Synfig Project Forum

more beginner's help, please:

I accidentally animated an object. I'm long past the help of "undo"

How can I set the object back to an unanimated state (i.e. delete all waypoints but also change the type)
-- do I have to delete them one by one?
-- sometimes when I delete I end up with grey waypoints underneath -- how do I get rid of them?

thanks
Andrew

I've not found a way you do that but, removing an object layer also removes all the waypoints associated with it.

I know it's drastic - but it may be easier to re create the object rather than delete all way points one by one.

First go to non animation mode. To do that, click on the bottom right red button on the canvas window. Turn it to green to be in not animation mode. Then, for each (sub)parameter you have animated you want to delete all its waypoints just right click on the parameter and select "Disconnect". That will erase all the waypoints. Then, you can enter the value you want that parameter to have.


Those grey waypoints are just the representation of a group of subparameter's waypoints. When the waypoints are not all the same type (i.e. TCB or lineal, etc.) the waypoint of the group becomes greyed, telling you that the underlying waypoints aren't all the same type. You cannot delete them, only when the underlying waypoints are deleted, the other one disaapears.

Anyway, there should be an easy way to tell the application to make a layer non animated on any of its subparameters and let it with its current values. One more TODO thing for the developers
-G

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thanks to you both for your help.

I tried to understand what "disconnect" does officially, but I can only find that it does the opposite of "convert" (!) see http://synfig.org/wiki/Convert

I have noticed that it also undoes connect (as you'd expect) and removes waypoints.

I suppose it would be more helpful if these three functions had three different names (unconvert, disconnect, unanimate).

Yes, you're absolutely right about improve the meaning of those actions. It took me some time to understand what do they mean.

To understand what's behind them some concepts has to be clarified:

Any parameter of any layer is a Value Node. There are three types of value nodes:
Constant: they have the same value along all the time.
Animated: values are defined by waypoints
Linkable: Value is defined by its sub-parameters. Each linkable value node collects all the waypoints of its sub parameters and shows them all compacted. If there are two types of waypoints (i.e. TCB and Linear) at the same frame, the compacted waypoint becomes greyed (undefined). Sub-parameters are value nodes as well.

Convert: Converts a Value Node into a Linkable type. It disconnects from the previous value node then creates a new Linkable Value Node and connects the parameter to that new nalue node.
Disconnect: Creates a Constant value node based on the value of the parameter at the frame where the action is executed. It disconnect from the previous value node and connect the parameter to that new constant value node.
Export: Takes a Value Node (animated, constant or linkable) and labels it with a unique name. The value node is now known at any place of the document (by any layer) so any other parameter can Connect to it.
Connect: When a Exported value node is selected in the Child Panel it is available to be connected to any parameter, so the parameter is plugged to that exported value node. When you Connect a parameter to an exported value node, the parameter is disconnected from the previous value node. Parameters and Exported value nodes can be Connected only of they are type compatible (i.e. angle with angle and not angle with vector)
Link: When two or more parameters are selected at the same time (usually from two layers) it is possible to link the value nodes. In this case all except one of the selected previous parameters are disconnected from its value nodes and then connected to the value node selected from the selected. The decision on which value node is kept and used as link value node is taken inside the code and cannot be user decided (but it should be)

Value nodes are not discarded completely until all parameter that were connected to get disconnected. So when you disconnect from a value node it doesn't mean that the value node is completely lost. Maybe other parameters still connected to the value node too, so it is not deleted.

Hope this doesn't hurt any brain so much

-G

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Genete, no that doesn't hurt the brain at all -- it is exactly the information I would have liked to find out much earlier (and most of it I had worked out painfully for myself by now).

Does this text appear in a manual? It would be very useful to have that in a "how to think about synfig" user guide, somewhere in between "first tutorial" and "complete reference". I'd be happy to help with editing...

Andrew

It is but maybe not fully explained in a single page:
http://synfig.org/wiki/Export
http://synfig.org/wiki/Convert
http://synfig.org/wiki/Linking

Feel free to update/improve any of them.

In any case, the above information should be simplified from the point of view of the user. Those "Value Node" concepts comes from the coder point of view and need more friendly naming.

-G

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Genete,



ah, yes, but that's why your explanation is so helpful. It explains the three types of value node in one place. And then I can choose the one I like and seek further information. The alternative is you have to read every page before you get an overview of how it all fits together.



I will see what I can do, but my concern is not the individual pages, it's in the hierarchy of understanding -- there could be an "introduction to animation concepts in synfig" which is not a tutorial but an explanation of the main features (like yours).

best wishes and thanks again for all your help
Andrew