Repetitive Kick cycle, Underwater

[El-manchego]

I set up a character (Eddie) to look like he is swimming under water by kicking his feet. I have three frames setup so that his feet look like they would be constantly moving.

Eddie lives in a workd that is about 12 seconds long. The three keys I made for his feet kicking is about 24 frames long. Any suggestions to sorta "copy and Paste" the 3 keyframes to the animation line for the full 12 seconds?

I'm only on TAOA:M lesson 6 and don't remember coming across this.

Thanks all.

 

SMC

[NancyGormezano]

I would suggest that you make an action called swim that consists of the 3 keyframes - and the action is say 24 frames long - then create your chor, drag eddy into the chor and drag the swim action onto eddy.

 

You can then set the repeat count for the action to be 12 (for 12 seconds, assuming your project is 24fps)

 

This gives you the most flexibility.

 

You then have the option to play with repeat counts, and the action cycle length and where in the chor (chor range) you want the swim cycle to occur.

 

eg suppose your swim cycle is too fast - you can then set the cycle length of the action (in the chor) to be 48 frames (making it twice as slow).

 

and if you leave the repeat count to 12, the chor will now take 24 seconds. If you then change the repeat to 6, then the chor will take 12 seconds.

 

In my screen capture - my swim cycle action was created to take 12 frames, but I changed it to take 48 frames - I set the repeat count to 2 - so the whole thing takes 96 frames.

[Caroline]

Nancy replied while I was taking screenshots, and her way is by far the best (doh).

 

Just because I have screenshots, I will put them up for completeness

 

This way is probably quicker, but actions are reusable, so go with Nancy.

 

1. View the splines along the Timeline.

2. Drag a selection over the last cps.

3. Right click them and choose Curve > Post-Extrapolation Method > Repeat

4. You will see them repeat. Notice the nasty jump in the blue channel - this is because my last blue point was not in the same place as my first blue point.

Also, the sharp point at the bottom of the red will result in jerky motion.

 

(Use Actions )

[NancyGormezano]

Its good to have options - there are many ways to do things in A:M - Caroline's "trick" is a good one.

[John Bigboote]

Caroline's 'trick' is a GREAT one! I can't wait to use that! Thanks Car!

[El-manchego]

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try them today and let you all know how they go. Sounds like it's gonna work though.

Love this forum for all the great help available!

 

SMC