Gimbal Lock - Solution?

[Mooshim 2k]

As most of us know, the gimbal lock can be a real pain.

By making one thing 90 degrees, you completely destroy on axis for rotation.

 

It's not 100% effective, but I'm sure this method could really help!

As you can see by these pictures, my method is quite effective. I haven't played around with it a whole lot, but I will include the file so you can test.

It adds a fourth axis into the mix (actually a 6th).

This makes it so that you can rotate the main object however you like, and then use the secondary axis.

If you're not careful in the way you use it, it can become extremely complicated. So always keep note of which object you are using for which rotation.

 

My little testing lab:

The first image shows just the object, with no rotation.

The second image shows a 90 degree rotation on the x axis.

The third and final image shows what would have been two merged axis making it impossible with just 3 rotation. By adding an extra rotation, you can make this possible.

 

Like Überkiller said, this does not fix the gimbal lock problem, it only slows it down. It probably wont be possible to prevent it entirely, but this makes it slightly more flexible. - Just keep adding more parents the more twists and turns you want to do!

 

Download the .mani .mproj* to experiment and prove me wrong!

Adf.ly

Not adf.ly

 

(Bear in mind, if you rotate it too much, it will have the same problem as the original gimbal lock. If you are going to rotate both axis more than 90 degrees, it would probably have the same effect)

 

*I'm an old man

Edited March 28, 2015 by Mooshim

[Cryotivity 2.9k]

Theres another solution ive found on my own. Basicly just parent the main object to a folder  and fix the rotation then you can use the folders rotations and the originals. (Good way to get multiple rotations for an object aswell)

 

Hope I helped.

[ÜberKiller 7.5k]

I was thinking about this. An anti-gimbal axis. However the issue lies in that it only temporarily fixes the issue until you get original gimbal lock, yet only with a different axis.

So then I thought, why not make every axis have anti-gimbal axis? Then I realized that wouldn't work if gimbal was triggered 4 times. Then I'm down to the original problem.

 

The issue with this solution is that it doesn't solve the problem, it only postpones it. You may wonder how gimbal could be triggered 4 times in a row, but you never know. Animation can get crazy and there need not be a reason to justify that, I guess. My example would be a crashing vehicle. It tumbles in all directions and bumps into various things. I would at least expect gimbal to be triggered twice.

 

Nevertheless, you should probably figure out how to make it applicable for real rigs and such. I would say make it a gray circle, which would probably work.

[Cryotivity 2.9k]

>tfw that's what it is.

 

but im glad to see that more people actually know HOW to fix it

Oh. I didnt download the mproj file i was just trying to give an alternative