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Bézier Curves

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Cubic Bézier
import ...

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {
  const bezier = createRef<CubicBezier>();

  view.add(
    <CubicBezier
      ref={bezier}
      lineWidth={6}
      stroke={'lightseagreen'}
      p0={[-200, -70]}
      p1={[120, -120]}
      p2={[-120, 120]}
      p3={[200, 70]}
      end={0}
    />,
  );

  yield* bezier().end(1, 1);
  yield* bezier().start(1, 1).to(0, 1);
});

Bézier curves are ubiquitous in computer graphics. Motion Canvas comes with components to draw both quadratic and cubic Bézier curves.

tip

If you're trying to draw more complicated shapes than single Bézier curves allow for, check out the Spline component, instead.

Using the components​

Each example below applies to both the QuadBezier and CubicBezier nodes. You can switch between the two types of curves using the dropdown on the right side of the animation player.

Defining control points​

Bézier curves are defined by a start and end point, as well as several control points. The exact number of control points is different for different kinds of Bézier curves. A quadratic Bézier curve has only a single control point whereas a cubic Bézier curve has two.

Press play to preview the animation
Cubic Bézier
import ...

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {
  const bezier = createRef<CubicBezier>();

  view.add(
    <CubicBezier
      ref={bezier}
      lineWidth={6}
      stroke={'lightseagreen'}
      p0={[-200, -70]}
      p1={[120, -120]}
      p2={[-120, 120]}
      p3={[200, 70]}
    />,
  );

  yield* waitFor(1);
});

All points of a Bézier curve are compound signals. This means that it's possible to animate their x and y components separately.

view.add(
  <CubicBezier
    ref={bezier}
    lineWidth={6}
    stroke={'lightseagreen'}
    p0={[-200, -70]}
    p1={[120, -120]}
    p2={[-120, 120]}
    p3={[200, 70]}
  />,
);

yield * bezier().p0.x(200, 1);

Drawing arrows​

Similar to the Line and Spline components, we can also add arrowheads to a Bézier curve. To do so, we can use the startArrow and endArrow properties. We can control the size of the arrowheads with the arrowSize signal.

Press play to preview the animation
Cubic Bézier
import ...

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {
  const bezier = createRef<CubicBezier>();

  view.add(
    <CubicBezier
      ref={bezier}
      lineWidth={6}
      stroke={'lightseagreen'}
      p0={[-200, -70]}
      p1={[120, -120]}
      p2={[-120, 120]}
      p3={[200, 70]}
      arrowSize={16}
      startArrow
      endArrow
    />,
  );

  yield* bezier().arrowSize(20, 1).to(10, 1).to(16, 1);
});

Animating adding arrows

Since startArrow and endArrow are booleans, they don't lend themselves well to being animated. To animate adding arrows to a Bézier curve, we should animate arrowSize, instead.

view.add(
  <QuadBezier
    ref={bezier}
    p0={[-150, 50]}
    p1={[0, -120]}
    p2={[150, 50]}
    arrowSize={0}
    startArrow
    endArrow
  />,
);

yield * bezier().arrowSize(16, 1);

Examples​

The following section shows examples of common animations for Bézier curves.

Press play to preview the animation
Drawing Bézier curves
import ...

export default makeScene2D(function* (view) {
  const bezier = createRef<CubicBezier>();

  view.add(
    <CubicBezier
      ref={bezier}
      lineWidth={6}
      stroke={'lightseagreen'}
      p0={[-200, -70]}
      p1={[120, -120]}
      p2={[-120, 120]}
      p3={[200, 70]}
      end={0}
    />,
  );

  yield* bezier().end(1, 2).to(0, 2);
});