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Use the and icons at the bottom of the Animator tree view to zoom in and out on the timescale bar.
The default timescale shows around 10 seconds of animation on a standard screen resolution, zooming in and
out has an effect of doubling or halving the visible area. So, for example, zooming in shows around 5 seconds
of animation, and zooming out shows around 20 seconds.
TIP You can also zoom in and out with mouse wheel while hovering over the timeline.
Another way of changing the timescale is to use the Zoom box. For example, type in “1/4”, and press Enter to
quarter the visible area. The value you enter is halved when you zoom in, and doubled when you zoom out. You
can return to the default timescale by deleting the Zoom box value, and pressing Enter.
Keyframes
The keyframes are shown as black diamonds in the timelines. You can change the time when a keyframe occurs
by dragging the black diamond left or right in the timeline view. As you drag a keyframe, it changes the color
from black to a lighter grey.
Left-clicking a keyframe moves the time slider to that position. Right-clicking a keyframe opens a shortcut menu.
Animation Bars
The colored animation bars are used to visualize the keyframes in a timeline, and cannot be edited. Each animation
type is shown in a different color, and the animation bars for the scenes are grey. Typically, the animation bar
ends with the last keyframe. If an animation bar carries on in a faded color after the last keyframe, this indicates
that the animation will play indefinitely (or, loop animation).
Sliders
You can use two sliders in the timeline view:
Time Slider The black vertical line is the time slider, representing the current position in the playback. This can
be adjusted by either using the VCR controls on the Animator toolbar, by dragging the time slider left or right
in the timeline view, or by selecting the time slider in the timeline view and using the left and right arrow keys.
As the time slider is moved, the model in the Scene View updates to reflect movements caused by keyframes in
the current scene as if the animation were playing back.
End Slider The red vertical line is the end slider, representing the end point of the current active scene. It is
hidden if you selected the Infinite check box for the current scene in the tree view. By default, the end slider is
set to the last keyframe in the scene and can’t be moved. You can switch on manual control of the end slider in
326 | Chapter 13 Animate Objects