Muting, Soloing, and Locking animation layers

You can use the Animation Layer buttons to mute, solo, and lock individual animation layers. When you mute a layer, its keyframes do not affect the result animation. Soloing a layer is a quick way to mute other layers. Locking a layer keeps it from receiving keyframes. Managing layers in this way affects the result animation and your workflow.

Tip: You can also turn a layer’s Mute, Solo, and Lock properties on and off from the Properties window, or from the Properties pan in the FCurves window.

To mute a layer:

• Click the Mute button next to the layer name in the Animation Layer editor.

  The muted layer turns a darker gray.

  Note: When you mute a parent layer, its child layers are also muted.

To solo a layer:

• Click the solo button next to the layer name in the Animation Layer editor.

  When you solo one or more animation layers, the Mute option for all the other layers is automatically activated, so that only the animation from the soloed layers is played back.

  Note: When you solo a layer, you mute other layers that are at the same level in the hierarchy and their children. The children of the muted layer and layers higher in the hierarchy are not muted.

To lock a layer:

• Click the Lock button next to the layer name in the Animation Layer editor.

  The layer is locked and can not receive keyframes. When a layer is locked, its name displays in italics.