Skip to content

Aux Axis — Adjusted Moves, Setup, and Baked Carts

FLAIR CLASSIC FLAIR 7

Auxiliary Axes in Flair are an animation layer on top of existing Cartesian motion. They add small positional adjustments to a move without destructively altering the original — you can turn them on or off with a single button press, and revert to the original move at any time.

In plain language, an Aux Axis is an adjustable correction laid over a move you have already programmed. For example, if the camera path is correct but needs to be 5 cm higher for part of the shot, an Aux Axis can add that height without rewriting the original move. Cartesian means the camera or target position in the room, rather than an individual motor position. Baking permanently copies the correction into a new normal move.

"It's amazingly powerful if you get the hang of it but it's definitely an advanced feature." — Simon Wakley (MRMC)

Menu level requirement

If the only options in the Aux Axis dropdown menu are Master and Slave Moves, you need to increase the menu level. In Flair Classic: Edit > Select Menu Level > Everything.

What Aux Axes Are Used For

An aux axis adds a value (in centimetres) on top of the move's Cartesian coordinates. Common use cases:

  • Raising or lowering an imported move to avoid part of the set — type in a lift offset at specific keyframes
  • Adjusting a move on the day for a talent who is taller or shorter than planned
  • Fine-tuning non-destructively — keep the original move intact, turn off the aux offsets to revert instantly
  • Generating moves entirely from aux axes — advanced but possible

Aux axes work in Adjusted Move mode (adjusts the Camera position) or Adjusted Target mode (adjusts the Target position). A newer mode, Adjusted PTR, uses aux axes to add a Pan/Tilt layer on top of a Turntable or Orbital move — useful when you need a fast pan that the base move can't execute alone.

Axis Configuration

Up to 6 aux axes can be added to a system. Each must be configured individually in Axis Setup.

Required settings for each aux axis

Setting Value
Network Dummy
Type Miniature Auxiliary
Scaling 20.00
Units Centimetres
Limits +999 / -999
Enabled On

"You might have to add to the number of axes on your system so that you have up to 6 extra axes, they are Network: 'Dummy', Type: 'Miniature Auxiliary' and assigned in the Kinematics Setup. I suggest naming them 'ZV_Adj', 'YV_Adj', 'ZV_Adj', 'ZT_Adj', 'YT_Adj', 'ZT_Adj'. Set the scaling to 20.00 Units can be Centimetres and make the limits +- 999." — Simon Wakley (MRMC)

"Axis type MUST be Miniature Auxiliary and the axis must be on." — Simon Wakley

Name the axes to reflect which Cartesian dimension they adjust and whether they affect the Camera (V) or Target (T):

Axis name Adjusts
ZV_Adj Z (height) — Camera
YV_Adj Y — Camera
XV_Adj X — Camera
ZT_Adj Z (height) — Target
YT_Adj Y — Target
XT_Adj X — Target

Step-by-Step Setup

1. Add aux axes in Axis Setup

  1. Open Axis Setup (Flair Classic: Edit → Axis Setup).
  2. Add new axes (up to 6) — increase the axis count if needed.
  3. For each aux axis, set:
  4. Network to Dummy
  5. Type to Miniature Auxiliary
  6. Scaling to 20.00
  7. Units to Centimetres
  8. Limits to +999 and -999
  9. Enable the axis (turn it on)
  10. Name each axis using the naming convention above.

2. Assign aux axes in Kinematics Setup

  1. Open Kinematics Setup.
  2. Assign each new aux axis to its corresponding Cartesian channel (ZV, YV, XV, ZT, YT, XT).
  3. Save.

3. Enable Init Scaling

  1. Open Miscellaneous Setups (or Setups → Miscellaneous).
  2. Set Init Scaling to ON.

This is required — without Init Scaling on, the IK solver may resolve to an unexpected arm position when the aux axes are active.

"Note: Turn Init Scaling to ON in the Misc setups." — Simon Wakley

4. Switch to Adjusted Move mode

  1. In the move editor, find the Scaling pull-down menu.
  2. Select Adjusted Move (adjusts camera position) or Adjusted Target (adjusts target position).
  3. The aux axis channels now appear alongside the normal rig axes in the move editor.
  4. Add keyframes to the aux axes to offset the move — for example, add a +5 cm lift at frame 50 by setting ZV_Adj = 5 at that keyframe.

5. Test and verify

  1. Run the move with no aux offsets first (all aux axes at 0) to confirm the base move is correct.
  2. Add aux offsets gradually and test each change.
  3. To revert to the original move at any time: switch back to Move Master in the Scaling pull-down.

Master Axis — Extra Physical Axes Beyond the Standard Six

This is a different setting from Aux Axis above — it's not the Miniature Auxiliary/Dummy adjustment layer, and not the same as the Scaling pull-down's Master/Slave Move options mentioned in the menu-level note above (that's a move-editor setting; this is an axis role in Axis Setup). It's covered here because it's the other advanced axis-configuration concept operators run into on the same rigs that use Aux Axis and Carts.

Target tracking normally needs six axes to fully place and orient the camera. Some rigs have a seventh physical axis that also moves the camera — for example, a track axis, where moving the track changes the camera's position along the same direction that the rig's own Cartesian X axis moves it.

If that extra axis were simply set up as another Target Tracking axis, you'd end up with two axes both trying to move the camera forward/backward, which produces ambiguity: Cartesian control and target tracking will not work correctly, because the solver doesn't know which axis should account for the movement.

The fix is to set the extra axis's role (in its Axis Setup) to Master Axis rather than Target Tracking axis:

  • A Master Axis is in overall control of target tracking for that Cartesian dimension.
  • When you command the camera to a specific XYZ position, the Master Axis moves to establish the base position, and the other target-tracking axes then compensate for whatever the Master Axis did — rather than every axis (including the extra one) trying to solve the same coordinate independently.

This matters for any rig with more real motion axes than the standard six (e.g. a rig with both a track and a Cartesian X reach) — check the extra axis is flagged as Master Axis, not Target Tracking, if Cartesian moves or target tracking behave unpredictably.

Building a Carts Move to a Target — Practical Workflow

A useful pattern for setting up a target-tracking Carts move once your axes are correctly configured:

  1. Go Home, then use Locked World mode — this gives you a Go-To that keeps roll upright while you search for the target.
  2. Move sideways in Y and in Z (in Locked World) until you visually find the target.
  3. Store a waypoint there purely as a reference — not necessarily the real start of the move — so you can read off the Target Distance for focus at that point.
  4. Switch to Cartesian View to build the move's actual start position: look along Y at the target, then adjust the track position for a more stable framing (moving the track changes reach/stability without losing the target framing, because Cartesian control keeps the camera pointed at the target as the track moves), and fine-tune with camera pan.
  5. Build the end position the same way in Cartesian View, then store it.
  6. Verify with a Back Run in Model View before running the move for real — this confirms the axes (e.g. the track) are moving efficiently and the move is safe before you commit to a Forward Run on the physical rig.
  7. To extend a move, add or drag a waypoint further along the path (e.g. move the camera further back in X in Cartesian view) rather than rebuilding the move from scratch.

Baked Carts

Baked Carts converts a Cartesian move into a set of explicit axis-level keyframes — every frame is pre-computed and stored rather than solved in real time. This is useful for:

  • Complex multi-axis moves where real-time carts solving is not reliable at speed
  • Moves that need to be exported to another system or verified frame-by-frame
  • Moves involving aux axes that need to be tightly coordinated with the main rig

General workflow

  1. Programme the move in Carts mode as normal (with or without aux axis offsets applied).
  2. Use Baked Carts export to convert the Cartesian move to axis keyframes.
  3. The result is a frame-by-frame axis file that can be imported into Flair as an axis move, or used for verification.

Community documentation

Two PDF guides were shared by Josh Tread (@jtread) on the forum (talk.mrmoco.com topic 1664): - 20230328-flair-axis-setup-v001.pdf — Aux Axis setup for Flair Classic - 2023-11-12-baked-carts-v001.pdf — Baked Carts walkthrough with many useful techniques

Contact the Flair Community WhatsApp group if you need a copy — a community member may have them.

What Actually Shapes the Curve When Editing Move Timing

Since Baked Carts pre-computes every frame of a Cartesian move, it's worth understanding what does and doesn't change the resulting curve before baking it:

  • Moving where a waypoint sits in time (dragging it to a different frame number, or typing a different frame for it, while other waypoints stay put) changes the shape of the curve between the surrounding waypoints — moving a midpoint earlier or later reshapes the path, not just the speed along it. This is because the interval between frames at each waypoint directly affects the target-tracking curve that's generated.
  • Scaling the whole move's duration does not change the curve. Two different ways to change overall duration, both of which preserve the exact same path/curve and only change how fast it's covered:
    • Scale Move — changes the total number of frames in the move (e.g. 100 → 150 frames) at the same frame rate, uniformly slowing or speeding up the whole move.
    • Changing the move's frame rate (e.g. 24fps → 30fps) — keeps the same total frame count, but changes how long that plays back in real seconds (a 240-frame move is 10s at 24fps, 8s at 30fps). The path is identical either way.

Scaling a move faster can exceed axis speed limits

Making a move faster (fewer frames or a different frame rate) doesn't change the path, but it can push individual axes — rotate and roll in particular — beyond what the rig can physically achieve. If a rescaled move looks too fast, slow it back down by increasing the frame count or adjusting the frame rate; either preserves the curve exactly. Always Back Run in Model View after editing timing, before Forward Running on the physical rig, to confirm the result is both correct and safe.

Flair 7 Aux Axis

The procedure is substantially the same in Flair 7. A video guide for Flair 7 Aux Axis setup was posted by @jtread on the forum (password: moremoco). Contact the WhatsApp community if you need the link — members may have a copy saved.

Fixing a Persistent "Current Limit" Warning With No Motor Attached

If you've set up a Miniature Auxiliary axis with no physical motor attached (a pure dummy/aux axis), you may find Flair nags a current-limit warning on every single launch, and dismissing it does nothing to stop it recurring next time.

"I just set up some miniature auxiliary axis and every time I open flair (7.7.17) I get a current limit warning. Since there isn't a motor attached I doubt it's an important warning, but it's annoying to dismiss all six of them. Is there a way to make this stop? I tried adding a value to the temperature limit in motor tuning, but that didn't do anything." — community, 2026-07-28

Fix — the current limit itself needs changing, not the temperature limit:

"The current limit setting is in Tuning... You should just need to change, Apply and Save ONCE for each Aux axis - and then you should be fine." — Timothy Heys Cerchio, 2026-07-28

  1. Go to Axis Setup → Tuning for the affected aux axis.
  2. Change the current limit value (not the temperature limit — that's a different field and doesn't affect this warning).
  3. Click Apply, then Save.
  4. Repeat once per aux axis showing the warning — each axis needs its own Apply+Save, it's not global.
YouTube 14 - Use of Carts, Master Axes and editing move timings Flair 7

▶ Carts, Master Axes, and editing move timings in Flair 7 ▶ 00:07 — Why an extra physical axis (e.g. track) needs to be set as a Master Axis, not another Target Tracking axis ▶ 14:00 — Moving a waypoint's timing reshapes the curve ▶ 16:41 — Scaling the whole move does NOT change the curve, only the speed ▶ 17:29 — Changing move frame rate vs. frame count — same curve, different real-world duration

Source: Auxiliary Axis Setup — talk.mrmoco.com; WhatsApp community (Oct 2024, Simon Wakley)