9.5.2

1072 • CHAPTER 22
XPRESSO EDITOR • 1073
Time
The Time data type gives you access to the animation’s current time. Keep in mind that this value is
affected by the frame rate. For example, if the rate is 25 frames per second, the Time value for frame
24 is one second exactly. The Time data type is especially useful for controlling dynamic processes
since it enables you to take an animation’s progress into account. For example, you can make a ball
bounce once per second or make an object follow another over a particular period of time. See also
‘Date/Time’ above.
Vector
The Vector data type is important for manipulating positions and rotations in 3D space. Object
positions, HPB angles, colors and point coordinates are all stored as vectors. The values are stored
in the vector one by one. For example, positions are stored in the order (X position; Y position; Z
position) and rotations in the order (H angle; P angle; B angle). In CINEMA 4D, a vector always has
three components. If you convert a vector to an integer, the length of the vector is converted rather
than the individual components. You can also use vectors with matrices.
XPresso Editor Menus
File Menu
Load XGroup, Save XGroup As
Load XGroup imports a previously saved XGroup into the selected XGroup. If no XGroup is selected,
the XGroup is loaded directly into the XPresso Editor. Once loaded, the XGroup uses its standard size
setting, i.e. its contents will be hidden. To show the contents, right-click (Windows) or Command-click
(Mac OS) the XGroup and choose either View > Extended or View > Fullscreen from the context
menu.
Save XGroup As saves the selected XGroup. If no XGroup is selected, the entire contents of the XPresso
Editor will be saved.
Close
This command closes the XPresso Editor. To reopen it, double-click an XPresso tag in the Object
manager.