Cycle stop keyframe identical to first

Wondering how to accomplish a certain animation task? Ask here.

Moderators: Víctor Paredes, Belgarath, slowtiger

Post Reply
User avatar
andrewjs
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:01 am
Contact:

Cycle stop keyframe identical to first

Post by andrewjs »

Hi,

I have created a simple cube, and am rotating it continuously, on a cycle setting at the last keyframe.

I would like to know how you can easily make sure that the cube's ending position at the last cycle keyframe is identical to the first keyframe, so it cycles smoothly. I tried the Reset feature like in the tutorial, but that would "rewind" the cube before starting it over again. Any help appreciated.

Andrew
User avatar
madrobot
Posts: 667
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:07 pm

Post by madrobot »

Maybe I'm not understanding the full picture,
but there's 2 things that come to mind.

- You want to cycle for example from the last frame back to the 2nd frame,
where the first and last frame are the same. (Or delete the last frame and
cycle back to frame 1, whatever.

- Check the forum for cycle issues in AS6. (And AS5.6, apparently
there are different issues in each, and a patch for AS6 in the pipeline.)
User avatar
andrewjs
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:01 am
Contact:

Post by andrewjs »

I'm using 5.6 The cycle works fine, I'm just wondering if there is any tip or advice on how to quickly, when creating the cycle, make sure that the positioning of the animated components, whether it be translation, bones, etc, at the end of the cycle is the same as at the first. If you're off by just a little bit, the cycle has a jerk at the end.
User avatar
Víctor Paredes
Site Admin
Posts: 5646
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Barcelona/Chile
Contact:

Post by Víctor Paredes »

You can make a short cycle of one rotation, this will keep whatever rotating. Just set 360 degrees on the rotation value on the cycled keyframe, if the first keyframe has 0 degrees the first and the last will look the same.
User avatar
madrobot
Posts: 667
Joined: Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:07 pm

Post by madrobot »

If you want to make sure the last frame is the same as the first,
key everything on the first (layer translations as appropriate,
point motion if there is any.)
Copy and paste them to the last frame. (or vice versa)
Now they are the same.
User avatar
andrewjs
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:01 am
Contact:

Post by andrewjs »

these are both great suggestions, thank you. i'm a new user to this software and am really amazed by it.
User avatar
Mikdog
Posts: 1901
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:51 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Post by Mikdog »

Yep. Copy and paste the first keyframe to the last keyframe, and cycle.

Or, if you rotate a cube, if the first keyframe is 0 degrees rotation, after 20 frames or so enter 360 or 720 degrees rotation in the dialog box and cycle that. That will make sure the cube does a full rotation and you won't get any jerkiness in the cycle
User avatar
andrewjs
Posts: 43
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:01 am
Contact:

Post by andrewjs »

which dialog box am i entering in the rotation degrees? you could probably do this in the graph mode too i would think, but you are saying there is a place to type it in?
User avatar
Mikdog
Posts: 1901
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2005 3:51 pm
Location: South Africa
Contact:

Post by Mikdog »

I sure am saying this.

If you read the tutorials...oh, never mind.

Its at the top of the screen on the left in the main screen. rotate the object and you'll see the numbers change once you've rotated it. Also, you can mousewheel while the cursor's in the dialogue box to change values and see the results quickly.
User avatar
Víctor Paredes
Site Admin
Posts: 5646
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Barcelona/Chile
Contact:

Post by Víctor Paredes »

Mikdog wrote:Also, you can mousewheel while the cursor's in the dialogue box to change values and see the results quickly.
Or just drag the right button (an excellent feature if you have a tablet)
Post Reply