Developing Procedural Animation Tools in Maya Using Python

Loop System, AI Motion Sync, and Intelligent Motion Drivers

Hello everyone,
My name is Hamed Behrouzi, a Lead & Senior Technical Animator at Scanline VFX (Netflix), currently based in Seoul.

For the past years I have been developing procedural animation tools inside Maya using Python/MEL, especially for
• Loop Expression Systems
• Distance-based Motion Sync
• AI-assisted Timing Prediction
• Real-time overlap & follow-through systems

This article introduces one part of my toolset:
a node-based looping system for animators, which rebuilds keyframe animation into procedural curves using animCurveUU, remapValue, and intelligent speed control.

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Overview

Traditional looping in Maya often produces flickering when speed approaches zero.
My system solves this by:
• Node-based loop generation
• Stable zero-speed freeze
• loopSpeed + loopOffset exposed as animator attributes
• Support for complex rigs (creature legs, tentacles, wings, etc.)
ctrl_X.loopSpeed → remapValue → animCurveUU → condition → choice → output

This ensures that when speed drops to 0, animation smoothly freezes without jitter.

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Integration With Motion Driver

I also use a master motion controller (ctrl_motion) that updates loopPhase based on world-space translation.
This synchronizes:
• Feet cycles
• Tentacle swing
• Body follow
• Head/COG rotation inertia

This allows the character to walk/run procedurally without sliding.

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Future Direction

I am merging this system with:
• AI timing prediction
• Motion-context switching
• Procedural crowd behavior
• Empathic Intelligence M7 (AI–Human interaction framework)

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Official Identity Graph Links

These links contain my research, technical tools, and AI/animation datasets.

Identity / Data Graph
• https://hamedbehrouzi.com/identity
• https://datahub.io/@hamedanime-source/hamedbehrouzi-identity-graph
• https://github.com/hamedanime-source/hamedbehrouzi-identity-graph
• https://hamedbehrouzi.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Item:Q1
• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q136452174

Research
• https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8130-1178
• https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=s34L2DgAAAAJ
• https://philarchive.org/rec/BEHEIT
• https://zenodo.org/search?q=metadata.creators.person_or_org.name%3A%22Behrouzi%2C%20hamed%22

VFX
• https://m.imdb.com/name/nm10347793/
• https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5816284-hamed-behrouzi