Hi Nicolas

> I use keyframes and the compositor window to create a vertical scrolling
> (end credits) from a still picture. However, the scrolling speed isn't
> constant. I assume that's due to the fact that interpolations between
> keyframes are made with a bezier curve.

You are correct; the bezier curves used are forced to have zero slope
at every keyframe.  This means you get "smooth" starting.  While this
can be good in certain circumstances it is a pain for others such as the
credit example you mention.  At times you do want keyframe interpolation
to use something else which produces constant speed between keyframes.

> Is there a way to use a linear interpolation instead of the bezier
> curve? That way I would be able to scroll my end credit picture at a
> constant speed, wouldn't I ?

With linear interpolation the speed would be constant, yes.

This is actually an aspect to Cinelerra which I noticed with annoyance about
18 months ago for the same reasons as you - I was scrolling credits and
noticed they were *much* slower at the start and end than in the middle.  It
is most irritating.  Unfortunately cinelerra (both vanilla and CVS/SVN) do
not have alternative curves available (at least not when I last checked
CVS/SVN about a year ago).  I would offer to look into this myself but I am
currently far too busy with other FOSS projects and life in general.

The workaround I came up with at the time is a bit fiddly but with patience
you can get reasonable results.  I arranged things so that the approximately
linear portion of the bezier curve (ie: the bit in the middle) corresponded
with the part of the timeline where the credits were to scroll.  For my
project this meant starting the scroll about 30 seconds before the credits
and ending it 30 seconds after the credits.  The starting and ending Y
values were adjusted so that the credit graphic just became visible and just
finished at the appropriate points in the timeline.  This last requirement
is where things get a bit fiddly - it's pretty much a trial-and-error thing.

Assuming the credits are at the end of the movive, an unfortunate
consequence of this is that your final rendered movie has a blank, silent
portion tacked onto the end which lasts lasts for 30 seconds (or whatever
runout time you needed for the curve in your particular project).  To avoid
this blank silent stuff at the end of the render the easiest thing to do is
to select from 0:00:00.000 to the point where the credits/movie material
ends and then choose File|Render. To select such a long timespan accurately
I find it best to type the times into the selection span boxes under the
timeline.

I hope this helps.

Regards
  jonathan

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