Selecting time
In the Motion Editor, you can explicitly select a region of time to modify. (You can implicitly select time in the Graph Editor by using keyframes.) You can then make modifications to selected controls and apply them only to that time selection. Alternatively, you can make the modifications first, and then, on the fly, adjust the time those changes are applied to by adjusting your time selection.
When you first go into the Motion Editor, all of time is selected by default; you can tell this because the entire Motion Editor is green (indicating time selection), and because on either side of the Motion Editor, you'll see a vertical green zig-zag handle. These are the infinite time selection handles.
To go into the Motion Editor, click its button (
) in the upper-left corner of the timeline.
To select a region of time:
- Holding down ⇧ Shift, drag to select a region of time. The selection turns green.
Or:
- Drag the infinite time selection handles toward the center of the Motion Editor to shorten the time selection. You can also drag one infinite time selection handle to limit the time selection only on one side.
To select all of time:
- Press Ctrl+A.
Or:
- Drag the boundary on either side of the time selection all the way to its side of the Motion Editor until it turns back into an infinite time selection handle.
Tip:You can review your animation in the Motion Editor by holding down ⇧ Shift and moving the mouse right and left.Creating falloffs
You may not want abrupt camera jumps or object animations in your movie. You can create a falloff to soften and blend the transitions.
A time selection with falloffs has three sections: the first falloff (at the beginning), the hold (in the middle, between the two falloffs), and the second falloff (at the end).
You can create a falloff in a few different ways:
- Hover the mouse pointer near the edge of the time selection, until the pointer turns into a double-headed arrow (
). Drag to create the falloff. - With time selected, hold down ⇧ Shift and rotate the mouse wheel.
- Holding ⇧ Shift down the entire time, drag (sets the first falloff), release the mouse button and move the mouse pointer a little to one side (sets the hold), and then drag again (sets the second falloff).
- Holding ⇧ Shift down the entire time, drag to set the hold, release the mouse button, move the mouse pointer back to where you want the first falloff to begin, and drag all the way to where you want the second falloff to end.
After you've created a falloff, you can drag any of the time selection's edges to adjust it. You can also change the falloff curve type by pressing one of the falloff hotkeys: 1, 2, 3, or 4.
To quickly adjust falloffs:
- Holding down ⇧ Shift, drag with the right mouse button to the right or left. This will reset the falloff the mouse pointer is closest to.
Scaling a time selection
You can scale a time selection by holding down Alt and dragging either of its edges to the left or right.
Retiming a time selection
You can retime a time selection (move it backward or forward on the timeline) by holding down Alt and dragging left or right inside it.