Grouping Keypoints

[jkb]

Does anyone know if there is a way of grouping keypoints together to move them as a block.

With the slides we can click on the first & shift-click on the last, or CTRL click on the ones required to select a group. These can then be moved along the timeline as a block.

I need to do the same with keypoints. I have several objects, 20 to be exact & I need to move their individual animations along the timeline by a few seconds. Each object has several keypoints & to have to do each one individually making sure I keep the correct spacing between them will take forever.

I have other objects on this slide with complex animations that need to stay put so I cannot just move the slide.

I have tried all combintations of click with CTRL ALT & Shift but can only select one keypoint at once.

If there is currently no way of doing this, Igor can you please make this option available. It would save so much time when finalising the timing of an animation.

[BootZilla]

Jill - You're not the first one to ask for this over the past few years. It appears the creators of the software (Igor) just won't bite.

Greg

[fh1805]

Jill,

This may be a case of "shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted" but... have you made good use of Frames to group your objects together? If not, it is possible that you might be able to simplify this kind of problem for future animations (and even this one by doing some re-work).

regards,

Peter

[davegee]

I agree with Peter.

Organising work properly in advance can pay big dividends later on.

Frames are good working practice.

DG

[jkb]

Hi Peter,

Yes I am using Frames, but it is the individual animations within the Frames that I need to move.

Grouping of keypoints really is something that is needed. Far more important than the inclusion of video in my opinion!!

The other thing needed is the abilty to zoom in & out on the O&A timeline with CTRL +F11 & F12

We can do it on the main Timeline window & it would be great if we could have a similar view, with the waveform visible & time shown as in the main Timeline window.

It is ok if you only have a slide with a time of a couple of seconds, but when doing complex animations you often need a screen time of say 20 or 30 seconds. The view can become very cramped & difficult with a lot of keypoints. And yes before you ask I do try to split things down so that not too much is happening on one slide!

Igor if you can possibly incorporate these features (which are already available in the main window) please, please do so. It would make PTE so much easier to use.

Jill

[BootZilla]

Jill writes;

Grouping of keypoints really is something that is needed. Far more important than the inclusion of video in my opinion!!

I couldn't agree more!!!

I don't think Peter & Dave understand fully what is being talked about here. The DOM brought this up a few years back and I did the same a few months back. In both cases, members commented how useful keypoint grouping would be but everybody is so wrapped up with the inclusion of video in PTE software that we're forgetting just what's so great about slideshows. What are we going to call this new media mix? PTE to me, is all about what can be done with still images.

Anyway, back to the main topic, I'm surprised that Peter, Dave and many others have not run into a situation where in a single slide, lasting 30 or more seconds, which contains other elements that will come and go during the time allotment. Each one of those elements have their own keyframes. Depending on the element and what is to be done with it, may involve several keyframes. I find on a regular basis that I need to adjust the position of one or more of the elements after their initial placement. You can't plan for this. Presently, you select the element you need to move and then adjust its position one keyframe at a time. If you have 4, 5 or more keyframes, it's a little time consuming. If you could group all the keyframes for a particular element, you could reposition the element in one move. And you wouldn't change the spacing between each keyframe as always happens when you move a set of keyframes one at a time.

I hope this offers a clearer explanation as to why this would be so helpful.

Greg Gordon

[JEB]

Hi,

I do not pretend to have a totally clear understanding of this issue as I have not delved too deeply into this area, to some extent because of its general complexity. What experience I do have has left me feeling that though there is fantastic flexibility for the manipulation of various objects enabling results that can be mind boggling, the control of such activity is not in any way user friendly, certainly not for the majority of PTE users.

In my view this lack of attention to user friendliness is evident in many areas of this otherwise fantastic program.

I sincerely hope that after the launch of video, Igor takes time out to address this issue and finish off quite a number of unresolved, irritating issues. Otherwise, PTE is going to increasingly become a program used only by a limited number of highly skilled specialists. Already I am finding potential newcomers being put off by some of the more difficult to understand processes and turning to other products, many of which are as far as I can see beginning to catch up with PTE regarding generally acceptable quality.

Regards

John

[Photo99]

In my view this lack of attention to user friendliness is evident in many areas of this otherwise fantastic program.

I sincerely hope that after the launch of video, Igor takes time out to address this issue and finish off quite a number of unresolved, irritating issues. Otherwise, PTE is going to increasingly become a program used only by a limited number of highly skilled specialists. Already I am finding potential newcomers being put off by some of the more difficult to understand processes and turning to other products, many of which are as far as I can see beginning to catch up with PTE regarding generally acceptable quality.

I could not agree with you more John!!

Joanne