topic Re: Stepped Tangents appear Linear in Maya Forum

Stepped Tangents appear Linear

gingrbeard — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:42:18 GMT

I'm animating using a control rig in Maya and the feet of this character move smoothly as if they're on auto or linear tangents despite having it set to stepped. Changing the interpolation doesn't do anything.

Specific problem

Full screen for more context

Re: Stepped Tangents appear Linear

marie-jeanne_leduc — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 22:10:38 GMT

Hi,

This is likely related to the HIK rotation interpolation setting. By default, HIK rotation interpolation is set to Quaternion Cubic, which does not support stepped tangents.

To fix your current curves: In the Graph Editor, select the three rotation curves, then go to Curves → Change Rotation Interp → Independent Euler. After that, your stepped keys should behave as expected.

To change it going forward, so new HIK curves use Euler interpolation, go to Windows → Settings/Preferences → Preferences → Animation, and under Rotation Interpolation set "New HIK curve default" to Independent Euler-angle curves.

Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes.

Marie-Jeanne Leduc

Re: Stepped Tangents appear Linear

gingrbeard — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 22:40:18 GMT

This was the exact setting I thought was the issue and couldn't remember what it was called or where it was. Thank you!