Yeah, not just the real optimized motion but the simulated optimized motion looked significantly better than the original unsimulated animation.
Makes me think for actual animations they should simulate physical systems and then apply optimized control inputs to approximate the animation which the animator inputs. It would result in more grounded and realistic feeling animations.
That might be because it's not longer too perfect. As far as I know little variations in timing are added to computer generated beats to make them sound better? That might be a similar thing?
To make a different audio analogy: When they graph the input vs. the optimized control values, it looks a lot like the ringing artifacts of a low-pass filter. A low-pass filter removes high frequencies from an input signal. Since there are physical limits on how fast limbs can oscillate, maybe that’s part of what makes it look more natural.
