Rusting

Timeline & layers

The timeline sits below the canvas. Each row is a layer and each column is a frame. Rusting animates frame by frame with stepped exposure: a drawing stays on screen until the next key on that layer.

Keys

New in 0.1.5 The key actions are icon buttons. Hover one for a description.

  • Filled dot adds a key with a new drawing at the current frame.
  • Hollow dot adds an empty key that stops the drawing before it from showing on later frames.
  • Dot with a cross Next release clears the frame: it wipes the drawing shown at the playhead and keeps its key.
  • Right-click a key to remove it.

Frames

  • Duplicate frame (button, Edit → Duplicate Frame, or Cmd/Ctrl + D) inserts a copy of the current frame right after it on every layer.
  • Next release Insert frame (F5, Edit → Insert Frame) adds a blank frame after the playhead on every layer, holding the current drawing one frame longer.
  • Next release Delete frames (Shift + F5, Edit → Delete Frames, or Delete / Backspace with frames selected) removes the selected frames, or the current one, on every layer.

Selecting frames

  • New in 0.1.5 Drag across the frame cells to select a range, or Shift + click to select from the playhead.
  • Next release Drag inside the selection to move its keys on every layer. The drop outline turns red if a key is in the way.
  • A plain click moves the playhead and clears the selection. Esc also clears it.
  • Drag in the frame-number ruler to scrub.
  • Name a selection with a frame tag.

Playback

  • Play, with optional looping.
  • Jump to the first, previous, next or last frame.
  • ← / → step one frame. ↑ / ↓ jump between keys.
  • New in 0.1.5 Playback started inside a frame tag loops that tag.

Onion skin

Turn on View → Onion skin to see faint copies of the frames before and after the current one. It helps you keep motion and spacing consistent.

Layers

Layer controls live in the timeline's layer column:

  • Add, duplicate and remove layers.
  • Rename with F2 or a double-click.
  • Drag to reorder.
  • Show/hide and lock/unlock, per layer or all at once.
  • Blend modes: Normal, Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Hard Light and Soft Light.

Selecting several layers

Cmd/Ctrl + click toggles a layer in the selection. Shift + click selects a range. Duplicate and remove act on the whole selection.