Animation Playback

Animation playback is controlled through the Timeline, located below the Scene View.

The Timeline lets you preview animations, move through frames, and define the playback range.

🔺 Figure 1: The Timeline used for animation playback.

Timeline Overview

From left to right, the Timeline contains the following areas:

1️⃣ Time Ruler

The Time Ruler shows the frames of the animation and the current frame position.

The current frame is marked by a red playhead.

2️⃣ Playback Options

This area contains the main playback settings:

• Current Frame
  Shows the currently selected frame.

• Playback Range
  Defines the frame range used during playback.

• Playback Speed
  Controls the playback speed of the animation.

3️⃣ Playback Controls

These buttons control animation playback and navigation.

Button	Action	Default Shortcut
	Toggles looping on or off.
	Jumps to the beginning of the playback range.	Shift+Ctrl+,
	Moves back by one frame.	,
	Jumps to the previous keyframe.	Ctrl+,
	Starts or stops playback.
	Moves forward by one frame.	.
	Jumps to the next keyframe.	Ctrl+.

Working with Animation Playback

Selecting the Current Frame

Click in the Time Ruler to set the current frame.

Scrubbing Through the Animation

Click and drag in the Time Ruler to move through frames and preview the animation interactively.

Using the Playback Range

The Playback Range defines which part of the animation is played back.

This is useful when you want to preview only a specific section instead of the full animation.

Scrolling the Timeline View

Drag with the middle mouse button to change which part of the Timeline is currently visible.