Animation very choppy

[Francesco Barese]

PS :
the part im referring to is when the logo slides from the center to the left (the rest is kinda ok but still not as smooth as i would want it to be)

[Tomas Bumbulevičius]

Francesco – since you animate position value and add eases – do you know how to use graph editor to enhance animation further?

Also, since you are working in 60 FPS – make sure to increase distance of frames between the keyframes accordingly. What works for 30fps beautifully – does not look that way for higher frame rates. Just an observation for the topic! 🙂

Find out more:
After Effects Tutorials: motion design, expressions, scripting.

[Francesco Barese]

im learning how to use the graph editor for more complex stuff.however,i dont think there is much i could do in graph editor since im just moving the obeject from “point a” to “point b” in a straight diagonal line.i understand the concept of acceleration and momentum to give it PERCEIVED organic fluidity (animation wise).but im not talking about that.lets say for some reason i want the object to move from point a to b in a straight line without any acceleration.i should still be able to achieve that without being choppy,no?

and what exactly do you mean by “make sure to increase distance of frames between the keyframes accordingly”?could you elaborate,please?thank you

[Tomas Bumbulevičius]

Thanks for clarifying! The choppy movement as you get could be introduced by the interpolation method, where object ‘jump start’ not exactly how you might want for specific case. This is where graph editor could possibly help.

As for the framerates I mentioned – maybe thats straightforward enough, but lets say you animate box from A to B.
In 30FPS, keyframe A is at 0F, keyframe B at 20F.

Now if you do the same 20F distance between the keyframes in 60FPS, animation will be significantlyfaster.

Again, this might be crystal clear for some:)

Find out more:
After Effects Tutorials: motion design, expressions, scripting.

[Francesco Barese]

i been looking around and im seeing all this stuff about critical speed,sub pixel interpolation,stroboscopic effect etc.
im just trying to move a square from point a to point b….i dont think i should have a doctorate in order to achieve that.
shouldnt the motion be smooth by default in after effects?(especially if its a simple diagonal straight line).
i dont think you should do any “tweaks” (since smooth motion is what literally every single user wants right out of the box)

[Tomas Bumbulevičius]

I can guarantee that in the example you shared motion blur is not applied. This would help to remove the choppyness ☺ Just make sure you do apply both motion blur toggles – on the layer/comp itself and above the layers at comp setting handles (on the left of Graph editor).

If this does not provide the smoothness, then we might be talking different things! 🙂

Find out more:
After Effects Tutorials: motion design, expressions, scripting.

[Francesco Barese]

i already did motion blur (it just wasnt in the video i posted.but i did try it and still wasnt smooth as butter).

im giving it another try.but,what did you mean by “apply both motion blur toggles – on the layer/comp itself and above the layers at comp setting handles”?i know how to apply it from the settings handle but how do i also apply on “the layer/comp itself”?you mean dropping the force motion blur and pixel motion blur effects onto the comp?

[Walter Soyka]

You are correct to look at the difference between frames — the smaller the difference is between two adjacent frames, the smoother an animation will appear.

You have two options to decrease the amount of movement per frame: 1) increase the framerate, and 2) decrease the speed of the animation (i.e., increase the amount of time between your two keyframes).

Remember that frame rate is governed by your playback system. You can’t practically adjust the frame rate above 60fps on any common systems, and even then, your deliverable requirements maybe be lower. That means you’ll have to slow down the animation.

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]

[Francesco Barese]

thank you.
i thought about moving the object manually by the smallest possible increment and add a keyframe for each one of them.but that is way more trouble than it would be worth.not doable

just out of curiosity.what exactly would happen if i increase the fps to 120 but render in 60?would it be slightly better?slightly worse?or would i be exactly back at square 1?

[Walter Soyka]

[Francesco Barese] “i thought about moving the object manually by the smallest possible increment and add a keyframe for each one of them.but that is way more trouble than it would be worth.not doable”

You don’t need to do that manually. You can accomplish the same thing by spreading out your two keyframes on the timeline.

If you set a keyframe at frame 0 for a position of 0, and a keyframe at frame 10 for a position of 100, Ae will “tween” the values — that is, figure out what it has to be at each position in between the keyframes. Each frame will show 10 pixels of movement. If you want to cut that down to 5 pixels of movement and keep the same positions, drag the second keyframe from frame 10 to frame 20.

[Francesco Barese] “just out of curiosity.what exactly would happen if i increase the fps to 120 but render in 60?would it be slightly better?slightly worse?or would i be exactly back at square 1?”

It will be no different. The thing that matters for smoothness here is “what is the visual difference between this frame and the one that came before it?”

Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive   |   RenderBreak [blog]   |   Profile [LinkedIn]