This page provides information about the Animation tab and its Animation Timeline in Chaos Envision.
Overview
The Animation Timeline is located in the bottom expandable Animation tab. It provides an easy way to create animations inside Envision. The Animation Timeline enables you to do the following:
- Place imported or stored cameras in the animation track timeline.
- Place environment variations in the animation track timeline.
- Place scene variations in the animation track timeline.
- Toggle camera, environment, and scene tracks on and off.
- Set interpolation for the scene and environment variations.
- Add keyframes and control their settings.
- Manipulate the animation clips by deleting and reordering, adding transition elements and controlling their duration.
- View imported animation from .vrscene in the animation track.
Access the Animation Timeline
The Animation Timeline is accessible from the Animation (
) tab in the Bottom dock panel.
The Animation Timeline has a compressed and expanded view. The compressed view shows a limited set of options, while the expanded view shows the complete set of options:
Compressed
Expanded
Actions in the Animation Timeline
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
| Jump to the first frame in the animation timeline. |
| Jump to the previous frame in the animation timeline. |
| Play the animation. |
| Pause the animation. |
| Jump to the next frame in the animation timeline. |
| Jump to the last frame in the animation timeline. |
| Toggle the visibility of the cameras, environment variation or scene variation tracks. Invisible tracks are marked with the |
| Open the Keyframe settings. See the Keyframe Settings section for more details. |
| Keyframe indicator. You can drag a keyframe left or right. Right click on a keyframe to open a menu with additional options. |
| Isolate the selected clip. This option is also available when you right-click on the camera clip. |
| Delete the selected clip. This option is also available when you right-click on the camera clip. |
| Playhead indicating the current time and frame. To move the playhead, either drag it along the timeline or click on a specific frame to position it directly. |
Length – Shows the total length of the animation in the format Hours:Minutes:Seconds+Frames. Clicking on a frame in the length timeline moves the playhead to the selected frame.
Variation – A track for adding scene variations. You can control the length and interpolation of the scene variations in the animation. An indicator for transition (
) appears in the Variations tab when you drag the playhead over a transition element in the variations track.
Environment – A track for adding environment variations. You can control the length and interpolation of the environment variations in the animation. An indicator for transition () appears in the Environment left-hand tab when you drag the playhead over a transition element in the variations track.
Camera – A camera track for adding camera views. You can control the length of the camera clips, and add keyframes.
Keyframe Settings
The Show Keys dialog is available when you click the Keyframe settings (
) button.
Translation – Toggles on and off the keyframe controls for camera transition.
Exposure – Toggles on and off the keyframe controls for animated camera exposure.
Aperture – Toggles on and off the keyframe controls for animated camera aperture.
Focal Distance – Toggles on and off the keyframe controls for animated camera focal distance.
Keyframe Menu
The following option is available when you click on a keyframe (
):
Delete keyframe – Deletes the selected keyframe.
Clip Menu
The following options are available when you click on a clip:
Isolate clip – Isolates the selected clip by temporary disabling the other clips in the track.
Delete clip – Deletes the selected clip from the track. Shortcut: Del
Go to start of clip – Moves the slider to the start of the selected camera clip.
Go to end of clip – Moves the slider to the end of the selected camera clip.
Interpolation Menu
The following options are available when you click on a Scene or Environment variation in the track:
Hold for – Specifies how long the selected Scene or Environment variation remains active before transitioning to the next keyframe. It is measured in seconds.
Transition duration – Specifies the time (in seconds) taken to transition between the current Scene/Environment variation and the next one. A longer duration creates a slower, smoother transition, while a shorter duration results in a faster shift.
Transition – Specifies the type of interpolation between Scene/Environment variations. The choice of transition affects how smoothly or dynamically the change occurs.
Linear – Applies a straight-line transition with a constant speed, creating a uniform change between the variations without acceleration or deceleration.
Ease out – Starts the transition at full speed and then gradually slows down as it approaches the end point, creating a more natural finish to the animation.
Ease in – Starts the transition slowly, gradually accelerating to full speed.
Ease in and out – Combines the Ease In and Ease Out types. The transition starts slowly, accelerates in the middle, and then slows down again toward the end. This is the smoothest and most natural-looking transition style.
Bouncy – Adds a bounce effect to the transition. The animation overshoots the target slightly and then oscillates before settling at the final value.
See also: