DLC controller workflow suggestions

[Klapaucius]

The DLC controller is a great addition.  It functions very similarly (and I assume is modeled off of) keyframe editors in video and audio editing (where it is often called "automation).  Programs such as Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Logic Pro X etc all have a way of doing this.

 

Kudos to the KSP folks for doing it this way. It is a really great solution. They even included bezier curves, which is fantastic.

 

So with that in mind, I just have a few workflow suggestions that would make it easier to use.

 

Here is a screenshot of the effects controller in Adobe Premiere Pro:

With Adobe and the like, you can  copy keyframes. You can also copy an entire sequence of keyframes and paste it onto another piece of footage. For example, if you have a piece of text and an image underneath it and you want to move them both off screen at the same rate of speed.  You can also select the entire group of keyframes and slide them left or right to change the start and end points.

 

In the KSP editor, you cannot copy keyframes, and since copying a part does not carry over its movements into the editor, you have to enter in the motion keyframe by keyframe for each part.  It would be nice to be able to add a part and then paste the keyframe sequence from the previous part onto the new one.  The project below is an ornithopter I am working on. I had to enter in the hinge angles and servo rotation for 5 pairs of wings. There are only three variables: 2 hinges and one servo per wing. I should have been able to enter those settings in once, and then paste them 4 more times. Instead, I had to do 15 tracks keyframe by keyframe. 

 

 

So, for the next update:  keyframes and keyframe sequences that can be copied and pasted.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Klapaucius

[FleshJeb]

17 hours ago, Klapaucius said:

In addition, while you can move keyframes around, there is no way to delete them. So if you change your mind or accidentally add a keyframe (easy to do), you have to work around it. Not a big deal, but it would be nice to have a delete feature.

See the white minus symbol on the one you have highlighted?

Another gripe to go on the list is that if you accidentally edit a part name, you can't get back to the default name without manually typing it in.

That said, last night I animated the deployment of a MASSIVE set of fixed solar panels (for a submarine!), and it was FUN. 

[fulgur]

I realise that the info is presumably stored in craft files and would require quite a major change, so I understand it is not exactly easy, but I would really like to be able to:

- Save the different programs externally, so you can load them on different craft with similar mechanisms (IE If i build an exploration walker and a ore transport walker, I want to be able to access the program from both)

- Be able to load multiple programs on one craft, so that one can switch from Function A (say, loading ore tanks onto the back of my hypothetical transport walker) and Function B (walking my walker around).

This would make it much easier to make hordes of semi-identical robot walker armies with robotic catapaults. And also, you know, useful stuff.

[Klapaucius]

3 hours ago, FleshJeb said:

See the white minus symbol on the one you have highlighted?

Another gripe to go on the list is that if you accidentally edit a part name, you can't get back to the default name without manually typing it in.

That said, last night I animated the deployment of a MASSIVE set of fixed solar panels (for a submarine!), and it was FUN. 

Oh god, I am such an idiot. Because I work in Adobe a lot, the symbols for tools are often contextual. I was assuming the minus sign was telling me the tool was now in delete mode, but no amount of clicking or right clicking made it work. It never occurred to me that I could actually click on the symbol. Doh!

I've updated my post and removed that suggestion...  

 

However, being able to copy them would be a huge timesaver. I am creating a new craft for the walker challenge. The idea only took me a few minutes to build but nearly an hour to programme the prototype. The goal is simply to create multiple, identical articulated sections,  with identical movements, just staggered in time.  In Adobe, I could copy all those keyframes, paste them onto the new item and then slide the entire lot forward say half a second to stagger the actions. It would take me a few minutes rather than nearly an hour.

2 hours ago, fulgur said:

- Be able to load multiple programs on one craft, so that one can switch from Function A (say, loading ore tanks onto the back of my hypothetical transport walker) and Function B (walking my walker around).

Have you tried adding more than one controller and then switching between them?  I've just tried this after reading your post, and it seems to work.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Klapaucius

[FleshJeb]

1 hour ago, Klapaucius said:

However, being able to copy them would be a huge timesaver.

I'd get all the parts into the controller, get one sequence correct, give it a unique name, close the craft, and then go edit the craft file.

Search for "controller1000" in the craft file. Below code is for a hinge. The first value looks like (time / sequenceLength), the second is angle. The last two are probably the tangents, which should remain the same if you're just time-shifting.

timeValueCurve
{
	key = 0 90 450 0
	key = 0.25 90 0 360
	key = 0.5 180 360 0
	key = 1 180 0 0
}

Not the best answer, but it's an answer.

[Klapaucius]

Another thought after having posted in @Snark's mod thread:

 

It would be very cool--though probably a lot more work under the hood--to make the editor work a bit like it does in After Effects, allowing you to have parent and child sequences. What this means is: you create a timeline with a certain set of effects (in the KSP case, simply motions).  That sequence becomes the master and you can then take any number of other sequences and make them children of that parent.  For example, in After Effects, if I have a scene composed of three elements: a background, an animated character and some text, and I want to fade them all out in unison, I can simply create a new sequence with a fading effect and then  tie all those elements to it.

 

If you have worked in Photoshop, it is similar to having groups of layers and then applying an effect to the entire group.

I don't know if that explanation is at all clear, but trust me, it would be cool.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Klapaucius

[sgt_flyer]

As of note, you can kinda copy /import animated parts and their controller config (it's not entirely guaranteed - and will not work for mirror symmetry)

1) Basically, create a standalone craft of the animated section you want to copy (for placing a second time elsewhere, or it's a design you want to reuse on various crafts (ex :solar panel assemblies or turrets), with the root part surface attachable or with a free node, and save it.

Open the craft you want to integrate the animated section onto, then use the merge function to import the animated assembly (so far, it seems to be able to import it the first time, but may pose a problem on second import, as the game seems to defines a unique ID to each part in the controller)

 

 

 

[Klapaucius]

I'm not sure how I missed this, but Squad have listened. These are awesome improvements.