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Changing the position of clips with Trax

Lesson 4: Nonlinear animation with Trax

Reusing clips within Trax

 

Learning Resources > Tutorials > Getting Started with Maya > Animation > Lesson 4: Nonlinear animation with Trax > 

Editing the animation of clips

You can modify the animation of a clip using the Graph Editor in the same way that you would modify any other type of animation. Because you are working with the clip, and not the original animation, you won’t change the original source clip animation.

In this section, you use the Graph Editor to modify the animation for each clip so the aircraft’s motion accelerates and decelerates at the beginning and end of each clip.

To use the Graph Editor to modify a clip in Trax

1. Click on the Aircraft_Rise clip to select it.

   The selected clip highlights in yellow.

2. From the Trax menu, select View > Graph Anim Curves.

   The Graph Editor appears.

3. In the Graph Editor, shift-select the two keys on the animation curve as shown below.
4. In the Graph Editor, select Tangents > Flat.

   

   The shape of the animation curve updates to a gentle S-shape. Setting the tangents for the animation curve in this manner modifies the clip’s animation to cause the aircraft to accelerate when it first rises, and decelerate when it nears the end of its vertical travel.

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 to set the animation curve tangents in a similar manner for the two remaining clips: Travel_Forward and Aircraft_Lower.

   The shape of the animation curve for Aircraft_Lower will be reversed from the other clip curves because the motion is occurring in the opposite direction.

6. Close the Graph Editor window.
7. Set the Time Slider’s current time indicator to frame 1.
8. Click play on the Time Slider’s playback control to play back the animation.

   The motion accelerates and decelerates at the beginning and end of each clip. As a result, the motion appears more natural. It’s important to note that the modified tangents for each clip are independent from the other animation clips and do not affect any other motion.

9. Click stop on the Time Slider’s playback control.