For a scene, I have to change shader parameters (using nodes in Cycles) as time goes on in the scene.

I've looked for a node that inputs a time sweep or frame number, but neither is available in Cycles. Am I looking in the wrong place? Or is there a workaround/trick I don't know about?


You can keyframe any value on the nodes by Right Clicking on the value and then choosing Insert Keyframe. This will set a keyframe on the current frame.

When you add a keyframe the field will turn yellow to indicate there's a keyframe on that frame. If you move along the timeline, the field will turn green to indicate the field is keyframed, but not on the current frame.

Inserting a keyframe on a node value


If you want to do this often and want to be even faster, you can also always just press I (as in "Insert Keyframe") while your mouse is over basically any value field/button/dropdown/selector/... in Blender and it will insert a keyframe for your current frame.

Press AltI to remove it again.

  • $\begingroup$ Is this the capital letter i or the lowercase letter L? $\endgroup$ – ζ-- Aug 8 '13 at 11:51
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ That would be the capital letter India, as in "Insert Keyframe". EDIT: Corrected above. $\endgroup$ – JulianHzg Aug 8 '13 at 13:41

Your Answer

