The video I watched about the “Future of Character Animation & Rigging” from this years Blendcon 2022 got me inspired. I’ve been trying to figure a way to decompartmentalize all the animation features and info that will eliminate changing modes or swap or stretching 2 or 3 panels just to keep track of what is happening with your animation.
A new Animation Properties in the Properties panel will allow you to toggle what to see in the Timeline panel instead of scattering features throughout different named panels.
The old panels remain to preserve compatibility, the new all in 1 animation panel can be added as a new editor type.
Header:
Playback Controls
Animation Selection Thumbnails
Frame Range
Volume Controls
Animation keyframes:
Animation Strips
Keyframes
Notes
Shape Keys
Phonemes
Keyframe Background:
Range Color
Soundwave Pattern
Graph Editor
And more.
The need to put different info and different keyframes for timing into 1 overall view is a very important feature for any animator. Also, you can focus on just the parts you need. A selected only switch is available for each type of keyframe category or the graph editor.
The Soundwave Pattern is a mono version of the sound drawn to the size of the entire animation background.
