Scrub timeline without updating animated objects?

Support Basics & Interface
1

Is it possible to scrub through the timeline (as well as graph/dope editors) without updating animation, similar to maya mmb?

2

Just type in the frame # you want to jump to. There is no point in scrubbing the timeline if you don’t want to see an update. You can also just select an empty layer before you scrub so you are viewing nothing.

3

Thanks for the response.

Its useful when laying out an animation or extending eases without having to go into a graph editor to noodle with keyframes.
Sounds like a no - maybe there is another functionality or workflow I’m not aware of yet.

Is there a ‘virtual’ scrub, where a hotkey is used to trigger scrubbing in a 3d viewport?

4

I’m not sure I follow. Could you give an example, please?

5

I guess the easiest example would be anytime you want to save a pose (not necessarily a keyed pose) from one frame, to another frame.

I’m interested in reducing key presses and amount of times needed to change focus from one view to another (3dview to graph/time/dope editor, for example) in order to layout animation. With a way to scrub in the 3dview, as well as scrub without updating animation, basic key editing tasks can be executed without changing views (mainly copying poses - but this provides a fast way to adjust eases/fasts, copy part of a character’s pose to a different pose/time, etc).

I’m still new to blender though - maybe there is some method like this already…

6

General workflow is usually:

  • preplan on paper or with the grease pencil,
  • rough out everything in the Timeline,
  • go to the Dopesheet to refine spacing,
  • go to Graph Editor to refine timing.

If I got those last two the wrong way around (timing with the Dopesheet instead of spacing and vice versa) it’s because I haven’t done it enough to really have it straight yet. Someone will jump in and correct me, I’m sure. :slight_smile:

7

Thanks for the reply - just bumping this in case anyone knows if this is possible, or if it could be done via addon/scripting.

8

In the timeline viewy box thing, in the “Playback” Menu, you can deselect “All 3D View Editors” to stop playback in the 3D viewport, and “Animation Editors” to stop playback in IPO editor and all that jazz. It’s an insanely buggy little thing, I find sometimes it’ll just play anyway. This just stops it from playing the animation when you press Alt+A or hit play, it’ll still preview the animation if you drag the green bar though.
Hopefully this helps :slight_smile: