Animation

Improvements to Animation, including new keyframe indicators, better keyframe selection and filtering options, and quick expressions.

Flame Learning Channel: 7 Animation Improvements in 2023.1

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Start End Indicators

The Curves and Dope Sheet canvases now display range indicators to show when a segment or setup starts and ends.

Tip: In Timeline FX, the range indicators always show the length of the segment, not that of the Timeline range in the Time Bar.

In the Animation menu, use Gear menu > Show Range Indicators to hide or show the range indicators.

Keyframe Indicator

The keyframe indicators found at the bottom of numeric fields are now displayed below the channels in Animation. Use these to quickly identify channels with a keyframe at the current frame (yellow bar), channels with keyframes but not at the current frame (blue bar), and channels without keyframes (no bar).

In the Animation menu, use Gear menu > Show Keyframe Indicators to hide or show the keyframe indicators.

Numeric Field Contextual Menu

You can now easily reset a numeric field's keyframe or channel:

You can also delete a channel's keyframes before or after the current keyframe.

Tip: Shift + click a field to select it and display only its keyframes in the Time Bar.

Selection Improvements

There are two methods to select keyframes in the Animation canvas:

Ctrl + F + drag changes visually. This change makes it easier to use:

Improved Filters

The Name filtering criteria now also considers folder names. If a folder's name matches the filter, all its channels are selected in the channels list.

For example, a Name filter *tion matches the following folder names in a 2D Transform node:

Under AxisTranform:

  • Position
  • Rotation
  • MatteOffsetPosition
  • MatteOffsetRotation

Under Stabilization:

  • Position
  • Scale
  • Rotation

Scale is selected even if doesn't match the *tion pattern. It is selected because the parent folder, Stabilization, does match the pattern.

Expressions Improvements

Link Channel Options

You now have access to new link options anywhere the Link Channel option is available.

Contextual menu > Link Special:

  • Link and Negate Channel: Links to the channel, and add a minus sign at the start of the expression.
  • Link and Add Channel: Links to the channel, asks for a number in the Calculator and then creates the expression: channel+<number>.
  • Link and Subtract Channel: Links to the channel, asks for a number in the Calculator and then creates the expression: channel-<number>.
  • Link and Multiply Channel: Links to the channel, asks for a number in the Calculator and then creates the expression: channel*<number>.
  • Link and Divide Channel: Links to the channel, asks for a number in the Calculator and then creates the expression: channel/<number>.

Frame a Single Keyframe

The channel framing rules have been adjusted for channels with a single keyframe.

More Improvements

If > Automatic Framing is enabled, the top folder of an Action, GMask Tracer, or Image node is now automatically expanded.

If you select the default Animated filter, Audio and channels with Expressions are no longer hidden.