Smoothing rotation of auto-orient along path

[Mike Foran]

I have an object moving along a 2D path with auto orient turned on. The path has several 90° angles, which predictably cause the object to instantly rotate to match. I’m looking for an expression that will replace Auto-Orient that can smooth this rotation out, so the spreads out over x period of time. Anyone know how I could do this?

[Dan Ebberts]

Maybe something like this:


f = 2; // number of frames before and after to average
v = [0,0];
for (i = -f; i <= f; i++){
v += position.velocityAtTime(i*thisComp.frameDuration + time);
}
v /= (f*2+1);
a = Math.atan2(v[1],v[0]);
radiansToDegrees(a)


Dan

[Dan Ebberts]

Oh yeah, you’d also turn off auto orient.

Dan

[Mike Foran]

After all these years I am still in awe of your mastery. Works like a charm. Thanks so much Dan!