/b250_splineik_001_before.pnghttp://download.blender.org/ftp/incoming/b250_splineik_001_after.png
I've implemented this in a similar way to how standard IK solvers are done. However, this code is currently not an IK plugin, since I imagine that it would be useful to be able to combine the 2 types of IK. This can be easily changed though :)
Finally, a few notes on what to expect still:
* Constraint blending currently doesn't affect this. Getting that to work correctly will take a bit more work still.
* Options for not affecting the root joint (to make it easier to attach the chain to a stump or whatever), and non-uniform scaling options have yet to be added. I've marked the places where they can be added though
* Control over the twisting of the chain still needs investigation.
Have fun!
2068eaf1b7
