Story window controls
Story window displaying Shot and Character track controls
This section covers the Story controls that appear when any clip is selected. Story controls that are specific to particular types of tracks are covered with the track information.
Story controls A. Story Mode option B. Story Mode menu
Disable Story Mode so that only the take selected in the Transport Controls window plays. If Story Mode is active, the animation in the Story window can override or blend with the take selected in the Transport Controls window.
When Story window animation is active, the Story Mode menu is also active. This menu lets you select between the Story window Action and Edit modes. See Disabling the Story window for more information.
Manipulation options A. Loop/Scale B. Snap
Manipulation option | Behavior |
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Loop/Scale |
Lets you loop and trim clips, or scale clips. Looping is the default clip manipulation mode. Note: Currently, you can only loop read-only clips.
|
Maintain Shot and Clip Shot Lengths |
Syncs the lengths of a shot and its associated shot clip when stretching one or the other, instead of creating loops. This mode only affects shots and shot clips and does not affect other types of clips (animation, audio, video).
Note: To access this mode,
Time Discontinuity and
Loop Mode must be turned on.
|
Snap |
Lets you snap the clip to frames, clips, shots, or to the current time, when you drag a clip along a track, depending which option is active in the Snap context menu. See Snap menu options for descriptions of the different Snap options. |
Edit buttons A. Razor B. Cut C. Copy D. Paste
Button | Function |
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Razor | Lets you slice a selected clip in two.
Note: To slice selected clips on multiple tracks at the same time, place the Timeline indicator over the clips and use the Razor option in the context menu instead. See
Razoring clips.
|
Cut | Removes selected clips and stores them in memory. You can also use the keyboard short-cut Ctrl-X to cut selected clips. |
Copy | The Copy button copies selected clips. You can also use the keyboard short-cut Ctrl-C to copy selected clips. |
Paste | Inserts a copied or cut selection into another location. |
The Record to memory/disk option lets you record many takes without stopping to free up memory, record in real time session, and so on.
For more information on how to record takes using this option, see Recording Story tracks to memory or disk.
If there are many clips within a folder, then it is time consuming to select and move each clip along the timeline. To avoid this, the Summary Clips On/Off tool in the Story toolbar allows you to display a summary clip, as part of the folder track. By moving the summary clip, you can move all the clips in a folder.
To display the summary clip, click the Summary Clips On/Off icon from the Story toolbar.
The Filtering by selection () tool displays only the animation tracks that belong to the objects that you select in a scene.
If you want to perform additional tasks on the scene, such as inserting an object, it is important to lock the view in the Story window. To achieve this, click the Lock filtering by selection () tool.
The Multiple Clips option displays when an Animation, Camera Animation, or Character track is selected.
Story window A. Multiple Clips option set to active B. Clips created for keyframes at frame 0, 49, and 81
Story window A. Multiple Clips option disabled B. Clip encompassing keyframes at frame 0, 49, and 81
You can change the contents of a keyless clip by placing the Timeline indicator over it and transforming the selected assets again.
The Ghosts options let you hide and show various ghosts. These options display only when Animation, Camera Animation, and Character tracks or clips are selected.
The Ghosts options consist of the following:
Option | Behavior |
---|---|
Ghost option | Hides or shows all ghosts of selected tracks or clips. For more information, see Ghost option. |
Model option | Hides or shows a model’s ghost. |
Clip Vector/Travelling Node | Hides or shows either clip vector ghosts or travelling nodes, depending on whether tracks or clips are selected. For more information, see Clip Vector/Travelling Node. |
Ghost Match Object | Hides or shows the match object ghosts of tracks and clips. Ghosts of match objects look like crosses in the Viewer window. See Matching clips for more information on match objects. |
Travelling Node(s) | Lets you define a different travelling node for an Animation, Character, or Camera Animation track. For more information, see Work with ghosts in Story. |
Story controls A. Match Options button B. Auto Match option C. Match Object field D. Match Object button
The Match Controls are active only when an animation, camera animation, or character clip is selected. See Matching clips for more information.