Displaying and Operating the Timeline Palette
Updated: 11/21/2023
Once you have placed the models, audio, and other materials in the scene, the next step is to create the animation.
This section describes the display and operation of the timeline palette for editing animations.
See “Timeline Palette” for details on the screen layout of the timeline palette.
See “Basic Dope Sheet Operation” and “Graph Editor” for basic operations.
Display of the Timeline
Click the [Open/Close button] in ① or ② in the image to expand the tracks and property groups.
(You can expand/consolidate all by clicking [Shift] + [Click])
Keyframes can be edited within each property group.
Basic Operation of the Timeline
Change overall length
The overall length of the animation scene is changed by dragging the gray area marked with [Duration:].
It can also be changed by entering a numerical value in the [Duration] section of the [Inspector] palette.
Change Work Area range
The blue bar is the work area.
Indicates the playback range of the animation scene being edited.
You can change the length by dragging the left and right ends.
Furthermore, you can mouse over the Work Area to see the information.
Move Work Area
You can move the playback range by dragging the blue work area.
Change track length
You can move the track’s position on the timeline by dragging the arrows on the right and left ends of the track left or right.
You can change the track length by dragging the left and right ends.
Tips
The Work Area and track positions can also be changed using the indicators.
See “Animation Menu” for details.
Movement Operation of the Timeline
Expanding and reducing the timeline
Use [Alt] + [mouse wheel] to expand and reduce the timeline.
The center of scaling is the cursor position.
Tips
The Graph Editor can be scaled in the same way.
Scroll through the timeline
Horizontal scrolling of the timeline can be performed using the slider at the bottom or by [Shift] + [mouse wheel],
and horizontal and vertical scrolling of the timeline can be performed by [middle mouse click (click on the wheel)] + [drag].
This is useful in combination with the timeline expanding/reducing performed by [Alt] + [mouse wheel].
Move to the beginning/end of the timeline
Use [Home] to move to the beginning of the entire Work Area.
Use [End] to move to the end of the entire timeline.
Move to the beginning/end of Work Area
Use [Shift] + [Home] to move to the beginning of the entire Work Area.
Use [Shift] + [End] to move to the end of the Work Area.
Move by one keyframe
From the current location of the [Indicator] on the selected parameter, move to the previous and next keyframes in sequence.
Press [J] to go to the previous keyframe and [K] to go to the next keyframe.
Press [Shift] + [J] to go to the previous key in the entire track and [Shift] + [K] to go to the next key in the entire track.
Timeline Settings
Click the menu button at the top right to display settings for operations on the timeline.
Common
Light playback:
If checked, the parameters and values on the timeline palette will not change while the scene is playing. For details, see “Lightweight playback function“.
Highlight the frame of the beat-by-frame:
If checked, you can highlight frame-by-frame play.
ON
OFF
Autoscroll to properties of selected object’s form animation:
If checked, properties will be opened when you click an object on the view.
(If you select the same object repeatedly, the properties will not be opened from the second time onwards.)
Dope sheet
Enable keyframe operations on shy hidden properties:
See “Shy Function” for details.
Select all keys when selecting parameters:
When checked, all keys of the selected parameter will be selected.
Graph editor
Display the value of a key:
When checked, the key value will be displayed on the graph editor.
Show the name of the key:
When checked, the key name will be displayed on the graph editor.
Auto resize:
ON
When checked, the entire graph will follow the numerical value while moving the keyframe by dragging on the graph editor.
OFF
When unchecked, the dope sheet will be displayed so that the top and bottom of it are all contained within the timeline.
Always perform continuous Bezier editing:
ON
In the timeline palette, the handles before and after the key are always aligned when manipulated.
While pressing [Ctrl], this item is disabled if enabled or enabled if disabled.
See “Graph Editor: Continuous Bezier editing” for details.
Smart snap with Shift:
See “Graph Editor: Value formatting” for details.
Bezierize a curve by dragging it:
When [Make Bezier by dragging curves] is checked, curve dragging is also enabled for non-Bezier curves.
See “Graph Editor: Curve dragging” for more information on curve dragging.
Snap to curve key position:
When [Snap to keyframes’ values on Graph Editor] is checked, the selected key is snapped to the numeric value of the previous or next key.
As you move the keyframe up or down, an orange line will appear with the value to be snapped.
