> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.intangible.ai/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.intangible.ai/overview/concepts/animation-and-shot-time.md).

# Animation and shot time

All animation in Intangible lives on the scene timeline – one shared timeline per scene. Move an object in Compose mode while a shot is active and a keyframe lands on the scene timeline at the current frame. Move the same object in Build mode and the move commits to permanent scene state, no keyframes involved. This distinction catches every new user once.

## Build mode vs Compose mode

A scene is a 3D environment. Build mode is where you set the permanent, static state of that environment – object positions, scale, orientation. Compose mode is where you author time-based changes: keyframes that move objects or the camera over time.

The mode you're in determines whether a move animates or commits to world-state:

* **Build mode**: every transform is part of the scene's permanent state. Move a chair, the chair lives in that new position always – across every shot, for the life of the scene.
* **Compose mode with a shot active**: every transform is recorded as a keyframe on the scene timeline at the current frame. The scene timeline is shared; the shot is a time window into it.
* **Compose mode with no shot active**: behaves like Build mode for transforms.

## How shots and the scene timeline relate

There is one scene timeline per scene. Shots are windows into that timeline – each shot covers a specific span of scene time. Two shots that overlap the same scene time will show the same animation data. Duplicated shots point to the same scene time and play back identical motion.

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    A[Scene] --> T[Scene timeline]
    T --> SH1["Shot 1 (frames 0–60)"]
    T --> SH2["Shot 2 (frames 0–60)"]
    T --> SH3["Shot 3 (frames 60–120)"]
    SH1 -->|"window into frames 0–60"| T
    SH2 -->|"same window, different camera"| T
    SH3 -->|"window into frames 60–120"| T
```

Because animation is on one shared timeline, motion is continuous across shots. A character walking at frame 10 keeps walking in every shot whose time window covers frame 10. You don't need to re-author the same motion in each shot.

The Scene Timeline tab in Compose mode shows per-object keyframe tracks for the currently active shot only – it shows that shot's slice of the scene timeline. To see all shots laid out in time order, use the Sequence tab.

## The trap (and the fix)

The most common mistake: a new user sketches an animation in Build mode by moving the object around, then switches to Compose, adds a shot, hits render, and gets nothing animated.

The fix is sequencing:

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Make the shot first

Switch to Compose mode. Click **Add Shot**. The shot is created with the current camera framing.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Stay in Compose mode

The shot is now active. You can tell because its thumbnail in the bottom storyboard is highlighted.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Move the object

Drag, rotate, scale. The move is recorded as a keyframe on the scene timeline at the current frame. A new shot defaults to approximately 2 seconds; extend via the Scene Timeline tab by dragging the shot's right edge.
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Scrub the timeline to confirm

Drag the playhead at the bottom of the screen. The object moves through the keyframes. If it doesn't, you weren't actually in Compose mode with the shot active.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}

The webinar covers this directly: *"the reason you have to make shots first is because our animation system is set up for kind of like storyboarding."* Shots define camera framings; the scene timeline is where animation lives.

## What can be keyframed

* Object position, rotation, scale
* Camera position, rotation (covered in [Camera controls](/compose/camera-controls.md) and [Animation](/compose/animation.md))
* Character pose (bone transforms, when characters are animatable)

Parented children evaluate against their parent's animated transform during playback; a child's keyframes are local to its parent. See [Parented animation](/compose/animation.md#parented-animation).

What cannot be keyframed:

* Camera lens parameters (FOV, focal length, aspect, near / far). Dolly-zoom and focus-pull effects can't be authored as keyframes today. Render variations as separate shots and cut between them.
* Visibility (show / hide an object over time). Hiding a prop at a specific frame isn't keyframable; use scene-level visibility in Build mode, or render variants and cut.
* Sun position, fog, terrain. Environment is scene-level. To animate a sunset, build the lighting variation as separate scenes and cut between them in the [Sequence Timeline](/compose/timeline.md).
* Materials and color. Color transitions and fades can't be keyframed; treat them as post.
* Asset swaps. If a chair becomes a tree mid-scene, that's a Build-mode change and applies to the whole scene.
* Parent relationships. Changing or clearing a parent applies across the whole scene (the child's keyframes are recomputed to preserve its world-space motion); a parent swap can't be keyframed to happen mid-shot.

## How shots and scenes interact

Shots can't cross scenes. If your edit needs to cut from a kitchen interior to a parking lot exterior, that's two scenes' worth of shots assembled in the [Sequence Timeline](/compose/timeline.md), not a single multi-scene shot.

```mermaid
flowchart TB
    P[Project] --> S1[Scene: kitchen]
    P --> S2[Scene: parking lot]
    S1 --> T1[Scene timeline]
    S2 --> T2[Scene timeline]
    T1 --> SH1[Shot 1: wide]
    T1 --> SH2[Shot 2: closeup]
    T2 --> SH3[Shot 3: hero]
```

## Sequence tab

The Sequence tab plays the current scene's shots back to back, no gaps between them. It's scene-scoped: one scene's shots only. To preview cuts across multiple scenes, use Publish mode.

There's no audio mixing in Sequence. Each shot plays only its own audio.

## When to reach for it

You don't reach for the concept; you avoid the trap. The signal is: you set up motion in Build mode and the render is static. Switch to Compose, add a shot, redo the motion inside the active shot, and the render animates.

The deeper signal: any time you're authoring time-based behavior, switch to Compose mode and have a shot active. That includes camera moves, character actions, prop movement, anything dynamic.

## Related

* [The three modes](/overview/concepts/the-three-modes.md)
* [Projects and scenes](/overview/concepts/projects-and-scenes.md)
* [Shots](/compose/shots.md)
* [Animation](/compose/animation.md)
* [Timeline](/compose/timeline.md)


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