Setting keyframes to 1s, 2s, 4s, etc

[kmvassey]

Hey y'all! Is there a quick way to set the timing of all of your selected keyframes on the timeline? I ususally make all of my key poses one right after the other on the timeline and then then go about setting the timing. So, for a big shot, it's a lot of clicking an dragging each key out some number of frames. AM I missing a quicker way? THank y'all!

[Hoptoad]

Above the timeline, next to the Add Marker button, is a button called Consolidate Layer Channels. That might help you speed-up moving all those keyframes.

There is also the Sequencer tab left of the Enable Onion Skins button. Sliding things left and right in the sequencer can be a huge time-saver.

[Daxel]

I think there is no way to spread those keyframes exactly at 2s, 4s, etc, but you can spread them manually all at the same time instead of one by one using alt-drag on selected keyframes and looking to leave them where they are equally spaced as you want. Another option is to use Animation - Scale keyframes.

[kmvassey]

Awesome ideas! Thank you. After looking at it, I think what I want is the Push Frames buttons to have an option to push a group of selected frames or push each frame in the group the same amount. Right now it moves the entire selection. So if you have a selected group of keyframes and want to set all their timing to 4s for example, you have to select, push the button, select, push the button, select, push the button, etc. Hmmm...maybe a script is an option.

[Greenlaw]

You can set your animation frame interval (2's, 4's, etc.,) on the Timeline. It's the dropdown with the number 1, next to Interpolation. Just set this to a value from the list, and Moho will drop and hold the frames at the chosen frame interval during playback and rendering .

Note that, for some reason, this feature only works for bones, though. For example, Layer Transforms will ignore this setting.

If you have After Effects, you can also use Posterize Time to change the interval. This usually works well but it's possible to lose a keypose if it exists in one of the dropped frames, so make sure your keyposes fall on their intended time interval.

[Greenlaw]

It's been a while, so I took another look at the Frame Interval feature, and it seems more limited than I remembered. Apparently, it only works for rotation keyframes...is that correct? I really should look at the docs, I guess.

Anyway, that's probably why, when I need this effect, I use Posterize Time in Ae instead. It's super easy to use. By default, it's set to 24, but when I drop the value to 12, I get animation on 2's; drop it to 6 and it's on 4's, and so on. Oh, and I believe this is keyframeable, too, so the rate can be varied. (I better check that. BRB.)

[Greenlaw]

...Oh, and I believe this is keyframeable, too, so the rate can be varied. (I better check that. BRB.)

Just checked, and, yes, it's keyframeable! So it's possible to get that Puss In Boots: The Last Wish variable frame interval effect. Hm...will have to come up with an interesting test for that,

[Greenlaw]

Oh, and don't forget you can now set the timeline to display guides on frame intervals in Preferences > Timeline > Frame Interval Display. (I normally keep mine set to six just to keep the timeline looking cleaner and clearer.)

Tip: use Set Start Time to 0. This will make the guidelines fall on the frame interval you set. (The default is probably 1, which I think is used with the Frame Interval feature I mentioned earlier.)

[slowtiger]

I found the interval works on layer transfomations and point animation quite perfectly?

[Daxel]

I think we are talking about different things here. If I understood correctly, OP is talking about the placement of existing keyframes, not about interpolation modes.

[Greenlaw]

Thanks for checking, Slowtiger! Glad to hear that Frame Intervals should work with other features besides bones.

For some reason, with layer transforms, I'm seeing every frame regardless of the Interval setting. But with bone rotations, I definitely see the intervals changing for that. But not with IK, though.

As mentioned earlier, though, it's been a while since I tried this feature, and I should take a refresher with the user manual.

[kmvassey]

I think we are talking about different things here. If I understood correctly, OP is talking about the placement of existing keyframes, not about interpolation modes.

Yep! This is correct. I'm an old-school 2D (Pencil and Paper) animator, so for me, all the dots on a frame on the timeline, whether that's bones, points, layers, etc. all represent a pose. I make all of my golden poses one after the other on the timeline. When I'm happy with my main poses, I then use the Push Frames button, set to 1, to make space for a breakdown pose between two key pose frames. I continue this method until I have the animation completely broken down. Then I set about timing the animation, usually starting on 4s or 8s, and seeing how I feel. So, given that I've posed and broken down the animation across multiple levels in the timeline, I consolidate. Now, here's where my request would come in... I'd love to be able to select this long series of keys, set an interval, like 4 frames, and have every key be spread out along the timeline exactly 4 frames away from the previous key. So essentially, if your first key is on 1 then it would follow, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, etc. This method is kind of a mix between traditional animation and the old "organized keyframing" method from early 3D days.

[Greenlaw]

Ah, I see.

My general workflow in Moho for puppet animations is to set all my key poses and then massage the in-betweens as needed. I'm often pressed for time, so I may take a lot of shortcuts to get my work done. When I'm doing this at work, I'll probably set my key-poses to use step-frames. That's not a necessity for me, but it's what an animation director will expect to see in a first-pass review, and showing only the key poses makes it easier to discuss specific notes for the animation. But often, I'm given the freedom to complete my animation in one pass and submit that for review. It really depends on the production and the director involved, so I try to be mindful of the situation.

For FBF workflow, Moho can be a little awkward when editing frames in the timeline compared to some dedicated FBF programs. It's not too bad though: I just insert my in-between frames as needed. This is much easier with a stylus than with a mouse, though, since I'm frequently tapping the New Frame or Duplicate Frame button.

I kinda wish there were options to 'pre-generate' ranges of frames in specified intervals when I need it...is that what you mean? Because I do find myself clicking repeatedly on the buttons.

Recently, at work, I needed to create FBF animations in Moho, and I wound up pre-generating all my empty frames by repeatedly clicking the Add Frame button before I started drawing (I was drawing billowing cloth for a character.) Then I would copy/paste elements between the frames and use the Magnet or Transform tool to modify the drawing. That's not a normal workflow; it was just an approach that made a specific situation easier for me to animate with.

To be honest, I'm not sure there is a 'normal' workflow for creating Moho FBF yet because the feature is still pretty new, and we're all figuring it out.

Sorry, I know that was kinda rambling, but hopefully offers a little insight into my process.

[Greenlaw]

Back to Interval settings in Moho: When I use the 'Interval Default' list to set the interval, Moho still ignores the setting for Layer Transforms. However, if I explicitly set the first keyframe of the layer to use an Interval of 2 or higher using the r-click command, the layer will then respect the setting. Of course, Copy Previous Key should be enabled; otherwise, the layer will reset to interval of 1 for each new keyframe.

As I mentioned eariler, it is a bit awkward. This is more than I knew before though, so I'm gonna keep looking into it.