Rotation Animation

Rotation animation turns shapes around a center over time. A turn has two parts: an angle of less than a full turn, and laps, extra full turns in the same direction.

It works on any shape except cameras and texts on a path.

Creating it

1. Select the shapes on the board.
2. In Animation mode, choose Rotation Animation in the Actions panel.

After it is created

• It starts at the playhead with an angle of 0 and no duration yet, so nothing turns until you set the angle with the angle handle or in the Attributes panel.
• It is selected, and its rotation indicator shows on the board.
• With several shapes selected, one block turns all of them around a shared center.

The rotation animation block in the Timeline panel

In the Timeline panel, rotation blocks appear in amber ().

1. Blocks that animate one shape use circular handles.
2. Blocks that animate several shapes use square handles.
3. Staggered blocks show a marker where each later shape starts.

The rotation indicator on the board

The rotation indicator shows the center, a reference line, and an arc from the reference line to the angle handle.

• It shows while the block is selected, or for the selected shapes when Show all animation indicators is on.
• The arc fills as the animation progresses.
• An arrowhead at the end of the arc shows the direction of the turn.
• The arc shows the angle only, not the laps.

Handles

Set them up in this order:

1. Center handle: the point the shapes turn around.
   • It starts at the shape's pivot, or at the middle point between the pivots of several shapes.
   • If the shapes already have an earlier rotation block, it starts at that block's center.
   • Drag it to move the center.
   • It responds only while the playhead is at the block's start, and is grayed out at any other time.
2. Reference handle: the rectangular handle at the end of the reference line, the line the angle is measured from.
   • Drag it around the center to point the reference line where you want to measure from.
   • The angle keeps its value, so the angle handle moves with the reference line and the turn doesn't change.
   • The distance from the center sets the size of the indicator.
3. Angle handle: the circle at the end of the arc.
   • Drag it around the center to set the angle, measured from the reference line.
   • Dragging past a full turn adds a lap.

Maintain speed

Maintain speed, in the Timeline panel header, decides what changing the angle or the laps does to the block's duration, whether you drag the angle handle or type the value in the Attributes panel:

• Enabled: the duration follows the turn, so the rotation keeps the same speed and a bigger turn takes longer.
  • If the playhead was at the block's end, as on a new block, it moves to the new end, where the center handle no longer responds. Set the center first.
• Disabled: the duration stays the same.
  • A new block has no duration yet, so its turn happens at once, like a jump.

Attributes

The Rotation Animation section of the Attributes panel.

Timing

• Time: when the turn starts and ends, in seconds. Each time is outlined while the playhead sits on it.
• Duration: the block's total length, including staggered shapes and block pauses.
• Speed: speed multiplier relative to the board's base rotation speed (45 degrees per second by default).
  • Changing it changes the block's duration.

Angle and laps

• Angle: the turn in degrees, between -360 and 360, clockwise when positive.
  • A full turn or more moves into Laps.
  • With Maintain speed enabled, the duration adjusts to the new angle.
• Laps: extra full turns, added in the same direction as the angle.
  • Only whole numbers from 0 up.
  • With Maintain speed enabled, the duration adjusts to the new total turn.

Center

• Cx and Cy: the center's board coordinates at the start of the block, editable wherever the playhead is.
  • Cy follows the Y axis direction set in the board settings.

Stagger and easing

• Stagger shapes: when a block acts on multiple shapes, stagger offsets their start times sequentially. See Stagger shapes.
• Reordering panel: with Stagger shapes on, sets the order in which the shapes start. See Stagger shapes.
• Easing: controls acceleration along the turn.
  • Cubic in and out is the default. See Easing.

Actions

With a rotation block selected, the Actions panel offers these block actions:

• Delete: removes the block. See Block actions.
• Cut, Copy, and Paste: move or copy the block to another time or sequence. See Cut, copy, and paste blocks.
• Reassign: changes which shapes the block turns. See Block actions.
• Create Block Pause: holds the turn for a moment inside the block. See Block pauses.