[Bf-taskforce25] defaults & tweaks list

[Nathan Vegdahl]

> Basically, what it comes down to is predictability and control. When
> you have autokey enabled on a good animation system, you generally have
> a good idea of what's getting keyed and what isn't... but as rigs
> increase in complexity and animation increases in complexity, keeping
> this "good idea" wrapped in your braincase becomes increasingly
> difficult. It's tougher to guess what is and is not keyed... or how to
> fix things when you go back into the animation for refinement. When you
> key manually, you know exactly what gets keyed, and when. It's far more
> predictable and allows flexibility for playing with your animation as
> you go.

   I was trained in the manual-key workflow, and I used to think this
was the case too.
   But then on BBB William convinced me to try autokey, and after
pushing through with it for a while I realized that--at least for
me--it was actually a better workflow.  Especially during the later
stages of the animation process, when you're doing a lot of tweaking.

   With manual keying I forget to key things, and auto-keying I
accidentally key things.  Both cases happen about as often in their
respective workflows, and both problems worsen as the complexity of
the rig increases.  But it's generally a lot easier to solve an
accidental key than a lost key.

   I do agree it would be good to have a better system for determining
what gets keyed with autokey.  But I believe that Aligorith's "keying
set" system is exactly that.

   Having said all that, I do suspect (completely without evidence)
that most Blender animators use manual keying, so perhaps it would be
good to stick with that as default anyway.  Autokey isn't a difficult
feature to turn on if you want it.  (And I do recommend actually
trying it out on two or three shots before writing it off.  You might
be surprised.)

--Nathan V


On Sat, Jul 11, 2009 at 11:14 AM, Jason van
Gumster<jason at handturkeystudios.com> wrote:
> Hi Brecht,
>
> Brecht Van Lommel <brecht at blender.org> wrote:
>
>> The only argument, besides standards, that I got from that discussion
>> is that it's useful to not keyframe as a way to undo all changes for
>> that frame and start again. But that can be implemented in other ways
>> too. Maybe it's because the feature works unreliable, or affects
>> unpredictable things in more complicated rigs? Or because it makes you
>> more explicitly aware of what you are keying?
>
> All of these things are valid reasons. One of the really nice things
> about working digitally is that you don't have to animate in a strictly
> linear fashion. You key the elements you need, when you need them. Then
> you can go in and fill in the blanks. Also, even on simple rigs, if you
> have autokey on by default, then elements of the rig might be keyed
> without your knowledge, making debugging your animation more
> complicated.
>
> When I animate, I often have situations where I know either the pose I
> want *or* the timing that I want, but not both. This means that I spend
> time moving or rotating elements at frames where I don't want keys...
> or explicitly setting placeholder keys for rough locations, but nothing
> detailed in the pose until later. I also have occasions where I move a
> limb in real time to get an idea of how it moves and deforms the
> mesh... but I don't want to set any keys.
>
>> I'd like to understand why people prefer manual keying, I haven't
>> found a clear answer to this yet.
>
> Basically, what it comes down to is predictability and control. When
> you have autokey enabled on a good animation system, you generally have
> a good idea of what's getting keyed and what isn't... but as rigs
> increase in complexity and animation increases in complexity, keeping
> this "good idea" wrapped in your braincase becomes increasingly
> difficult. It's tougher to guess what is and is not keyed... or how to
> fix things when you go back into the animation for refinement. When you
> key manually, you know exactly what gets keyed, and when. It's far more
> predictable and allows flexibility for playing with your animation as
> you go.
>
> I know it's that's not everyone's experience/workflow... but it's the
> way I work, the way many (most?) animators are taught to work, and it's
> a pretty standard expectation on most animation apps. I can't tell you
> how many times I've wanted to kick After Effects for its default
> autokey behavior.
>
> At any rate, that's pretty much my reasoning. Hopefully I wasn't
> too rambly and hopefully I made sense. :)
>
>  -Jason
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