Behaviors
OVERVIEW
Learn how behaviors make the process of animation quick and easy
Behaviors are a special type of block that animate your layers without the use of keyframes. They are great blocks for using on your project to add animation in just a few clicks.
There are two types of behaviors – timed behaviors and procedural behaviors.
Timed behaviors
Timed behaviors do a specific animation over a set duration of time. Most timed behaviors are used as transitions for bringing a layer in or out of your scene.
Fable has the following timed behaviors. Each of these behaviors runs their action over a set period of time that you control on the timeline.
- Fade in/out - the layer gradually appear/disappear
- Scale in/out - the layer gradually grows/shrinks
- Slide in/out - the layer moves up/down/left/right
- Spin in/out - the layer rotates
- Text fade in/out - the characters, words, or lines of a text layer gradually appear/disappear
- Text scale in/out - the characters, words, or lines of a text layer gradually grow/shrink
- Text spin in/out - the characters, words, or lines of a text layer gradually rotate
- Type in/out - the characters, words, or lines of a text layer appear/disappear one-by-one
- Count - the contents of the text layer automatically update between two numbers over a set period of time
- H:M:S Counter - the contents of the text layer automatically update between two time values over a set period of time
- Wooble - the layer boils for a set period of time
- Morpher - the contents of the text layer automatically update between two values
- Decode - the contents of the text layer automatically update between a random value and a set value
- Encode - the contents of the text layer automatically update between a set value and a random value
Procedural Behaviors
Procedural behaviors auto-generate visual changes driven by current time and random algorithms. Unlike timed behaviors, they do not have explicit controls that allow you to set the start and stop points of the animation. Instead, procedural behaviors give controls to set the frequency of change, allowing you to adjust the perceived speed of the procedural animation.
Use procedural behaviors to add auto-generating movement for specific layers on your scene. Fable has the following procedural behaviors.
- Oscillate opacity - the layer goes back and forth between two opacity values
- Oscillate position - the layer goes back and forth between two position values
- Oscillate rotation - the layer goes back and forth between two rotation values
- Oscillate scale - the layer goes back and forth between two scale values
- Oscillate skew - the layer goes back and forth between two skew values
- Wiggle opacity - at a set frequency, the layer is set to a random opacity within a set opacity range
- Wiggle position - at a set frequency, the layer moves to a random position within a specific coordinate-based area
- Wiggle rotation - at a set frequency, the layer rotates to a random value within a specific degree range
- Wiggle scale - at a set frequency, the layer scales to a random value within a set range range
- Wiggle skew - at a set frequency, the layer is set to a random skew value within a set range
Adding and controlling behaviors
Adding behaviors
Behaviors are added the same way any other block is added.
Open the Block Browser located on the Editor Header.
Search and identify any behavior you'd like to use. Then apply the behavior in one of two ways:
- Double click the behavior and the behavior will be added to the selected layer
- Drag the behavior onto the Inspector of the currently selected layer
You can add multiple behaviors to a layer. You cannot add behaviors to the root project or root scene.
Controlling behaviors
Behavior properties
Behavior properties can be controlled on the Inspector just like any other block in Fable. Each behavior has a unique set of controls that include number inputs, drop-downs, and checkboxes.
Just like other properties on the Inspector, you can link properties on the behavior to other properties/variables and add keyframes to behavior properties.
Behavior timing
Timed behaviors also display on the Timeline as purple time ranges.
(1) The in-point of the range signifies the moment your behavior will start its animation. (2) The out-point of the range signifies the moment your behavior will stop its animation.
You can adjust these in and out points by dragging them across the timeline, the same way you would drag a keyframe on the timeline. Additionally, you can move both in and out points by dragging the range between them (3).