Keyframe Animation in Layout
Auto Keyframe
Standard the feature "Auto Key" is on. It can be found at the bottom of the screen. This means when you change properties like position, rotation and scale, a keyframe is automatically set at that frame. You can toggle this on and off with SHIFT-F1
Setting keyframes manually
Hit Return (or the Create Key button at the bottom of the screen) . The create motion key window will appear
- You can set the key at the current frame, or type in another frame number
- For:
- Selected Items: All items selected, including the current item
- Current Items Only: Only the current item, even if others are selected
- Current Items and Descendants: The current item and any child items (see parenting)
- All items: keys will indeed be set for everything, not just of the selected type (objects, Camera, Lights, etc)
- The key will be set for the selected items: Position (XYZ), Rotation (HPB) and / or Scale (XYZ)
You can delete a key by hitting Delete (or the Delete Key button at the bottom of the screen)
Heading, Pitch, Bank
These terms are often used to express the rotation of the camera. They correspond to rotations along the X, Y and Z axis.
Pivot Point
The pivot point is the center for all operation on object in Layout.
In Modeler you can place the pivot point for a given layer by selecting View Yab → Layers → Pivot.
In Layout you can change the position of the pivot point via Modify Tab → Translate → Move Pivot.
The Graph Editor
The graph editor can be displayed by hitting CTRL-F5
Parenting
By parenting an object to another object it will inherit all transformations from that object. The "child" will move, rotate and scale in unison with the parent object.
When you switch one of the veiwports in Layout to Schematic, the viewport will display all scene elements as rectangular blocks called nodes. You can parent a node to another node by selecting it (left click) and then left click on another node while holding down CRTL