Animation and the timeline

Motion only exists in films. A film has a timeline length in seconds and a stage. What happens when is shown in the timeline below the stage.

The length#

The head of the timeline holds play, “An den Anfang” (back to start), the time display and next to it the length. The default is 6 seconds, anything from 0.5 to 120 is possible. A new value is applied once you let go or press Enter. “Schleife” (loop) starts the film over when it reaches the end.

The tracks#

At the very top is the camera track, below it sound, then one track per device and finally one shared track each for texts and images. The track head on the left carries the object’s name and menu. Behind the clips of a device track, a band shows which image is on the display when. That tells you at a glance what is visible while a device flies in.

Adding motion#

1. Switch to “Animation” mode (3).
2. Click the plus on the device’s track, or right-click the lane and choose “Bewegung hinzufügen” (add motion).
3. Pick a motion. The cards play a small preview of what they do.
4. Move the new clip along the track or drag its edges to make it longer or shorter.

An object has at most one entrance, one exit and one continuous motion. Picking a second of the same kind replaces the first. With “Schleife” on, an entrance brings its exit along so the end matches the beginning. Texts and free images get their motion through their shared track once they are selected.

Fine-tuning#

Clicking a clip shows its controls at the bottom of the right-hand column. Every motion has “Von” and “Bis” plus an amount of its own, such as “Strecke” (distance), “Winkel” (angle) or “Höhe” (height). For fly-ins, “Strecke messen” works out the distance so the device really starts outside the frame. Rolling comes “Von links” or “Von rechts”. Continuous motions add “Ein Durchlauf” (one cycle) and “Nur einmal” (only once).

The arrow keys nudge a selected clip in small steps, with Shift in steps ten times as big. When dragging with the mouse, clips snap to neighbouring edges and to the playhead. A clip’s menu also holds “Abschalten” (disable), “Zeiten zurücksetzen” (reset timing) and “Entfernen”.

Timing and motion#

Under “Zeit und Bewegung” in the “Objekt” tab you set from when to when an object is visible at all. Its motions are listed below that. Clicking one selects the same clip as the timeline does.

The resting pose#

Motions do not replace an object’s position, they are calculated from it. That is why you set position and rotation in move and rotate mode, where the stage shows the object without animation. When a field is currently being shifted by a motion, it says “(Ruhelage)” (resting pose) after its name.

Reusing motion#

“Bewegung kopieren” (copy motion) in an object’s menu takes all its motions along, “Bewegung einfügen” (paste motion) applies them to another. That way three phones get the same entrance without you building it three times.