[Feature Idea/Request] Frame Movement Preview Hotkey

Ideas
1

Hello! Firstly, I’d like to apologize if this idea or something similar has already been described. If so, please direct me any thread, and let me know if anyone has plans on implementing it in a future build of the Pencil2D software.

After using the application for a few days, I’ve already come up with an extremely useful feature idea (as per my individual needs / in my opinion) which I believe would be exceptionally helpful for workflow.

An option for a “Preview flip backward/forward” toggle key, which when pressed, briefly flips back to the previous (and then returns to the next/current) keyframe for a short amount of time. Ideally this feature would be adjustable in settings. A handful of milliseconds would suffice. This would eliminate having to press both the previous keyframe and the next keyframe hotkeys in succession while working. I believe this feature would greatly improve workflow.

Having to push two hotkeys for moving forward and backwards on the timeline can get very confusing, especially when I’m drawing animated features quickly. I have the hotkeys mapped to my graphic tablet’s function keys, but when working quickly I find I often get lost on which button to press exactly for forward and backwards on the timeline. This often results in going forward when I intend to go backwards briefly, and vice versa.

So with the above said, I’d like to hear what other animators think of this feature idea, and I’d love to find out if it’s possible to be implemented into a software build in the future.

Thank you for your time.

2

@emmjayen Hi thank you for taking the time to write this thoughtful feature proposal.

I’ve known that there are similar commands for “flipping & rolling” in programs like TVPaint and Toonboom. I’ll be glad to add this to the feature proposal roadmap (https://github.com/pencil2d/pencil/issues/540) in order to discuss it’s possible implementation as it is indeed a function that comes from a traditional workflow, however Pencil2D as a project is looking to improve on the traditional workflow from a digital perspective, so it is not guaranteed that it might be implemented, and even if it is, it will take some time due to the minimal human resources we count with.

For now normally you can use period (.) and comma (,) to move to the previous and next frame, as well as the left and right arrow keys. And since you’re mapping those to your graphics tablet I’d suggest using two adjacent buttons instead of one just to clearly make your muscle memory get accustomed to using those.