Dopesheet


The dopesheet is composed of 4 parts: The toolbar allows to:
  • dopesheet mode;
  • curve editor mode;
  • Move keyframe value and time;
  • Move keyframe value only (keyframe time cannot be changed);
  • Move keyframe time only (keyframe value cannot be changed);
  • Insert keys at the current time for the selected attributes ar attribute groups;
  • Delete selected keys;
  • Copy selected keys;
  • Paste copied keys. If the copied keys were belonging to one parameter only and one parameter is selected, the keys are copied to the selected parameter. Otherwise, the keys are copied to their original parameter. In every cases, the copied key with the minimum time value is copied to the current time, the other keys are translated by the same amount;
  • Selected parameter is interpolated (between keys) by splines;
  • Selected parameter is interpolated (between keys) by lines;
  • Selected parameter is constant until another key defines a new value;
  • In Spline interpolated mode, the selected keys have the same tangent before and after, ensuring a very smooth interpolation;
  • In Spline interpolated mode, the selected keys have colinear tangents before and after, ensuring a smooth interpolation but a steep variation in the speed of variation;
  • In Spline interpolated mode, the selected keys have indepenadant tangents before and after;
  • In Spline interpolated mode, set the tangent to be horizontal;
  • In Spline interpolated mode, point the before tangent of the selected keys to the previous keys (if any);
  • In Spline interpolated mode, point the after tangent of the selected keys to the next keys (if any);
  • Opens the animation configuration window;
  • Exits the dopesheet/curve editor mode.
An animation Node is an animated parameter or a group of animated parameters or an animated object (mesh, curve, light...).
The attribute tree is displayed on the left. Childs of a node can be hided or displayed by using the small '+* or '-' sign before the node names. Right clicking on a name opens the following popup menu:

The keys are displayed on the right. The current time (or frame number) is indicated by 2 vertical orange lines. The top of these lines displays the frame number on the left and the time in hour, minutes, seconds and 1/100 (or timecode).
Each key is represented by a little bullet: A key can be selected by clicking on it. A selected key can be moved by dragging it. It is also possible to select keys by rectangles. If more than one key is selected, the drag-handle is displayed in the bottom: .
If the left handle is dragged, the selected keys are scaled with a pivot on the right. If the middle handle is dragged, the selected keys are moved. If the right handle is dragged, the selected keys are scaled with a pivot on the left.
At the bottom of this area, there is the timeline:

The current time (or frame number) is indicated by 2 vertical orange lines. These 2 lines can be dragged to change the current time. The animation is updated interactively in the other views. The number on the bottom left is the first frame, the number on the bottom right is the last frame. The 3 handles in the bottom allow to scale and move the displayed portion of the timeline (and the dopesheet). The left and right keys move the displayed range to the left and the right. 'Home' and 'End' keys move the display range to the beginning and end of the animation.
The bottom part of the dopesheet holds the outside configuration, the numerical key editor and the play bar. The outside configuration defines how parameter are evaluated before the first key and after the last key:

A small icon in the middle shows the selected configuration.
The play bar is composed of:

Keys can be edited while playing.