Patent ID: 8134558

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by an animation authoring tool executed by a processor, a definition of a plurality of non-roving keyframe pairs depicting at least one transitioning property for a graphical object in an animation, each non-roving keyframe pair comprising a plurality of non-roving keyframes with each non-roving keyframe being positioned at a respective point on a reference timeline for the animation, wherein each keyframe comprises an image depicting the graphical object at a point in time on the reference timeline corresponding to a value of the at least one transitioning property; forming, by the animation authoring tool, a time-editable unit that comprises data specifying a timing relationship between the plurality of non-roving keyframe pairs depicting the at least one transitioning property; receiving, by the animation authoring tool, input modifying a time span for the time-editable unit along the reference timeline; re-positioning, by the animation authoring tool, the plurality of non-roving keyframes with regard to the reference timeline so as to span the modified time span and so as to maintain time proportionality for each of the plurality of non-roving keyframes in accordance with the specified timing relationship of the time-editable unit; and providing, by the animation authoring tool, the plurality of non-roving keyframe pairs for display.