ZibadMend
🎬 AE Timeline Master — Full Documentation
The Premiere Pro & After Effects Experience inside Blender. Visual Layer Timeline, Auto-Fading, Smart Sequencing, and Two-Way Sync.
⚡ 1. Overview & The Problem It Solves
Animating object visibility in native Blender is a notoriously destructive and tedious process. To make an object appear and disappear, you have to manually toggle Outliner icons (Eye/Camera), insert absolute keyframes, and blindly search through the Dope Sheet to adjust timing. There is no visual representation of an object's lifespan.
AE Timeline Master replaces this by bringing the After Effects and Premiere Pro timeline experience directly into your 3D Viewport. It treats visibility as a visual "Clip" with a Start and End point:
▲ Drag, trim, and sequence objects just like video clips in Premiere Pro.
- 🎞️ Visual Clip Editing: Drag the left/right edges of a block to set exact In and Out points for any object.
- 🪄 Auto-Fading Engine: Generate smooth transitions (Scale, Alpha, Drop, Spin) automatically at the boundaries of your clips.
- 🔄 Two-Way Sync: Clicking a clip selects its 3D object in the viewport, and selecting a 3D object highlights its clip!
- 📦 Collection "Pre-Comps": Add an entire Blender Collection to the timeline as a single track. All objects inside will animate together.
- 🛡️ Pass-Through UI: The floating interface intelligently allows clicks to pass through empty spaces, meaning you can select objects behind the timeline without closing it.
🎛️ 2. Panel Reference (Complete UI Breakdown)
The core controls are located in the 3D Viewport Sidebar (N) under the AE Timeline tab.
📂 Manage Layers
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Add Selected Objects | Adds the currently selected 3D objects to the timeline. They spawn exactly at the playhead's current frame so they don't disappear unexpectedly. |
| Add Active Collection | To animate a complex group, select the Collection in the Outliner and click this. It acts as a single, unified clip. |
| Remove Selected | Removes highlighted clips from the Timeline UI (Does NOT delete the actual 3D objects). |
✨ Active Clip Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Effect Type | Defines how the object transitions into the scene: Cut (Instant), Scale Up, Alpha Fade, Drop from Top, or Spin In. |
| Easing | Interpolation method for the effect: Linear, Smooth (Bezier), or Bounce (Jelly/Spring effect). |
| Anim In / Out | The duration of the transition effect in frames. |
| Update Settings | Click this button to bake the chosen effect and duration into the selected clips. |
✂️ 4. Editing Clips & Multi-Select Workflow
-
Trimming: Hover over the left or right edge of a blue clip (cursor changes to
↔). Click and drag to trim its lifespan. -
Moving: Hover over the center of the clip (cursor changes to
🖐) to slide the entire animation left or right. -
Reordering: Click the
≡icon next to a layer's name and drag up/down to rearrange the layer stack. - Solo / Mute: Click [S] to isolate a layer, or [M] to mute it directly from the UI.
Advanced Multi-Selection
Editing 100 parts? No problem.
- Box Select: Click and drag on an empty area of the timeline to draw a blue selection box over multiple clips.
- Shift Select: Hold Shift and click on clips to add or remove them from your selection.
- Batch Transform: Once multiple clips are highlighted, grab the edge or body of ANY selected clip. They will all trim or move simultaneously!
🚦 5. Animation Effects & The Motion Sequencer
The Smart Alpha Engine
Normally, applying an Alpha fade to 50 objects requires duplicating the material 50 times in Blender. Not anymore! The addon automatically injects an Object Info node into your active material, allowing hundreds of objects to share ONE material while fading in at completely different times based on their clip position!
The Motion Sequencer (Stagger Magic)
Want to build an exploding view or cascade animation in seconds?
- Add all your parts to the timeline and select them all using Box Select.
- In the N-Panel, under "Auto Sequence", set the Frames Offset (e.g., 5 frames).
- Check Randomize if you want them to appear in a chaotic/random order.
- Click Sequence Selected. The timeline will instantly arrange the clips in a beautiful cascading staircase!
🔧 6. Troubleshooting & Pro Tips
If you click on the dark background of the timeline (where there are no clips), your click will safely pass through the UI. This means you can select 3D objects behind the timeline without closing it! The UI only consumes your clicks if you interact with a clip, button, or the time-ruler.
Not at all! The addon remembers your In and Out points. Just select the clip, change the settings in the N-Panel, and hit Update Settings. The new effect will be applied exactly within your existing timeframe.
Ensure your object has a material with a Principled BSDF node. If you are using highly complex custom shaders, connect the Object Info > Color output to your main mix factor manually.
