heres a little something i spent the day working on. basically its a stock standard IK FK switch, but I constrained ribbons to the setup allowing for extra deformation controls. Using this setup its possible to pull the arm geo away from the arm joint and create bendy rubber hose arms or create extreme poses in quick movements or just place the elbow where ever i want. basically its another option for more flexibility when animating.

The first video demonstrates the arm switching from IK to FK and also demonstrates a nice forearm twist made possible using a ribbon. I chose not make a blend between FK and IK because it often leads to odd deformations, instead the arms just pop into IK or FK.

the second video shows me pulling the geo away from arm and posing it into a nice arc. I then move the fk setup around and even switch to IK and the arm remains bendy.

it should be noted that the arm isn't skinned to the arm joints just broken into pieces and parented to corresponding joints along the arm.

IK FK switch: [Link to www.youtube.com]
ribbon arm: [Link to www.youtube.com]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6IVV11Wtcghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRzRYoGI8FA

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.