Graph editor¶

The Graph Editor is the curve-level view of every animated channel. Where keyframes are dots and breakdowns are little marks, here you see the actual continuous functions and their tangent handles.

Open¶

Animate > Graph Editor (or G). The Graph Editor opens as a dockable panel; drag its title bar to dock to any edge.

Layout¶

Region	Purpose
Channel list (left)	Per-placement, per-channel selector with show/hide checkboxes
Curve view (right)	The actual interpolation curves
Toolbar (top)	Tangent type picker, snap toggles, framing

By default the Graph Editor shows curves for whatever is selected. Click any channel in the list to focus its curve in the view.

Tangent types¶

Each key carries an in-tangent and an out-tangent. Common options (with toolbar buttons):

Type	Effect
Auto	Smoothed; the framework picks the slope
Spline	Cardinal spline; sharper
Linear	Straight slope, derived from neighbor positions
Stepped	Discontinuous; hold value until next key
Flat	Slope = 0; useful at the start/end of a hold
Free	User-controlled both directions independently

Select keys (drag-box across them) and click a toolbar button to apply.

Manual tangent editing¶

Click any key to expose its tangent handles (two lines extending out). Drag the handle endpoints to change slope. Shift-drag constrains to horizontal (changes weight only); Alt-drag breaks the symmetry between in- and out-tangents.

Most animators reach for the Auto Tangent button after recording rough keys; it smooths the curve into a natural arc.

Snap¶

Toolbar toggles:

Snap to integer frame: keeps keys on whole frames during drag.
Snap to integer value: useful for transform.scale or counter channels.

Frame all / frame selected¶

F frames the visible curves to fit the view. A frames all curves on every channel. Useful when zoomed in.

Curve color¶

Each channel paints a distinctive color. Translate X is red, translate Y is green, translate Z is blue (XYZ = RGB by convention). Other channels are assigned colors automatically.

Per-curve operations¶

Right-click a curve for:

Bake to Linear: convert the curve to a series of per-frame Linear keys (destructive; useful for export to engines that do not understand Bezier tangents).
Simplify: reduce key count by approximating; tolerance configurable.
Reverse: flip the curve in time.
Scale Time / Scale Value: numeric transforms.
Mirror Around Frame / Mirror Around Value: useful for symmetric loops.

Channel filters¶

The channel list's filter bar at the top:

Selected only (default): show curves for the selected placements.
Visible only: hide curves whose channel has the eye toggled off.
Animated only: hide channels with no keys.

For very deep rigs, combine "Animated only" + "Selected only" to focus on what is actually moving.