Story context menu

Insert

The Insert menu lets you add folders and tracks to the Track lists.

Tracks let you use specific kinds of clips along a timeline. For example, a Command track lets you use commands and application launches, whereas an Animation track lets you manipulate animation clips.

The types of track the menu lets you insert depend on where you right-click. For example, you can insert Shot tracks, Audio tracks, and Video tracks in the Edit Track list. In the Action Track list, there are three different types of animation tracks, as well as Audio, Video, Constraint, and Command tracks.

Track Type	Purpose
Folder	Lets you insert folders, which you can use to organize your tracks. You can create hierarchies of tracks by dragging one track onto another or into a folder. To remove a track from a folder, drag it to an empty place in the track list.
Shot Track	Lets you create a series of camera switches using camera shots.
Generic Animation Track	Lets you create keyframe animation for translation, rotation, and scaling for assets such as lights and cubes.
Character Animation Track	Lets you animate characters with keyframes and motion data.
Camera Animation Track	Lets you animate cameras with keyframes.
Video Track	Lets you loop video clips and schedule when they play.
Audio Track	Lets you set audio cues at specific times in a take, as well as loop and play audio clips.
Command Track	Lets you show and hide models at specific frames in your track. You can also use the Command track to launch an external application.
Constraint Track	Lets you select, blend, and fade constraints.

See Story clips for information on the clips you can create for each type of track.

Note: A Constraint track must be placed below the track containing the animation that the constraint is meant to affect. To move a track, click on its name and drag it up or down to the desired location.

Make Camera Switcher Current

The Make Camera Switcher Current option sets the Camera Switcher as the current camera in the Viewer window, which lets you see the results of the shots and camera switches in the Edit Track list.

Note: This option is active when you right-click in the Edit Track list.

Plot Shot Track To

The Plot Shot Track To menu lets you plot camera switches from the Edit Track list to a take. This lets you use the camera switches in the Camera Switcher settings.

See Camera switcher.

Note: This option is active when you right-click in the Edit Track list.

Plot Whole Scene To Current Take

The Plot Whole Scene To Current Take options combines all the animation in a scene with the take selected in the Transport Controls window.

Note: This plotting includes the animation of the take selected in the Transport Controls window as well as the animation in the Story window.

See Plotting Animation for more information on plotting.

Razor

The Razor option lets you slice selected clips in two at the Timeline indicator. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Alt-R to razor selected clips. To make sure to slice only one selected clip at a time, use the Razor button in the Story controls instead of this context menu option.

See Razoring clips.

Cut

The Cut option removes selected clips and store them in memory for pasting into another location.

See Cutting, copying, and pasting clips.

Copy

The Copy option lets you copy selected clips and store them in memory for pasting into another location.

See Cutting, copying, and pasting clips.

Copy Time Range

The Copy Time Range option lets you copy all the clips in the selected time range. You can then paste these copied clips.

See Story window time range.

Paste

The Paste option lets you insert a copied or cut selection in another location.

See Cutting, copying, and pasting clips.

Key At Time

The Key At Time option opens a Key at Time dialog box which lets you set one or more keyframes for the selected properties at any point in time, regardless of the current time.

You can also access the Key at Time dialog box by right-clicking the Key button in the Key Controls window, or by pressing Ctrl-Shift-K.

See Setting many keyframes at once.

Key at time dialog box

Delete

The Delete option lets you delete a selected track or clip. You must select a track or clip to delete it.

Note: Deleting a parent track also deletes its sub-tracks.

Select Clips

The Select Clips option lets you select clips with All, Clear, Inverse, and Time-based options. Which track list you right-click determines which clips and shots are affected.

Option	Function
All	Lets you select all the clips in a track list.
Clear	Lets you deselect all clips and shots. Clicking in either Clip area also deselects everything.
Inverse	Lets you select all the clips and shots that are not selected, and deselects all selected clips and shots.
Time Based	The Time Based menu lets you select clips depending on the location of the Timeline indicator. See Time based menu options for details on what options are available.

Time Based menu options

The Time Based menu options let you select clips depending on the location of the Timeline indicator.

Option	Function
At Time Cursor	Selects all the clips at the Timeline indicator.
Before Time Cursor	Selects all the clips before the Timeline indicator, but does not select clips at the Timeline indicator.
Before And At Time Cursor	Selects all the clips before the Timeline indicator, including those at the Timeline indicator.
After Time Cursor	Selects all the clips after the Timeline indicator, but does not select clips at the Timeline indicator.
After And At Time Cursor	Selects all the clips after the Timeline indicator, including those at the Timeline indicator.

Frame Zoom Bar

Use the Frame Zoom Bar option to set the Zoom bar start and end values of clips or keyframes.

See Zooming in on Story window clips.

Frame Start/End

Use Frame Start/End to set the Start and End values of the take. When you use Frame Start/End, the Start value of the take becomes the start time of the earliest clip or keyframe and the End value of the take becomes the end time of the last clip or keyframe.

See Story window time range.

Step by All Fades

You can press Shift-Left arrow and Shift-Right arrow to step the Timeline indicator between the points of clips in the Story window.

When the Step by All Fades option is disabled, the shortcuts move the Timeline indicator between clip In and Out points.

Points of a clip A. In point B. Out point

When the Step by All Fades option is active, the shortcuts move the Timeline indicator between clip Fade In and Out points, Still In and Out points, as well as In and Out points.

Points of a clip A. Still In point B. In point C. Fade In point D. Out point E. Fade Out point F. Still Out point

You can step through the clips in only one track list at a time. Hover the mouse over either the Edit Track list or the Action Track list to step through the clips.

Also, when no clip or track is selected, you can step through all clips on all tracks within a track list.

Snap menu options

The Snap menu let you snap the clips you move to the nearest frame, clip, or shot, or to the Timeline indicator. All options are selected by default.

The following table describes the options in the Snap menu:

Snap menu option	Description
Active	Turns snap options on or off.
On Time Cursor	Snaps to the Timeline indicator.
On Clips	Snaps to the exact frame of the start or end of another clip.
On Frames	Snaps dragged clips to exact frames.

Time Discontinuity

The Time Discontinuity option affects how you can manipulate shot clips.

See Edit Track list for more information.

Maintain Shot and Shot Clip Lengths Synced

Syncs the lengths of a shot and its associated shot clip when stretching one or the other, instead of creating loops. To turn on this mode, click

in the Story window controls or select this option from the Story context menu. This mode only affects shots and shot clips and does not affect other types of clips (animation, audio, video).

Note: Before using this mode, Time Discontinuity and Loop Mode must be turned on.

Sync Action and Edit Views

The Sync Action and Edit Views option affects the way you manipulate the view in the Action Track list and the Edit Track list.

You can manipulate the view in either track list by Shift-dragging to scroll and Ctrl-dragging to zoom. When the Sync Action and Edit Views option is active, manipulating the view affects both track lists at once. For example, zooming in the Action Track list also zooms in the Edit Track list.