How do I retime my animation without permanently changing my keyframes or drawings?

There are some situations where we need to retime existing animation, like offsetting a crowd that is composed of a single character cloned many times, but don’t want to edit the original animation. In this case, the timing nodes can be used quickly and effectively to retime animation.

Types of timing nodes

There are two types of timing nodes that can be added to a scene:

1. Retime:
   • Placed beneath an image, group, or composite.
   • Takes the image input/output, and will provide the retimed transformation of that rendered image.
   • Used to retime drawing frames on drawing layers.

2. Retime Transformation:
   • Placed beneath a transformation.
   • Takes the transformation input/output, and will provide the retimed transformation. 
   • Used to retime animation on transformation layers (like pegs). Drawing substitutions will not be retimed with this node.

Step 1: Add a timing node to your scene

1. A timing node can be added to a scene by doing one of the following:
   • In the Node view, press the Enter key, and search for the Retime or Retime-Transformation node.
   • In the Node Library view, in the Timing section, locate the Retime or Retime-Transformation node and click and drag it into the Node view.
2. In the Node view, hold the Alt (Windows/Linux) or Option (macOS) key and slide the timing node under the group, peg, or layers that need to be affected by the node.

3. In the Timeline view, there will be a visual representation of the timing nodes.
   • The Retime node is represented by yellow:

• The Retime-Transformation node is represented by green:

Step 2: Edit the Retime nodes

1. In the Node view, select the yellow square on the timing node.

2.  The Layer Properties window for the timing node will open:

3. The following options can be edited:
   • Retime Mode - Target Frame: Uses the number in the Value field to choose a single frame and outputs that single frame across the timeline, like a hold. Keyframes can be added to output specific poses on specific frames.
   • Retime Mode - Frame Offset: Uses the number in the Value field to offset the animation by that many frames. If the value is ten, the animation will then start at frame 11. Keyframes can be added to output specific offsets on specific frames.
   • Value: Provides the frame number for the chosen Retime Mode.
   • Hold First Frame: Available on the Retime node only. Useful when using the Frame Offset mode, as it will hold the first frame until the animation starts (unless the offset pulls the animation back over frame one). Using it on the Target Frame Mode will overwrite the target frame unless there are keyframes set.
   • Disable Selection: Disabling the selection will disable the ability to select or edit any object that is being affected by the retime nodes. Essentially locking elements until you enable them again.
   • Hide from Timeline: When selected this option will collapse all attached content above the Retime node in the Timeline view, preventing it from being selected or modified directly in the Timeline view. With the Retime - Transformation node, elements will not collapse, but the retime node layer will turn red.
4. When done, click the Close button.
5. In the Timeline view, the starting frame of the retimed animation will be indicated by a gap in the timing node’s layer colour:

6. The retimed animation can be viewed in the Camera view.