The Stage Editor area shows the animated items as bars and splines along the time-line.

image-20240916-143018.png

Stage Editor Bar

The Stage Editor bars are located above and below the Dopesheet Editor/Spline Editor. All modifiers and search options are located on the top:

  • Add Key Frame: Adds a Key Frame at the current time/frame/field (see Key Frames).

  • Delete Key Frame: Deletes the selected Key Frame.

  • Add Stop/Tag: Adds a stop/tag Event to the selected Director at the current time/frame/field.

  • Delete Stop/Tag: Deletes the selected stop/tag Event.

  • Linear Left and Right: Sets the left and right spline handles in the selected Key Frame to linear.

  • Smooth Left and Linear Right: Sets the spline handles in the selected Key Frame to smooth left and linear right.

  • Linear Left and Smooth Right: Sets the spline handles in the selected Key Frame to linear left and smooth right.

  • Smooth Left and Right: Sets the left and right spline handles in the selected Key Frame to smooth.

  • Handles Tangential: Sets the left and right spline handles in the selected Key Frame to tangential.

  • Search: Opens the Search popup window.

Search Options

  • Search: Searches the name of a Key Frame.

  • Items Found: Shows how many items were found.

  • Search Results: The arrow buttons can be used to search for the first, next, previous and last Key Frame matching the search criteria:

1: Previous Key Frame
2: Next Key Frame
3: First Key Frame
4: Last Key Frame

The look and behavior of the Stage Editor is located on the bottom:

  • image-20240812-093344.png Seconds/Frames/(Fields): Switches the time scaling between seconds, frames, and fields. 

Note: Fields is only available in interlaced formats. It is not available in progressive formats.

  • Zoom to Standard: Zooms the Dopesheet Editor and Spline Editor to standard view.

  • Zoom to Whole Spline: Zooms the Dopesheet Editor and Spline Editor to fit the animation time-line of the current Channel.

  • Show Info: Shows time-line information as a tool tip when holding the pointer over an item in the Dopesheet or Spline Editor, for example a Key Frame, when enabled.

  • Show Grid: Shows a grid of vertical lines in the Dopesheet and Spline Editor, making it easier to position items accurately along the time-line when enabled.

  • image-20240916-143108.png Snap to Grid: Shows the snap to grid feature in the Dopesheet and Spline Editor when enabled. This feature shows vertical lines at the field interval defined in the grid width option. By using this feature, Key Frames and other items can be dragged precisely along the time-line, as it is not possible to drop items between the grid lines.

Example: If the snap to grid feature is enabled and the grid width is set to 10, it is only possible to drag Key Frames to field 10, 20, 30, and so on. If a Key Frame should be placed at field 23 while the snap to grid feature is enabled, this must be manually entered in the Key Frame Editors

  • Grid Width: Defines the width of the snap to grid in fields.

  • image-20240812-093430.png Show Spline 1, 2, or 3: Shows spline 1, 2, or 3 in the Spline Editor. The splines refer to animations performed on various axes. If only one axis is animated, only the spline 1 option is available.

Example: When animating a rotation, each spline describes the rotation around one axis. Spline 1 shows the rotation around axis X, spline 2 shows axis Y, and spline 3 shows axis Z.