Graph editor, what the damn is it?
It's me again, Well, while i am l learning animation fro Digital tutors. I first watch these tutorials, then do by myself, then again, and then will practice some animation with ball.
The only thing i don't understand is graph editors with the curves or tangents, or whatever they are called.
Most videos i am watching now, the author use graph editor, click somewhere, and then animation looks better, maybe.
But i don't get it, how to know where to fix, which curve to fix. Like if i have animation in all channels, Translate, Rotate, scale X/Y and Z, how to know which one to fix it, or dunno how to ask, but i hope you understand.
Anywhere i can learn w about this, in more detail, about graph editors and tangents?
The only thing i don't understand is graph editors with the curves or tangents, or whatever they are called.
Most videos i am watching now, the author use graph editor, click somewhere, and then animation looks better, maybe.
But i don't get it, how to know where to fix, which curve to fix. Like if i have animation in all channels, Translate, Rotate, scale X/Y and Z, how to know which one to fix it, or dunno how to ask, but i hope you understand.
Anywhere i can learn w about this, in more detail, about graph editors and tangents?
Replies
another ex:
you have 2 keys, one at 1, one at 60.
your object travels from 0,0,0 to 100,0,0
at frame 30, the object should be at 50,0,0 when using linear interpolation
you can edit the handles so the object is at 80,0,0 at frame 30 not the best image but along these lines.... Since it is a little further along at frame 30, meaning that from 1-30 it moves faster, and 31-60 it moves slower - but still goes from 0,0,0 to 100,0,0 - just with different pacing & motion.
When looking at the graph, the Y axis handles translation, and the X axis is time. A point on the curve in that editor represents both time & space in 2d, and the relationship between spots before and after it determine how the object moves.
This is my understanding :P there are more graceful explanations im sure
some link from googling maya graph editor...
http://lesterbanks.com/2010/10/basics-and-understanding-the-maya-graph-editor/
https://www.cs.washington.edu/education/courses/458/09au/content/html/exercises/graph_editor_exercise.html
http://www.imanishi.com/mayablog_en/2008/07/maya-tutorialthe-graph-editor.html seems to have good examples and animated gifs to accompany them.
http://www.adobetutorialz.com/articles/2046/1/Understanding-the-Ease-In-Ease-Out-Graph - deals with flash, but the concept is the same, and has notes on images w/ graph examples.
If you know the 12 principles of animation, it will all make sense.
Here we are focusing on Translating the ball on one Axis only
The x-axis
Do you see the difference between the two balls?
-The top ball is traveling at a constant speed. The bottom ball isn't.
Focusing on the bottom Ball:
Notice when the curves[green] are modified by the tangent[red], the ball spends more time closer to the previous frame's location.
It's slowing-out of it's starting position. Increasing momentum to go to the other point on the graph. In the middle it travels fast, because of the limited number of frames it takes to travel that distance.
Then the ball travels slows again when it comes to the end point.. The -Slow-in.
[Kind of like a car, accelerating from a stop sign then slowing down as it comes to a stop light.]
Tangents help create one of the 12 principals of animation. Slow-outs & Slow-ins. To break up the linear feel of going from point A -> B
The graphs can be a bit overwhelming at first when you have all these attributes animated and it looks like a colorful spaghetti bowl. Just try to learn one element at a time and it'll all make sense
What do to do when i have all channels with splines? I am so lost:()
For instance, I rarely touch the graph editor... unless I'm trying get a 'micro-movement' to look correct.
Here, I`ll try to explain. So in the picture below is the translate y. Lets say its the up and down motion of a foot while it's walking. the first picture is in stepped mode.
The next picture, all I have done is hit spline. You can see in the middle at he bottom, the green line goes below the red line, which in this example is the floor. So, that means, the foot is now going to go through the floor, instead of appearing to step on a solid ground.
So, we go in and adjust the tangents so that the foot no long goes through the ground. Its just changing how the computer interprets the data between the two key frames that I already set.
So now, the foot will move down at a stead pace, hit the ground and stop moving down until it lifts up again. But, at the top of the foots movement, I have an arc. This is because the foot doesnt stop suddenly in mid air like it would if it contacts the ground.
Since walking is a cycle, the arc at the top near the end goes up, then goes down, matching the angle at which the start of the cycle is. That way, there is no weird movement when it cycles over. it continues at a constant rate.
But yes, you should definitely not be ANIMATING in the graph editor. You cant create good posing with the graph editor. If your blockout is correct, if you play it in stepped mode, it should look and feel right, but just look like it has a bad frame rate. like its laggy or something. Good posing and blockout is the key to a good animation. I spend 80% of my timing blocking out, with only the last 20% in the graph editor adjusting and fine tuning, making sure everything has that nice arc you want, and that feet arent going through the ground and stuff like that.
Well, every video am watching for beginning about animating, has suing graph editor.
Then how should i animate, from a start:D?
however, most animators start by using the translate & rotate tool in the viewport, which allows them to position their characters/objects in the current keyframe.
Typically, they start by
1-Setting their key poses for that character/object
2-Then the breakdowns
3- their Inbetweens
4-And finally going into the graph editor to 'fine tune the poses' in order to polish the timing/spacing.
It's a traditional method, but if you're onto something new that seems to be working for those animators. Then by all means, pay no attention to the above.