9.5.2

984 • CHAPTER 19
TIMELINE • 985
Autokeying (automatic recording)
As an alternative to pressing the Record button each time you want to record a parameter, you can
have the changes made to objects recorded automatically. Keys are recorded intelligently, i.e. only for
those parameters that change rather than for every single parameter. To activate autokeying, select
the Autokeying button in the animation toolbar.
Remember to switch off autokeying (by deselecting the Autokeying option
on the animation toolbar) as soon as you’re done recording. If you forget,
you may create dozens of unwanted keys while you edit objects and ruin the
animation.
Example
For this example, we’ll once again animate a cube’s position from frame 0 to
30.
 In the animation toolbar, ensure that the time slider is at frame 0. In the
viewport, move the cube to the desired starting position. In the animation
toolbar, ensure that Position Keys is enabled.
 Click the Autokeying button to switch on autokeying mode.
 Click the Record button to create keys and tracks for the X, Y and Z positions
of the cube.
 In the animation toolbar, drag the time slider to frame 30. In the viewport,
drag the cube to the position it should reach by frame 30. As soon as you release
the mouse button, X, Y and Z position keys are created at frame 30. To play the
animation, in the animation toolbar, click the Play button.
Done. As with the previous examples, the cube moves during frames 0 to 30. The advantage of
autokeying is that you no longer need to click the Record button each time you change the object’s
position — the recording process becomes automated. With autokeying mode (as with the manual
modes), the procedure is to rst move the time slider, then position the object. Autokeying can help
you to work faster when animating the scene.