The Timeline is a new window type in Blender to support animation editing. It offers a large set of animation controls, but also a more advanced method of animation playback.

 

Animated UI

Using the Timeline "Play" button, the windows in Blender now get continuously updated with a built-in timer system, keeping the full interface alive. You can edit keys, do modeling, change material settings, or - most useful right now - see how the new Soft Body feature works while tweaking settings.

Using tools (like transform, or buttons) still will halt playback temporally.

 

Playback speed is controlled by a timing system following the "Frames per Second" value (see pulldown menu). If no audio syncing is set, this is the maximum speed for playback.

 

Use the "Playback" pulldown menu to define which other windows should refresh. Windows that don't refresh will show updated time on redraw still, in Blender the 'current frame' is a global value.

 

Note:

  • The ALT+A animation hotkey still works as usual, giving blocking playback of the current window (or for current window + all 3d windows with SHIFT+ALT+A).
  • Playback is controlled by the Screen itself, so it will stop when you switch to another Screen.

Animation Controls

Options are from left to right:

  • Go to first frame
  • Go to previous Key
  • Play/Pause: start or stop playback
  • Go to next Key
  • Go to last frame
  • Record: set the "auto key insert" option, which adds key frames on each transformation change of Objects or Bones
  • Audio Sync: synchronize playback with Audio Strips in Sequence Window. When there are no Audio strips, it still synchronizes playback to be real time (possibly skipping frames)

 

Markers

You can set Markers on specific frames by pressing hotkey M. This also works during animation playback (ALT+A too). Very useful as reminders for certain timing moments, or for synchronizing with sound.

Name a Marker by selecting it, and press CTRL+M.

Markers can be moved as well (Select-drag or hotkey G).

Remove Markers with hotkey X.

Use the hotkey PageUp/Down to move to the next/previous Marker

 

Key Frames

Keyframes of the active object are shown as little lines in the Timeline. Yellow lines represent Object keys, blue lines represent Action keys, red lines represent Material Keys.

You can use the hotkeys CTRL+PageUp/Down to move to the next/previous key.

 

More hotkeys

  • S and E are for setting the current frame as the start or end frame of the animation.
  • Right mouse button now cancels animation playback, just like most other ?temporary modes? (same functionality as Esc).
  • T gives menu to switch time to frames or seconds
  • C centers view around current frame
  • Home shows all from start to end frame

 

To do

  • Option for windows in Blender to not update time (at all)
  • Have animation playback continue during Transform
  • Solve current conflict between ALT+A blocked playback and the new method. Both now still function apart from each other.

 

 

Design and Code by Matt Ebb, Jiri Hnidek and Ton Roosendaal

 

 


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