************ Introduction ************ .. figure:: /images/editors_dope-sheet_introduction_overview.png :width: 620px The Dope Sheet. The Dope Sheet gives the animator a birds-eye-view of the keyframes inside the scene. The Dope Sheet is inspired by classical hand-drawn animation process, in which animators will make use of a chart, showing exactly when each drawing, sound and camera move will occur, and for how long. This is called an exposure-sheet or 'dope sheet'. While CG foundations dramatically differ from classical hand-drawn animation, Blender's *Dope Sheet* inherits a similar directive. Dope Sheet Modes ================ .. figure:: /images/editors_dope-sheet_introduction_modes.png Dope Sheet modes. While the Dope Sheet Mode allow you to edit multiple actions at once, the other ones are dedicated to view and edit specific data-blocks used in different context of animation. - Dope Sheet - :doc:`Action Editor ` - :ref:`Shape Key Editor ` - :doc:`Grease Pencil ` - :ref:`Mask ` - Cache File: Alembic Todo 2.78. Main Region =========== Navigation ---------- As with most editors, you can: Pan Pan the view vertically (values) or horizontally (time) with click and drag (:kbd:`MMB`). Zoom Zoom in and out with the mouse wheel (:kbd:`Wheel`). Scale View Scale the view vertically or horizontally (:kbd:`Ctrl-MMB`). In addition, you can also use the scrollbars to pan and zoom the view. Keyframes --------- .. figure:: /images/editors_dope-sheet_introduction_types.png The Dope Sheet Editor with object channels. This area contains keyframes for all visible action channels. As with the other time-based editors, the X axis represents time. The Y axis represents a stack of action channels. On these channels lay the keyframes, which can show different information: .. list-table:: :widths: 20 80 * - Gray - Unselected * - Yellow - Selected * - Diamond - Free Keyframe Handle * - Round - Auto-Clamped Keyframe Handle * - Circle - Automatic Keyframe Handle * - Square - Vector Keyframe Handle * - Rhombus - Aligned Keyframe Handle * - Various colors - These represent custom keyframe tags set by the user (:menuselection:`Key --> Keyframe Type`) * - Gray bar between keys - Held key (the two keyframes are identical) * - Green line between keys - Fixed keyframe interpolation (set in :menuselection:`Key --> Interpolation Mode`) * - Upwards arrow - Maximum Extreme keyframe (visible if :menuselection:`View --> Show Curve Extremes` are enabled) * - Downwards arrow - Minimum Extreme keyframe (visible if :menuselection:`View --> Show Curve Extremes` are enabled) Selecting Keyframes ------------------- Selection tools are available in the Select menu in the header, and the main shortcuts are listed below: Selecting Click on a key to select it. Hold :kbd:`Shift` to extend the current selection Box Selecting Click and drag to box select multiple keyframes at once. You can hold :kbd:`Shift` to extend or :kbd:`Ctrl` to subtract from the current selection Select/Deselect All - To select all keys, press :kbd:`A`. - To deselect all keys, press :kbd:`Alt-A`. - To inverse the selection, press :kbd:`Ctrl-I`. Select all to the right or left Hold :kbd:`Shift-Ctrl` and click on either side of the Playhead. You can also use :kbd:`]` and :kbd:`[`. See the Select menu for a full list of selection tools. Manipulating Keyframes ---------------------- Keyframe tools are available in the Key menu in the header, and the main shortcuts listed below: Moving Keyframes To move a single keyframe, click and drag on a key To move multiple keyframes, make sure several keys are selected and press :kbd:`G` Scaling Keyframes To scale (stretch) selected keys, press :kbd:`S` Extending Keyframes To extend the time between two keys, select all with :kbd:`A`, place the Playhead between two keyframes and press :kbd:`E` See the Key menu for a full list of selection tools. Channels Region --------------- .. _fig-dope-sheet-action: .. figure:: /images/editors_dope-sheet_introduction_action-editor-sliders.png The Action editor's channels region. See :doc:`/editors/graph_editor/channels`. Header ------ Here you find the menus, a first group of controls related to the editor "mode", a second one concerning the action data-blocks, and a few other tools (like the copy/paste buttons, and snapping type). Summary Toggles the "Dope Sheet Summary" channel at the top of the `Channels Region`_. This is used to give an overview of all the channels by combining all the actions into one channel. .. _dope-sheet-view-menu: View Menu ^^^^^^^^^ Sync Markers Sync Markers with keyframe edits. .. figure:: /images/animation_keyframes_introduction_interpolation.png :align: right Handle types. Show Handles and Interpolation Instead of displaying all keyframes as diamonds, different icons are used to show the Bézier handle type. When curves use a different interpolation type, a line is shown between keys to highlight that. See :ref:`Handles & Interpolation Display `. .. figure:: /images/editors_dope-sheet_introduction_extremes.png :align: right Extreme markers. Show Extremes Detect keys where the curve changes direction based on comparing with the adjacent key values, and display that by changing the keyframe icons to resemble an arrow. A muted version of the icon is used if the curve overshoots the extreme, or for groups with different results for contained curves. See Graph editor's :ref:`graph-view-menu`. Markers Menu ^^^^^^^^^^^^ :doc:`Markers ` are used to denote frames with key points or significant events within an animation. Like with most animation editors, markers are shown at the bottom of the editor. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_markers.png Markers in animation editor. For descriptions of the different marker tools see :ref:`Editing Markers `. Key Menu ^^^^^^^^ Keyframe Type :kbd:`R` Sets the :ref:`keyframe-type` of the selected keyframes. See :doc:`F-Curve `.