Reducing Jitter - Edit/removing keys in Base Layer

#1

Hey everyone. Quick questions that probably have obvious answers: Is there a way of editing/deleting mocap keys on the base layer that won’t destroy the original mocap data? If data loss does happen, can I just plug the Actor back in and re-plot to the control rig to get it back?

I have a guy running and jumping over a creekbed, and everything looks great except the end, as he runs up the opposite bank. When he lands there, he scrunches down (as a result of the impact), then straightens back up into the end pose.

The problem is, as he straightens back up, his upper body jitters back and forth slightly; as if he’s doing a sort of snobby laugh or something. I know that this is happening because even though I have just a few keys on Layer 1, the mocap is keyed every frame on the Base Layer, and needs to be adjusted/deleted for those frames.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

#2

you can always plot to the skeleton and plot back to the rig, as a way to store the edits before you are destructive.

other ways … copy the take, destroy the keys all you want on the base layer, if you jack it up, copy the keys from the first take, paste… try agian.

I delete bad keys on the base layer all the time, have to fix the base before you can key over it with an additive layer.

#3

Hello, Kevin,

My advice is - first make sure, all the control rig up from hips is FK (no IK in the chest and arms region, to keep animation correct).
Then select your spine bones one by one on FK (the yellow ones) from the hips upwards and look carefully at the keys on the base layer, all the rotation x-y-z axes. You may need to zoom up the region of the curves where the jitter appears to be. You will definitely find a kind of jog on the curves, just delete it and make all the spine curves smooth.
If this does not help, pay attention to Hip’s curves (both rotation and translation). Much, much jitter, a lot more then one might think, comes from unnoticeable hips jerks…
Beforehands, sure, make a backup copy ;))
Regards

#4

Thanks guys. Got it sorted. I think with the mocap data still saved in the scene I can always go back and re-plot from the Actor to the control rig. So I’ve been deleting base-layer keys all willy-nilly, and the motion is smooth now.

#5

fwiw, if you still have the actor / opticals present check the markers for any jitter or jumps. Smoothing / cleaning the problem there will fix the problem at source. All it takes is a couple of rogue markers/frames to cause the kind of problems you describe.

Sorting it here means you can keep as much of the original motion & its vibe plus, if you do have to go back to the source data for any reason, you won’t have to clean up the keys on your base layer every time.

#6

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