Class Bone

Represents a single animated transform in the rigging system. Can rotate to look at targets and stretch/scale to match distances for visual representation of mechanical linkages.

Inheritance

object

Bone

Namespace: NWH.Aerodynamics

Assembly: NWH.Aerodynamics.dll

Syntax

[Serializable]
public class Bone

Remarks

Bones are used to animate control surfaces, hydraulic actuators, linkages, and other aircraft components. Common use cases:

• Control surface rotation (aileron/elevator/rudder deflection visualization)
• Landing gear struts (stretch with suspension compression)
• Hydraulic actuators (stretch/compress with surface movement)
• Cables and pushrods (stretch between attachment points) Bones update each frame to track their target transforms providing real-time visual feedback.

Fields

doubleSided

When true, positions this bone midway between targetTransform and targetTransformB. Used for symmetric components like center-mounted control surfaces or double-ended actuators.

Declaration

[Tooltip("Should the object be positioned between two points. Also affects position besides rotation.")]
public bool doubleSided

Field Value

Type	Description
bool

lookAtTarget

When true, rotates this bone to point toward targetTransform. Used to visualize control surface deflections and actuator angles.

Declaration

[Tooltip("Should the object be rotated to look at the target?")]
public bool lookAtTarget

Field Value

Type	Description
bool

stretchToTarget

When true, scales this bone along its local Z-axis to span the distance to targetTransform. Used for hydraulic rams, pushrods, and suspension struts that change length.

Declaration

[Tooltip("Should the object be stretched between pivot and target?")]
public bool stretchToTarget

Field Value

Type	Description
bool

targetTransform

Primary target transform. Bone will rotate toward this target (if lookAtTarget) and/or stretch to reach it (if stretchToTarget). For control surfaces, this is typically the control surface transform driven by input deflections.

Declaration

[Tooltip("The transform that represents the lookAtTarget and stretch target.")]
public Transform targetTransform

Field Value

Type	Description
Transform

targetTransformB

Secondary target transform used only when doubleSided is true. Bone will be positioned midway between targetTransform and targetTransformB. Used for double-acting actuators or symmetric linkages.

Declaration

[Tooltip("    Second target. Object will be stretched positioned between targetTransform and targetTransformB if doubleSided is\r\n    true.")]
public Transform targetTransformB

Field Value

Type	Description
Transform

thisTransform

The transform of this bone that will be animated. This is the visual representation (mesh, linkage, actuator) that moves to reflect aircraft state.

Declaration

[Tooltip("The transform that represents the bone.")]
public Transform thisTransform

Field Value

Type	Description
Transform

Methods

Initialize()

Initializes the bone by storing initial distance and scale. Called once during rigging setup to establish reference values for stretch calculations.

Declaration

public void Initialize()

Update(Vector3, Vector3)

Updates the bone's position, rotation, and scale based on current target positions. Called each frame by the Rigging system to animate the bone.

Declaration

public void Update(Vector3 forward, Vector3 up)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Vector3	forward	Aircraft forward direction for reference frame (currently unused)
Vector3	up	Aircraft up direction used as rotation axis when looking at target