Parameterising phase offset across objects produces overlapping-action animation generatively without per-object keyframing

David Braun’s ‘Quantitative Easing’ talk introduces phasing as the generative alternative to manual keyframing for overlapping action. When many objects must move similarly but with slight timing differences (the 12-animation-principles principle of overlapping action), manually keyframing each object is impractical at scale. Instead: define one easing function, parameterise its time offset, and distribute phase values across objects (e.g., stored in a CHOP or texture). Each object reads its own phase value and is at a different position in the same animation curve. Phasing can be saved to an image for inspection and manual editing. GLSL/CHOP easing functions handle the computation efficiently on GPU.

Examples

A particle system where each particle reads a phase-offset value from a texture: all particles play the same animation curve but staggered, creating organic overlapping motion without per-particle keyframes. UI elements that each animate in with a small delay driven by their index.

Assessment

Implement (or describe in pseudocode) a CHOP-based phasing system that animates 100 objects with overlapping action using a single sine-curve easing function and a uniform phase-offset distribution.