Multiple Layer actions show on group/bone timeline

[mkelley]

I don't know if this has been suggested before, but it seems obvious to me. Right now if you create an action involving only one layer and then insert a reference to it on the timeline you can see it, delete it, move it and copy it (I wish you could also stretch or shrink it but that's another wish).

If, however, you create a multiple layer action and then insert this at the top layer (you can only create a multi-layer action at the top group or bone layer) then you have no visual clue as to where it is. Some folks have taken to making a dummy marker, such as a move layer marker, to give you such a reference, but even with such a reference you cannot move, delete or copy the group action without going into each separate layer and doing so.

This is more than a PITA -- it's unnecessary and unproductive. What I'd like is a new timeline attribute that stores such actions in a group or bone layer, so we can move them around the same way we do on a single layer. Obviously, the movement would also move the individually stored actions on the various layers, but it would make using such actions really nice.

Please, please please! I can't imagine this is a major task, since all the info is already there. All that really needs to be done is to establish the corresponding linkage between that new timeline and the actions on the other timelines.

[heyvern]

You are absolutely right.

However this fits into the larger feature request of multiple layer key frame access. Action key frames aren't any different than regular key frames. Even an action "reference" is just a special type of key frame interpolation.

If a new feature is added that allows for accessing keys on multiple layers it would solve the issue with actions as well.

-vern

[Víctor Paredes]

I think it should be something like an group/ungroup action button. I have the same problem than mkelley has, but sometimes I like to move the the keyframes independently too.

anyway, timeline is one of the things of AS that needs a huge improvement. and this is a big one.

[mkelley]

Well, let's hope it's one of the things Mike at least thinks about.

There are two or three things like this that I KNOW would be a huge improvement in AS. I worry that as a developer Mike may tend to things that are "flashier" and ignore some core enhancements, because in terms of marketing it's harder to advertise "Now with multi-layer keys!" and get any juice out of it. But that's out of my control.

[synthsin75]

I totally agree with this request. My workaround has been to use meshinstance to control all of my 'sorting' layers, that way all of my keyframes are only on my bone layer and a single vector layer.

I would really like it if referenced actions were linked across layers and copied actions unlinked.