Timeline & keyframes

At the bottom of the editor is the timeline: every layer has a row with its bar (when it's visible). Below it its tracks unfold – keyframe curves that can change almost any value of the layer: over time, with a dial or in reaction to a live value.

Using the timeline

Action	How
Play / pause	Space or ▶
Jump to a spot	click or drag in the ruler with the seconds (pink playhead)
Grid	“▦ Grid” at the top left above the names: on/off, Time (every X seconds) or Parts (loop length in N equal parts). Works like a magnet for bars, sections of keyframe tracks and keyframe points – Alt = free. Remembered in this browser
Move a bar	drag – snaps to the playhead and other bars, Alt = free, Shift = 0.5 s steps
Change length	drag the left or right edge
Split	playhead inside the layer, key S or “✂ Split”
Zoom in time	Ctrl + mouse wheel (down to a quarter second across the full width) or − / + above the timeline
Scroll sideways	Shift + mouse wheel – up towards the end, down towards the start
Row height	Alt + mouse wheel – with small rows the track rows become compact
Select several	Alt + drag a box (also in the empty area below the rows) or Ctrl + click; then move them together
Expand/collapse keyframes	▸ or click the name of an already selected layer
Groups	appear as their own row like in the layer list, with their layers indented below. The bar shows the time from the first to the last layer. ▸ expands the group's keyframe tracks, the folder icon shows or hides its layers (only in the timeline). Clicking the name selects the whole group
Volume in the editor	🔊 slider on the right above the timeline – applies to all editors, only for the preview (the overlay in the stream stays the same)

Loop range

To polish one spot: double-click in the ruler, keep the second click held and drag. A light blue range appears and playback only loops inside it.

• Snapping: start and end snap to the edges of layer bars, to 0, to the end and to the playhead when you're close (otherwise 0.05 s steps).
• Adjust: drag the left or right edge. Move: drag the narrow bar at the top of the range.
• Inside the range a click or drag still moves the playhead.
• Remove: double-click in the range. A new range replaces the old one – there's always only one.
• The range isn't saved and doesn't affect the overlay; it's gone when you open another design.

Inserting time

Hold Alt and grab a line in the ruler (the pointer turns red). Dragging inserts time at that spot or removes it: everything the line crosses gets longer or shorter, everything after it moves along. Sounds are stretched (same pitch) and marked red – “↺” next to the name resets them to the original length.

Keyframes – the idea

A track changes exactly one value of a layer. It sits collapsed below the layer in the timeline and has three possible sources (choice on the left of the track row):

Source	What the track does
over time	Points on a line: which value applies at which time – in between it glides (straight or curved).
Dial 1–8	The line runs from “dial closed” (left) to “dial full” (right) – controlled by a knob, fader or stick. See Controllers & MIDI.
react to value	No line but settings: a live value (music, temperature, chat …) controls the property. In detail: React to value.

Creating a track

• ◆ next to a field (on the right in the properties): next to every number field of a layer there's a ◆ – X, Y, width, height, rotation, opacity, font size, spacing, corners, frame, zoom, brightness, bar values, effect sliders … A click creates a track for exactly this value, with the current value as start, the field's name and its range (e.g. rotation −360 to 360). If a value already has a track, its ◆ lights up in the track's color; the field then only applies outside the track.
• “+ Track …” in the timeline below the layer: the fixed tracks opacity, offset X/Y, size, rotation, wipe, blur, volume (sound/video), arc (arc shape) – these work in addition to the set value (e.g. offset moves from the normal position).
• Effect sliders: in the effect on the right in the properties, ◆ next to the slider.

Difference: a ◆ track on “X” sets X absolutely (the layer is exactly there). The fixed track “Offset X” moves from the normal position. Both work – for movement from the current position, offset is usually handier.

Points and curves (over time)

1. Click in the track sets a point exactly there.
2. Drag moves it – Shift = only the value (time stays), Alt = no snapping to the playhead.
3. Double-click, Alt + click or Del deletes the selected point.
4. Right-click on a point opens a small menu: Copy value, Paste value (onto another point, also in another track), Connection and Delete point.
5. Above the line between two points a small dot appears – dragging bends the curve (ease in, ease out …), double-click straightens it again.
6. ◆ in the track row sets a point at the playhead with the value the curve currently has there.
7. min / max on the left below the track: the range from bottom to top. Empty (gray) = automatic. Your own range, e.g. size min 60 / max 100: the track only shows this range, points outside move to the nearest limit (50 becomes 60). Clear the field = automatic again.

Sections and duplicates

• Section bar: above every track lies a thin bar – like a layer's bar. At first it spans the full length: the track is always active.
• Shorten/lengthen: drag the right edge. Then the track only works in this section – like a layer that isn't always visible. Outside, the field's normal value applies. Alt + drag stretches the points along.
• Repeat: right-click the bar → “Copy after” (or ⋯ → “Repeat section after”). That turns a 3 s automation into 9 s, three times in a row. All sections are linked: change a point in any of them and all change. Sections can be moved by their bar; right-click → “Remove this section” or “Always active”.
• Duplicate: ⋯ in the track's header → “Duplicate”. The copy sits right below and is independent – changes to one don't change the other.
• Several tracks for the same value: the upper one applies while it runs. Afterwards the next one below takes over. Example: top 0–5 s, bottom 0–10 s → the upper until 5 s, then the lower. Order: ⋯ → “Move up” / “Move down”.

Connections (curve, wave, steps …)

Right-click a point → Connection: sets how the track runs from the previous point to this one. Every connection ends exactly at the point's value. The small dot in the middle controls the type – for waves, steps & co. drag up = more, down = less, double-click = back to default.

Connection	What happens	Drag the middle
Curve	Straight line (default)	bends it: slow start or slow arrival
S-curve	Ease in, ease out – or the other way round	strength
Hold	Keeps the old value and jumps at the point	–
Steps	In equal steps to the target	number of steps
Pulse	Jumps back and forth between both values (e.g. blinking)	number
Wave	Soft waves between both values	number of waves
Triangle	Straight zigzag back and forth	number
Sawtooth	Rises and drops back, again and again	number
Bounce	Arrives like a bouncing ball	number of bounces
Spring	Overshoots the target and settles	number of swings
Random	Restless jitter towards the target – looks the same every time	turbulence

For continuous movement (e.g. wobbling, blinking) set two points with different values and choose “Wave” or “Pulse” – you set the number in the middle. If both points have the same value, nothing swings: connections always move between the two values.

The points belong to the layer: if you move its bar, the whole track moves along. The points have the track's color.

Color, selecting, copying

• Every track has its own color (yellow by default) – small color box on the left of the track row. The line, the points and the ◆ in the properties and in the layer list take it on.
• Select a track: click its row on the left (it gets a colored outline). Then Ctrl+C copies, Del deletes.
• Double-click a track's name to jump to the field it controls in the properties on the right – it lights up briefly.
• ⧉ in the track row copies this one track, Ctrl+Shift+C all tracks of the layer.
• Paste onto another track: click its row, then Ctrl+V. The values are converted to the target track's range (e.g. opacity 0–100 % → size 0–300 %).
• Paste onto other layers: select the layer(s), then Ctrl+V or under “Keyframes” click “📋 Paste” – also in another design. Effect tracks go to the same effect of the target layer (if it's missing, it's created), field tracks to the same field.
• The color isn't taken along when pasting – the target track keeps its own. “● Apply” briefly appears at the track's name: a click takes over the copied track's color.

Controlling tracks with dials

Instead of “over time”, a track can follow a dial 1–8 – a knob on a MIDI device, a fader or a gamepad stick. The track then spans from “dial closed” (left) to “dial full” (right); the points define what happens at which dial position. Setup: Controllers & MIDI.