Setting the preferred angle

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Before we move on. That is another important step to take,

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select the root joint

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and go to skeleton set preferred angle.

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You can also access this through the marking menu. If you right click on a joint,

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this will set the preferred angle for the current joint and all its Children.

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So selecting the route means it's applied to the whole skeleton.

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So why is this important?

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Well, it's mainly used to help dictate how your joints will bend.

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When you add IK later in the workshop,

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you see, because we added a slight bend into the elbow

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maya now knows that this is the preferred way this joint should bend.

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If you don't use set preferred angle,

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you might find that once you add IK and also a pole vector,

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the elbow bends in completely the wrong way.

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It also helps with the legs too.

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So it seems like a small thing, but it's important and will save headaches later on.