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I have 6 pistons set up in a circle which are split into 2 objects: the piston and the rod. Both are parented to individual plain empties, which have Damped Track constraints applied that point to the other. These empties are then parented to cylindrical mounts.

Screenshot of the piston circle array

Moving the smaller of the mounts displays the desired results in terms of tracking the other empty, but the piston rods are misaligned and don't correctly target the other empty. The right mount is raised

When moving the larger mount, the pistons move correctly but the rods start to jitter about and move incorrectly without tracking. This is odd as the larger piston works correctly but the rods are misbehaving. Is there something I'm overlooking that's causing this issue?

Raising the left mount

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1 Answer 1

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You have Damped Track constraints pointing at each other. This results in Dependency cycles that Blender cannot solve. See in system console.

enter image description here

One solution is:

  • Remove all Damped Track constraints from Empties
  • Add Damped Track constraints to mesh objects pointing to the opposite Empty

enter image description here

Should work now

enter image description here

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