Controllers are hidden layers that helps you control and organize other layers in your project.
You can use controllers to modify the position, scale, and rotation of other layers. When you link a controller to a layer, all transforms that happen on the controller are passed to the linked layer. This is useful for animating layers from a point other than the center of the layer or transforming multiple layers.
What this article covers:
How to create a controller
How to create a controller
Add a Controller to your project by clicking the icon in the Tool Bar on the top left of the interface.
Controllers are displayed as red boxes on the canvas. These red boxes will not be included when rendering exports from Fable.
Linking controllers to other layers
Controllers are only useful when you link them to other layers and manipulate those layers with the controller. To link layers to a controller, do the following:
Create a controller by clicking the controller button on the Toolbar
Create or select layers in your timeline that you’d like to link to the controller
On the Layer List, drag the layer linking dot of the layer(s) to the Controller
Now your layers are linked to the controller! Any transform (position, rotation, scale, skew) that you make on the controller will be applied to all the linked layers.
Using controllers to de-center transformation origin points
In Fable, all transformations (scale, rotation, position) are calculated from the center of a layer. If you’d like to transform your object from a point other than the center, you can use a controller to define the point you’d like to originate your transformations from.
To achieve an effect similar to the above, make sure to position your controller at the point you’d like your transformations to be calculated from BEFORE linking layers to the controller.
In other animation tools, adjusting a layer's transformation origin is often referred to as moving the "anchor point" of the layer. We observed that a majority of people work with their anchor points at the center of their layers. Therefore, instead of bloating every single layer with offset origin controls, we have designed controllers to be an optional feature that you only need to add for layers you need to adjust the transformation origin point.
ℹ️ Controllers are commonly referred to as “Null layers” or “Nulls” in other animation software.
Related topics
FAQs:
Will my projects that utilized anchor points before they were removed still be functioning/editable?
Your earlier projects with anchor points will not be affected by this change. The underlying anchor point data should remain; however, if you are unable to edit it, please reach out to us in Discord or support@fable.app