On this page |
There are several ways to cycle animation in Houdini. For this example we will explain how to cycle the first 25 keyframes through the remaining 125.
Channel Before/After extrapolation
The simplest way to cycle animation is to set the Before and After Extrapolation to Cycle or CycleOffset.
-
Add the channels that you want to cycle to the Channel List.
-
Click RMB on the left column showing the selected parameter labels in the Channel List.
-
Select Channels > Extrapolation and change the extrapolation mode to Cycle or Cycle Offset.
Expressions
One way to do this is by using the cycle()
or cycleoffset()
expression in the Animation Editor.
-
Add the parameters that you want to cycle to the Channel List.
-
Set a keyframe at frame 125 in the
Graph view of the Animation Editor.
-
Select the channel segments from frame 25 to 125.
-
In the Function menu, choose
cycle()
orcycleoffset()
.
Tip
cycle()
will continue from the starting value of your channels.
Dopesheet
If you want to create actual keyframes for the cycle, use the Dopesheet in the Animation Editor.
-
Add the parameters that you want to cycle to the Animation Editor.
-
Switch to the
Dopesheet view.
-
Select frames 1 to 25 (inclusive) in the All Displayed Channels row.
-
In the Edit menu, choose Copy.
-
Select frames 26 to 125 (inclusive) in the All Displayed Channels row.
-
In the Edit menu, choose Paste Special ▸ Cycle (or Repeat).
Motion Effects
For more procedural cycling of animation than the cycle()
or cycleoffset()
expressions, you can use Motion Effects.
-
Add the channels that you want to cycle to the Channel List.
-
Click RMB the playbar and choose Motion Effects ▸ Cycle.
Note
In the Extend CHOP parameter window that pops up, you can change the Right Behavior from Cycle to Repeat if you want to repeat the animation instead.