Timeline

The Timeline editor, identified by a clock icon, is used for manipulating keyframes and scrubbing the playhead.

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The Timeline.

The Timeline gives the user a broad overview of a scene’s animation, by showing the current frame, the keyframes of the active object, the start and end frames of your animation sequence, as well as markers set by the user.

The Timeline includes Transport Controls, to play, pause, and skip through an animation sequence.

It also includes tools for manipulating Keyframes, Keying Sets, and Markers.

Main View

The main Timeline region displays the animation frames over time.

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Here you can see the Keyframes (diamond shapes), Playhead (blue handle), Scrollbar (along the bottom),

Adjusting the View

The Timeline can be panned by holding MMB, then dragging the area left or right.

You can zoom the Timeline by using Ctrl-MMB, the mouse Wheel, or pressing NumpadMinus and NumpadPlus.

You can also use the scrollbars, located at the bottom or the right of the editor, to pan and zoom the view.

Playhead

The Playhead is the blue vertical line with the current frame number at the top.

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Playhead.

The Playhead can be set or moved to a new position by pressing or holding LMB in scrubbing area at the top of the timeline.

The Playhead can be moved in single-frame increments by pressing Left or Right, or you can jump to the beginning or end frame by pressing Shift-Left or Shift-Right.

Frame Range

By default, the Frame Range is set to start at frame 1 and end at frame 250. You can change the frame range in the top right of the Timeline header, or in the Output Properties.

Keyframes

For the active and selected objects, keyframes are displayed as diamond shapes.

You can click to select one at a time, or select several by holding Shift, or by dragging a box around the keyframes. You can then move single keys by dragging them, and you can move multiple keys by pressing G and scale them with S.

Only Selected Channels can be enabled. Timeline ‣ View ‣ Only Selected Channels. For Armatures, this will display the object keyframes, and the keyframes for the active and selected pose bones.

Markers

See the Markers page for more information.