Timeline visibility multiple selection

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Jkoseattle
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Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Jkoseattle »

Is there really no way to multiple select timeline visibility in the layers palette? Shift/Ctrl selecting doesn't work, clicking the clock at the column header does nothing, no right-clicking... really? do I really have to go clickety clicking up and down the entire palette? I hope I'm just missing something obvious...
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synthsin75
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by synthsin75 »

Afraid not.


But here's a script I just wrote to toggle timeline visibility for all selected layers. https://sites.google.com/site/synthsin/ ... ects=0&d=1
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Jkoseattle
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Jkoseattle »

How cool, thanks! I managed to successfully install it, a minor miracle, now how do I run it?
Most of the time I'm doing music stuff. Check me out at http://www.jimofseattle.com/music.

Thing I did for work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgFYGqifLYw
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synthsin75
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by synthsin75 »

Select all the layers you want to toggle timeline visibility for, and then just hit the button (or menu entry...whichever place you installed it to).
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Jkoseattle
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Jkoseattle »

I don't see any button or anything. Per the instructions when I went to install the script, I put the script into a "tool" folder, then it said it installed successfully. But I don't see any button or menu option.
Most of the time I'm doing music stuff. Check me out at http://www.jimofseattle.com/music.

Thing I did for work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgFYGqifLYw
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synthsin75
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by synthsin75 »

If you installed it as a tool, there should be a question mark icon on the tool bar (because I didn't include an icon).
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

I'll have to check out your script Wes.

You know what might be cool? Something like the Layer Comps window but for Timeline Visibility. The user could set up the Timeline Visibility, save it as a preset. This way, one can have custom 'TV states' for different characters. For example, I like to use Timeline Visibility to make the switches and bones for a character easily accessible and selectable in the Timeline (easier and more reliable than drilling down layers manually or using modifier selection in the workspace,) but the Timeline starts to get cluttered when there are multiple characters in the project, and I have Timeline Visibility enabled for bones and switches for all of them at the same time.

I also wish I could make some channels with Timeline Visibility enabled visible even when there are no keyframes in the channels. This is because I like to use the Layer Name label that appears in the Timeline as a clickable selector, but label doesn't show up until after I make my first keyframe there. That's a whole other thing though. I should probably submit feature requests for these.
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Jkoseattle
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Jkoseattle »

Yeah I've thought along similar lines for future features. How about a multi-tabbed timeline view, so we can keep several timeline configurations open simultaneously, then just click on different tabs to see the ones we want.

I also think we should be able to select a group, and then clicking the timeline for the group enables/disables for all layers in the group.

So, I'm still not seeing anything, not a question mark anywhere either. Maybe the problem is that Moho reported inaccurately that the script was installed?
Most of the time I'm doing music stuff. Check me out at http://www.jimofseattle.com/music.

Thing I did for work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgFYGqifLYw
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synthsin75
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by synthsin75 »

Well, layer comps already have the option to turn timeline visibility on/off by comp, Dennis.


Jko, if you haven't created a custom content folder, you should (and that may have been why installation failed). If you do, it's easier to just navigate to the right folder (tool or menu) and drop the script in there.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

Whaaaaa? Thanks, Wes...I'll check that out.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Wed Aug 22, 2018 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

D'oh! You're absolutely right. And I've seen the 'stopwatch' column in Layer Comps every time I used it. It just never registered in my brain what it was doing in Layer Comps.

This makes me recall that discussion in beta, way back when, about whether the stopwatch is an effective icon to represent Timeline Visibility. I don't think it is, but I don't have a better alternative for it either.

Regardless, I'm going to be using this feature in Layer Comps a lot. Thanks for opening my eyes to it, Wes! :shock:
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synthsin75
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by synthsin75 »

I'm surprise you didn't know, Dennis. Glad I could help.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

It works! Well, almost...

The one problem I'm seeing now is something that's always been flawed with Layer Comps: the user settings don't carry over with an imported character, so the same Layer Comps need to be created from scratch every time with each imported character.

It would be much more useful if the settings could be brought in either during import or as a settings file you could merge into a project. (Kinda like how it works with Actions. Of course, Actions always import with the character but we also have the option to Export/Import Actions.)

This has been a problem for me for a while because I like to set up layer comps for specific lighting techniques in Compositing. Having to do this over and over again for the same character is annoying enough for myself, but when I'm setting up rigs for other animators to work with, I also have to create a special Layer Comps instructions for each character so the animators can manually re-create the settings in their projects too. That's not terribly efficient and we really shouldn't have to do that.

Edit: I think I made a request for this a while back, that is, Layer Comp settings that carry over or exported settings files that can be merged into a project's Layer Comps. I should update the request to include Timeline Visibility.
Last edited by Greenlaw on Wed Aug 22, 2018 7:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

This is still useful though! I'm just digging up old complaints now. :)
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Greenlaw
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Re: Timeline visibility multiple selection

Post by Greenlaw »

I should clarify something: my complaint is that Layer Comp settings are not carrying over after import. However, the Timeline Visibility states in the Layer WIndow do carry over after import.

So, the problem is not as bad as I made it sound in my earlier post. The predefined Timeline Visibility states for each character is available to animators after import until they change it.

That said, I still want to see Layer Comps settings carry over to be able to easily turn Timeline Visibility off and on per character after import. This can make Timeline clutter with several characters in a project more manageable. (And perhaps more importantly, I want to preserve any special composting passes created in the master file.)
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