Objects and Timeline panel

The Objects and Timeline panel in Microsoft Expression Blend helps you perform the following tasks:

• View the hierarchical structure of all objects on the artboard.

  For more information, see Working with objects and properties.

• Select objects so that you can modify them (move them around in the structure, modify them on the artboard, set their properties in the Properties panel, and so on).

  For more information, see the following topics:

  • Working with objects and properties

  • Arranging objects

  • Setting colors, brushes, and masks

• Create and modify animation timelines.

  For more information, see Animating objects.

• Create and modify templates for objects that are controls.

  For more information, see Styling a control that supports templates.

The Objects and Timeline panel as it appears when you view a storyboard in recording mode

Objects and Timeline panel

	Objects view   Shows the visual tree of a document. You can use the hierarchical nature of the objects view to drill down to varying levels of detail. Layers can be added to the objects view to further organize the objects on the artboard, allowing them to be locked and hidden as a group. The width of the objects view can be adjusted by dragging the split bar to the left of the lock column to the desired width.
	Record mode indicator   Indicates when you are recording property changes in a timeline.
	Storyboard picker   Shows a list of storyboards you have created.
	Storyboard options   Provides options, in a pop-up menu, that you can use to duplicate, reverse, delete, rename, or close a storyboard. You can also create a new storyboard.
	Playback controls   Provides storyboard controls that you can use to navigate through the timeline. You can also drag the playhead to navigate through (or scrub) the timeline.
	Return scope to   Scopes the objects view back to the previous root object or previous scope. Scoping up is applicable only when you are modifying a style or template.
	Record a keyframe   Records a snapshot of the properties of the selected object at the current point in time.
	Show/hide, Lock/unlock   Provides visibility and locking options for the objects view.
	Playhead position on the timeline   Shows the current time in milliseconds (HH:mm:xxx). You can also enter a time value directly in this field to jump to a particular point in time. The precision depends on the snap resolution set in the Snapping Options.
	Timeline snapping options   Provides options for setting timeline snapping and snap resolution. When timeline snapping is enabled, the next and previous frame buttons respect the snap resolution set in the Snapping Options dialog box. The snap resolution also determines where on the timeline a keyframe can be set.
	Playhead   Indicates what point in time the animation is at. You can drag the playhead across the timeline to preview animation. This technique is called scrubbing.
	Keyframes set on timelines   Specifies a change in a property value at a specific point in time. Keyframes have different levels. The keyframes set for the Angle element are simple keyframes, the keyframes set for the RenderTransform element are compound keyframes, and the keyframes set for the DetailsPane object are object-level keyframes. For more information about keyframes, see "Keyframes," in Animating objects.
	Change order of objects   Sets the display order of objects. Click this button to arrange objects in the structure view by Z order (front-to-back) or by markup order (the order in which they appear in XAML view).
	Timeline zoom   Sets the zoom resolution of the timeline. Zooming in lets you edit an animation with more detail, and zooming out shows more of an overview of what is happening over longer periods of time. If you zoom in but can't set a keyframe at the position in time that you want, verify that the snap resolution is set high enough.
	Timeline composition area   Shows the timeline, and lets you move keyframes around by dragging them or using their shortcut menus.

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