2.2M views · Aug 19, 2021 · 24:26 · 16 HN recommenders · 20 mentions · discussed 2021–2026
Freya Holmer explains how Bezier curves work, from the helper-line construction to their uses in animation, text rendering and shapes. It uses visuals from her Unity Shapes plugin and was a SoME1 contest winner.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN repeatedly calls it one of the best math and graphics explainers on YouTube, praised for bridging game dev and math.
“it's genuinely one of the best math/graphics/explainer videos ever made”HN comment, 2025
“This video bridges those two areas and is absolutely beautiful.”
Bridges game dev and math explanation beautifully
Probably "The Beauty of Bézier Curves" [1], one of the choices by 3B1B, comes closest. It is already a relatively large channel although usually focused on game dev tutorials rather than math explanations. This video bridges those two areas and is absolutely beautiful. [1] this video
“it absolutely blew me away(and most people I forwarded it to)”
Beautifully explained Bezier curves that impressed many people
Another beautifully explained piece on bézier curves is: The beauty of bézier curves by Fréya Holmer this video Found this via a contest by Grant Sanderson, and it absolutely blew me away(and most people I forwarded it to)
“Source is a really interesting video on bezier curves which I highly recommend”
Interesting video on Bezier curves and their derivatives
Bezier curves. Cubic bezier curves (generally the most common type) are represented by cubic polynomials x(t) and y(t) (or just one polynomial P(t) where the coefficients are vectors). The first derivative gives you the tangent and normal. The second derivative gives you the direction the normal will gradually become as t increases. The third derivative gives you the change in this change (the fourth derivative is zero). Curvature is also computed from the first and second derivatives: K = det(P', P'')/||P'||^3 Other kinds of bezier curves are similar. In quadratic ones the first and second derivatives are normal and normal change but the third derivative is zero. In higher-polynomial bezier curves the third derivative changes over time as the fourth is non-zero, and so on. Source is a really interesting video on bezier curves which I highly recommend: this video .
“I could not recommend these videos from Freya Holmer enough.”
Videos on splines and Beziers highly recommended
If splines/beziers are of any interest to you, I could not recommend these videos from Freya Holmer enough. link this video
“I feel compelled to share these absolutely incredible videos from Freya Holmér”
Incredible long-form videos on Beziers and splines
Anytime béziers are mentioned on HN, I feel compelled to share these absolutely incredible videos from Freya Holmér link (73 minutes) this video (24 minutes)
“it's genuinely one of the best math/graphics/explainer videos ever made”
One of the best math and graphics explainers ever
I'm really glad the article links to Freya's "Beauty of Bezier Curves" videos, it's genuinely one of the best math/graphics/explainer videos ever made this video
“is in the running for one of the best educational videos on YouTube.”
Among the best educational videos on YouTube
Related, I think Freya Holmér's "The Beauty of Bézier Curves" is in the running for one of the best educational videos on YouTube. this video
“I came across this video explaining Bezier curves yesterday and thought it was pretty awesome.”
Explains Bezier curves in an awesome way
While not Manim generated, I came across this video explaining Bezier curves yesterday and thought it was pretty awesome. this video
“Worth a watch for a quick introduction/recap on how these curves work in the first place (with a focus on gamedev applications).”
Visualizes helper lines for Bezier curves, aimed at gamedev
Freya Holmer made a very nice visualization of bezier curves by showing the "helper" lines here: this video Worth a watch for a quick introduction/recap on how these curves work in the first place (with a focus on gamedev applications).
“Her latest video is on Bézier Curves, using beautiful imagery from her Unity plugin Shapes”
Beautiful imagery of Bezier curves from the Shapes Unity plugin
I'm also a big fan of Freya Holmér. She's the author of one of my favorite VR games, Budget Cuts, and her Youtube channel has videos on game development math and shaders link Her latest video is on Bézier Curves, using beautiful imagery from her Unity plugin Shapes: this video
“I recommend this video from Freya Holmer on Bézier curves. Really cool”
Cool explanation of Bezier curves
Curves and Surfaces was my favorite class in college and I’ve tried to apply it where ever possible. I recommend this video from Freya Holmer on Bézier curves. Really cool: this video
“the winner that blew me away did a video on bezier curves.”
SoME contest winner on Bezier curves
Grant Sanderson (3blue1brown) had a video submission contest and the winner that blew me away did a video on bezier curves. this video
“they do a beautiful job of explaining and illustrating things.”
Beautifully explains and illustrates Bezier curves
It is not the case that cubic Beziers are 3D. There’s a good chance that the font you’re using to read this (especially if you print it out) defines the outline of (2D) letters with a sequence of cubic Beziers. Lots of 2D computer graphics uses cubic Beziers because they ~balance the needs of having lots of DOF for expressivity, while not being so complicated that they’re a pain to evaluate. And the control points that define a quadratic Bezier could be in any dimension, including 3, or even 1, which is good for plotting the basis functions. Where you are shapes how you make sense of things. As you learn to see Bézier curves from different viewpoints, the particular physical viewpoint you have now will coexist with others. It’s always that way learning math. That feeling of being disoriented is something to treasure, btw; you won’t always have it. My hunch is that this video this video comes from someone who’s path through learning Bézier curves was non-traditional, but they do a beautiful job of explaining and illustrating things. It showed me that I have more to learn too.
“this is a fun watch.”
Fun watch related to splines
i think - but am not sure - they use clothoid definitions to characterize jerk, as it is more restrictive regarding the maximum rate of turn change. you can make quite a sharp turn with a mathematical spline. but i can see how they would use the physical spline to solve this… Googling “railroad spline clothoid” got some intriguing hits — and this HN comment. link semi-relatedly, this is a fun watch. this video even less relatedly, here is a drawing i did by torturing a clothoid optimizer link
“is well worth the time it takes to watch.”
Solid content on Bezier curves
If you are looking for solid content on Bezier curves then Freya Holmér's video on The Beauty of Bézier Curves [1] is well worth the time it takes to watch. 1. this video
“A wonderful example of this is”
Wonderful example of animated math explanation
A wonderful example of this is: The Continuity of Splines link and The Beauty of Bézier Curves this video by Freya Holmér link While not animated, I find: _Euclid's Elements_ (Joyce's Java Version) very helpful link Since my current project has pretty much devolved to putting a UI on various trigonometric functions and allowing the user to program them, I'd be very glad of other resources in this space (currently working through Hilbert's _Geometry and the Imagination_ and the book which matches link and just finished the _Make:Geometry/Trigonometry/Calculus_ series, and have had recommended Curves and Surfaces for CAGD: A Practical Guide by Gerald Farin)
“this video is excellent. And her other video on Splines is also great.”
Excellent video, plus a companion on splines
Maybe not exactly what you're looking for, but this video is excellent. And her other video on Splines is also great. this video
“Bézier curves are truly beautiful.”
Inspired a side project on interactive Bezier visualization
In the last 3 days I've worked on this little side project. I got the idea when I saw this video: this video . I just had to agree with her. Bézier curves are truly beautiful. While coding this project I sometimes found myself playing around with the curves for 10-20 minutes. Something about them is just hypnotising.
“It's the same creator, but longer video.”
It's the same creator, but longer video. this video I wonder if the beginning can be skipped if the first video was already seen?
“One almost wishes that the specialized library used for”
The fundamental question here is one which I don't think there is an agreed-upon answer for: >What does an algorithm look like? I am working on a rather visually-oriented tool, and while I did a fair bit of early development using BlockSCAD, and also have access to OpenSCAD Graph Editor, it hasn't made sense to show the algorithms visually because it's a lot of work making them suitably expressive. One almost wishes that the specialized library used for: this video was published and widely used. Similarly, why can't we have more things such as: link
