# Animation Animation in Intangible is keyframe-based and bound to the active shot. Move an object or the camera while a shot is selected, the move is recorded as a keyframe on that shot's timeline. Scrub the timeline, the values interpolate between keyframes. Standard practice from any DCC, with the shot binding being the Intangible-specific twist. ![Compose mode with the Scene Timeline at the bottom, showing per-object tracks for Shot 1, Shot 2, Shot 3 with keyframes visible on the camera and subject tracks](/files/td66nDKuyc0GwiFgpixO) ## What it does The animation system supports per-shot keyframing on: * **Camera** position, rotation, lens, and aim target. * **Object** position, rotation, scale. * **Character pose** (when the character is rigged for it). Every keyframe lives on the active shot's timeline. Switching to a different shot reveals a different timeline; switching to Build mode collapses the timeline entirely (because Build-mode transforms commit globally, not as keyframes – see [Animation and shot time](/overview/concepts/animation-and-shot-time.md)). Smooth interpolation between keyframes is on by default. ## How to use it The timeline lives at the bottom of Compose mode beneath the storyboard. The playhead is the vertical line; the tracks are horizontal rows, one per animatable property of the active selection. 1. **Pick a shot.** Click a thumbnail in the storyboard. The shot becomes active; its timeline appears below. 2. **Park the playhead at frame zero.** The leftmost position. The state of the scene at this moment is the shot's start. 3. **Set the start state.** Move the camera and any subjects to where they should be at the start. 4. **Move the playhead forward.** Drag the playhead along the timeline to where the next keyframe should land. The shot's default duration is approximately two seconds; adjust by dragging the shot's track bar in the Scene Timeline. 5. **Move objects to the next state.** Drag, rotate, scale. Each move drops a keyframe on the relevant track at the playhead's current frame. 6. **Scrub to confirm.** Drag the playhead back and forth. Values between keyframes interpolate. If the motion looks wrong, add an intermediate keyframe at the moment that needs adjustment. ## Interpolation modes Each keyframe carries an interpolation choice that controls the speed and shape of motion leaving it. Three options: * **Smooth** (ease in / ease out, the default). Motion accelerates out of the keyframe and decelerates into the next. Two adjacent smooth keyframes produce an arc, not a straight line. Reach for this for cinematic camera moves and organic subject motion. It's almost always what you want. * **Linear.** Constant speed between this keyframe and the next. Straight-line motion at uniform pace. Use it for mechanical motion, fixed-rate camera pans, anything where the move should feel deliberate and uninflected. * **Step.** Snap to the next keyframe with no in-between. The value holds, then jumps. Use it for hard state changes, stop-motion looks, or anywhere the motion should be discrete instead of continuous. Interpolation is **per keyframe**, not per track. A single track can mix all three: smooth out of frame 0, linear into frame 60, step at frame 90. Each segment of the timeline bar reflects its interpolation choice visually, so the curve shape is readable at a glance. ## Editing keyframes Three operations on an existing keyframe: * **Insert mid-segment.** Scrub the playhead between two existing keyframes and edit the object. A new keyframe lands at the playhead, splitting the segment in two. Each half gets its own interpolation choice. This is how you correct an in-between value without re-keying the start or end of the move. * **Retime.** Drag a keyframe along its track to shift when its value lands. Surrounding segments stretch or compress to match. Use this to slow a specific beat down or rush past one without redoing the keyframes themselves. * **Delete.** Select a keyframe and delete it. The motion reverts to whatever the surrounding keyframes describe. If the deleted keyframe was the only one on the track between frame 0 and the end, the object holds its frame-0 state for the rest of the shot. ## Pose animation for characters Characters with rigs animate per-pose, not per-bone. The contextual menu on a character object exposes a **Pose** dropdown with dozens of preset poses; pick a pose at one keyframe, pick another pose at a later keyframe, the character interpolates between them. Set a pose at frame 0 (e.g., "standing"), set another at a later frame (e.g., "running"), the character animates the transition. ## Camera-aim animation When a camera has a target object (see [Aim Camera and Target](/compose/aim-camera-and-target.md)) and the target is animated, the camera follows automatically. No manual rotation keyframes needed. This is the cleanest way to do follow shots: animate the subject, let the camera track. ## Authoring crane moves, dolly arcs, and complex camera trajectories Keyframe-based animation is the path. Place the camera at frame 0, scrub the playhead forward, place the camera at the next keyframe, repeat for as many waypoints as the trajectory needs. The smoothing default does the curve work between keyframes for most cinematic moves. If a move needs a precise curve, key the position more densely – four or five keyframes across a two-second move usually carry the shape cleanly. ## How the three Compose-mode tabs relate The Compose-mode bottom panel exposes three tabs: * **Storyboard** – every shot in the project as a card grouped by scene. Author-time view. See [Storyboard view](/compose/storyboard-view.md). * **Sequence** – the assembled cut, shots end to end as time-bound segments. Edit-time view. See [Timeline](/compose/timeline.md). * **Scene Timeline** – per-object animation tracks within the active scene, the most granular view. Animation-authoring view. Think of the three as viewing filters into the same time-based scene data. Storyboard groups by scene. Sequence orders by playback time. Scene Timeline drills into per-object keyframe tracks. The same shots and the same animation underlie all three; switching tabs just changes which dimension you're looking at. ## Common mistakes {% hint style="warning" %} **Don't author motion in Build mode and expect it to animate.** Build-mode transforms commit globally to the scene's permanent state. Only Compose-mode transforms (with a shot active) become keyframes. If your render came back static, this is the most likely cause. {% endhint %} * **Animating without keyframing the start state.** A keyframe at frame 30 with no keyframe at frame 0 means the start state is "whatever the scene was when you last touched it", not "at the start of this shot". Always set frame 0 first. * **Cross-shot animation.** Animations don't carry across shots. A character walking continuously through three shots in sequence needs to be set up as three separate animations, one per shot. ## Limits and known issues * **Video-to-video animation isn't supported.** You can author 3D motion in Compose mode, but feeding a rendered video as a motion reference back into the visualizer isn't a path the product offers today. * **The default shot duration may not match your edit duration.** The default is approximately two seconds. To extend a shot, open the [Sequence Timeline](/compose/timeline.md) and drag the right edge of the shot's segment. ## Where your animation lands in Visualize The keyframes you set in Compose feed directly into video generation. Two paths to know about: * **Default video modes.** The visualizer reads the per-frame state of the scene and passes it through to the chosen video model. Most models honor the motion within their own interpretation. See [Generate video](/visualize/generate-video.md). * [**Video (From Animation)**](/visualize/video-from-animation.md)**.** A dedicated visualizer mode that uses your keyframes as the explicit motion source. Three options inside it: Seedance 2.0 Motion Guide, Luma Ray 3.14, and [Direct Render](/visualize/direct-render.md) (non-AI wireframe capture). Reach for this when motion fidelity to your blocking matters more than the model's interpretation. ## Related * [Animation and shot time](/overview/concepts/animation-and-shot-time.md) * [Shots](/compose/shots.md) * [Aim Camera and Target](/compose/aim-camera-and-target.md) * [Timeline](/compose/timeline.md) * [Storyboard view](/compose/storyboard-view.md) * [Video (From Animation)](/visualize/video-from-animation.md) – how your keyframes drive video gen. * [Direct Render](/visualize/direct-render.md) – capture the animated scene as wireframe video, no AI. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.intangible.ai/compose/animation.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. 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