TCB isn't that much different than dealing with the ease in/out options in the animation panel, which can be another quick way to keep from having to open the curve editor when working in Eular. There are scripts that help tweak the TCB values without having to lumber through the workbench which can seriously lag 3dsmax…
Most animators prefer working with Eueler because you can see and directly edit the f-curves. However, if a rig is careful with setting rotation order you can avoid most issues with gimbel in most circumstances. It's impossible to avoid in all situations, but you're really only going to run into it in the ball-and-socket…
Yea, really good wisdom from Wrath there. I'd especially agree about the points made about gimbal lock being a relatively rare occurance provided the rotation orders of the rig controls are set up correctly. Shoulders are the most likely case as Wrath said but it also happens a lot in the case of prop/attachment objects.…