Timeline Mode
Timeline Mode
The keyframe timeline interface — toolbar, layer list, keyframe area, and header tabs.
The timeline interface
Timeline Mode is the primary animation mode in MotionKit. It provides a professional keyframe-based workspace inspired by tools like After Effects and Blender — but built directly into Figma.
When you select a frame and choose Timeline Mode, you see three main areas:
- Toolbar — playback controls, recording toggle, render button, duration/FPS settings, and mode switch.
- Layer List (left panel) — hierarchical view of all layers in your frame with expand/collapse, visibility, and lock controls.
- Keyframe Area (right panel) — the timeline grid where you place, move, and edit keyframes. Includes the playhead, time ruler, and work area markers.
Toolbar
The toolbar runs across the top of the timeline. From left to right:
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| ◀◀ Skip Back | Jump to the beginning (or work area start). |
| ▶ Play / ⏸ Pause | Start or stop real-time preview. Shortcut: Space. |
| ▶▶ Skip Forward | Jump to the end (or work area end). |
| ● Record | Toggle recording mode. When active, the border turns red and any Figma canvas change auto-creates keyframes. Shortcut: R. |
| ◆+ Add Keyframe | Manually add a keyframe at the current playhead position. Shortcut: K. |
| 🗑 Delete | Delete selected keyframes. Shortcut: Delete or Backspace. |
| 🧲 Snap | Toggle snapping — keyframes snap to other keyframes and to frame boundaries. Shortcut: S. |
| 🔁 Loop Mode | Cycle between Once, Loop, and Ping-Pong. Shortcut: L. |
| [ ] Work Area | Set in/out markers to restrict preview and render to a time range. |
| 🖥 Render | Open the render dialog to export as MP4, GIF, PNG, or spritesheet. |
Layer list
The left panel shows every layer inside your animated frame in a tree structure that mirrors your Figma layer hierarchy:
- Expand / Collapse — click the arrow (▶) to reveal property groups under each layer.
- Property groups — layers expand into groups: Transform (X, Y, Rotation), Size (Width, Height), Appearance (Opacity, Corner Radius), Fill, Stroke, Effects (Blur, Drop Shadow, Inner Shadow), and Text (for text layers).
- 👁 Visibility — hide a layer from preview without removing keyframes.
- 🔒 Lock — prevent a layer from being modified during recording.
- Diamond badge — the blue diamond (◆) shows a count of keyframes on each layer and group.
Keyframe area
The right panel is the timeline grid where keyframes live:
- Time ruler — shows time in seconds. Click anywhere on the ruler to jump the playhead.
- Playhead — the red vertical line indicating the current time. Drag it to scrub through the animation.
- Keyframe diamonds — each blue diamond (◆) is a keyframe. Drag to move in time. Selected keyframes turn lighter blue.
- Easing lines — lines between keyframes indicate the easing curve applied.
- Box selection — drag on empty space to select multiple keyframes.
- Zoom — use =/- to zoom in/out, or F to fit the entire timeline in view.
Duration & FPS
Click the duration display in the toolbar to change the animation duration (default: 2000ms). Click the FPS indicator to set the frame rate (default: 30 FPS). Higher FPS = smoother animation but more frames to render.
Header tabs
The header bar at the top of the plugin uses a Figma-style tab system:
- 🏠 Home — returns to the frame selection screen.
- Breadcrumb tabs — shows the current navigation path (parent frame → child frame). Click any tab to navigate.
- 📌 Pinned tabs — pin frequently-used frames as persistent bookmarks. Drag to reorder. Right-click for options.
- Context menu — right-click any tab to Pin/Unpin, Rename, Reload, or Close.