Because moving points interactively can be imprecise, you might want to have your keys snap to specific frames, time, or value intervals. For more information on snapping to the grid, see Snapping Keys.
Moving Function Curves, Keys, and Regions
When you move fcurves or keys in X, you change the keys’ time; when you move in Y, you change the keys’ values.
You can move fcurves, keys, and regions either interactively or with numerical precision. You can also select a specific region of an fcurve in the graph and move, stretch, and compress the curve’s keys within that region as a single unit.
You can move either selected fcurves or keys using the Select Tool or the Translation tool.
To move fcurves or keys with the Select tool
1. Choose Edit > Select Tool or press Y.
2. Select fcurves and keys.
3. Depending on the preferences you set in Animation Editor Preferences, you can use the left and/or middle mouse button to move whatever is selected (in both X and Y), with keys having the priority. For example, if only fcurves are selected, it moves those fcurves; if both fcurves and keys are selected, it moves only the keys.
- With the Translate on MMB option selected, you can use the middle mouse button (MMB) to move fcurves or keys. To constrain movement horizontally or vertically, hold down the Shift key as you drag (the movement is restrained in the first direction that you drag after pressing Shift).
This option doesn’t use the position where you click, so you don’t need to actually click on the selection to move it. This makes it impossible for you to lose your selection by mistake in case you didn’t click precisely.
- With the Prevent Movement on LMB selected, you cannot move keys with the left mouse button (LMB). This leaves the left mouse button free for rectangle selection, which makes it easier to select fcurves or keys without accidentally clicking on a slope handle.
If this is off, you can move keys with the left mouse button.
To move selected fcurves or keys with the Translation tool
1. Select fcurves and keys.
2. Choose Edit > Translation Tool, or press V, then drag the selected fcurves or keys to a new location.
This tool moves whatever is selected, with keys having the priority. For example, if only fcurves are selected, it moves those fcurves; if both fcurves and keys are selected, it moves only the keys.
- To move only vertically, middle-click+drag.
- To move only horizontally, right-click+drag.
- To move multiple fcurves, first rectangle-select (drag over an area) the fcurves you want, then press V and drag.
To move only fcurves
• Choose Edit > Select and Move Curve Tool, or press N, then click+drag the curve to a new location.
- To move only vertically, middle-click+drag.
- To move only horizontally, right-click+drag.
- To move multiple fcurves, first rectangle-select (drag over an area) the fcurves you want, then press N and drag.
When you move a key, you can change either the frame or the value of that key. Moving keys horizontally changes the frame, while moving vertically changes the value.
When you move keys that use the Automatic Slope orientation constraint (see Setting the Slope’s Orientation (Angle)), the ratio of the slope handle to its neighboring keys is preserved: as you move a handle towards or away from its neighboring keys, the handle gradually shortens or lengthens. This keeps the fcurve shape roughly the same and avoids dips or peaks that can occur when a handle gets too close to a neighbouring key.
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Because moving points interactively can be imprecise, you might want to have your keys snap to specific frames, time, or value intervals. For more information on snapping to the grid, see Snapping Keys. |
To select and move only keys
1. Choose Edit > Select and Move Key Tool.
2. Select the key points and drag them to a new location.
- To move only vertically, middle-click+drag.
- To move only horizontally, right-click+drag.
To snap keys while moving
• Press the Alt key while you drag selected keys to snap them to the Snap Grid coordinates that are specified in the Fcurve Editor Preferences property editor (see Snapping Keys).
- Middle-click+drag to move only vertically.
- Right-click+drag to move only horizontally.
To move keys without selecting them
You can move any key even while other keys are selected without changing the current key selection. This makes it easy to randomly move keys. This is similar to moving points on a geometric object in a view. You can move keys only on selected fcurves.
1. Choose Edit > Move Key Tool or press M.
2. Click a key point and drag it to a new location. The point turns green and has a yellow box around it as you’re dragging.
Only the point under the mouse pointer is affected, even if other keys are selected. The selection does not change.
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To make sure that no keys are between frames after moving them, select them and choose Edit > Move Keys to Nearest Frame. |
1. Select the region of the fcurves you wish to modify (click the Region icon in the toolbar or press Q).
2. To change the frame position or values of the fcurve region, click anywhere within the highlighted region and drag the region:
- Dragging the region horizontally adjusts the frame position of the region (the animation occurs earlier or later in the timeline). You can also right-click+drag to move the region only horizontally.
- Dragging the region vertically changes the values of the entire region. All neighboring keys remain in their original positions. You can also middle-click+drag to move the region only vertically.
Moving Fcurves, Keys, and Regions Precisely
There are several ways to accurately move fcurves, keys, and regions to a specific location:
You can use:
• The Translate X (Tx) and Y (Ty) boxes.
• The Frame and Value boxes in the fcurve editor’s command bar.
• Set the values in the Key Properties editor.
To move fcurves, keys, and regions with the Translate boxes
1. Select the keys or region you want to offset. To offset the entire fcurve, select the curve and leave the keys unselected.
2. Enter the amount of the offset in the Tx or Ty text box, followed by a + (addition) or - (subtraction) sign.
For example, to advance several keys by four frames, you would select the keys and enter 4+ in the Tx text box. To decrease the value by four points, you would select the keys and enter 4- in the Ty text box. 
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You can also use functions such as linear (l) and random (r) in the Tx and Ty boxes. For more information, see Relative Input Using Math Operations [ Interface and Tools ]. |
To move fcurves, regions, or keys with the Frame and Value boxes
The Frame and Value text boxes show the frame and value of the currently selected key.
1. Select the keys or region you want to offset. To offset the entire fcurve, select the curve and leave the keys unselected.
2. Enter the amount of the offset in the Frame or Value text box, followed by a + (addition) or – (subtraction) sign.
For example, to advance several keys by two frames, you would select the keys and enter 2+ in the Frame text box. To decrease the value by two points, you would select the keys and enter 2- in the Value text box.
For a single key, you can type in the exact frame number or value that you want. For example, if you know you want the selected key to have a value of 85, type this number in the Value text box—likewise for setting frames.
In the Frame text box, you can specify the value in SMPTE time code format (that is, HH:MM:SS:FF) or you can enter the position in terms of number of frames (for example, at 30 fps, entering a value of 45 would be the same as entering a value of 00:00:01:15).
You can also use the Frame and Value text boxes for scaling—see Scaling Function Curves, Keys, and Regions.
To change values in the Key Properties editor
You can also enter the new point coordinates for a series of neighboring keys in the Key Properties editor:
1. Select the key you want to move.
2. Choose Keys > Key Properties to open the Key Properties editor.
3. Enter the key coordinates in the Frame and Value text boxes.
4. Move to the next or previous keys by clicking the Previous Key and Next Key buttons and continue entering key values until you are done.
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