Offset timing across many layers

A stagger is the same move on many layers, each starting a little later. There is no Stagger panel — you link copies, then shift when they play.

Use this to:

  • Cascade a list or a row of icons
  • Keep one source of motion and many timings
  • Offset a large set from the script console

Offset linked copies

  1. Animate the source layer.
  2. Link each follower — the whole layer, or one property.
  3. On a follower, drag the start and end handles later than the source.
  4. Repeat, stepping each copy by a small amount.

Before the start handle, the follower holds the first pose. After the end handle, it holds the last. Between the handles, the source move fits that window.

Tip: Keep the last copy’s end under 100% so the tail isn’t cut off.

Many layers at once

For more than a handful of layers, open Edit → Scripting. List the followers, then set each link’s start and end a step later than the last.

That is the path for a long list entrance: one source, many windows.

When a repeater is the better tool

If one layer should travel farther on each play — 0→100, then 100→200 — that’s an Offset repeater, not a list of followers. Stay on one layer. See repeaters.

Script console and WebMCP

The same steps run in Edit → Scripting and through WebMCP. Agents run a script with pureanim_run_script or window.pureanim.run(). There is no stagger command.

WebMCP tools:

  • pureanim_get_state
  • pureanim_list_commands
  • pureanim_run_script
  • pureanim_set_time
api.setLayerLink({ layer, source });
api.setPropertyLink({ layer, prop, source });
api.setLinkRange({ layer, start, end, prop });
api.getLinks({ layer });

Omit source to unlink. Pass prop on setLinkRange to shift one property; omit it for a whole-layer link. Keep the last end at or under 100.

Full command reference: scripting.md. Agent loop: agents.md.