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Basically, I've got this mechanical mesh I'm making where I need a lid to hinge down to cover the top of a cylinder-ish shape.

http://imgur.com/a/X6KfV

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This hinge is rigged to the lid. It rotates from a 45 degree tilt to a 90 degree tilt as the lid closes from a 90 degree tilt to a 0 degree one.

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See? The bottom part of the hinge extends through the bottom of the mesh. Do you guys know a quick fix?

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When I try to make this hinged lid shut, part of the hinge sticks out of the bottom of the mesh. What would you guys recommend I do? If I flat-out shorten the bottom of the hinge arm, then it won't connect correctly and would look like it's floating. If I keep it like it is, the hinge can be seen poking through the bottom. What should I do?

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2 Answers 2

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You can consider using a Shape Key. The wiki page explains it better than me: https://www.blender.org/manual/animation/techs/shape/shape_keys.html

The basic idea, though, is that you can animate the vertices directly. In this case, you make a shape key that goes from base-shape to a "retracted" shape. Then you add two keyframes, one of it in its base position when it's open, and one of it in its retracted form when closed.

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  • $\begingroup$ I tried using shape keys, but I can't get it to animate. I made a shape key where the bars were shorter so they didn't go through the bottom of the mesh for a rest shape key, and then set the value to 1 for frame 0 and created a keyframe. I then went to frame 70 (end of animation), set the value to 0, and created a keyframe. Then, I created another shape key that was the longer bar, set the value to 0, created a keyframe at frame 0, then went to frame 70 and set the value to 1. And created a keyframe. But nothing happens. I don't know why the object isn't deforming like it's supposed to. $\endgroup$
    – Sanix25
    Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ Are you setting a Shape Key keyframe? You have to press "i" while your mouse is over the value that you're setting, like so: i.imgur.com/9coaLwq.png Your mouse has to be hovering over that "Value: ___" bar. When done correctly, it should be yellow when on a keyframe, and green otherwise. $\endgroup$
    – Nghillaz
    Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 20:53
  • $\begingroup$ I know how to do it. I've done all that, followed tutorials word-for-word, but it doesn't work. I asked a question on stack exchange: blender.stackexchange.com/questions/40472/… $\endgroup$
    – Sanix25
    Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 22:41
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, so I downloaded the .blend from that question, deleted the Shape Key, and redid it. Your process must be wrong, because it works perfectly for me. Here's the working file, hopefully i'm understanding the effect you're going for: pasteall.org/blend/38764 $\endgroup$
    – Nghillaz
    Commented Oct 24, 2015 at 3:10
  • $\begingroup$ I deleted the shape key and re-did it... and it worked. I can't believe I didn't try it first. $\endgroup$
    – Sanix25
    Commented Oct 26, 2015 at 2:44
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Add a stretch to constraint to the bone that deforms the connecting rod. In the constraint settings you will also want to set volume variation to 0.0 so that the connector doesn't shrink as it gets stretched.

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