************ Introduction ************ The Graph editor is the main animation editor. It allows you to modify the animation for any properties using :doc:`F-Curves `. The graph editor has two modes, *F-Curve* for :doc:`Actions `, and *Drivers* for :doc:`Drivers `. Both are very similar in function. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph_example.jpg :width: 600px The Graph Editor. Curve View ========== Here you can see and edit the curves and keyframes. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_graph_curve.png A curve with different types of interpolation. 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`). 2D Cursor --------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_2dcursor.png Graph Editor 2D Cursor. The current frame is represented by a green vertical line called the *Time Cursor*. As in the :doc:`Timeline `, you can change the current frame by pressing or holding :kbd:`LMB`. The green horizontal line is called the *Cursor*. This can be disabled via the *View Menu* or the *View Properties* panel. The *Time Cursor* and the *Cursor* make the *2D Cursor*. The *2D Cursor* is mostly used for editing tools. View Axes --------- For *Actions* the X-axis represents time, the Y-axis represents the value to set the property. For *Drivers* the X-axis represents the *Driver Value*, 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, location properties are shown in Blender Units. Note that *Drivers* use radians for rotation properties. Markers ------- Like with most animation editors, markers are shown at the bottom of the editor. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_markers.png Graph Editor Markers. *Markers* can be modified in the *Graph Editor* though it's usually best to use the *Timeline*. See :doc:`Markers ` for more info. Header ====== .. _graph-view-menu: View Menu --------- Realtime Updates When transforming keyframes, changes to the animation data are flushed to other views. Show Cursor ToDo. Show Sliders A toggle option that shows the value sliders for the channels. See the Fig. :ref:`fig-dope-sheet-action`. Show Group Colors Draw groups and channels with colors matching their corresponding groups. AutoMerge Keyframes Automatically merge nearby keyframes. Use High Quality Drawing ToDo. Show Handles :kbd:`Ctrl-H` ToDo. Only Selected Curve Keyframes ToDo. Only Selected Keyframes Handles ToDo. 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 Time cursor. See Timeline's :ref:`timeline-view-menu`. .. _graph-preview-range: Preview Range ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Set Preview Range :kbd:`P` Interactively define frame range used for playback. Allow you to define a temporary preview range to use for the :kbd:`Alt-A` realtime playback (this is the same thing as the *Playback Range* option of the :ref:`Tmeline 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. Mode ---- F-Curve for :doc:`Actions `, and Drivers for :doc:`Drivers `. .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_header_mode.jpg Graph Mode. 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 (ghost icon) Include curves from objects/bones that are not visible. Show Only Errors (livesaver icon) Only include curves and drivers that are disabled or have errors. Useful for debugging. Search Filter (magnifying glass icon) :kbd:`F` 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 whitespace 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. 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*. *Time Cursor* + *Cursor*. Individual Centers Rotate the selected keyframe *Bézier* handles. Copy Keyframes :kbd:`Ctrl-C` Copy the selected keyframes to memory. Paste Keyframes :kbd:`Ctrl-V` Paste keyframes from memory to the current frame for selected curves. Create Snapshot (ghost icon) Creates a picture with the current shape of the curves. Properties Region ================= The panels in the *Properties Region*. View Tab -------- View Properties Panel --------------------- .. figure:: /images/editors_graph-editor_introduction_view-properties-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 *Time Cursor* X position. To Keys Snap selected keyframes to the *Time Cursor*. Cursor Y Vertical *Cursor* Y position. To Keys Snap selected keyframes to the *Cursor*. Further Tabs ------------ F-Curve Tab See :doc:`F-Curve `. Drivers Tab See :doc:`/animation/drivers/drivers_panel`. Modifiers Tab See :doc:`F-Modifiers `.