Modifying the Timeline – Speeding up Bill
I started the animation of Gill & the Devil Excisemen (1) chasing Smuggler Bill (2) with Bill and his dapple grey mare positioned well ahead of his pursuers.
Because I had moved all of the horses to the end of the timeline at the end of the clip, this meant that as the clip proceeded, Gill and the Devil were slowly catching up with Bill.
Since at this stage of the story, Gill’s horse is too slow to catch Bill’s horse and the Devil is trying to buy Gill’s soul in exchange for the Devils much bigger and faster horse, they should not yet be closing the gap on Bill.
To fix this I needed to edit the timeline.
Click on the image above to ENLARGE
Having adjusted the Timeline, Gill and the Devil (1) were still a good distance behind Bill (2), by the time the clip is drawing to a close.
To make the adjustment, I opened the Timeline for the three horses (3) and selected the “Constraint” button (4) for each horse. This displayed the “Path” Timeline for each horse.
Originally the End key for Bill’s horse was positioned at the same point on the timeline as the other two horses (5). By pushing it back down the Timeline (6) I was able to ensure that Bill’s horse reached the end point well before the other two horses did.
The next stage will require Exciseman Gill to take the Devil’s place on the back of the large dun horse and start gaining ground on Smuggler Bill.
Tony