Refine the interval between each frame

Technical questions, etc..
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Emmanuel
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Refine the interval between each frame

Post by Emmanuel »

I am animating a camera in Modeler. It looks_at a null object. Both the camera and the null are moving.

Problem with tS6 path is that you have no accurate control over the density of the frames from either side of a keyframe node. The result is a speed difference that jerks the animation.

In the path example below, the object is moving from the left to the right. As you can see the frames at the left of the node/keyframe are getting closer to each other, while the frames at the right are more spaced apart.
When you render the animation, visually, the camera is slowing down as it approaches the node/keyframe, then it accelerates suddenly. Of course, this is an unwanted behavior. The speed should be the same before and after the keyframe, with no slow down nor acceleration.
adjust frames density along a path.jpg
My only workaround is to use a plugin called ConstantPath.txs that generates automatically new keyframes along the current path, with the same distance between each keyframes. ConstantPath erases all the keyframes though, and builds new ones. So I loose the possibility to keep the path's smooth corners...

Any other idea, someone ?
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Emmanuel
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by Emmanuel »

The key trick to avoid such situation (I mean having speed difference on either side of the keyframe), is to try to keep the same number of frames between each keyframe.

For example, if your animation is 1000 frames long and you have 4 keyframes, you should try to place the first keyframe at frame 250, the second at 500, the third at 750 and the last one at the end.

Of course this is an ideal situation that rarely occurs in the real world :|
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Emmanuel
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by Emmanuel »

It looks like Workspace animations do not suffer this acceleration/slow down issue : adding/modifying keyframes for both the camera or the null object in the Animation Editor does not affect the frames distribution. Good.

This is a Lightworks rendering scene. So the solution could be to keep the Bridge ON and render from Modeler Render_to_File options panel, choosing Workspace instead of Modeler as the source of rendering scene.

I miss the ability to see and edit the path visually in Workspace though...

I remember (several years ago), some tool made by Gord (I think), using Clinton's Workspace NURBS tool (I guess), to show/edit animation paths in Workspace (I presume). I never tested it, and couldn't find it inside the forum. Does this tool exists ? Does it actually work ?
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clintonman
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by clintonman »

Emmanuel wrote: 23 Nov 2023, 14:23 It looks like Workspace animations do not suffer this acceleration/slow down issue : adding/modifying keyframes for both the camera or the null object in the Animation Editor does not affect the frames distribution. Good.

This is a Lightworks rendering scene. So the solution could be to keep the Bridge ON and render from Modeler Render_to_File options panel, choosing Workspace instead of Modeler as the source of rendering scene.

I miss the ability to see and edit the path visually in Workspace though...

I remember (several years ago), some tool made by Gord (I think), using Clinton's Workspace NURBS tool (I guess), to show/edit animation paths in Workspace (I presume). I never tested it, and couldn't find it inside the forum. Does this tool exists ? Does it actually work ?
Found it. Its called "pathtools"

viewtopic.php?t=4870
Clinton Reese

http://clintons3d.com
stan
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by stan »

Yes the tool works. the one thing that I didn't get working was banking(on last tab). It may be very different to work with that model though.
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trueBlue
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by trueBlue »

Have you tried to adjust the Spline parameters for a given Keyframe?
Changing Tension, Continuity, and Bias to Zero equals Smooth
Spline Parameters.png
Spline Parameters.png (11.27 KiB) Viewed 1489 times
.
I am finding that using the Handles to adjust the above not very user friendly
Using the Spline Parameters is easier
Also having AutoRecord enabled can make a mess of your animation
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Emmanuel
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by Emmanuel »

Unless I am missing something, none of the Spline Parameters helps to refine the distance between frames on either side of the keyframe.
From my testing, neither Tension, Continuity or Bias affect the acceleration/deceleration issue that occurs sometimes.

How did you make it to equal smooth ?
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trueBlue
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by trueBlue »

Can you provide an example with the acceleration/deceleration issue?
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Emmanuel
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by Emmanuel »

Here is an animated cube.
I added a keyframe between keyframe 2 and keyframe 3. Adding keyframes on an existing path tends to generate acceleration/decceleration issues.
Attachments
animated cube.cob
(1.95 KiB) Downloaded 30 times
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trueBlue
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Re: Refine the interval between each frame

Post by trueBlue »

I see, thanks!
Adding keyframes on an existing path tends to generate acceleration/decceleration issues
That is the part I was missing

The only thing I could do to eliminate the acceleration was to remove the handles at the end of the acceleration and re draw the path points
I was hoping that Scene Editor's Frame Properties could be helpful, but so far I do not see any other way to remove the acceleration
Keyframe Properties.png
I will test this further, maybe Disabling AutoRecord before adding a new point might stop the tweening :idea:
Edit: I figured it out :mrgreen:

Adjusting Keyframe Time
Sometimes, in order to create a smooth function curve, it is necessary to shift the frame number of an
existing keyframe. To do this, hold down the Control key while dragging on a selected keyframe. Drag
the mouse right to advance the keyframe to its new position, and drag left to move it back. Note that this
also affects the position of the keyframe in the other two axes
Before
Before.png
.
After
After.png
.


tS76_MS_Animation.pdf
Page 26
• Tension, Bias, and Continuity: These values determine how smooth or how sharp the function
curve spline eases into or out of the specified keyframe. Note that changes in these values will
affect movement, translation, or scaling along all axes. Tension/bias/continuity can also be adjusted by double
clicking on a keyframe and using the control handles that appear (see below).
Adjusting TBC Values Visually
Right-click a keyframe and choose Curve Handles to bring up control handles that work similar to those
found in Spline Edit mode. Using these handles, you can change the shape of the curve as it enters and
exits the selected keyframe.

Changing the orientation of a handle adjusts the bias value for the selected animation parameter - in
other words, use handle direction to adjust the angle of the entry and exit trajectories for the selected keyframe.
Changing the length of the handle (by dragging the handle bar closer to or farther from the keyframe)
controls the tension value for the selected parameter. In other words, use this value to adjust how quickly
or how slowly the rate of movement, scaling, or rotation changes as frame numbers approach the selected
keyframe. Lengthening the handles means that movement, scaling, or rotation occurs at a more rapid rate
around the keyframe, while shortening the handles slows this rate.
Note: Because adjusting Tension, Bias, and Continuity values can often lead to over-dramatic variations
along other axes, it is a good idea to right-click on a keyframe to open the KF Properties panel. By clicking on
the Sharp, Smooth, or Very Smooth parameters, you can easily rectify problems that can occur
when editing TBC values.


Look Ahead Control Panel
• Bias: Determines the amount of “overshoot” when the object moves around curves.
• Tension: Determines the degree by which the object tries to follow its original orientation.
• Bank: When enabled, the animated object “leans” into curves in the motion path. The bank
amount can be specified numerically by degrees
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