Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
frame 75, the actor moves from the midpoint of the 3D window to 4 Blender units along
the x -axis. From frame 75 to frame 250, the actor remains displaced from the midpoint by
4 Blender units. This is the movement observed when we play the animation. If you now
open the eyeball for any one of the “Scale” channels in the dope sheet, you will see a yellow,
turquoise, or purple line representing the fact that the actor changes from 1 Blender unit in
size to 2 Blender units in size between frame 25 and frame 75. The three lines represent the
x , y , and z axes, respectively.
9.5 Editing the Curve
So far we have introduced key frames to set up how we want our actor to behave during
the animation and we have seen how that action is graphically represented. We will now
see how we can alter the behavior of our actor by altering the shape of the curve represent-
ing that action. Remember the type of curve being considered is a Bezier curve, which is
designed to be edited.
Go back to the red line. With the cursor in the graphical display, press the A key twice to
make sure you have the line selected. If the line shows solid red with the two yellow handles,
you are in edit mode; if not, press the Tab key. If you are not in edit mode, the line will be a
broken red line without handles.
If you have pressed the A key with the cursor in the graphical editor to deselect a curve
and then pressed the A key again to select, the graph appears as a faint red line. Clicking
the RMB to select any of the control points turns the line bright red. Clicking on a channel
in the dope sheet will accomplish the same thing. It is important to have the line selected
bright red before additional control points can be added.
Select the red line with the RMB in edit mode and press the A key to deselect the line;
you will have a faint red line with black dots at the location of the handles. Select the handle
at frame 75 (click the RMB on the center dot of the handle); the handle will be yellow and
the line will be bright red. Hold the RMB and move the handle up 1 unit. Now, click on the
right-hand dot on the end of the handle with the RMB, and the left-hand half of the han-
dle fades. Then, click on the
right-hand dot on the end of
the handle with the RMB and,
while holding the mouse but-
ton pressed, drag the end of
the handle down and to the
left. The shape of the curve
arches up (Figure 9.13).
Now if you scrub through
your animation between frame
25 and frame 75, you will see
the actor move along the x -
axis from zero displacement at
frame 25 to something more
than 4 Blender units, then
return to 4 Blender units at
Click and drag the RMB.
Figure 9.13
 
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