The graph editor
One curve editor, everywhere you animate: shape a channel's keys and tangents in Chapter Studio's inspector or Chapter Vision's graph dock, and the result is identical.
Where it lives
The graph editor is the same tool in both apps. In Chapter Studio it sits in the Animation card of the inspector when an animated entity is selected. In Chapter Vision it's the graph dock beneath the timeline. Either way it shows one entity's animation track plotted in segment time, seconds along the bottom and channel values up the side, with the playhead drawn as a vertical line. For how tracks and channels work, start with the animation overview.
Channel chips and the ruler
Across the top, one chip per animated channel, tinted to match its curve. Chips are an additive filter: tap chips to light just the channels you want to see; with no chip lit, every animated channel is shown. Isolating one or two channels keeps a busy track readable while you work.
The ruler band along the top edge always scrubs the playhead, whether you're zoomed in, zoomed out, or mid-edit. Drag through it and the viewport (or the room, in Chapter Vision) follows.
Dragging keys
Grab any key and move it in time (horizontal) and value (vertical). Three behaviors make this precise rather than twitchy:
A small dead zone. Your drag has to travel a few points before anything moves, so a plain tap selects a key without nudging its value.
Axis lock. If your drag starts clearly horizontal, the key moves only in time; clearly vertical, only in value. Start diagonally and the key moves freely in both. Great for retiming a key without disturbing a carefully set value, or the reverse.
Frame-grid snapping. With snapping on, key times round to the frame grid as you drag, so beats land exactly where you aim.
Multi-select with the ⊕ latch
To move several keys together, tap the ⊕ latch to enter multi-select, then tap keys to add them to the selection. No modifier keys are needed, which matters when your pointer is your gaze. Drag any selected key and the whole group moves as one; group moves are processed from the leading edge, so keys never trip over each other mid-drag. The ⌫ chip deletes the current selection. Tap empty space (with the latch off) to clear the selection.
Tangents and interpolation
Select a single key and its tangent handles appear — one shaping the curve into the key, one shaping it out. Drag a handle to sculpt the ease:
| Tangent mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Unified | The two handles mirror each other; adjust one and the other follows, keeping the curve smooth through the key. |
| Broken | Each handle moves independently, so the curve can change direction sharply at the key, which is perfect for impacts and bounces. |
Each key also has its own interpolation setting, chosen from the picker:
| Interpolation | What it does | Reach for it when… |
|---|---|---|
| Bézier | Smooth curve shaped by the tangent handles. | Organic motion: almost everything that moves like a physical thing. |
| Linear | Straight line to the next key, constant speed. | Mechanical motion: conveyor belts, scanners, steady drifts. |
| Stepped | Holds the value, then jumps at the next key. | Hard cuts: teleports, pose-to-pose holds, blinking states. |
Note. Until you shape a handle by hand, keys carry auto tangents that ease naturally and flatten at local peaks and valleys, so a rise-and-fall never overshoots its apex. Once you touch a handle, the editor keeps its hands off that key.
Navigating the view
Pinch to zoom (on Mac, use scroll-wheel magnify); when zoomed in, drag empty space to pan. The frame-all button refits the view around everything in the track. To add a key mid-curve, double-tap an empty spot (double-click on Mac): a key is inserted on the nearest visible curve at that time, preserving the curve's existing shape so you can start adjusting from where the motion already was.
Tip. A fast polish loop: isolate one channel with its chip, frame-all, scrub the ruler to feel the timing, then shape tangents at the keys that read wrong. Rotation channels have their own habits; see Rotation & Euler angles.