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Offset

Time Offset is a type of Time that can be defined manually by entering a frame number or timecode, or by moving the layer block in the Dope Sheet.

To move a layer block defined by visibility keys, just click on it and drag it, which will change the value in the Retiming section of the layer:

In the Dope Sheet, the Time Offset value is displayed in frames, just next to the playhead when you click on/move a block.

Connecting to other parameters

This parameter cannot be animated, but you can connect and share it. So, you can add a Generator to it, even if some can produce results that cannot fully be controlled. When playing an animation, Autograph does a lot of optimizing based on each layer’s timing to speed up calculation. If you add a Random Generator on this Time offset, by setting its Varying parameter to Time, the layer offset will change randomly at each frame, heavily disrupting the engine.

At best, the layer will be offset correctly, but the block representing it in the Dope Sheet will not necessarily display the update, resulting a mismatch between the Timeline and the portion of the project visible in the Viewer. The same is true for connections or shares aimed at parameters that evolve over time.

Despite these warnings, having access to these Generators allows you to connect the offset to a table, control it with a composition parameter, and much more, which is why access to them has not been restricted.