Work with Blue Pencil frames

Blue Pencil drawings appear as frames on the Time Slider, and you can rearrange them.

• For information about showing or hiding Blue Pencil frames on the Time Slider, see the Blue Pencil options in the Time Slider preferences
• For information on importing or exporting Blue Pencil frames, see Import or Export Blue Pencil frames

Add a Blue Pencil frame

Open the Blue Pencil tool and start drawing in the Viewport: a Blue Pencil frame automatically appears at the position of the Time Slider Current Time Indicator. This frame is considered the Active Blue Pencil frame.

You can also click Add Frame in the Blue Pencil Toolbar, or right-click the Time Slider and select Blue Pencil > Insert Frame(s) from the Animation Controls menu.

Tip: To add more than one frame at a time, Shift-select a range on the Time Slider, right-click and select Blue Pencil > Insert Frame(s). A Blue Pencil frame is created for each frame in the selected range.

Cut, copy, paste, clear, or delete Blue Pencil frames

There are many ways to do these basic tasks with your Blue Pencil frames:

• Use the (Cut), (Copy), (Paste), (Clear), or (Delete) buttons on the Blue Pencil Toolbar or the Blue Pencil Tool Settings
• Select Frame > from the Blue Pencil Marking menu
• Right-click the Time Slider and choose an option from the Blue Pencil rollout in the Animation Controls menu

See Clean up Blue Pencil sketches for more about removing frames or their content, and see Difference between Copy Frame(s) and Duplicate Previous Frame, below.

The difference between Copy Frame(s) and Duplicate Previous Frame

The Copy Frame(s) () and Duplicate Previous Frame () functions on the Blue Pencil Toolbar may sound alike, but they create a different effect:

• Copy Frame(s) lets you copy a frame to the clipboard and paste it anywhere on the Time Slider (provided there is not a frame there already).
  
• Duplicate Previous Frame creates an identical version of the previous frame at the current time (provided there is no frame there already). Use Duplicate Frame when you want an image to persist or repeat throughout a scene.
  

You can quickly create animation sequences with Duplicate Previous Frame by copying and transforming sketches along the Time Slider. In the following example, a sketch of a bird duplicated and transformed a few frames apart to create the illusion of flight. See Modify drawings with Blue Pencil Transform mode.

Move Blue Pencil Frames

Shift + click to highlight one or more frames on the Time Slider. Once highlighted, drag the selected area to a new location. You can Shift + drag multiple frames.

You can also use the Retime frame tool to move frames incrementally.

Scale Blue Pencil Frames

Shift + click to highlight one or more frames on the Time Slider. Once highlighted, drag the arrows at either end of the highlighted area to grow or shrink the timing between the frames.

Retime Blue Pencil Frames

Click the Retime Forward () and Retime Backward () buttons on the Blue Pencil Toolbar to shift Blue Pencil frames from the selected frame ahead or behind along the Time Slider. Set the number of frames you want to move frames in the Frame Range field.

Save and export Blue Pencil frames

You can save all Blue Pencil sketches in a scene with the Export Blue Pencil Frames () button on the Blue Pencil Toolbar. See Import or Export Blue Pencil Frames.

Note: If you reference Blue Pencil drawings into another scene using File Referencing, they do not appear. They are meant to be added to the final scene.

Import legacy Grease Pencil frames

You can import legacy Grease Pencil frames into Blue Pencil. See the section Import Grease Pencil frames into Blue Pencil in Import or Export Blue Pencil Frames.

Playblast a sequence of Blue Pencil images

Once you draw a series of Blue Pencil sketches, you can Playblast them and create a quick movie of your 2D animation.

Note: If you don't want Blue Pencil sketches to appear in your Playblasts, disable them in the Playblast section of the Panel > Show menu. See Show or Hide Blue Pencil images, below.

To playblast Blue Pencil sketches

1. Ensure that HUD is active in the Panel > Show menu.

(If HUD option is not checked, Blue Pencil drawings will not appear in the Viewport.)

2. Select Windows > Playblast, or refer to Playblast an animation for more information.

Show or Hide Blue Pencil images

You can hide/unhide Blue Pencil drawings in the Viewport.

1. In the Panel > Show menu, select Blue Pencil to display Blue Pencil images. The default is On.
2. To have the drawings hidden in a Playblast, select Panel > Show menu > Playblast and select Blue Pencil.