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Speed Profiling Along a Path

CONFIRMED ANY RIG FLAIR 7

Not robot-specific

This is a general Flair 7 move-editing feature. The source video was demonstrated on Flair Lite (Cinebot Nano), but nothing here is Nano-specific — it applies to any rig running Flair 7.

There are two ways to change how fast a move travels along its path without changing the path's shape: a simple method using extra keyframes, and a more advanced method using the Speed Profile graph. Which one you need depends on how much control you want.


Simple Method — Extra Keyframes

For a straightforward speed change (e.g. slowing down through the middle of an orbital), just add keyframes at the same position but adjust their timing:

  1. With your move already created, insert a couple of extra keyframes near the section you want to slow down. Use Filter Keyframes so the new points land exactly along the existing path rather than creating new positions.
  2. The new keyframes don't move the path — they only add timing control. Drag one further from its neighbour (or type a larger frame gap) to make the rig spend longer covering that section, or move it closer to speed that section up.
  3. Run the move — the path is unchanged, only the pacing through it has changed.

This is quick, but coarse — every timing adjustment is really just moving a position further away in time, which also nudges every keyframe after it.


Advanced Method — Speed Profile Graph

For finer control that doesn't touch keyframe positions at all:

  1. View > Graphs, then select the Speed Profile view. This graph runs from 0 to however many frames your move is long, and shows real elapsed time along one axis against "virtual" (path) time along the other.
  2. There are separate red (camera) and blue (target) curves. For most cases, press the lock button so adjusting one adjusts both together.
  3. Insert a point on the graph and drag it — pulling a point down means the move reaches that point in the path later than a straight line would (i.e. it's slower up to there); pushing it up means it arrives earlier (faster). You can insert several points to create arbitrary speed curves along one move — including making the rig pause completely, reverse briefly along the path, then continue, if you push it far enough.
  4. This graph edit does nothing on its own — you must also set the move's Job Configuration > Speed Profile away from Off. Choose whether the profile applies just to the speed-profiled axes, target tracking / master axes, or All (needed if you have other moving axes, like a turntable, that should also follow the same speed curve).
  5. Apply, then run the move — you'll see it speed up/slow down exactly as drawn on the graph, with the path itself unaffected.
  6. If you want the graph visible permanently alongside your other views rather than opening it each time, you can insert it as a fixed panel in your window layout.


Source: MRMC video tutorial "Speed along Orbitals & Speed Profiling" (Flair Lite & Nano Tutorials playlist)