Break/Smooth tangents

Break tangents

By default, anchor tangents are unbroken so that if you move one tangent, the tangent on the opposite side moves accordingly to keep them aligned. This keeps the curve smooth.

You can break a tangent manually to create sharper corners on your curve.

To break the tangency of an anchor

1. Shift + right-click a tangent handle.

   A marking menu appears.

2. Select Break Anchor Tangents from the marking menu.

   Now if you can move the tangents independent of the other.

Alternatively you can select a tangent and select Curves > Bezier Curves > Tangent Options > Break Anchor Tangents. You can also break a tangent in the Bezier Curve Tool by Ctrl + dragging a tangent.

You can create corners with or without tangents using the Corner option.

To create a corner

1. Select the anchor you want to turn into a corner.
2. Shift + right-click the anchor.

   A marking menu appears.

3. Do one of the following:
   • To create a corner with broken tangents, select Bezier Corner.
   • To create a corner without tangents, select Corner.

   Maya breaks the tangents of the selected anchor and repositions them toward adjacent anchors.

   Alternatively you can select a tangent and select Curves > Bezier Curves > Anchor Presets > Bezier Corner or Curves > Bezier Curves > Anchor Presets > Corner.

Smooth tangents

You can smooth broken tangents so that they move together, resulting in smooth curves.

To smooth a tangent

1. Select the tangent you want to align to. If you want an average of both tangents, select the anchor.
2. Shift + right-click the anchor.

   A marking menu appears.

3. Do one of the following:
   • To align to the selected tangent, select Smooth Anchor Tangents from the marking menu.

     Maya straightens the tangents based on what you selected. Now if you move one tangent, the other moves with it to preserve their alignment.

   • To average both tangents, select Bezier from the marking menu.

   Maya smooths the tangents and sets them perpendicular to the anchor’s normal. The tangent lengths are the average of the original tangents.

   Alternatively you can select a tangent and selectCurves > Bezier Curves > Tangent Options > Smooth Anchor Tangents or Curves > Bezier Curves > Anchor Presets > Bezier.