A visual keyframe is a mark on a timeline and represents the time or frame at which you set a key.
- A visual keyframe displays on the Action timeline in the Transport Controls window at the current timecode.
- A visual keyframe displays on the timelines of the Dopesheet window. The Dopesheet window is an expanded view of the Action timeline that lets you edit visual keyframes.
The keyframes that display in the Dopesheet window are associated with selected properties. For example, if you set a keyframe when TRS is selected as the Keying mode in the Key Controls window, one visual keyframe appears on the Action timeline, but three appear on the Dopesheet Timeline area, letting you edit keyframes for translation, rotation, and scaling separately. If you’re using a custom keying group, the Dopesheet Timeline will have a key for each property in the keying group.
You can select and edit visual keyframes and visual keyframe regions on the Action timeline. The keyframes at either side of a keyframe region display in white, and the region displays in green.
Action timeline A. Keyframe region
The keyframes that display on the Action timeline are the keyframes associated with selected properties. When you edit animation by editing the visual keyframes, you also edit the corresponding keys they represent.
For example, if “TRS” is selected in the Keying Mode menu of the Key Controls window, editing a single keyframe on the Action timeline modifies nine different keys simultaneously (the X, Y, and Z values for the selected object’s translation, rotation, and scaling curves).
Therefore, it is important that you choose how you want to alter the animation. You may want to use the FCurves window or the Dopesheet window instead of the visual keyframes on the Action timeline.