Legacy Documentation: Version 4.6
Language: English
Character Controller
Configurable Joint

Character Joint

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Character Joints are mainly used for Ragdoll effects. They are an extended ball-socket joint which allows you to limit the joint on each axis.

If you just want to set up a ragdoll read about Ragdoll Wizard.

Properties

Property: Function:
Connected Body Optional reference to the Rigidbody that the joint is dependent upon. If not set, the joint connects to the world.
Anchor The point in the GameObject’s local space where the joint rotates around.
Axis The twist axes. Visualized with the orange gizmo cone.
Swing Axis The swing axis. Visualized with the green gizmo cone.
Low Twist Limit The lower limit of the joint.
High Twist Limit The higher limit of the joint.
Swing 1 Limit Lower limit around the defined Swing Axis
Swing 2 Limit Upper limit around the defined Swing Axis
Break Force The force that needs to be applied for this joint to break.
Break Torque The torque that needs to be applied for this joint to break.
Enable Collision When checked, this enables collisions between bodies connected with a joint.
The Character Joint on a Ragdoll
The Character Joint on a Ragdoll

Details

Character joints give you a lot of possibilities for constraining motion like with a universal joint.

The twist axis (visualized with the orange gizmo) gives you most control over the limits as you can specify a lower and upper limit in degrees (the limit angle is measured relative to the starting position). A value of –30 in Low Twist Limit->Limit and 60 in High Twist Limit->Limit limits the rotation around the twist axis (orange gizmo) between –30 and 60 degrees.

The Swing 1 Limit limits the rotation around the swing axis (green axis). The limit angle is symmetric. Thus a value of eg. 30 will limit the rotation between –30 and 30.

The Swing 2 Limit axis doesn’t have a gizmo but the axis is orthogonal to the 2 other axes. Just like the previous axis the limit is symmetric, thus a value of eg. 40 will limit the rotation around that axis between –40 and 40 degrees.

Breaking joints

You can use the Break Force and Break Torque properties to set limits for the joint’s strength. If these are less than infinity, and a force/torque greater than these limits are applied to the object, its Fixed Joint will be destroyed and will no longer be confined by its restraints.

Hints

  • You do not need to assign a Connected Body to your joint for it to work.
  • Character Joints require your object to have a Rigidbody attached.
Character Controller
Configurable Joint
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