Can you reverse a keyframe sequence?

Andy C wrote on 7/28/2009, 8:20 AM

I've created a small 5 second animation event using a static image and Event Pan/Crop keyframes. I'd now like to copy that whole event and reverse it, including keyframes. I know you can reverse video events but it seems not images. Anyone know if this is possible any other way?

Comments

gogiants wrote on 7/28/2009, 10:02 AM

One thought, sort of the brute force method, is to render out your five seconds as a movie file, then place that result on your timeline (as a video) and reverse that video event. Not great if you're making lots of changes to the keyframes, but should do the trick...

Andy C wrote on 7/29/2009, 7:04 AM

Thanks GG. I'd forgotten you could do that, but as you say, if I'm making a lot of changes then it's not great. Guess what I'm doing? Yep, a lot of changes. Oh well, looks like I'm going to have to recreate all those keyframes by hand again - in reverse.
There goes my life. :-(

Tim L wrote on 7/29/2009, 9:14 AM

While its not as convenient as simply being able to reverse the keyframes, you can drag them to a new position on the pan-crop timeline probably faster than you can recreate them.

Copy and paste the event with the original key frames, then open up the pan-crop window.. If you only had two keyframes -- one at the start and one at the end -- this would be simple. Drag the first keyframe down the timeline to a short distance from the end. Drag the end keyframe to the beginning. Finally, drag the original to the end position. You have now reversed the order.

You can do the same with multiple keyframes, its just harder to keep track of them. Maybe drag them all toward the end but in the same order, then drag the last one to the start of the timeline, now drag the new "last" one to the 2nd position, etc., until you have reversed them all.

Andy C wrote on 7/29/2009, 11:27 AM

Thanks TimL, but it's still a hugely laborious job.

I'm animating a cartoon character. He bounces around the screen, slightly squashing vertically when he leaps (to create the jumping illusion). In the space of 3 seconds there are over 30 keyframes. It's therefore not simple to make a small change and then see what it's like reversed without losing momentum.

I don't know whether the full Vegas can do what I want. Trouble is, it's simply too much for me to afford. There should be a loyalty upgrade package that rewards people like us who've used Vegas since the early days and dutifully upgraded as each new version gets released.
Ha.
As if...