Composer Reference Guide R3-2026-2.7.9774.35170-prerelease

Property animation

Composer ships with two animation systems. Most new code should use Project.AddPropertyAnimator — it animates any numeric property on any object in the project, addressed either by name or by direct reference. The older Project.Animator.AddLayerTransformationItem is limited to a fixed set of layer transform fields.

Function Returns Description
Animator.AddLayerTransformationItem(sceneName: string, layerName: string, type: Animator.AnimateTransform, durationMs: int, startValue: float, stopValue: float, cData: string, mode?: Animator.AnimateEasing, options?: Animator.AnimateOptions) Guid Legacy. Animates one of eight fixed LayerTransform fields. New scripts should prefer AddPropertyAnimator.
ClearAllPropertyAnimations() void Stops every running property animation at once, leaving each animated property at whatever value it had reached. Nothing is rewound.
IsPropertyBeingAnimated(objectName: string, propertyName: string) bool Whether a property is currently being animated on the named object — the name-addressed form. False when the object cannot be resolved, so it is also a "nothing is running on that" answer rather than an error.
IsPropertyBeingAnimated(target: object, propertyName: string) bool Whether a property is currently being animated on the given object. The object-addressed counterpart of the name-addressed overload, for targets outside NamedModels, which have no name to address them by.
RemovePropertyAnimation(id: Guid) bool Stops one running animation, identified by the Guid its AddPropertyAnimator call returned. The property keeps the value it had reached. Returns false when no animation with that id is running — which is also the case once it has finished on its own.
GetNumberOfRunningPropertyAnimations() int How many property animations are running right now, across every object in the project. Useful for waiting until a cue has finished before starting the next one.
AddPropertyAnimator(objectName: string, propertyName: string, startValue: object, targetValue: object, durationMs: float, easing: Enums.AnimationEasing, behavior?: Enums.RunningAnimationBehavior) Guid Animates a numeric property (int/byte/uint/long/float/double) on a named model. Pass null for startValue to animate from the property's current value. Returns Guid.Empty on failure (ambiguous name, missing property, read-only, non-numeric).
AddPropertyAnimator(target: object, propertyName: string, startValue: object, targetValue: object, durationMs: float, easing: Enums.AnimationEasing, behavior?: Enums.RunningAnimationBehavior) Guid Animates a numeric property on an object REFERENCE rather than a name — the form that reaches objects that are not named models. Pass null for startValue to animate from the property's current value. Returns Guid.Empty on failure (missing property, read-only, non-numeric).

AddPropertyAnimator has two overloads, differing only in how the target is addressed.

Notes that apply to both:

  • The property must be writable and numeric — int, byte, uint, long, float, or double. Read-only or non-numeric properties are rejected. A bool is not animatable: there are no values between false and true to pass through.
  • The property name is matched case-sensitively.
  • Pass null for startValue to animate from the property's current value.
  • Returns the animation's Guid, or Guid.Empty on failure (logged).

By name — AddPropertyAnimator(objectName, ...):

  • The target is looked up by name in NamedModels: inputs, scenes, layers, layer transforms, layer audio, operators, scene targets and property bindings. If the name is ambiguous the call fails and returns Guid.Empty.
  • For a Layer, the property is first searched on Layer itself, then on Layer.LayerTransform (so "PositionX" and "Opacity" work directly with the layer name).
  • The animation is retired automatically if its target leaves the project.

By reference — AddPropertyAnimator(target, ...):

  • Takes the object itself, which is what reaches anything outside NamedModels — an object the script already holds a reference to rather than a name.
  • Because the caller holds the reference, there is no lookup to fall back on and therefore no automatic retirement: the animation runs for its full duration regardless of what happens to the object. Use RemovePropertyAnimation or ClearAllPropertyAnimations to stop one early. (The dedicated 3D helpers below do not have this caveat — they supply their own liveness rule.)
// by name — a layer, which is a named model
Project.AddPropertyAnimator("Logo", "PositionX", null, 400, 2000, Enums.AnimationEasing.EaseInOut);

Example: fade-in then move

var Enums = importNamespace('VindralEngineBaseTypes.DataTypes.Enums');

function OnConnectorIntro() {
    // Fade opacity 0 → 100 over 500 ms (linear)
    Project.AddPropertyAnimator("Logo", "Opacity", 0, 100, 500, Enums.AnimationEasing.None);

    // Slide to X=400 over 2 s, easing in/out — start from current X
    Project.AddPropertyAnimator("Logo", "PositionX", null, 400, 2000, Enums.AnimationEasing.EaseInOut);
}

RunningAnimationBehavior

Value Meaning
CancelNewAnimation If an animation already exists on the same property, drop the new one.
AbortRunningAnimations (default) Cancel any running animations on the same property and start the new one.
AllowMultipleAnimations Stack the new animation alongside existing ones. Not recommended — the property's final value depends on which animation finishes last.

AnimationEasing

Value Curve
None Linear interpolation.
EaseInOut Smoothstep (3t² − 2t³).

AddPropertyAnimator takes this as the enum (Enums.AnimationEasing.EaseInOut).

Legacy: AnimatorEngine.AddLayerTransformationItem

Project.Animator.AddLayerTransformationItem is the older animation API. It only animates the eight layer-transform fields below and uses its own enum set. New scripts should prefer AddPropertyAnimator.

Project.Animator.AddLayerTransformationItem(
    sceneName,
    layerName,
    type,               // Animator.AnimateTransform.*
    durationMs,
    startValue,
    stopValue,
    cData,              // free-form string, currently unused
    mode,               // Animator.AnimateEasing.* (default EaseInEaseOut)
    options             // Animator.AnimateOptions.* (default None)
) → Guid
AnimateTransform
PositionX, PositionY, ScaleX, ScaleY, AnchorPointX, AnchorPointY, Rotation, Opacity
AnimateEasing Curve
Linear
EaseInEaseOut (default) Smoothstep
AnimateOptions Meaning
None Use the supplied startValue.
UseCurrentValueAsInitialValue Ignore startValue; capture the property's current value when the animation starts. 
var Animator = importNamespace('VindralEngine').Animator;

Project.Animator.AddLayerTransformationItem(
    "Scene", "Tant",
    Animator.AnimateTransform.PositionY,
    1500, 866.805, 381.805, "",
    Animator.AnimateEasing.EaseInEaseOut,
    Animator.AnimateOptions.None);