Variables

Description

In the Variables panel, you can create different types of variables:

Type	Description
Integer	Integer value
Float	32 bits floating point value
Double	64 bits floating point value
Time	Timecode value (hh:mm:ss:ff)
String	ASCII string
Color	RGB color
Vector 2D	2 dimension vector (x ; y)
Vector 3D	3 dimension vector (x ; y ; z)
Vector 4D	4 dimension vector (x ; y ; z; w)
Array	Array of items with properties (see this page for more details)
Pose	A collection of 3 Vector 3D for Position, Rotation and Scale
Camera	A collection of 2 Vector 3D and 6 floats to define Camera properties

Variables in this panel can be organized in folders that can be created via the menu or directly with the button.

*Note : You can change the name of a variable by double-clicking on it, and change its color by accessing the color wheel.

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Variable editor

When a variable is selected, you may access its properties and manually set its value in the Editor panel.

You can also change its name and color.

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Action on a variable in a task

Variables can be drag & dropped as a subtask of a task. Options differ depending on the variable’s type.

Integer, Float and Vectors

Name	Description
Set value	Set the value of the variable
Set value with fade	Set the value of the variable over a duration with a linear interpolation
Add value	Add a certain value to the current value
Save value	Save the value to a file
Load value	Load the value from a file

Time

Name	Description
Set time	Set the timecode
Set value with fade	Set the timecode over a duration with a linear interpolation
Save time	Save the timecode to a file
Load time	Load the timecode from a file

*Note : When using the Set value with fade option, timecode counting will speed-up or speed-down accordingly to accommodate for the interpolation when the task is launched.

Array

Name	Description
Set value	Set the value of the array
Save value	Save the array to a file
Load value	Load the array from a file

Color

Name	Description
Set color	Set the value of the color
Save color	Save the color to a file
Load color	Load the color from a file

When saving to a file, the variables will be encoded in a Kinetic Variable Format with a .kvf extension.
Similarly, to load from a file, you must point to a previously encoded Kinetic Variable Format file.

*Note : Camera and Pose type variables cannot be edited as a subtask.

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Trigger a task with a variable’s value

Variables can be used to trigger a task when a condition on the variable is met.

Drag & drop a variable into the trigger field of any task to setup the trigger.

Conditions can be:

• greater than
• less than
• greater than or equal to
• less than or equal to
• equals
• range
  

Additionally, a hysteresis value may be added to avoid triggering the task too many times if the value is jerky.

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Trigger a digimap with a variable value

Drag & drop the variable in the trigger field of the digimap.

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Use a variable in a graph

Drag & drop the variable in a graph and choose whether you want to read the variable’s value (READ) or set the variable’s value from within the graph (WRITE).

Alternatively, the variable’s value can also be written with a fade in which case an additional input pin enables you to specify the duration of the fade.

Variables can be used freely in this manner in compute graphs.

Render graphs use a different behaviour for linking to variables. For more information on linking variables to render graphs, please visit this section or follow the Render Graph tutorials.

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Use a variable in a user interface

You can control a variable from the user interface: for example you can link a variable to a slider position. You can also link the value of a slider to a variable.

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Recording a variable

There are two methods to record a variable.

Using the timeline

Open the Grand Master panel and drag & drop the Kinetic button in the timeline.

This creates a Var Recorder media in the timeline.

Select the Var Recorder and in the Editor panel, drag & drop the variables you wish to record in the corresponding field.

In the timeline, resize the Var Recorder media so that it covers the timespan and/or region where you would like to record.

Note that once the recording is done, the media will be automatically clipped to the duration of the recording.

Set the locator in the timeline above the Var Recorder and toggle the R button (in the Solo field) to start the recording.

Toggle the R button again to stop the recording.

Using a task

Open the Grand Master panel and drag & drop the Kinetic button in the subtask of a task.

Select the subtask and in the Action dropdown menu select Start Record.

It is mandatory to specify a name for the recording by filling in the Record Name field.

Drag & Drop the variable(s) you would like to record in the corresponding field.

To stop the recording, either add a second subtask in the same task with a delay and select the Stop Record option or do this in a separate task.

In both cases, specify the name of the recording you wish to stop in the Record Name field.

To playback the recording, follow the same procedure to create a task but select the Start playback option and specify the name of your recording.

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