Docs / Panel reference / The bar and settings
The bar and settings
Every button on the floating bar, every setting, the preferences, and the keys and mouse.
#The floating bar
The bar sits at the bottom of the 3D viewport. Hover any button for what it does. Its groups go in the order the work goes:
| Group | Buttons |
|---|---|
| Pose | Autopose, Handle Picker, Hand Poses (F), Mirror Pose (Ctrl+Shift+M) |
| Keys | Previous Key, Key Pose (I), Next Key, Auto Keying |
| Refine | The Reach tile, Smooth Brush, Lock in Place, Pick Up, Motion Check |
| View | Rig Controls (on a control rig), Onion Skin, Zoetrope, Motion Trail |
| Settings | Marionette's settings, in a popover |
The Smooth Brush, Lock in Place, Pick Up and the Motion Check appear once the character has animation. The Reach tile shows while the Autopose tool and Auto Keying are on.
Previous Key and Next Key jump to the character's keys whichever bones are selected; Blender's own jump looks at the selected bones only, and the handles select none. Auto Keying is Blender's record button: on, every pose you make is keyed; off, press I to key the poses you want to keep.
The cross at the bar's right end folds it down to a small tab, and a click on the tab opens it again. While it is folded, the viewport is clean: the onion skin, the zoetrope, the trail, the Handle Picker and the Motion Check's and Lock in Place's marks are not drawn. Each keeps its switch, so opening the bar brings back what was there. To hide the bar altogether, tab and all, untick Marionette Bar at the top of the viewport's View menu.
The bar also hides with the viewport's Show Gizmo switch, like Blender's own gizmos.
#Settings
Settings, at the right end of the bar, opens a popover as Blender's Overlays do.
#Posing
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Slack | How far a joint may stray from its handle, in metres. Low puts the joint where you put the handle; high makes the handle a hint |
| Solid Floor | No joint ends up below the floor |
| Foot Contact | A foot set down on something lies flat on it; a foot on its toes keeps its heel up |
| Body Follows | How much of the body follows a dragged handle, from 0 (only that limb) to 1 (the whole body) |
| Show Balance | The centre of mass over the feet: green when the pose stands, orange when it would fall |
| Reset to T-Pose | The T-pose, and every handle as it starts |
| Rest Pose | Clear the pose on the character's bones |
#Editing
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Reach (frames) | How many frames on either side an edit carries to |
| Falloff | Smooth, Hold, Linear or Sharp |
| Intensity | How much the frames around an edit follow it |
| Brush Size | The Smooth Brush's size on screen, in pixels |
| Brush Strength | How much one pass of the brush smooths |
| Locks | Every Lock in Place, with its frames and a button to remove it |
#Onion Skin
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Show | The onion skin on or off |
| Step | Frames between ghosts, or between the zoetrope's slices |
| Opacity | How solid the ghosts are |
| Fade | Ghosts further from the playhead drawn fainter |
| Before, After | The colours before and after the playhead |
| Zoetrope | Spread the ghosts out in space |
| Spacing | How far apart the zoetrope's slices are |
| Motion Trail | The trail on or off |
| Colour by Speed | Colour the trail by how fast each joint moves |
#The character
Under the character's name: Rig In Front, Hide Skeleton (not on control rigs), Handle Picker, and on a control rig each limb's IK or FK, Keep IK and FK Matched, Rig Controls and the Rig Map. Then Skeleton: which bone plays each joint. See Your rig.
#Preferences
Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Animatica Marionette:
- Updates: Check Once a Day (on by default), what the last check said, and Check Now. Checks need Blender's Allow Online Access (Preferences → System).
- The pose model: whether it is ready. The model comes inside the add-on, so there is nothing to download.
- Threads: how many threads the pose model may use per solve. 0 lets it decide; 1 or 2 keeps dragging responsive on a busy machine.
- Model Licence: the pose model's terms. The model is licensed for use with this add-on only. What you make with it is yours.
#Keys and mouse
With the Autopose tool on:
| Key or mouse | What it does |
|---|---|
| Drag a handle | Pose the body |
Shift-drag | Move the whole body |
Alt-drag | Move only this limb |
Click, Shift-click | Pick a handle, add one to the picks |
Ctrl-click | Switch a handle on or off |
| Right-click a handle | Pin, carry, switch off, hold the turn, straighten, remove |
G, R | Move or turn the picked handles |
P | Pin the picked handles, or let them ride with the body |
Alt+P | Let go of every pin but the feet |
Alt+R | Straighten the picked joints |
F | Hand poses |
Ctrl+Shift+M | Mirror the pose |
I | Key the pose |
During a drag of a handle, a trail point or a zoetrope slice:
| Key or mouse | What it does |
|---|---|
| Mouse wheel | Reach: how many frames follow |
F | Falloff |
Shift | The whole body, or the whole pose |
Alt (on a trail point) | Retime instead of move |
Esc, right-click | Cancel |
Every edit is one undo step: Ctrl+Z, or Cmd+Z on a Mac.