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The dopesheet view of the animation editor lets you work with blocks of keys. You can also use the graph view and the table view to edit animation. To switch between these views, use the buttons in the top left corner of the pane.

To...Do this

Select a range of keys

Click the Region Tool and drag-select with .

Drag left/right to select frames, and up/down to select multiple parameters.

Tip

To select all keys in a certain frame you can drag along the All Displayed parameter.

Select multiple ranges of keys

Click the Region Tool, hold ⇧ Shift, and drag-select with .

You can also use multi-selection along the timeline in the playbar.

Deselect ranges of keys

Click the Region Tool, hold ⇧ Shift, and drag with to deselect.

Change the extent of a selection

Drag the handles at the ends of the selected range with .

Move the selection (not the selected keys)

Drag the selection with . Drag left/right to move the selection through time, and up/down to move the selection across parameters.

Move the selected keys

Drag the selection with .

Stretch the keys in the selected range

Drag the end of the selected range with .

Enable or disable keys

Select the keys, click , and choose Enable Keys or Disable Keys.

To enable/disable all keys on a parameter, turn on/off the checkbox on the right side of the parameter name.

Delete keys

Select the keys, click , and choose Delete Keys.

Cut/Copy and Paste keys

  1. Select the keys, click , and choose Cut or Copy.

  2. Click , choose Paste, and click the place in the timeline where you want the keys to be pasted.

Push keys forward or backward in time

Click the Ripple Tool, select the frame to draw the boundary, and drag the yellow arrow right or left. This will push all of the keys after the boundary forward or backward along the timeline.

Channels menu

When a channel is displayed, it means that it is visible for viewing/editing in the animation editor’s graph, table, and dopesheet panes. This status is also indicated by the colored background of the channel name in the channel list. Clicking on the colored background of the channel toggles its display status.

Set Keyframes at Current Time

Adds keyframes to the scoped channels at the current time.

Sample Values at Current Time

Copies the values of the scoped parameters at the current time to the clipboard. Move to a different time and choose Paste sampled values at current time to use the same values at another frame.

Paste Sampled Values at Current Time

Pastes values copied with Sample values at current time.

Import into Displayed Parameters

Opens a dialog to load previously saved animation data from Export Displayed Channels into the parameters which are currently displayed.

Export Displayed Channels as

This brings up a dialog that allows you to save the data from the displayed channels.

Edit menu

Deselect All

Deselects all current selections.

Adjust Selection

Select Entire Column

Adjusts the current dopesheet selection to include entire columns, which expands it vertically.

Select Entire Rows

Adjusts the current dopesheet selection to include entire rows which expands it horizontally.

Snap Current Selection to Keys

Shrinks the current selection (horizontally) so that the left and right sides touch the minimum/maximum keys in time.

Key Selection

Creates a key at the selected frame. If you have multiple frames selected, every frame becomes a keyframe.

Delete Keys

Removes keys from the selected frames.

Disable keys

Disables the selected keys so they don’t affect animation.

Enable keys

Enables the selected keys so they affect animation.

Cut

Copy the selected keys to the clipboard and remove them.

Copy

Copy the selected keys to the clipboard.

Paste

Copies keys from the clipboard into the current selection.

Replace

Replaces the current selection with the contents of the clipboard.

Paste Special

Stretch

Stretches the contents of the clipboard to fill the selection.

Cycle

Repeats the contents of the clipboard to fill the selection.

Cycle with offset

Repeats the contents of the clipboard with offset to fill the selection.

Paste at Selection

Lets you interactively position the clipboard data on the dopesheet.

Replace at Selection

Lets you interactively position the clipboard data on the dopesheet, replacing the current contents.

Paste Special at Selection

Stretch

Lets you interactively position the clipboard data on the dopesheet. Stretches the clipboard data to match the current size of the selection.

Cycle

Lets you interactively position the clipboard data on the dopesheet. Repeats the clipboard data to match the current size of the selection.

Cycle with offset

Lets you interactively position the clipboard data on the dopesheet. Repeats the clipboard data with offset to match the current size of the selection.

Snap selected keys to nearest frame

Moves keys inside the selection to integer frame values.

View menu

Home All Channels

Pans and zooms the view to show all data.

Home Playback Range

Zooms the dopesheet to the playback range. The playback range is the range between the Start Frame and End Frame.

Home Global Range

Pans and zooms the view to show the frame range set in the playbar.

Frame Selection

Zooms the dopesheet so that the selection is visible.

One Line Per Group

Collapses the channel rows so that there is one row per group. This only has an effect when there are channel groups.

One Line Per Channel

Each row represents a single channel. This is the default behavior.

Show All-Channels Row

This controls whether an additional row is shown at the top representing all displayed channels.

Show/Hide Scale Handle

Shows/Hides handles that let you scale and move blocks of keys.

Show Scope Button, Show Filter Field, Show Template Field

Show Menu Bar

Allows you to see the menu bar at the top of the pane. These options are also available in the gear menu.

Settings menu

Add keys at pasted selection boundary

When this option is on, Houdini automatically adds keys at the frames on the edges of pasted data.

Turn this option on to help preserve the original look of the copied animation. Turn this option off if you need to blend the copied animation into the existing animation.

Always Snap Selection to Keys

If this option is turned on, any selection you make will snap to the first and last keys inside.

Show Full Channel Path Names

If this option is turned on, the dopesheet rows will show the full channel path (ie. include the node path as well) instead of just the channel name.

Show Channel Colors

If this option is turned on, the color swatches to the left of the channel names/paths in the dopesheet are displayed.

Snap Scaled Keys to Nearest Frame

When scaling keys (ie. dragging on the ends of the selection handle), they when be snapped to the nearest integer frame once the mouse is released.

Reset Channels Settings

Resets all channel settings to their factory default settings.

Panes

General

Animation

Rendering

Advanced

Other