restricted bone movement

[jister]

hey, my head is spinning from all the IK, links, centering pivots, and what not if all tried to get this to work... i know it should be quite simple to achieve but i can't see the forest through the trees anymore...

so, How do i restrict bone movement to one axis?

i got the robot using the mechanical system in the pic. what i would like is a rig that works within the rotation restrictions.

[Wunderboy]

Do you mean through a linked chain when animating or just when working interactively?

I would suggest you look in the 3DS Max User Reference under "Sliding and Rotational Joints" which will explain how to deactivate/limit a joint rotation. Keep in mind it only really works for linked objects.

As for a stand alone solution, select your object, go to the hierarchy tab, look under Link Info and apply a lock to the rotation axis you want to disable.