--- title: "Animation Editor" canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/ARENA/125048598/Animation%20Editor" format: markdown --- This page provides information about Chaos Vantage's Animation Editor. Overview The Animation Editor offers a straightforward way to create animations within Chaos Vantage. It enables you to do the following: Place imported or stored cameras in the animation track timeline (cameras are interpreted as single-frame objects). Two modes of the editor: Time mode and Shot mode. Set the time display unit to seconds, frames, or a combination of both. Control the FPS of the animation. Manipulate animation clips: Reorder and delete clips. Add transition items between clips with different interpolation curves. Add pause items between clips. Auto add transition element with length set in Edit > Preferences > Interaction > Cam transition time . Set the duration of transitions and pause elements. Add before/after and split transition elements to create a new or insert an existing camera ( Time mode only). View imported animation from .vrscene in the scene animation track. View imported animation from .vrscene from the chosen camera. Trim the start/end of the animation timeline with trim markers. Toggle animation and scene tracks on/off. Set a resolution for the animation using the Force resolution option to override the aspect ratios and resolutions of the added cameras. UI The Animation Editor can be accessed by clicking on the Animation Editor button( ) in the bottom toolbar: Button Description Expands the Animation Editor. Sets the playback speed. When enabled, loops the animation. Plays the animation. (Shortcut: Space ) Sets the start of the animation sequence. Sets the end of the animation sequence. When enabled, it automatically updates image sequences and animated meshes for the current frame of the timeline or when scrubbing the timeline. Does not update when playing the animation from the Play button. Not available in Live Link. (Shortcut: U ) Opens the Render setup dialog. (Shortcut: Ctr+R ) Saves a high-quality snapshot of the current view in the project folder from which the scene file was imported. You can crop your animation sequence using the Set Start and Set End markers. Compressed Expanded Animation Editor Parameters Left Side Parameters Time – Sets the animation editor in Time mode. For more details, see below. Shot – Sets the animation editor in Shot mode. For more details, see below. Time display – Sets the time display for the animation. Time – Sets the timeline to minutes, seconds [0m:00.00s]. Frames – Sets the timeline to frames [0fr]. Combined – Sets the timeline to minutes, seconds, and frames[0m:00s;0fr]. Snap at – Specifies the number of frames the camera clip automatically snaps to when moved or extended/shortened. Auto transition – When enabled, automatically creates a transition between the last and previously added camera. The default duration for the transition is set in Edit > Preferences > Interaction > Cam transition time . Right Side Parameters FPS – Specifies the frames per second for the animation. The animation length in [0m:00.00s] is preserved; only the frame count is changed. Force resolution – When enabled, sets the resolution for the animation and overrides the aspect ratios and resolutions of added cameras. Width – Sets the width of the animation sequence in pixels. Height – Sets the height of the animation sequence in pixels. Aspect – Sets the aspect of the render resolution. Lock aspect – Locks the proportional relationship between the Width and Height , so when changing one of them, the other adjusts itself, keeping the Aspect unchanged. Timeline Button Description Displays the length of the animation. On the left side, the current time/length of the animation is displayed. On the right side, the entire length of the animation is displayed. Length and current take into account the trim markers' position. Trims the animation length. On each marker, the amount of the animation that is trimmed is displayed. Enables/disables the Scene Animation track. Enables/disables the Sun Animation track. Enables/disables the Cameras Animation track. A track where imported animation from . vrscene is placed. It is automatically populated when a .vrscene animation is present. A track where Sun animation is set when the Sun position mode of a V-Ray Sun is set to Animated Geolocation . A track where you can place your saved cameras from the Camera tab. Helps navigate through the animation when zoomed in. The following shortcut keys are available in the Animation Editor: Mouse wheel up/down  – Scrolls through the timeline if it does not fit the screen. Alt+Mouse wheel up/down – Zooms in and out of the timeline. Ctrl+LMB drag – Pans the timeline. Animation Editor Modes Time Mode Time mode of the animation editor enables the following workflow: Drag-n-drop cameras in the camera track. Add a transition element between the added cameras. When Auto transition is enabled, a transition element is automatically added between the last and previously added camera. The default duration for the transition is set in Edit > Preferences > Interaction > Cam transition time . The transition element has four interpolation types: Linear , In/Out Quad , In Quad, and Out Quad . Add a pause element to lengthen the duration of a static camera or to make the last frame of a recorded camera. Element's length is visible both visually on the timeline and the exact duration is marked in the upper right corner. Duration can be set using the right-click menu> Set Duration . Time units are dependent on the Time Display option. Elements can be added using the (+) button at the start or end of a selected element, or by right-clicking and selecting an option from a context menu. While on a transition element, a new camera with the current view in the viewport can be created with the (+) button on the playhead. The new camera is added to the camera list, and the transition is split into two, with a summed duration equal to the original. Playhead and trim markers go over the scene and camera tracks. Trim markers hatch the part of an element that will not be rendered in the final sequence. Elements have the following visuals: A single camera is represented as a frame with an orange fill and a length of 1 frame. The recorded camera has a length, shaded with a red label, and a camera thumbnail preview if the width allows it. A transition element has length, shaded with two tones of grey fill that represent the set type of interpolation. The pause element has a length and is shaded with a grey fill. Shot Mode Shot mode of the animation editor enables the following workflow: Drag-n-drop cameras in the camera track. Add a transition element between the added cameras. When Auto transition is enabled, a transition element is automatically added between the last and previously added camera. The default duration for the transition is set in Edit > Preferences > Interaction > Cam transition time . The transition element has four interpolation types: Linear , In/Out Quad , In Quad , and Out Quad . Add a pause element to lengthen the duration of a static camera or to make the last frame of a recorded camera. The element’s length is visible and marked in the upper right corner. Elements' width is constant and does not represent the exact length of the element. Duration can be set using the right-click menu> Set Duration . Time units are dependent on the Time Display option. Elements can be added using the (+) button at the start or end of a selected element, or from a context menu by right-clicking. Cannot create a new camera with the current view in the viewport using the button on the playhead, as in Time mode. Playhead and trim markers are positioned over the scene track, not the camera track. Trim markers only hatch the part of an element in the scene track that will not be rendered in the final sequence. Elements have the following visuals: The Single Camera is represented as a thumbnail preview of the camera, outlined in orange, with a 1-frame length. Width is constant and doesn't actually represent the length of the element. The recorded camera is represented as a thumbnail preview of the first frame, with a red outline and label. Width is constant and doesn't actually represent the length of the element. A transition element is represented as a rectangle shaded with two tones of grey fill, which represents the set type of interpolation. Width is constant and doesn't actually represent the length of the element. The pause element is represented as a rectangle with a grey fill. Width is constant and doesn't actually represent the length of the element. Context Menus Additional parameters of the clips can be accessed by right-clicking on an item to display a context menu. In the camera animation track, you can have the following items with context menu options: Right-click on the camera clip Add Transition Before – Adds a transition item before the selected camera clip. Add Transition After – Adds a transition item after the selected camera clip. Add Pause Before – Adds a pause item before the selected camera clip. Add Pause After – Adds a pause item after the selected camera clip. Set Range – Sets a key frame range on the timeline for the cameras. The following options are available: Start time – Sets the beginning time for the camera. Start frame – Sets the beginning frame for the camera. End time – Sets the end time for the camera. End frame – Sets the end frame for the camera. Framerate – Shows the frames per second for the camera. Cannot be edited. Go To Start – Moves the slider to the start of the selected camera clip. Go To End – Moves the slider to the end of the selected camera clip. Delete – Deletes the selected camera clip. Delete ALL – Deletes all elements in the track. Right-click on Scene animation Camera – Enables transform animation for the imported camera specified in Active Camera . Lights – Enables transform animation for the imported lights. Objects – Enables transform animation for the imported geometry. Materials and Textures – Enables transform animation for the imported materials and textures. Frame interpolation – When enabled, it interpolates values between imported frame times. When disabled, animation preview matches the . vrscene frames. Active Camera – Specifies which camera imported from the . vrscene to use in animation. Only imported cameras from the . vrscene file are available for selection. The option is ignored if the Camera Animation track is not empty. The Camera Animation track is used in this case instead. Add Pause Before – Adds a pause item before the scene animation track. Go To Start – Moves the slider to the start of the scene animation track. Go To End – Moves the slider to the end of the scene animation track. Delete – Deletes the scene animation track. Right-click on the transition item Different interpolations between camera clips: Linear – Creates a uniform transition between camera clips. In/Out Quad – Creates a smooth transition between camera clips. Creates a transition rate that is slow at the beginning and end, but fast in the middle. In Quad – Creates a transition rate that is slow at the beginning and accelerates in the end. Out Quad – Creates an accelerated transition rate at the beginning that gradually slows down. Set Duration – Determines how long the transition item should be. Go To Start – Moves the slider to the starting point of the transition item. Go To End – Moves the slider to the end of the transition item. Delete – Deletes the transition item. Delete ALL – Deletes all elements in the track.  Right-click on the pause item Set Duration – Determines how long the pause item should be. Go To Start – Moves the slider to the start of the pause item. Go To End – Moves the slider to the end of the pause item. Delete – Deletes the pause item. Delete ALL – Deletes all elements in the track.  Right-click on the blue transition/camera marker Insert Camera – Adds a frame with a new camera shot, selected from a dropdown list with available camera shots. Add Transition – Adds a transition item. Add Pause – Adds a pause item.