Animating with the Channel Editor > Expressions > Function Reference >

# Simple Mathematical Functions

The following functions are useful for performing various simple mathematical calculations.

abs

Returns the absolute value of a given number. The absolute value is the positive value of any number.

Syntax: | abs(Number)
Arguments: | Number is the number of which you want the absolute value.
Examples: | abs(3) returns 3. abs(-3) returns 3.

sign

Returns the sign of a given number. The sign function returns 1 if the number is above or equal to zero, and returns -1 if less than zero.

Syntax: | sign(Number)
Arguments: | Number is the number of which you want the sign.
Examples: | sign(5) returns 1. sign(0) returns 1. sign(-0.001) returns -1.

pow

Returns a number raised to the power of an exponent.

Syntax: | pow(Number,Power)
Arguments: | Number is the base number to be raised. Power is the exponent to which the base number is raised.
Examples: | pow(3, 2) returns 9. pow(4, 3) returns 64. pow(5, 0) returns 1. pow(-2.5, 4) returns 39.0625.

sqrt

Returns the square root of a given number.

Syntax: | sqrt(Number)
Arguments: | Number is the non-negative number of which you want the square root.
Examples: | sqrt(25) returns 5. sqrt(abs(-25)) returns 5. sqrt(0) returns 0.

max

Returns the larger of two given numbers.

Syntax: | max(Number1, Number2)
Arguments: | Number1 and Number2 are numbers of which you want to find the maximum value.
Examples: | max(5.9, 8.1) returns 8.1. max(-14, -32) returns -14. max(axis1.position.x, axis2.position.x) returns the larger of axis1.position.x or axis2.position.x.

min

Returns the smaller of two given numbers.

Syntax: | min(Number1, Number2)
Arguments: | Number1 and Number2 are numbers of which you want to find the minimum value.
Examples: | min(5.9, 8.1) returns 5.9. min(-14, -32) returns -32. min(axis1.position.x, axis2.position.x) returns the smaller of axis1.position.x or axis2.position.x.

mod

Returns the integer remainder from dividing one number by another. This function is useful for repeating an animation every given number of frames.

Syntax: | mod(Number, Divisor)
Arguments: | Number is the number to divide. Divisor is the number by which you want to divide Number.
Examples: | mod(8, 3) returns 2 because 8 divided by 3 is 2 with 2 as the remainder. mod(-8, 3) returns -2. mod(8, -3) returns 2. mod(-8, -3) returns -2. mod(7.5, 2.25) returns 0.75. mod(frame, 20) * 5 yields the following curve: