New Interpolations

[Hoptoad]

Presently, the Ease In interpolation also eases out and the Ease Out also eases in.

I would like Ease In and Ease Out to be improved. Ease In should never ease out, and Ease Out should never ease in, in my opinion.

Both of these interpolations, if improved, would coordinate well with a Linear keyframe.

For example, "New and Improved EASE IN" could be used to accelerate a ball as it rolled downhill, and after its peak speed was achieved, a Linear keyframe could be employed to continue its steady movement.

Presently, the simple act of making a ball roll down a hill -- in which it accelerates until reaching a consistent speed -- is a pain in the neck. The keyframe interpolations are ill-suited for such a simple task.

In summation, Ease In should ONLY ease in, and Ease Out should ONLY ease out. That's what the name sounds like it should do, after all.

If a person want both eases, they can use Ease IN and Ease Out keyframes in succession, or use Ease In/Ease Out or Smooth.

Thanks.

PS: Bezier took too long to figure out for my rolling ball, so I just made a dozen or so linear keyframes. So maybe make Bezier easier, too.

Keep up the good work!

[MrMiracle77]

"Accelerate" with a user-set speed cap, and "Decelerate" from a user-set initial speed would be quick compared to Bezzy handles.

[synthsin75]

Personally, I find it pretty easy to just make any custom interpolation using multiple keyframes. For example, I'd do an accelerating motions like this.
I'd keyframe the start and end of the motion, but over a very short number of frames. I'd double-click the channel to add keyframes inbetween, evenly spaced. I'd select all those, and alt-drag them to the desired length of frames. Then I'd adjust the spacing from larger to shorter, using smooth interpolation, because I want a smooth motion curve for acceleration. Then the next to last keyframe would be set to linear, with the same frame gap to the next as the last, to maintain the top speed. Then fine tune the motion curve a little. Done.

[Hoptoad]

Personally, I find it pretty easy to just make any custom interpolation using multiple keyframes. For example, I'd do an accelerating motions like this.
I'd keyframe the start and end of the motion, but over a very short number of frames. I'd double-click the channel to add keyframes inbetween, evenly spaced. I'd select all those, and alt-drag them to the desired length of frames. Then I'd adjust the spacing from larger to shorter, using smooth interpolation, because I want a smooth motion curve for acceleration. Then the next to last keyframe would be set to linear, with the same frame gap to the next as the last, to maintain the top speed. Then fine tune the motion curve a little. Done.

I just tried that method and it worked great.

But it also makes me wonder, Why does Ease In (as it presently functions) even exist? The peculiar motion seems unnatural. If a character tosses a ball from one hand to the next, would the ball slow down before it was caught?

I can imagine a lot of uses for an improved Ease In -- one that did not also ease-out. For example, a rocket taking off from a launch pad. An apple falling from a tree. A car accelerating after a stop sign.

[SimplSam]

...
it also makes me wonder, Why does Ease In (as it presently functions) even exist? The peculiar motion seems unnatural. If a character tosses a ball from one hand to the next, would the ball slow down before it was caught?
...

Ease In could be used for example where a travelling vehicle comes to a moves from start to a gentle stop. Or certain hand movements where the stop is cushioned more than the start - but even there you might want overshoot. Havin said that - I would probably head for multiple keyframes or Bezier to get the ease that I desired.

[Hoptoad]

Ease In could be used for example where a travelling vehicle comes to a moves from start to a gentle stop. Or certain hand movements where the stop is cushioned more than the start - but even there you might want overshoot. Havin said that - I would probably head for multiple keyframes or Bezier to get the ease that I desired.

Ah. I suppose various hand gestures might be another example.

In the past, every time I used Ease In, I was unhappy with the result. In most cases, it created a terrible result. . .but that was because I had forgotten that Ease In also eased out. It seemed to me (and still does) that Ease In should only ease in.

I suspect that anybody who uses Ease In is almost always making a mistake, and will remove it. Ease In interpolation is like a trap, meant to waste time until the animator deletes the key frame and uses multiple key frames instead. Whatever Ease In is trying to do, it does badly. The only answer to "How do I use Ease In?" is DON'T -- use another type of interpolation instead.

[hayasidist]

In the past, every time I used Ease In, I was unhappy with the result. In most cases, it created a terrible result. . .but that was because I had forgotten that Ease In also eased out. It seemed to me (and still does) that Ease In should only ease in.

just to try to shed some light here ... With the exception of Smooth (which I believe does take the values of both its neighbouring keys into consideration) I think the interpolation type defines the transition FROM the key in question TO the next key (not to and from the given key).

Now this is where I think the terminology is less than helpful. It might be that this is the "bug", but it's very clearly described in the manual (!): Ease In will slow the transition from the key; and Ease Out will slow the transition into the next key. (Unless, ofc, the next key is Smooth.)

so, e.g. with keys at 0, 30 and 60: you want to get straight up to speed leaving 30 and slowly arrive at the key at 60, set the key at 0 to linear; at 30 to ease out; and at 60 to linear. [and yep - I do think the use of "In" to mean "start of transition" and "Out" to mean "end of transition" is illogical.]

[SimplSam]

I am sure this will NOT help to clarify things:

The Race:
I didn't realise that they all met in the middle...


Motion Graph:
Ease Out having the same/similar profile as Smooth at the start
Ease In having the same/similar profile as Smooth at the end


The Wiggle:
All except linear were influenceable by the next (+1) Keyframe. Ease In shown.
Did not seem to matter what the last 2 KFs had as interpolation

[hayasidist]

Sam, that's actually very useful ... And - that animation -- it seems as though the last two keys are both smooth. Did you do the same with the "static" key at the 4 sec mark as some interp other than smooth??? From what I understand about "smooth" it does affect its neighbours (IOW I'd expect the smooth 4 sec key to influence the shape of the curve between the 0 and 5 sec keys) ... I'd be interested to see an equivalent of the multi-line graph (nice work putting that together btw!) with the 4 sec key as (e.g.) linear / ease in .. and the 5 sec key as smooth (maybe at the low end of its travels?)



((As an afterthought -- I can see a logical explanation of in = from and out = to as being IN to the transition curve and OUT of the transition curve.))

[Hoptoad]

just to try to shed some light here ... With the exception of Smooth (which I believe does take the values of both its neighbouring keys into consideration) I think the interpolation type defines the transition FROM the key in question TO the next key (not to and from the given key).

Thanks. Whenever I forget that fact, the timing of the animation doesn't work right and then I think, "Oh, right. I forgot about that thing again."

Sticking to linear and smooth works best for me, I've decided. They are powerful and versatile and can do nearly everything.

And cycle (of course). But that's it.

And step. I can't animate without step.

Okay, sometimes noisy is useful, too.

And the other ones.

I am sure this will NOT help to clarify things...

Thanks. That was interesting. I learned a couple things.

By the way, one trick I use to avoid an unwanted "ease out" effect of smooth interpolation is putting a keyframe maybe 24-48 frames past the end of the animation's frame duration, that way the "slowing down" doesn't happen during the renderable animation, it happens beyond the delimited barrier of time and space, or whatever you call that infinite zone of nothingness that may contain potential animation yet it doesn't render yet it somehow exists, sort of.

[Hoptoad]

I just found a use for Ease In and Ease Out: camera zooms. They work extremely well when zooming.

[hayasidist]

... beyond the delimited barrier of time and space, or whatever you call that infinite zone of nothingness that may contain potential animation yet it doesn't render yet it somehow exists, sort of.

oft-used terminology is post-roll

and it's a common technique to have a second or two (or more!) of pre-roll to "finish" the set up (e.g. particles when you've moved the layer on frame 1) - so the render starts at (say) frame 50 when everything has settled down...

[Hoptoad]

oft-used terminology is post-roll

and it's a common technique to have a second or two (or more!) of pre-roll to "finish" the set up (e.g. particles when you've moved the layer on frame 1) - so the render starts at (say) frame 50 when everything has settled down...

I'm glad to have learned the words for those things. Thanks!

[MrMiracle77]

I just found a use for Ease In and Ease Out: camera zooms. They work extremely well when zooming.

I've used 'Noisy' with low amplitude to simulate shaky-cam before.