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Show Tangents 559
Show Tangents
T rack View > Curve Editor > Curves: T rack View Toolbar >
Show Tang ents button
Show Tangents lets you view adjust the tangents of
high lighted vertices in Curve Editor.
Custom Tan gent
You can assign the Custom Tangent type to any
controller that displays keys on a curve. Highlight
the key on the curve and then click the Set Tangents
To Custom icon on the Key Tangents: Track View
toolbar to display the handle controls.
The tangent handles can be either continuous or
discontinuous. To make a handle discontinuous,
hold down the SHIFT key when you move it.
• Continuous handles behave like a single lever
with its pivot point at the key location. Moving
either end of the handle also moves the opposite
end, maintaining the continuity of the tangent.
The function curve, and the animation it
represents, moves smoothly through a key w ith
continuous tangent handles.
• Discontinuous handles behave like leaves on a
hinge, with the hinge pin at the key location.
Each end moves independently of the other.
To convert a discontinuous tangent to a continuous
tangent, change the tangent t ype from Custom
to Smooth and then back to Custom again. This
technique is performed at the key level and can
affect unselected ver tices if they belong to the same
key as one of the selected vertices.
Horizontal B ezier Ha ndle Control
When using the Custom Tangent type, a tangent
handle can be moved horizontally in length
away from its keyframe to affect the shape of
the func tion curve. This affects the amount of
influence the keyframe has over the interp olation
between keyframes.
This feature can b e used to aid in the slow-in
and slow-out workflow of traditional animation.
For example, suppose you’re animating a ball
bouncingupanddownontheworld’sZaxis.On
frame1,theballisontheground;onframe8,
the ball is in the air; on frame 16 the ball is back
on the ground. You could adjust the tangents for
frame 8 s o that their length pulls more of the curve
towards its keyframe and away from the keyframes
on frame 1 and 16. When rendered, the ball wi ll be
morevisibleonscreennearthetopofitsbounce
and blurrier near the points where it touches the
ground.
Procedures
To assign a Custom tangent type:
1.
Open the Curve Editor.
2. In the Hierarchy list, highlight a t rack that uses
anycontrollerthatdisplayskeysonthecurve.
3. Highlight one or more keys on the curve.
4. On the Key Tangents: Track View
toolbar, click S et Tangents to Custom .
The handles are now all Custom and available
for editing.
Tip: If a highlighted key has Auto Tangency
set, you can just move its handle to instantly
convert the key to Custom. For selections of
multiple keys, choose Lock Tangents, then
move any handle to convert all the keys to
Custom tangency.
To edit t he horiz ontal l ength of a B ez ier ha ndl e:
1.
Assign a Custom Tangent type to the k ey you
want to edit on the f unct ion curve, or hig hlight
a key that already has one.