9

Working with Euler Curves on Biped Animation 917
Note:
Keys set to Join to Prev IK Key (page 2–900)
are locked in value until the next un-joined key.
Tip: The Workbench and Curve Editor are
synchronized so changing the curve display from
the Workbench toolbar (page 2–1012) also updates
the display f rom the Curve Editor, as well as
activat e the corresponding tool from the Biped
Toolbar (page 2–535).
Curv e Conver sion Between Qua ter nion
and Euler
When an animation converts from one controller
to the other, its integrity is maintained as much
as possible. This means that despite variations in
key interpolat ion results, the keyframed poses are
preserved.
IfyouconvertaquaternionrotationcurvetoEuler,
the resulti ng t angent keys are set to Smooth . If,
on the other hand, you switch an Euler rota tion
curve to quaternion, the bezier interpolation from
the tangents is maintained as much as possible.
However, if that interpolation is too extreme and
can not be matched by TCB values, it is then
reduced to fit under quaternion limits.
Extreme tangents on a Euler rotation curve
Using Euler animations with Layers,
Motion M ixer, and M otion Flow
Both Euler tangents and quaternion TCB data
are stored in each keyframe. Therefore, even
if you are using the Euler XYZ controller, you
can sti ll change the profile of your curves using
quaternion/TCB control values (on the Key Info
rollout (page 2–954)).
IfyouaddanewlayertoanEulercontrolled
biped part, that layer is converted into quaternion
until it is collapsed back with the original layer.
On collapse, the curve changes back into Euler
followingthesameconversionrulesstatedearlier.
When clips containing Euler animations are
brought into the Motion Mixer, Euler tangents
are preserved in the blending process. However,
once they are mixed together in a mixdown
(page 3–973) ,theresultinganimationbecomes
quaternion.
Tip: When creating a mixdown, you can preserve
your Euler tangents by turning on A Key frame
Per Frame in the Mixer Preferences dialog (page
2–624).
MotionFlowfollowsthesamerulesastheMotion
Mixer . If clips brought into Motion Flow contain
Euleranimations,theirtangentsarepreserved.
However, creating an unified motion results in a
quaternion animation.
Tip: Euler tangents can be preserved w hen creating
a unified motion by turning on A Keyframe Per
Frame in the Unify Options dialog (by clicking
CreateUnifiedMotionintheMotion Flow Scripts
Group (page 2–1048)).