This interface element is used to adjust the angle from which the current scene is viewed. View Cube is located at the top right corner of the Viewport window.

Features of the View Cube:

Switching the view angle between eight pre-defined positions (each position is represented by a cone attached to one of the sides of the Cube)
Altering viewport rendering method between Perspective and Orthogonal projections (this is performed by left-clicking it with the mouse)
An option to lock camera movement so it cannot be changed through regular means (this is done by clicking the lock symbol at the top right of the Cube)

Menus

Main Menu

This is an element of Cascadeur user interface: the list of options available for the user. It includes most of the functions available through other parts of the interface and includes several that can only be accesses using Main Menu itself.

Main Menu is located at the top of the program window, right beneath the title bar.

For convenience, Main Menu is separated into several drop-down submenus:

File
Edit
View
Visible
Selectable
Filters
Mirror tool
TimeLine
Interpolation
Objects
Settings
Help

File menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains the list of functions for working with files:

Creating new scenes
Saving currently open scenes to .casc files
Opening existing .casc files and loading scenes contained in them into the program
Closing the program

Edit menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains a versatile set of tools that allows the user to perform several kinds of tasks:

Undoing last performed actions
Creating, managing and accessing selection groups
Switching between global and local coordinate systems
Translating selected objects
Pinning object to their positions
Setting frame fulcrums
Navigating the Timeline
Adding Animation Tracks
Copying positions of the selected objects
Copying Tracks
Copying Intervals on the Timeline

View menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains functions for:

Switching between the Scene View mode and the current Edit mode
Switching between various Edit modes
Switching between Point Controller mode and the currently selected mode
Switching between extra edit modes (Joint, Physics and Mesh) and the currently selected mode
Hiding currently selected objects
Making visible all hidden objects
Switching between various Trajectory rendering modes

Visible menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains a list of scene objects of several kinds:

All types of Controllers
Physics-based entities such as Centers of Mass, Ballistic Trajectories or Fulcrum Points
Rig elements such as Joints and Rigid bodies
3D models (Meshes)
Textures
Cameras

Each of the object types on this list can be checked or unchecked using the menu. The checked objects will be visible in the Viewport window, while the unchecked will be not. This way user can adjust the appearance of the scene, leaving visible only the necessary objects.

If an object is selected, it will be visible even if it is not set as such in the Visible menu

Selectable menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains the same list of object types as the Visible menu. Each of these types can be checked or unchecked using the menu. Only the checked objects can be selected in the Viewport window and only to them Manipulators and other tools can be applied. This way user can adjust the appearance of the scene, leaving only the necessary objects available for editing.

If an object is not marked as selectable in the Selectable menu, it can still be selected in the Outliner window

Filters menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains the list of available Filters. Each filter can be applied in four modes:

To the current frame (marked by Current Frame Indicator)
To the currently selected interval on the Timeline (marked by black border)
To the current frame with an amplified effect
To the currently selected interval with an amplified effect

Mirror Tool menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains functions for mirroring object positions, including:

Setting a plane that will be used for mirroring objects. Available options are:
- XY plane
- XZ plane
- YZ plane
- a plane defined by the positions of three selected objects
Mirroring positions of the weapons attached to the character
Mirroring positions of the physics points
Mirroring positions of the Joints
Mirroring positions of Controllers

TimeLine menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains functions for working with the Timeline:

Adding and removing Frames
Adjusting the length of the Timeline
Changing Keys
Playing animations in the scene
Saving animations to a video file
Merging selected Tracks into one
Moving Tracks up and down in the hierarchy

Interpolation menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains functions for setting Interpolations for selected Frames on the Timeline. Interpolation can be applied to:

the current frame (marked by Current Frame Pointer)
the currently selected interval on the Timeline (marked by black border)

Interpolation menu also includes additional functions:

Switching between Forward and Inverse type on kinematics
Changing Fulcrums
Applying Iterative process to the selected Controllers

Objects menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains tools for working with all types of Objects

Synchronization menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains tools for data exchange, including:

Importing animations from FBX files to the current scene
Exporting the current scene to FBX files

Settings menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu contains functions that allow user to access the settings of the current Scene:

Settings window
Hotkey editor

It can also be used to

Update scene settings
Reset scene settings to default
Set view modes settings from the scene

Help menu

A part of the Main Menu.

This menu can be used to view:

Event Log window (shows detailed information about actions performed by the program)
About window (shows data on the verison of the program)

It also provides links to

community forums
Tutorials
means of communicating with the developers of Cascadeur

Toolbar Elements

Toolbar

This is an element of Cascadeur user interface: a stripe that contains buttons for accessing all kinds of tools:

Selection tools
Manipulators
Tools for switching between scene modes
Tools for working with Ghosts
A button for enabling and disabling Silhouette mode
Trajectory tools
Camera projection modes
Ballistic trajectory tools
Tools for working with Fulcrum Points
Instruments for tracking objects with Camera
Tools for switching between frame and interval edit modes
Tools for working with Textures
A button for turning on and off Isometric Grid

Toolbar is located at the top of the program window, right below the Main Menu

Timeline Elements

Timeline

This panel is designed for animation workflow: creating key poses and in-between frames, adjusting timings, playing complete animations and such. It contains tools for working with:

Frames
Interpolation
Animation Tracks (including Folders)

The main part of the Timeline is the sequence of Frames. Timeline always includes at least one Frame.

Timeline is located at the bottom of the program window, right below the Viewport.

Frame

An element of the Timeline.

The total number of frames in the Timeline defines the maximum possible length of an animation.

A Frame is defined by its number. On the Timeline, a subsequent frame always has a number higher than a previous one.

The number of frames played per one second defines the speed of the animation (this is called frames per second, or FPS).

First Frame

The initial frame of the Timeline.

The number of the first frame is always equal to 0.

The first frame doesn't necessarily have to coincide with the First Available Frame

First Available Frame

The first frame available for editing on the Timeline.

This frame, along with the Last Available Frame, defines the part of the Timeline that is available for user interaction. Frames and interpolation interval can only be placed on this part of the Timeline.

The position of the First Available Frame can be adjusted manually.

By default, this position is equal to the position of the First Frame (i.e. Frame 0)

Last Frame

The frame that marks the end of the Timeline.

Last Available Frame

The last frame available for editing on the Timeline.

The position of the Last Available Frame can be adjusted manually.

By default, this position is equal to the position of the Last Frame

Selected Frame

This is a frame on the Timeline that has been selected by user.

A selected frame is marked by a black border on the Timeline.

Several frames can be selected at once, but only if they form a continuous span on the Timeline. This span is called an Interval. Only one Interval can be selected at a time.

Current Frame

This is the frame on the Timeline that is currently marked by the Current Frame Indicator.

Animation playback always starts with the Current Frame.

Current Frame is not the same thing as a Selected Frame. Only one frame at a time can be set as the Current Frame.

Current frame can be specified by clicking a frame with the Left Mouse Button or by dragging the Current Frame Indicator

Current Frame Indicator

An element of the Timeline panel that marks the Current Frame on the Timeline.

Key Frame

This is a specific type of Frame on the Timeline and one of the elements essential for making animations.

A key frame sets the Pose of a Character at a certain point in time. Character movement is defined by its main phases created by an animator. Key frames are used to store these key phases in the Scene.

Any frame on the Timeline can be set as a Key Frame using dedicated set of tools.
Any key frame, inversely, can be turned back into a regular frame (doing so will delete all data on the character pose stored in this key frame)

In-Between Frame

This is another type of Frame on the Timeline.

Unlike Key Frames, in-between frames do not contain any data concerning character Poses and Positions, as both are interpolated from two nearest key frames.

These frames are necessary to make animation appear smooth and fluid.

Interval

A continuous set of frames located between two Key Frames on the Timeline

For each interval on the timeline, an independent type of Interpolation can be set.

Interpolation Interval

An interval on the Timeline to which Interpolation is applied.

Interpolation Intervals are colored in accordance to their respective Types of Interpolation.

Interpolation

This a method of creating in-between frames by computing averages of two key frames that mark the borders of the interval to which interpolation is applied.

There are several computation algorithms, dubbed Types of Interpolation. Each interval on the Timeline can have its own type of interpolation.

Bezier interpolation

When this type of interpolation is selected, objects move along a curve defined by their positions in the key frames, accelerating at the beginning of the trajectory and decelerating near the end of it

When this type is selected on multiple intervals, character movements on previous intervals can influence subsequent ones, producing an effect similar to moving by intertia. This can be used to make movements look more lifelike

Bezier viscous interpolation

Works mostly the same way as regular Bezier type of interpolation, but previous movements influence subsequent ones to a lesser degree.

This type should be used in cases when smooth movement is required, but influence from previous intervals is not desired

Linear interpolation

When this type of interpolation is selected, objects move from the start to the end point at constant speed without accelerating or decelerating

Step interpolation

When this type is used, poses in the in-between frames are not calculated, the objects stay in the fixed positions between key frames

This is the default Type of Interpolation for every interval on the Timeline

Fixed interpolation

When this type is used, animator is given an option to adjust character pose and position in each of the in-between frames on the interpoletion interval.

Altering poses on the in-between frames does not have any impact on the interpolation.

Mixed interpolation

This type can be used to combine several types of interpolation on one interval.

When several Tracks are combined into one, this type is used to preserve all movements.
This type cannot be selected manually using interface of the Timeline.

Tracks

Animation Track

This element of the Timeline is used to separate objects in the scene into groups. Each Track act like a separate Timeline with its own set of key frames that do not affect key frames on other Tracks.

Parts of a character can be animated independently using Tracks

A Timeline always includes at least one track

Scene track

This is the main track of the Timeline. By default, any scene always includes this track

Folder

These entities can be added to Tracks to store other Tracks organizing a scene into a hierarchical structure.

When a Folder is open, and separate tracks are visible, they can be edited independently.
When a Folder is closed, all tracks inside of it are merged together and are considered to be a singular track

Additional Elements

Outliner

This window that shows the complete list of objects in the scene.

The entries in this list can be sorted in alphabetical order or shown as a tree-like structure representing hierarchical links between objects.

Outliner panel is located at the right from the Viewport window. It consists of two parts:

The upper one shows the list of the scene objects
The lower one shows properties of the selected object in the form of a list (if no object is selected, this list is empty)

Outliner gives user options to:

Examine hierarchical links between scene objects
Select objects (including those which cannot be selected in the Viewport)
Examine and adjust Properties of selected objects.

Property

A parameter inherent to an object.

Properties can be viewed and edited in the Outliner.

There are many different types of properties; some of them are specific to certain types of objects. However, every object in any scene always includes several general properties:

Name
Visible
Selectable
Guid
Track name
Controller

Name property

This property defines the name of an object: a textual identifier used to represent the object in the hierarchy shown in the Outliner window.

Visible property

This property defines if the object is visible in the Viewport window.

Selectable property

This property defines if the object can be selected in the Viewport window.

If this property is disabled, the object can still be selected in the Outliner

Guid property

This is a unique identifier of a scene object.

Track Name property

This property shows the name of the Track to which the object belongs.

Controller property

This property defines the controller of the object.

If the object has no controller, this property has the 'Not Controlled' value.

Settings

This window contains various parameters that define the behavior of an entire scene.

These settings are separated into several drop-down tabs:

Angular momentum
Copier
FPS
Filter
Manipulators
Physics

Scene settings are always the same for every scene in the program. If, for example, you open two different scenes and change settings for one of them, settings for the other will change accordingly.

Settings are saved when the program is shut down and restored at the next run.

Settings window is located at the right from the Viewport window.

Angular Momentum settings

This tab contains settings for Angular Momentum visualizer:

Stripe length

This parameter defines the width of the stripes on the arrow that represents angular momentum.

Two preset values are available: 1 and 20.

All frames/Only key frames

This switch defines if angular momentum is shown only for key frames on the selected interval, or for every frame on the same interval.

By default, the Only key frames value is used.

Copier settings

This tab contains settings for the Copier instrument.

Mode

This parameter sets the coordinate system used to copy objects.

Three values are available: Global (world coordinate system is used), Local (object coordinate system is used) and Relative (object coordinates in relation to other objects are used)

Rotate

This option allows user to choose coordinate axes should be taken into account when object rotation is copied

User can select one of the axes (X, Y or Z) or use all three (the XYZ option)

Position

This setting defines what coordinate axes should be used for copying the position of an object.

User can select one of the axes (X, Y or Z) or use all three (the XYZ option)

Scale

This setting defines coordinate axes that should be used for copying the scale of an object

Like with Position parameter, each axis can be selected individually

FPS settings

This tab contains settings for the number of frames per second which controls the speed of animation playback.

FPS

This parameter defines the number of frames per second. Higher values result in more smooth and fluid motions.

The value can be set manually or selected from one of three presets: 20, 30 and 60.

FPS Factor

This parameter is used for making animations more fluid by increasing the number of frames used to interpolate key frames.

This parameter does not affect the speed of animation, only its smoothness. This can be seen as multiplying FPS parameter and the number of every key frame by the FPS Factor value.

The value of this parameter can be selected from three pre-defined numbers (1, 2 or 3), or set manually. This value is integer, fractional numbers are not accepted (they are converted to integer numbers if entered).

Time Factor

This parameter controls the scale of the animation. If, for example, its value is equal to 0.5, animation will be two times slower that normal.

The value can be set manually or selected from a preset. Available presets are 1.0, 0.5 and 0.3. 1.0 is the default value.

FPS(update/sec)

This parameter defines how often the FPS indicator is updated.

Its default value is 2 (two updates per second).

Filter settings

This tab contains settings for Filters

Mode

This parameter sets the coordinate system in which filters are applied. Available options are: Global (world coordinate system is used), Local (object coordinate system is used) and Relative (object coordinates in relation to other objects are used).

Rotate

This parameter defines coordinate axes that can be used to rotate object when filter is applied.

There are four possible options: X, Y, Z and XYZ. The latter mean all three axes are used.

Position

This parameter defines coordinate axes that can be used to change the position of the object to which a filter is applied.

Scale

This parameter defines coordinate axes that can be used to change object's scale when filter is applied.

Factor

This parameter sets the power of the filter applied to the object, i.e. how much it affects the position of the object. The parameter can assume values from 0 to 100. If the value is 100, object will be immediately put into the target position; if it is equal to zero, no changes will occur.

The value can be set manually or selected from three presets: 10, 25 and 50. The default value is 10.

All frames/Only key frames

This parameter defines if filters should be applied to all selected frames or only to key frames

Manipulators settings

This tab contains settings for Manipulators

Arrows step

This parameter sets the number of steps used to render arrows

Fix angle

If this switch is enabled, an object can only be rotated (using the Rotate manipulator) by an angle divisible by the value specified in the field near the switch.

The angle can be set manually or by selecting a preset, of which there are three: 45, 90 and 180.

Rotator sensitivity

This parameter defines the speed of rotation in case user selects one of the parts of the Rotate manipulator (by left-clicking it) and move mouse pointer while holding down the mouse wheel.

Sensetivity can be set manually or selected from three presets: 0.1, 1 and 10.

Fixing interpolation on change

If this parameter is enabled, interpolations will be updated after every adjustment made to the positions of the object and/or its parts (controllers, joints etc.).

Physics settings

This tab contains settings for scene physics

Gravitation

This parameter defines the value of the force of gravity in the scene. The value can be set manually or chosen from one of the three presets: 0.01, 980 and 2000.

RIG ELEMENTS

Rig

A set of components that make possible creating character animations. A rig is, in essence, a virtual 3d skeleton made up of controllers that enable - or simplify - working with character poses.

Every character in Cascadeur always has a rig. An object without a rig can still be animated, but possibilities for animating it are much more limited. Also, physics tools such as Ballistic Trajectories can only be applied to rigged characters.

A rig includes the following types of objects:

Joints
Controllers
Point Controller Edges
Rigid Bodies

Center of Mass

This is a unique point that characterizes movement of an object (or a group of objects) as a whole. When a linear force is applied to the center of mass, it causes linear acceleration without angular acceleration.

A center of mass is a part of character Rig.

Some of the tools in Cascadeur only work with objects with centers of mass. These include:

Angular momentum
Ballistic trajectory

Controllers

Controller

An element of a character Rig used to adjust positions of rig elements forming a Pose.

A rig includes several types of controllers used for different purposes:

Point Controllers
Box Controllers
Rigid Bodies

Controllers form a hierarchical structure

Point Controller

This type of controller is mainly used for adjusting character Poses.

Usually, a Joint is associated with three Point Controllers:

Main Point Controller
Direction Point Controller
Additional Point Controller

Main Point Controller

A subtype of Point Controller. Located of the start of the Joint.

Direction Point Controller

A subtype of Point Controller. Located at the point where the main joint connects with the child joint (if there is one), or at the end of the main joint.
This type of controller can used for controlling the direction the joint is facing

Additional Point Controller

A subtype of Point Controller. Is usually located at the side of the two other controllers.
The position of this controller can be set manually during Rigging.
It can be used for adjusting the rotation of the joint.

Box Controller

Box controllers are visible in the Viewport window if the Box Mode is selected on the Timeline. This mode is oftenly used for making fine adjustments to the character pose, especially for configuring small details like fingers or parts of the clothing.

Rigid Body

A part of a character Rig.

By default, rigid bodies are visible in the Viewport window if the Physics Mode is enabled on the Timeline.

Rigid bodies are rendered as cyan-colored ellipsoids (currently selected rigid bodies are colored magenta instead)

Point Controller Edge

A part of a character Rig used for connecting two Point Controllers.

Joint

A joint corresponds to a part of a Mesh (or several meshes) that can move along with that joint.

Mesh

A 3d object that represents the surface of an object. Every object, including characters, consists of one or several meshes.

A mesh only defines the general shape of an object. Colors and fine details are represented by adding Textures to the meshes.

All adjustments made to the character Rig are subsequently applied to its mesh(es).

Texture

A 2D image that is applied to a Mesh to simulate color scheme of the object surface, as well as its fine details.

There are two buttons for working with textures on the Toolbar: one for adding textures to meshes (Bind Texture) and one for removing textures from selected meshes (Unbind Texture).

Textures can only be applied in the Mesh Mode.

Position

This parameter refers to the location of an object in the scene. Position of an object is defined by its X, Y and Z coordinates.

Object's position can be viewed in the Outliner (the Position parameter in the Transform group).

Pose

A location and posture of a character. Character's pose is defined by a sum of positions of all body parts that make up the character.

ANIMATION TOOLS

Selector Tool

An instruments used of pointing objects or interface elements for further manipulations. Any action such as translation, rotation, copying etc. can only be applied to an entity that has been selected beforehand.

Following objects can be selected:

Parts of the characters:
- Meshes
- Controllers
- Other rig elements
Primitives
Frames on the Timeline
Animation Tracks and Folders

Selection is performed by clicking objects with the Left Mouse Button. Scene objects are usually selected in the Viewporrt window, but can also be selected in the Outliner.

Selection Group

A set of scene objects that can all be selected at once by pressing the number of the group on the keyboard.

It should be noted that simply pressing the number of a group will add selected objects to the current selection. To select only the selection group, hold Alt while pressing its number.

There is a total of ten selection groups, numbered from 0 to 9.

Objects can be added or removed from selection groups using the Edit menu.

Manipulators

Manipulator

A tool for changing spatial position of the selected object

Manipulators can operate in two modes: Global or Local

In the Global mode world coordinate system is used
The Local mode uses coordinate space of the object to which manipulator is applied

There is a total of three manipulators:

Translate
Rotate
Scale

All manipulators are available on the Toolbar.

Translate (manipulator)

This manipulator is used for translating selected objects, i.e. moving them along coordinate axes.

Translate manipulator includes three arrows:

Blue arrow controls moving selected object(s) along X axis
Red arrow handles moving selected object(s) along Y axis
Green arrow handles moving object(s) along Z axis

Additional control elements include:

Green square for moving selected objects along XY plane
Red square for moving selected objects along XZ plane
Blue square for moving selected objects along YZ plane

This manipulator can be accessed from the Toolbar or by using W hot key.

Rotate (manipulator)

This manipulator is used for rotating objects, i.e. changing their spatial orientation.

Rotate manipulator include three main elements:

Blue circle rotates selected objects across X axis
Red circle rotates selected objects across Y axis
Green circle roates selected objects across Z axis

Rotation is performed across a Pivot point which can be set manually (by right-clicking a controller)

This manipulator can be accessed from the Toolbar or by using E hot key.

Scale (manipulator)

This manipulator is used for scaling objects, i.e. changing distances between controllers that

Tail Mode

This option adds "tail" effect to object rotation: when an object is rotated, all its child object rotate with it, like a tail.

This tool can work in either local or global mode, which can be set in the Toolbar.

Tail mode is used in the Box Controller mode.

Helper Objects

Ghosts

These objects show poses and positions (in form of silhouettes) that a character assumes on the previous and subsequent frames. Ghosts can be used to see how the current pose fits with the animation in its entirety.

The tool for controlling ghosts can be found in the Toolbar.

Ghosts can be rendered in several modes:

First, ghost rendering can be disabled entirely (this is the default mode)
Only ghosts of the previous frames can be rendered
Only ghosts of the subsequent frames can be rendered
Ghosts of both previous and subsequent frames can be rendered simultaneously
Ghost can be rendered for all frames in an interval selected on the timeline
There is also a switch that enables and disables rendering ghost only for the key frames (it works for every mode listed above)

Trajectory

A helper object that shows the path traveled by a selected object across a selected interval.

A trajectory can be rendered in several modes:

For a selected object.
- If multiple objects are selected in this mode, trajectory is rendered only for the object with the highest position in object hierarchy (can be viewed in the Outliner window)
For all selected objects
For selected edges
For selected objects and edges

A trajectory can be rendered using either object positions in every selected frame, or only in key frames on the selected interval. This is controlled by the Only key frames switch on the Trajectory settings panel on the Timeline.

For a trajectory to be visible, an object and an interval on the Timeline have to be selected.

A trajectory consists of several green dots representing position of the object in every frame or every key frame, depending on the settings. These dots are connected by blue edges which represent path traveled by the selected object across the selected interval of frames.

If the Trajectory edit mode button is enabled, the green dots mentioned above act as point controllers, i.e. they can be selected and their positions can be adjusted using Manipulators. This way, trajectories can be edited.

Physics Tools

Ballistic Trajectory

This is a helper object used for crerating physiaclly accurate trajectories for characters in the state of free flight.

A ballistic trajectory includes following controllers:

Impulse Point
First Frame
Point of Height
Landing Point

Translate manipulator can be applied to these controllers to adjust length, height and curvature of a ballistic trajectory (and, subsequently, the time it takes for the character to move along it)

Ballistic Ghost

This tool shows presumed physically correct positions of a character in the state of free flight. Positions are calculated on the basis of character's angular momentum, as well as the poses set for the character in the key frames.

To work correctly, ballistic ghosts require

A character with a center of mass
A ballistic trajectory along which the character moves

Fulcrum Point

This is an instrument used to improve character rotation by specifying a point across which rotation should be performed.

Fulcrum points can be added only to an object that has

Center of mass
One or more point controllers (required for placing fulcrum points)

Fulcrum Ghost

This tool shows presumed physically correct character rortation across a fulcrum point.

Fulcrum Forces

This visualizer shows forces applied to fulcrum points and reverse forces applied to character's center of mass.

Fulcrum forces rendering can be enabled in the Visible menu

Angular Momentum

This is a visualizer that shows character's angular momentum.

This instrument is not visible by default; it can be enabled in the Visible menu.

Angular Momentum is represented as a circle across character's center of mass with a green arrow with several graduations showing the value of the momentum.

Filters

Filter

This is a tool used for adjusting positions of an object based on its positions in the neighboring frames. Filters can be used for making quick adjustments to character poses and animation sequences alike.

Filter can be accessed through the Filters menu. Available filters are:

Attract to previous position
Attract to inertial position
Attract to average position
Attract to inverse inertial position
Attract to next position
Attract to interpolation position
Attract to local interpolation position
Angular momentum

Every filter can be applied in several modes (see Filter menu).

Attract to previous position (filter)

This filter moves selected objects closer to their positions in the previous frame

The hot key for this filter is G

Attract to inertial position (filter)

This filter moves selected objects closer to their inertial positions calculated on the basis of their positions in the previous frames

The hot key for this filter is H

Attract to average position (filter)

This filter moves selected objects closer to intermediate positions between their positions in both previous and subsequent frames

The hot key for this filter is J

Attract to inverse inertial position (filter)

This filter moves selected objects closer to their inertial positions calculated on the basis of their positions in the subsequent frames

The hot key for this filter is K

Attract to next position (filter)

Moves selected objects closer to their positions in the next frame

The hot key for this filter is L

Attract to interpolation position (filter)

Moves selected objects closer to the positions calculated as an average of their positions in the nearest frames (in the global coordinate system)

The hot key for this filter is U

Attract to local interpolation position (filter)

Moves selected objects closer to the positions calculated as an average of their positions in the nearest frames (in a local coordinate system)

The hot key for this filter is P

Angular momentum (filter)

This filter averages character's angular momentum across a selected interval of frames.

To work properly, this filter requires a center of mass and an interval on the Timeline

SCENE STRUCTURE

Scene

A set of object available for editing. A scene can include the following types of objects:

Characters
Primitives
Camera objects
Helper objects (ballistic trajectories etc.)

The complete list of objects (and their parts) that make up a scene can be viewed in the Outliner window.

New scene can be created using the File menu. By default, a newly created scene does not contain any objects or characters.

A scene can be saved in a .casc file or restored from such file. The name of a scene always coincides with the name of the file it is stored in. If a scene has not yet been saved to a file, it is named untitled.casc.

Character

A 3D object that can be animated. A character is made up of one or several Meshes with a Rig attached to them.

Primitive

A secondary 3D object that can be added to a Scene.

A primitive can be added to a scene using the Objects menu. Following types are available:

Cube
Plane

Unlike Characters, primitives don't have rigs, and thus options for animating them are much more limited. A primitive includes:

a Mesh
a single Joint at the geometric center of the mesh. This joint can be used to edit position and spatial orientation of the primitive.

Camera

An entity that defines an angle from which a scene is viewed. This angle can be adjusted using dedicated set of controls.

Camera Object

An object that can be added to the scene the Scene to provide a fixed angle from which a scene is viewed. It parameters are:

Field Of View
Start Frame
Rotation Offset
Aspect Ratio Height and Aspect Ratio Width
Texture Path

The position of a camera object cannot be adjusted using general camera controls.

Isometric Grid

A wireframe grid placed at the background of the scene when Camera is set to Isometric mode.

Isometric grid can be turned on or off using the button in the Toolbar.

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