New Glossary Listing: Inverse Kinematics

With talk of Flash CS4 and its new features, including inverse kinematics, I've had a few people write in to ask me what inverse kinematics actually is and how it affects animation. It sounds like a term taken from a science fiction book; the science part, at least, is right. Inverse kinematics applies physics to animation - and simplifies the process of animating realistic movement.