default f-curve?

default f-curve?

Was wondering if there was a way to set the default F-curve to linear, (or anything), or at least stop it from changing every time I make a new one?
All new keyframes automatically seem to be in a certain f-curve (soft maybe? it doesn't say which one it is) which seems to have a recoil / swivel on either side ... I keep having to set them manually to linear every time (or whichever one I prefer) .. and if I edit the keyframe, it always switches back to 'soft' (or whichever one is the default). But I can't figure out how to change the default! it's insanely tedious because they keep reverting back to the one I don't want, it basically makes using any other kind of f-curve impossible, as I have to keep setting it every time, and re-setting any time I edit anything... any ideas? Thanks!
 
+1

When I'm adding additional key frames to fine tune an animation what I generally want is for it to be linear, not smooth. Smooth is good for the initial animation but not for in-between points.

Also it could be helpful at times to quickly know what key frame interpolation has been set, maybe a tool tip when hovering over or clicking the curve point?
 
+1

When I'm adding additional key frames to fine tune an animation what I generally want is for it to be linear, not smooth. Smooth is good for the initial animation but not for in-between points.

Also it could be helpful at times to quickly know what key frame interpolation has been set, maybe a tool tip when hovering over or clicking the curve point?

I agree with this. I'd like all new points to be linear as I do a lot of mechanical type animations. Even better would be a preference to pick which one you want. I also agree that it would be nice to have some type of visual reference as to which one was set. Maybe a different colored point for each. Of course the one with bezier handles are easy to spot.
 
* The default is smooth tangents. The assumption being that in many applications of animation the movement (or whatever) should be smooth and gradual, which seems intuitively correct.
* And yep: I am perfectly aware that smooth transitions are not particularly useful in engineering (and many physics) models.

* As to tweaking an F-curve:
* Area select (= cmd+A) all key-framed points (or select the ones to be modified) and set the tangent to linear or whatever. The selection will be updated, the unselected set will be ignored. Not exactly what I would call “tedious”.
* Editing a keyframe resets the tangent mode to smooth if you re-record the frame. I agrgree that this is undesirable and should be added to the V7 bug list. However, if you edit the control point in the F-curve panel, the tangent mode is maintained. The latter is not always an option if you need precision.

* If this is an important point in your workflow, add it to the wish list / bug list for the Good Doctor.
 
* The default is smooth tangents. The assumption being that in many applications of animation the movement (or whatever) should be smooth and gradual, which seems intuitively correct.
* And yep: I am perfectly aware that smooth transitions are not particularly useful in engineering (and many physics) models.

* As to tweaking an F-curve:
* Area select (= cmd+A) all key-framed points (or select the ones to be modified) and set the tangent to linear or whatever. The selection will be updated, the unselected set will be ignored. Not exactly what I would call “tedious”.
* Editing a keyframe resets the tangent mode to smooth if you re-record the frame. I agrgree that this is undesirable and should be added to the V7 bug list. However, if you edit the control point in the F-curve panel, the tangent mode is maintained. The latter is not always an option if you need precision.

* If this is an important point in your workflow, add it to the wish list / bug list for the Good Doctor.

Ok cool. Select all and change is what I have been doing. But is there any way to not have to keep making that change every time you record a new keyframe? Looking closely at your explanation and I am not sure I am seeing it....
I am willing to learn whatever way is fastest. just looking for any fast way to use linears .... as it is now, I do have to change it any time I record a new frame -- which would be fine with me if it were a simple key stroke, but it seems to be a right click and a double menu, for every keyframe you record ... maybe I am missing something, or perhaps greedy for speed, but recording keyframes is kind of the backbone of my work ...

Also I would be more willing to settle for "smooth" if it didn't go backwards before the movement ..... perhaps I am missing something here too,
I am all for smoothing, but it looks like the default setting tends to make the movement actually go in reverse on either side of the movement. (the one called 'flat' would be more what I would expect for smoothing, but either way that one's not the default so you would still have to re-set that one every time if you wanted to use it)

probably just me being impossible. but i am really just looking for a fast way to use a lot of linears, ... the way I am doing it now (changing it each time, via right click and menu) every time I record a new key frame really is troublesome, .. not so much so if I could do it in a keystroke or 2 ...
again, I am pretty impossible, and greedy for speed.
just thought I would check in to see if you could set the default anywhere.
Thanks again.
 
No, I don't think there is a way to change the default behavior on that. I do exactly what Helmut has described. Select all and then right click to change all the behavior at once. It's not especially cumbersome, but it would be nice to have more control over the options.
 
* I agree that the re-entrant moves in smooth F-curves are a PITA. I certainly regard this to be an irritable bug.
* It has been suggested repeatedly by a few 3D modellers that the entire F-curves / key-editor / animation GUI needs a fundamental redesign.

* Bear in mind that this is the work of a single dedicated SW engineer. The Good Doctor runs his own show and adheres to his own rules. Despite the occasional hassles and idiosyncrasies I highly respect the man and his product.

Servus from Vienna
 
* I agree that the re-entrant moves in smooth F-curves are a PITA. I certainly regard this to be an irritable bug.
* It has been suggested repeatedly by a few 3D modellers that the entire F-curves / key-editor / animation GUI needs a fundamental redesign.

* Bear in mind that this is the work of a single dedicated SW engineer. The Good Doctor runs his own show and adheres to his own rules. Despite the occasional hassles and idiosyncrasies I highly respect the man and his product.

Servus from Vienna

me too!! the program has been a dream so far.
thanks again helmut for the tips and dedication
 
Hey folks,

I'm re-visiting this again after a few years, because I still never figured out how to deal with this. And now that I'm doing character animations and things with more keyframes simultaneously, it's really becoming an even greater conundrum. Is this possibly scriptable?

The issue is 2 fold. First of all, I just want all linear keyframes (mostly) just because I like dealing with that better, I have my own way of making it look cool. But the way the program works, ALL new keyframes will be the "smooth" setting. If you don't want that you have to change them only after they are recorded. Now you might say I should "just select all and change them", but then if you add more after that you have to change those too. Also, this is where the issue gets worse, if I'm animating a character, there's like 16 heirarchical keyframes that get recorded, and as far as I can tell there's no way to change those to linear all in one shot. You'd have to go to each item and pull out the menu 16 times just to fix one moment.
Also, you may say, 'why don't you like the 'smooth' option'?

I can provide demonstrations if needed, but it has a tendency to make things go backwards before the movement. And from what I can tell, it's impossible for anything to ever stay still if you're using the smooth setting. For example, if you have something move and then stop, stay there for awhile, and then move again, the smooth setting will cause it to do a long gradual dip throughout the part where it's supposed to stay still. Unless you edit keyframes to linear after the fact. (this is what i did for the entirety of the "history of the entire world, i guess" video, which was mildly tolerable because I was only animating 2 objects, but still drove me insane) Looking for a way for them to be linear when they are recorded, not having to change them all afterwards. Or, possibly, and this would help slightly, if there were a way to change them all in one shot across multiple objects, like if a character has 12 joints keyframed at 1 time, a way to change all of those back to linear in one shot.
Every time I google this issue I am taken right back to my own post (this post), and I am perplexed as to why other people are not as troubled by this issue. Using the smooth mode all the time just gives so much unreasonable looking motion, and it's impossible to make anything ever stay still. And using linear requires constantly babysitting the keyframes, because every time you make a new one, it's defaulted to smooth. Luckily I use "cmd-? ta li" which is kind of like a poor man's keyboard shortcut (via the help menu) for something without a keyboard shortcut, but still, having to do it every time is getting insane, which again might be halfway tolerable except now with character animations, having to crawl around and fix it each time for the knee, the arm, the leg, ............. I really don't know what I'm going to do about this one.

I suspect someone may tell me again that I shouldn't be bothered by this, but I'm willing to stick with this until I can understand whether there is actually something that I've missed here. Willing to look into scripting solutions, if I can figure out how.

Thank you so much to anyone who can shed some light on this.

Bill
 
We should be able to choose which f-curve tangent is applied before keyframing, I agree.
Is this on the wish list?
 
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