History, versions & recovery
Four layers, each doing a different job.
1. Undo and redo
Ctrl/⌘ + Z and Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + Z.
Every mutation is a command. The interface does not write to the document directly; it sends commands to the engine, each with an exact inverse, because a direct write would bypass undo. The consequence is that everything is undoable — including mesh rebuilds, a native plugin’s menu command, and whole AI runs.
The toolbar’s Undo and Redo buttons and their menu items are live-bound to whether there is anything to undo, so a greyed button is accurate.
An entire AI generation applies as one undo step. So does a native plugin’s button press, one run of a plugin’s menu command, a preset from a plugin, and a puppet mesh rebuild.
2. The History panel
Photoshop-style visual history. It lists every recorded state, oldest to newest, with the current one highlighted and redoable states dimmed.
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Click a row | Jump to that state — non-destructively |
| Double-click a label | Rename it, e.g. “Client v1 look” |
| Camera button | Pin a named snapshot |
Renaming states is what turns history from an undo stack into a set of alternatives you can move between while you decide.
3. Version history
Two flavours, depending on where the project lives.
Cloud (server edition) — File → Version History… browses server-side autosave snapshots and manual checkpoints, a page at a time. Capture a named checkpoint, or restore any entry; the server rewinds the project head with you.
Local-first — the Version history section at the bottom of the Properties panel lists the bundle’s own snapshots. Save a named version; restore an older one. This section appears only when a local bundle is open.
4. Autosave and crash recovery
Autosave is debounced, so it persists without interrupting you. Its interval, how many snapshots to keep and where they go are under Window ▸ Customize… ▸ Files.
Two different things can go wrong, and each has its own answer.
If the app crashes
A recovery snapshot is kept and offered on the next launch. The recovery trail is maintained through the desktop shell’s local index.
If the engine stops
Since 0.9 the engine — the process that holds your document and draws every frame — is separate from the editor, so it can stop without taking the editor with it.
- The editor keeps running and restarts the engine. The app records the edits it has sent, starts a fresh engine after a short wait, and replays them, so you are put back where you were. A notice reads “The engine restarted (crash); N edits restored”. Undo history is not lost with it, and since 1.0 neither are edits that were in flight when it stopped — layers added just after a restart reach the timeline, and an edit whose end was lost in the crash is closed after the replay.
- If it keeps failing — three stops inside a minute — the app stops restarting it and shows Engine unavailable: The Premation engine keeps stopping. Editing is paused.
- You are offered a recovery copy. Save Recovery Copy… takes the
engine’s last autosave of the project and saves it wherever you choose,
suggesting
Recovered project.motionin your documents folder. If no autosave exists yet the dialog says so, and there is nothing to copy. You can then Try Again, which starts a new engine with a fresh count and replays your work, or Quit.
The recovery copy is a normal project file. Open it like any other, and keep the original alongside it until you have checked what came back.
See Troubleshooting for what to do if it happens repeatedly.
Which one to reach for
| Situation | Use |
|---|---|
| That was wrong | Undo |
| I want to compare two versions of a look | History panel, with renamed states |
| I want a checkpoint before a big change | Named version, or Increment and Save |
| The app crashed | Recovery, offered at launch |
| The engine stopped repeatedly | Save Recovery Copy… in the Engine unavailable dialog |
| I want a copy outside the app | File → Export → Project |
No comments, and no review links
Worth stating plainly, because older material mentions them: review comments, the approval flow and shareable review links were removed outright. So was real-time multi-user editing, which was never built.
To circulate work, export it or share a version. See Known gaps.