Channel Selector
Available in: Matter: Timelines > Channel Animation Clips library tab > New channel animation Timelines > Channels > Channel Selector |
The Channel Selector determines which channels will be available for animation in a clip. When creating a channel animation clip, you must first select the channel or channels to include in the clip. The Channel Selector therefore appears automatically when you create a new clip.
When using advanced configuration, you can also modify the channels in the clip at a later time. To add or remove channels from the clip, open the Channel Selector from the toolbar of the Channels editor.
The main body of the Channel Selector is the hierarchy of channels available for the active product. There are four ways to find a channel:
Expand the entries in the hierarchy until you reach the channel you want to use. Channels are grouped by type, then by option. If, for example, you want to modify the orientation of an environment called "Studio_Default", expand the nodes Environment, Studio_Default, and Orientation. Select the axis or axes you want to modify.
Use the animated mesh eyedropper
to pick the animated mesh you want to use. Click the eyedropper, then click the surface in the 3D viewport. This selects the mesh in the Channel selector. Expand the mesh to select the Frame channel.By using the material eyedropper
to pick the material in which the channel you want to use is found. Click on the eyedropper, then click on the material in the 3D viewport. This selects the material in the Channel Selector. Expand the material in order to view its channels and select the pertinent ones.By using the transformation eyedropper
to pick the part that will undergo the transformation you want to use. Click on the eyedropper, then click on one of the surfaces of the part in the 3D viewport. This selects the first parent of that surface in the Kinematics tab in Shaper.
To add a channel, click within the selection column next to the name of the channel, or right-click on the channel and select Add channel from the context menu that appears. The same actions will remove a channel that has already been added: to remove a channel, click in the selection column of a selected channel or right-click and select Remove channel from the context menu that appears. The selection column lists the status of each channel:
Icon | Description |
|---|---|
| Channel included in the clip. |
| Channel excluded from the clip. |
Multiple channels can be added to the clip at once. Highlight the channels you want to add by clicking on their names while holding down Shift to select a range of channels or Ctrl to select separate individual channels. Right-click to open the context menu and select Add channel to select these channels, or Remove channel to deselect them.
Once you have selected the channel or channels to add to the clip, choose the configuration mode. If you have selected only one channel, you will be able to select Standard configuration if you prefer. Multi-channel clips, however, must be configured in Advanced mode.