************ Introduction ************ The Graph Editor allows users to adjust animation curves over time for any animatable property. :doc:`F-Curves `. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_example.png The Graph Editor. Main Region =========== The curve view allows you to view and edit F-curves. An F-curve has several key parts: Curve The curve defines the value (Y axis) of the property over time (X axis). See :doc:`F-Curves `. Keyframes Keyframes are user-defined values on certain frames and are represented by little black squares which become orange if selected. See :doc:`Keyframes ` for more information. Handles Each keyframe has a handle that helps determine the values of the curve between keyframes. These handles are represented by extruding lines with circular ends and can be selected and modified to change the shape of the curve. See :ref:`editors-graph-fcurves-settings-handles` for more information. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_f-curve-example.png A simple curve. .. seealso:: See :doc:`F-Curves ` for more info. 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. .. _graph_editor-2d-cursor: .. _bpy.types.SpaceGraphEditor.cursor: Playhead & 2D Cursor -------------------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_2dcursor.png :align: right Graph Editor 2D Cursor. The current frame is represented by a blue vertical line called the *Playhead*. As in the :doc:`Timeline `, you can change the current frame by :kbd:`LMB`-dragging in the scrubbing area at the top of the editor. The blue horizontal line is called the *2D Cursor*. This can be enabled or disabled via the *View Menu* or the *View Properties* panel. These two lines can be used as a reference for moving and scaling keyframe handles. .. seealso:: See Graph Editor's :ref:`graph_editor-view-properties`. View Axes --------- For *Actions* the X axis represents time, the Y axis represents the value to set the property. Depending on the selected curves, the values have different meaning: For example rotation properties are shown in degrees. Header ====== .. _graph-view-menu: View Menu --------- Realtime Updates When transforming keyframes, changes to the animation data are propagated to other views. Show Cursor Toggles the visibility of the `Playhead & 2D Cursor`_. Show Sliders A toggle option that shows the value sliders for the channels. See the Fig. :ref:`fig-dope-sheet-action`. Show Group Colors Display groups and channels with colors matching their corresponding groups. AutoMerge Keyframes Automatically merge nearby keyframes. Use High Quality Display Display F-curves using anti-aliasing and other fancy effects (disable for a better performance). Show Handles :kbd:`Ctrl-H` Toggles the display of a curve's handles in the curve view. Only Selected Curve Keyframes Only shows the keyframes markers on the selected curves. Only Selected Keyframes Handles Only shows the handles for the currently selected curves. View All :kbd:`Home` Reset viewable area to show all keyframes. View Selected :kbd:`NumpadPeriod` Reset viewable area to show selected keyframes. View Frame :kbd:`Numpad0` Centers the area to the Playhead. .. seealso:: - See Graph Editor's :ref:`graph_editor-view-properties`. - See Timeline's :ref:`timeline-view-menu`. .. _graph-preview-range: Preview Range ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Set Preview Range :kbd:`P` Interactively define frame range used for playback. Allows you to define a temporary preview range to use for animation playback (this is the same thing as the *Playback Range* option of the :ref:`Timeline editor header `). Clear Preview Range :kbd:`Alt-P` Clears the preview range. Auto-Set Preview Range :kbd:`Ctrl-Alt-P` Automatically sets the preview range to playback the whole action or the selected NLA strips. 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 `. View Controls ------------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_header-view.png View controls. Show Only Selected (mouse cursor icon) Only include curves related to the selected objects and data. Show Hidden (dashed object icon) Include curves from objects/bones that are not visible. Show Only Errors (warning triangle icon) Only include curves and drivers that are disabled or have errors. Useful for debugging. Filter popover (funnel icon) Only include curves with keywords contained in the search field. Multi-Word (az icon) Fuzzy/Multi-Word name filtering matches word snippets/partial words, instead of having to match everything. It breaks down the search string based on white-space placement. e.g. "lo ro" will filter all location and rotation, while "lc rt" will *not* work. Type Filter Filter curves by property type. Data-block Sort (az icon) Objects data-blocks appear in alphabetical order, so that it is easier to find where they occur (as well as helping to keep the animation of related objects together in the NLA for instance). If you find that your playback speed suffers from this being enabled (it should only really be an issue when working with lots of objects in the scene), you can turn this off. Normalize Normalize curves so the maximum or minimum point equals 1.0 or -1.0. Auto Automatically recalculate curve normalization on every curve edit. This is useful to prevent curves from jumping after tweaking it. F-curve Controls ---------------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_header-edit.png Curve controls. Proportional Editing :kbd:`O` See :doc:`Proportional Editing `. Auto Snap Auto snap the keyframes for transformations. - No Auto-Snap - Frame Step - Second Step - Nearest Frame - Nearest Second - Nearest Marker Pivot Point Pivot point for rotation. Bounding Box Center Center of the selected keyframes. 2D Cursor Center of the *2D Cursor*. *Playhead* + *Cursor*. Individual Centers Rotate the selected keyframe *Bézier* handles. Create Snapshot (framed F-curve icon) Creates a picture with the current shape of the curves. Sidebar Region ============== The panels in the *Sidebar region*. View Tab -------- .. (Todo) duplicated here: \editors\graph_editor\fcurves\properties.rst View Properties Panel --------------------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_fcurves_properties_view-panel.png View Properties panel. Show Cursor Show the vertical *Cursor*. Cursor from Selection Set the *2D cursor* to the center of the selected keyframes. Cursor X *Playhead* X position. To Keys Snap selected keyframes to the *Playhead*. Cursor Y Vertical *Cursor* Y position. To Keys Snap selected keyframes to the *Cursor*. Further Tabs ------------ F-Curve Tab See :doc:`F-Curve `. Modifiers Tab See :doc:`F-Curve Modifiers `.