Panel reference
Prompt Timeline
Card 06 — sequence multiple prompts in time and place constraints on a shared ruler.
The Prompt Timeline is where you sequence multiple prompts in time for a single character. Each prompt block is one action with its own text; laid end-to-end they become a performance ("walk in → stop → wave → sit"). Constraint pins and keyframe dots sit on the same ruler, so you can see exactly when each pin fires.
⚠ Prompt boxes are per skeleton — Every skeleton (character) in the scene keeps its own independent set of prompt blocks. The timeline always shows the blocks belonging to the active character — the one selected in the timeline header's skeleton selector (kept in lock-step with the Skeleton card). Switch to a different skeleton and the timeline swaps to that character's prompt boxes and constraints; your first character's blocks are untouched and reappear when you select it again. This lets you author separate performances for multiple characters in one scene without them interfering. Generate Motion builds the request from the active character's blocks only. Prompt boxes are stored independently of the rig itself — they persist across scene loads and even survive deleting the skeleton.
#Editing blocks
- Create a block — double-click an empty area, then type the prompt inline.
- Edit a block — double-click it to edit the prompt text.
- Move / resize — drag the block body to move; drag an edge to resize.
- Select — click a block;
Ctrl+click to add/remove from a multi-selection. - Add a constraint — click the constraint icon on a block (drops a marker at its midpoint), or right-click for the context menu.
- Generate —
Ctrl+Gbuilds the request from all blocks and runs it. - Save / Load Prompts — the timeline's side panel can persist the active character's prompt blocks to a file and reload them later; + Add Prompt appends a block and Fit / + / − control zoom. Prompt files store every frame relative to the take start, so a file saved in one take reloads correctly in a take that starts at a different frame.
Where shortcuts apply — Timeline shortcuts fire only while the mouse is hovering the timeline — otherwise the keys pass through to MotionBuilder. While you're editing a prompt inline, the timeline keys (arrows, Home/End,
[/],,/.,Z,Shift+D, undo/redo) are suspended so you can type freely. See the full Keyboard & mouse reference.
#Right-click menu
Right-clicking the timeline opens a context menu whose contents depend on what is under the cursor.
| Item | What it does |
|---|---|
| Add constraint @ frame N / Delete <type> @ N | The first entry adapts: over empty space it adds a constraint of the currently picked type at that frame; directly over a pin it deletes that constraint. |
| Clear constraints ▸ | Submenu (only when pins exist): Clear all <type> for each type currently on the timeline, plus Clear all constraints. |
| Edit prompt… | Same as double-clicking the block — opens the inline editor. |
| Generate Selected Prompt… | Regenerates just this block — see below. |
| Export Prompt to FBX… | Asks for a folder (seeded with your Story Export Path), then writes the current skeleton's animation over this block's frame range to an FBX there. The Console reports the file. |
| Zoom to Prompt | Zooms the view to the block (same as Z with it selected). |
| Snap Start to Previous End / Snap End to Next Start | Stretches this block's near edge onto its neighbour, leaving the far edge where it is (greyed out with no neighbour on that side). Refused with a warning if the resize would push the block past the 10 s prompt limit. |
| Snap to Previous Prompt / Snap to Next Prompt | Moves the whole block up against its neighbour, keeping its length (shortened only if the take end or the block on the far side is in the way). |
| Remove block | Deletes the block under the cursor. |
| Add prompt block here | Shown instead of the block actions when you right-click empty space. |
| Fit view · Fit Zoom to All Prompts · Clear all blocks · Clear All Keyframes… | Always available at the bottom of the menu. |
#Generate Selected Prompt
Regenerates one block instead of the whole timeline — the fast way to redo a single beat you're not happy with while everything around it stays as it is. In take modes the block's frame range is overwritten in place; in Story mode the block's clip gets a new version (or replaces the newest one, depending on Replace current Clip).
The confirmation dialog shows the prompt and its frame range plus two options, both on by default:
- Keep start pose / Keep end pose — pins the pose that is currently at the block's first / last frame, so the seam with the neighbouring prompt stays smooth. A checked boundary wins over a Full Body constraint sitting on that exact frame: the anchor is used and your pin is not sent.
The block's own constraints go along with the request: every pin whose frame falls inside the block's span is sent, so a hand, foot or path pin you placed in that range still steers the regeneration. Pins outside the span are left out and the Console names what was excluded.
Story mode is the exception — A Story clip is baked at the origin and positioned by the Story track, so constraints, boundary pins and the Use current position re-seat are not sent when you regenerate a block in Story mode — the Console logs that too. If the block is one of several adjacent prompts, the main Generate Motion button writes the whole run as one clip; regenerating a single block of that run produces a clip that overlaps it, and the dialog warns you before it happens.