How keyframes work

The XSheet

How keyframes work

A keyframe is a frame in an XSheet column that:

Sets the behavior of the corresponding node at that frame.

Records the timing used to calculate inbetween values.

For example:

The above keyframes are setting a Camera node's behavior.

A keyframe's timing can be set as a blank, a hold, or an inbetween, which applies until the next keyframe, or the end of the scene:

A blank stops the corresponding node altering its input image. It appears in the XSheet as a cross through the start and end frames of the blank, as in the Size keyframe above.

A hold 'freezes' the behavior of subsequent frames to that in the keyframe. It appears in the XSheet as a vertical arrow to the next keyframe, as in the N/S keyframe above.

An inbetween stores a timing curve, used to calculate values for the frames in between the keyframe, and the following keyframe. It appears in the XSheet as a curve showing the stored timing, as in the E/W keyframe above.

: You can store any shape of timing curve you like in the keyframe: for example, a linear inbetween, or a slow-out inbetween.

If you scroll the XSheet so that the keyframe starting a hold is no longer visible, it is shown shaded on the first visible frame, so you can still see its value. Likewise, if the cross showing the start of a blank becomes invisible, it is replicated in the first visible frame. For example if we scrolled the previous example so the initial keyframes were no longer visible:

Inbetween frames

Director automatically works out the values of inbetween frames, using the timings stored in keyframes. It recalculates these values whenever necessary.

The XSheet

How keyframes work

Inbetween frames