Time Controller Addon for Blender - Documentation

Version: [1.0.0]

Author: [Mohamed Yasser Khalifa]

Blender Versions: [4.x]

1. Overview

The Time Controller addon for Blender provides an intuitive interface to manipulate the timing of animations for selected objects or armatures. Easily create slow-motion or fast-motion effects over specific frame ranges without manually adjusting individual keyframes in the Dope Sheet or Graph Editor. The addon keeps a history of modifications, allowing you to restore, delete, or clear changes.

2. Features

Targeted Speed Modification: Apply speed changes to specific frame ranges.

Flexible Speed Factor: Slow down (e.g., 0.5 for half speed) or speed up (e.g., 2.0 for double speed) animations.

Multi-Object Support: Apply changes to multiple selected objects simultaneously.

Armature Rig Support: Works seamlessly with animated armatures (apply to the Armature object).

Non-Destructive History: Each modification is logged in a history list.

Searchable History: Quickly find specific modifications.

Restore Modifications: Revert the effects of a specific modification from the history.

Delete Modifications: Remove a specific modification and its effects.

Clear All: Remove all applied modifications and clear the history.

Stackable Modifications: Apply multiple, potentially overlapping, time modifications to the same object(s).

3. Installation

Download the timecontroller.zip file.

Open Blender.

Go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.

Click Install... and navigate to the downloaded .zip file. Select it and click Install Add-on.

Search for "Time Controller" in the add-ons list and enable it by checking the box next to its name.

4. Interface Overview

The Time Controller panel can be found in the 3D Viewport's Sidebar (press N to toggle visibility), under a tab typically named after the addon (e.g., "Time Controller" or a custom name you set).

The panel is divided into two main sections:

4.1. Speed Modification Settings

This section is where you define the parameters for the speed change you want to apply.

Start Frame:

Description: The frame number where the speed modification will begin. Keyframes at or after this frame (up to the End Frame) will be affected.

Input: Integer value (e.g., 45).

End Frame:

Description: The frame number where the speed modification will end. Keyframes up to and including this frame (starting from the Start Frame) will be affected.

Input: Integer value (e.g., 55).

Speed Factor:

Description: The multiplier for the animation speed within the specified frame range.

1.0: No change in speed.

< 1.0: Slows down the animation (e.g., 0.5 is half speed, 0.1 is 10x slower).

> 1.0: Speeds up the animation (e.g., 2.0 is double speed, 10.0 is 10x faster).

Input: Float value (e.g., 0.100).

Apply to Selected (Button with Play Icon):

Description: Applies the current Start Frame, End Frame, and Speed Factor settings to all currently selected objects that have animation data. The modification will be added to the "Modification History."

4.2. Modification History (Newest First)

This section lists all speed modifications applied using the addon, with the most recent one at the top.

Search (Magnifying Glass Icon & Text Field):

Description: Filters the history list based on the entered text. This can help find modifications applied to specific objects or within certain frame ranges if you name them or remember details. (The exact search capability depends on what information is stored and displayed per history entry).

History List Area:

Description: Displays individual modification entries. Each entry typically shows:

The object(s) affected.

The original frame range.

The speed factor applied.

(Potentially other relevant info like date/time of modification).

You can select an entry in this list to act upon it using the buttons below.

Restore (Button with Undo Icon):

Description: Reverts the changes made by the selected modification in the history list. The animation keyframes affected by this specific modification will be returned to their state before this particular modification was applied. The history entry itself might be removed or marked as restored.

Delete (Button with Minus Icon):

Description: Removes the selected modification from the history list AND reverts its effects on the animation keyframes. This effectively undoes the modification and removes its record.

Clear All (Button with Trash Can Icon):

Description: Removes all speed modifications previously applied by the Time Controller addon from all affected objects and clears the entire "Modification History" list. Use with caution.

5. How to Use

Select Object(s)/Armature: In the 3D Viewport, select the object(s) or armature(s) whose animation timing you want to modify. Ensure they have keyframe animation. For armatures, select the Armature ob