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I have my camera parented to a curve using "Follow Path", and it travels just right, I just need it to start moving on a much later frame, not frame 1. I tried to key frame the Evaluation Time but I get the error message seen below.

Here is the scene. I typed in "1" for the Evaluation Time. Here is the scene. I typed in "1" for the Evaluation Time.

Report: Error. F-Curve with path 'eval_time{0}' cannot be keyframed, ensure that it is not locked or sampled, and try removing F-Modifiers I pressed "I" over the Evaluation Time and got this -- Report: Error. F-Curve with path 'eval_time{0}' cannot be keyframed, ensure that it is not locked or sampled, and try removing F-Modifiers

What am I doing wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Chris
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  • Possible duplicate of: http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/21041/change-start-time-of-camera-following-a-path/21046#21046 –  Apr 12 '16 at 22:59

2 Answers2

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It's pretty easy... once you know what you're doing.

  1. Switch to the graph editor.
  2. Expand the "bezierCurve" object, and select "EvaluationTime".
  3. Press n and scroll down to the "modifiers" section.
  4. On the "generator" modifier, edit the "coefficient for polynomial 'y'"
  5. Lowering this value will make the animation start on a later frame. You can see this by looking at where the line intersects the 0 point.

enter image description here

You can edit the path using "restrict frame range". Simply set the start and end frame, then use the in and out to control the easing.

Uncle Snail
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  • This is almost perfect! I got the camera moving at frame 2291 but I now realize I want it to ease in and ease out. How do I do that? – Chris Apr 13 '16 at 19:20
  • There are a few ways to do this. One (probably the easiest) is by using the "restric frame range" feature. – Uncle Snail Apr 13 '16 at 19:53
  • Simply click it, set the beginning and end time of the move, then change the ease values. You should check out this link for more details on other methods and in depth explanation. http://blender.stackexchange.com/a/21046/20428 – Uncle Snail Apr 13 '16 at 19:54
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How you'd do this depends on what sort of control you need over the object's motion along the path.

The method suggested in Uncle Snail's answer may work for you. But if you want to directly keyframe that motion with detailed control over interpolation, there's an easy option: just delete the generator. (Click on the 'X' next to the Generator header, visible in the screenshot in that answer.)

Then, you'll be able to keyframe the path's Evaluation Time and manipulate the curves in the graph editor.

Andrew
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