To quickly create a curve with the necessary knots for a trajectory, you can animate an object's position and plot the motion of the object's center to generate a curve. Plotting a curve helps you visualize the trajectory of an animation. You can then edit the curve to fine-tune the trajectory position for each frame.
You can also use ghosting to view an object's trajectory as a motion trail that is updated as the animation changes — see Ghosting Animated Objects.
To create a curve from an animation
Select an object, point, or cluster whose transformation parameters are animated.
In the Plot Curve dialog box that opens, set these options:
The Start Frame and End Frame specify the frames at which to begin and end plotting.
The Step Value controls the sampling of the generated curve. If this value is 1, a point on the curve is created for every frame; if this value is 2, a point is created for every other frame; and so on.
Curve Name is the name to use for the curve that is generated from plotting the transformation.
When you click OK, the animation is played back and a curve is created showing the path or trajectory of the animated object. The original animation remains.
Plot