Chain Crafter Documentation

The Chain Crafter generates procedural chains with control handles. These control handles can be used to freely position, rotate or animate the chains. Add or remove chain controls and adjust their shape and size as needed. The add-on features a custom duplicate operator to copy selected chains with all control handles.
Each chain may consist of up to three different link segments, a start link and an end link as well as an attachment (e.g. a pendant). Each segment, its length, link type and scale as well as other properties can be easily adjusted in the chain's node modifier.

Installation

Open up the Preferences window and select add-ons. In the upper right corner of the window click on the arrow and choose install from disk.... In the file browser which opens, navigate to the rm3d_chain_crafter.zip file, select it and cofirm to Install from Disk. There is no need to unpack the zip file.

After installation you can view a list of available hotkeys and set-up the following preferences:

• Controls Tilt Step

Influences the rotation speed of chain controls. Lower values offer a subtler control but decrease the speed of the chain tilt. Default vlaue is 0.2

• Controls Default Size

Sets the default size of the chain controls. Default value is 0.1

• Controls Default Shape

Sets the default shape of the chain controls.

• Controls In Front

Sets the default display overlay of chain controls.

Asset Library

After successfully installing the add-on you will have access to a new asset library in your Asset Browser named CC Assets with 50 chain links,25 chain clasps that are bundled with Chain Crafter.

Chain Components

Chain Curves
The chain curve is the main object which has the chain modifier applied to it.

Chain Controls
The controls modify the chain curve's shape. You can add or remove controls as needed as well as change their appearance. Controls can also be animated.

Main Control
Each chain curve and its controls are parented to a main control. Use this specific object to move and rotate the chain with all its controls. The chain curve itself can't be transformed and its movement has been locked.

Side Panel ( N-Panel )

Create Chains

Preset
Select a preset which can be applied to the currently selected chains or used for the next one you create. You can always modify the parameters in the chain's node modifier.

Draw Chain
Draw a chain with the curve drawing tool or any other spline editing tool. Finish the drawing mode with Right Mouse or by hitting Enter. The chain controls will be automatically applied to the new chain. You can also cancel the chain drawing mode with Escape.

Curve To Chain
Convert one or more curves to chains using the selected preset.

Connecting Chain
Create a chain between two selected objects. The end controls of this chain will be connected to the first and last selected object respectivelly.

Manage Chains

Edit Chain
Open the modifier tab to edit the Chain Crafter's node modifier parameters.

Duplicate Chains | Ctrl + Alt + D
Create copies of the selected chains with all their components. The feature works similar to Blender's native duplicate operator. After initialising the command move the chains to a desired location. While moving the copies you can zoom in and out with the Mousewheel, rotate the viewport with Alt + Left Mouse and pan with Alt + Middle Mouse. Confirm the new location of the duplicated chains with Left Mouse or Enter. Press Right Mouse to return to the initial position.

Delete Chains | Ctrl + Alt + Backspace
Delete selected chains and their components. This command won't delete the curves, so you can recreate the chains with the Curve to Chain command.

Hide Chains | Shift + Alt + H
Hides all selected chains and their components.

Unhide Chains | Shift + Alt + U
Unhides all currently hidden chains in the scene.

Chain Name

Rename
Rename all selected chains and their components with the name specified in the text field. A sequential number will be automatically appended to the name, so there's no need for adding it manually. Also the name specified will be used as the preferred name for new chains.

Chain Controls

Select All
Select all controls of the selected chains.

Select Main
Select the main controls of the selected chains.

Cycle Controls | Pgup / Pgdn
Cycle through all controls of the currently active chain.

Tilt Controls | Ctrl + Alt + Mousewheel
Tilt the chain at selected chain controls.

Add Controls | Shift + Alt + Ins
Add new control handles inbetween two or more selected chain controls. You can select controls from multiple chains but the controls need to be selected in a sequential manner.
Note:
If you select three controls in a row, you'll get two new controls.

Remove Controls | Shift + Alt + Del
Remove selected chain controls.
Note:
Technically you can delete all chain controls in a chain but this will result in an empty curve object.

Save Chain
Save the current shape of the selected chain(s). This information will be saved with the blend file. A default shape is automatically stored after generating a new chain.
Note:
Saving the default shape doesn't include the location and rotation of the main control.

Load Chain
Load the default shape of the selected chain(s). When loading without having previously saved a default shape the chain will revert to its original form as it was created.

Add Chain Key | Ctrl + Alt + Numpad Plus
Add keyframes to all chain controls of selected chains at the current time. This command will also replace existing keyframes.

Remove Chain Key | Ctrl + Alt + Numpad Minus
Remove keyframes from all chain controls of the selected chains if keys exist at the current time.

Properties

Size
Set the size of the chain controls for the selected chains.

Shape
Set chain controls shape for the selected chains.

Visible
Show or hide controls of the selected chains.

In Front
Display controls of selected chains in front of other objects.

Main Size
Set the size of the main controls for the selected chains.

Main Visible
Show or hide the main controls of the selected chains.

Tools

Update Controls
Updates the chain controls for all selected chains. This is particularly usefull if you have added a new spline to an already existing chain or accidentally deleted some of the chain controls.

Extract Mesh
Creates a mesh snapshot of each selected chain in its current state. The chain itself won't be altered. This can be usefull i.e. to create meshes for shape keys or generate static models for a game engine. Extracted meshes will be placed into the CC_Extraced collection.

Apply Auto-Count
Calculates and applies a fixed number of links per chain segment to fill the curve. Disables Auto-Count. Useful for animating chains to prevent links from being added or removed when modifying the shape of the chain.

Chain's Modifier Parameters

The Chain Crafter nodes modifier features a set of parameters to modifiy each chain individually.

Parameter	Definition
Global Tilt	Sets the global tilt of all chain links.
Global Align	Sets the global alignment of all chain links along the curve.
Auto-Count	Automatically calculates the amount of links needed to fit the curve or segment. This parameter is enabled by default.
Link #	Sets the link object for a chain segment. There can be three chain segments in total.
Link # Secondary	Sets an optional secondary link for a chain segment which will be interchanged with the main link every other time.
Link # Interval	Sets the distance between two links. If the value is 0 the interval will be calculated based on the bounding box of the chain link.
Link # Count	Sets the number of links per segment manually. This parameter only works if auto-count is disabled.
Link # Scale	Sets the size of the chain links per segment. This value doesn't influence the interval parameter.
Link # Tilt	Adjusts the tilt of links per segment.
Link # Clip Start	Sets the start of a segment.
Link # Clip End	Sets the end of a segment.
Link # Rotate Every 2nd	Rotates every other chain link 90 degrees in the segment.
Start Link	Places a link at the start of the chain.
Start Link Scale	Sets the size of the start link.
Start Link Rotation (XYZ)	Roatets the start link individually.
End Link	Places a link at the end of a chain.
End Link Scale	Sets the size of the end link.
End Link Rotation (XYZ)	Rotates the end link individually.
Show Pendant	Shows or hides the attachment.
Pendant	Attaches an object to the chain.
Pendant Scale	Sets the size of the attachment
Pendant Position	Sets the position of the attachment along the chain.
Pendant Rotation (XYZ)	Rotates the attachment individually.
Pendant Offset (UV)	Moves the attachment relative to the location of the chain.
Override Material X	Override materials for each chain link individually as well as the start and the end link.
Material X	Assign an override material.

Have fun with Chain Crafter.