Animation Window

Realsoft Graphics Oy		Animation Window
	Windows

The animation window is available in the default user interface at the bottom of the screen. It can be hidden and made visible using the pull down menu 'View/Animation Window' or by hitting F7 shortcut key.

The time line of the animation window and other time related controls follow the selected time display conventions, which can be specified in Options/Window/Animation. The window is synchronized with the Select Window showing the keyframes of the currently selected object / choreography. For example, to edit key frames of a material object, click the Material tab of the select window, select the desired material and then select the desired keyframer choreography

The following controls are available:

Play range start: Defines the beginning of the animation playback range. The control is visible only when the Play Range option is enabled. Dragging the triangular marker with the left mouse button changes the play range start.

Play range end: Defines the end of the animation playback range.

Time slider: Shows the current time of the animation on the timeline. Dragging the knob with the left mouse button changes the current time.

LMB clicking the time line around the knob changes the time one frame to the respective direction. RMB click on the time line moves the knob to the clicked position. Also the following modifiers are supported:

Shift + RMB click moves the knob the the nearest key frame.
Alt + RMB click plays the knob to the nearest key frame.

Current: Shows the current frame of the animation. Entering a new frame number to this field jumps (not plays) the animation time to the new frame.

Field: Shows the current field (odd/even). The field control is visible when Field Rendering is enabled. The current field can be changed using the gadget.

Sample: Shows the current motion blur sample. Entering a new index to the gadget changes the current sample. This gadget is visible when Motion Blur is enabled.

Playback controls: Rewinds the animation back to the first frame (or to the beginning of the play range if the range option enabled). Plays the animation (or a defined sub range) backwards or forwards and jumps to the last frame.

Record: Turns animation recording on/off. When recording is enabled, all object modifications become recorded into the current choreography. If the current choreography is not a key framer, one is automatically created.

Total: Controls the amount of frames in the animation. If the frame count is changed and the current project contains animated objects, the program asks if the time lines should be scaled respectively.

Keyframes: Shows the keyframes of the currently selected objects. Key frames can be edited by dragging them with the mouse. The keyframe gadget can be zoomed and panned using the standard Shift and Ctrl modifiers while dragging with RMB.

Attributes - Sub menus can be used for enabling / disabling attributes for key framing. If an attribute is disabled, editing attributes with animation recording on will not create new key frames for it.
Show Choreographs, Hide Choreographs - These menus can be used for controlling the visibility of choreographs in the Choreography Window. Useful when managing scenes consisting of hundreds or thousands of animated objects.
Up, Down - These menus can be used for controlling the current choreography. Only choreographs up to the current choreography are executed.
Reset - Animation time line can be zoomed and panned via RMB + Ctrl and Shift keys. This menu restores the default scale and pan values.
Fix attribute list - This menu fixes the current animated attribute list so that no new attributes will be animated. However, the attributes already animated will be treated as usual.

Choreography stack: Shows the choreography stack and the current choreography.

Choreography stack contains all the choreographs applied to the object. The first choreography (typically named 'init') defines the initial state of the attribute in question. Any number of choreographs can be stacked on top of each other. Keyframer choreography can be used for animating attributes. It is automatically created when the user modifies objects when animation recording is activated. Pose choreography is typically created when the user modifies animated objects with animation recording off.

Create New Key: Creates new keyframes to the current choreography. This tool is available only when the type of the current choreography is 'Keyframer'. Another way of creating keyframes is by editing objects with animation recording on.

Previous Key: Moves the current time knob to the previous key frame.

Next Key: Moves the current time knob to the next key frame.

Play to previous key: Plays animation to the previous key frame.

Play to previous key: Plays animation to the next key frame.


Animation Settings		Attributes Window