keyframing

Keyframing
Key in traditional animation	A key (also called "extreme") is a key moment in an animated sequence, where the motion is at its extreme. The number of keys in an animated sequence depends on how complicated the movement is. The first, seventh, and thirteenth frames in the example on the right are keys.
Keyframe	A keyframe is a drawing that corresponds to a key moment.
Breakdown	A breakdown comes between keys to help the keyframe animator describe the action to inbetween animators.The forth and tenth frames in the example on the right are breakdowns.
Inbetween	Inbetweens fill the gaps between keyframes. While keyframes are drawn by skilled animators, inbetweens are drawn by less experienced animators.
Key in computer animation	A key (also called "event" or "time mark") is a key moment associated with a parameter of an entity (e.g., an object, a light, a camera) in an animation sequence, where the parameter value is at its extreme. A key is specified by two values: the time of the key moment and the parameter value at the key moment. The number of keys for a parameter of an entity in an animated sequence depends on how complicated the changes in the parameter is. In an animated sequence, some parameters may have large number of keys, while other parameters have fewer or no keys.
Channel	All the keys associated with a particular parameter of an entity (e.g., an object, light, camera) in an animation sequence are stored in a "channel." The channel is also called a "track" or an "animation score." The parameter values between two adjacent keys are interpolated using one of several interpolation methods, such as spline and linear. The interpolation method between each pair of keys is also stored in a channel.
Setting up keys and channels in Maya	Clicking on "Channels" in Channel Box gives you "Key Selected", "Key All", and other options. (If you don't see Channel Box, select Display -> UI Elements -> Channel Box / Layer Editor.) Shortcuts (hotkeys): s sets keys for all. W (shift-w) sets keys for translation E (shift-e) sets keys for rotation R (shift-r) sets keys for scaling Notes: Graph Editor lets you edit keys and interpolation methods interactively. To start Graph Editor, select Window -> Animation Editors -> Graph Editor... To delete the channels of which parameter values do not change throughout the animated sequence, select Edit -> Delete by Type -> Static Channels. In Maya each time a keyframe is moved, the breakdown keys surrounding it will also move to maintain its positional relationship.