Have this run cycle with some choppy interpolation when the animation loops around and begins anew. How can I smoothen the animation between the last and first keyframe so the transition isn’t so noticeable?
Try going to Curves panel
Press shortcut “F” to normalize the view of the curves. The normalization is best if you isolate a particular one at a time, like x, y or z.
Then make sure it actually loops properly by adjusting the handles of the first and last points so that they are smooth.
You mean putting the “Free Smooth” option on them? And get rid of unnecessary keyframes can also have an effect, but I’m not fully sure which ones are unnecessary.
I mean examine whether the Curve’s looping looks correct and adjusting the little handlebars on each keyframe to make sure the looping looks good, according to the curve. Sometimes automatic modes do a poor job on loop and you need to go in and fix them manually.
So is a good loop handlebars that follows the curve or should one part of the bar be on one side and the other on the next one? Anything else that can smoothen the cycle?
Here’s an example of what I mean.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
I changed the handles of both ends of this curves to have a more fluid movement at the loop. It really depends on what the animation is doing like whether this helps or not. “Smooth” is subjective to what you think it’s supposed to look like, what your brain is anticipating “natural” movement to be, which is very context-dependent.
Most dramatically, curves can show when you accidentally have a gap or sudden step that needs fixing.