Controls and parameters

The parameter tables on this page are generated from the shipped MotionAtelier package, so labels, ranges and defaults match the panel exactly. Where a slider stops before the maximum, type a larger value in the number field.

Panel layout

Area	Controls
Header	SHAPE (Ease, Bounce, Elastic, Wave, Noise), the status line, VIEW (Value, Velocity)
Above the graph	Curve toolbar (Curve editor); overlays Output, Base, Velocity
Graph	The curve (Curve editor, Velocity view)
Under the graph	Play preview, Restart preview, Preview duration (Preview)
Bottom row	Get Keys, Apply to each interval / Apply to whole range, Commit Keys (Houdini integration)
Right-hand tabs	Motion Stack, Key Tools, Recipes

The divider between the graph and the tabs can be dragged; its position is remembered. For generated shapes the toolbar shows Convert to Ease instead of the editing tools.

The status line

The status line reports the outcome of every action. Messages that end in scene unchanged did not modify Houdini. A message starting with CRITICAL means the scene could not be restored exactly after a failure; check the named channels and use Houdini undo. See Troubleshooting.

Remembered settings

Per Houdini version, MotionAtelier remembers the last SHAPE, the Apply To mode, the VIEW mode, the width of the right-hand tabs and whether History is open. The preview duration is not remembered.

Generator parameters

Shown in the Motion Stack tab under <Shape> parameters when SHAPE is a generator.

Bounce

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Bounces	0 to 12	3	Rebounds after the first contact.
Elasticity	0.05 to 0.95	0.50	Share of impact speed kept by each rebound (coefficient of restitution).

Elastic

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Oscillations	1 to 12	3	Overshoots around the target before it settles.
Damping	0.02 to 0.70 slider to 0.60; type larger values	0.25	Damping ratio: lower values swing longer, higher values settle sooner.

Wave

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Cycles	0.50 to 24.00 slider to 10.00; type larger values	4.00	Full oscillations across the span.
Amplitude	-1.00 to 1.00 slider to 0.50; type larger values	0.15	Peak offset from the straight line between the ends.
Phase	-180.00° to 180.00°	0.00°	Starting angle of the oscillation, in degrees.
Decay	0.00 to 8.00 slider to 5.00; type larger values	0.00	How quickly the oscillation fades toward the end.

Noise

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Frequency	1 to 64 slider to 32; type larger values	8	Random offsets across the span.
Amplitude	0.00 to 1.00 slider to 0.50; type larger values	0.20	Largest offset from the straight line between the ends.
Seed	0 to 2147483647 slider to 100; type larger values	1	Pattern number; the same seed gives the same shape.
Smooth	0.00 to 1.00	0.75	How rounded the transitions between offsets are.

Effect parameters

Every effect layer also has Mix (0–100 %, default 100 %) and an enable check box. See Motion Stack.

Contrast

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Amount	-100% to 200%	50%	-100% straightens tangents, 0% is unchanged, positive exaggerates.

Arc Bias

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Bias	-100% to 100%	40%	Bends each rise and fall: positive bows it towards its lower value, negative towards its upper value.

Noise effect

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Amplitude	0.000 to 0.500	0.050	Noise size relative to the curve's value range.
Frequency	1 to 64 slider to 40; type larger values	12	Number of noise cells across the motion.
Seed	0 to 2147483647 slider to 999; type larger values	7	Pattern number; the same seed always gives the same noise.

Gaussian Smooth

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Width	0.0% to 25.0%	5.0%	Smoothing width as a percentage of the duration.
Passes	1 to 4	1	How many times the smoothing is applied.

Sharpen

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Amount	0.0% to 400.0%	100.0%	Strength of the sharpening.
Width	0.5% to 25.0%	4.0%	Width of detail to emphasise, as a percentage of the duration.

Jiggle

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Frequency	0.5 to 30.0 slider to 20.0; type larger values	8.0	Wobble oscillations per duration.
Damping	0.02 to 1.00	0.12	Damping ratio of the wobble.
Limit	0.01 to 1.00	0.15	Largest deviation from the motion, as a fraction of its range.

Spring

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Frequency	0.5 to 30.0 slider to 15.0; type larger values	4.0	Spring oscillations per duration.
Damping	0.05 to 2.00	0.35	Damping ratio; 1 settles without overshoot.

Lag

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
90% Response	0.0% to 115.1%	11.5%	Time to reach 90% of a step, as a percentage of the duration.

Delay

Control	Range	Default	What it changes
Delay	0.0% to 50.0%	10.0%	Delay as a percentage of the duration.

Key Tools options

See Key Tools for Reduce Keys, Scale Keys, Offset Channels, Shift Following Keys and Match Durations.

Fixed values

Value	Setting
Commit fit tolerance (effects)	0.5 % of the value range. Not adjustable in the panel.
Minimum key spacing	0.01 frame
Motion Stack layers	up to 16
History	up to 200 entries; 90 days since last use
Recipe name	1–80 characters
Recipe tags	up to 16, each up to 32 characters
Wave keys	up to 240 per interval