# What is it called when you type math directly into a property?

In After Effects we call it expressions or action scripting. In c4d we use Xpresso or in the old days C.O.F.F.E.E.

What is it commonly referred to in blender when you just want to do something similar to time * 50 in a property without using drivers or invoking all kinds of custom scripting?

I tried searching for expressions and scripting but all I end up with is how to write add-ons and script in python.

Despite saying it's not what you want, what you've described is a driver. It might sometimes be called a 'Scripted Expression' (and the Blender Manual now refers to it simply as an 'Expression'), but it's still just a type of driver.

Type #frame * 10 into a property field, e.g. the 'X' location of an object, and press Enter and the property will turn purple, indicating the expression has automatically been turned into a driver. This driver can then be tweaked either by clicking on the property again or by looking in the 'Drivers Editor'.

The types of commands that can be typed into property fields are called 'Simple Expressions'.

An example of the keywords you can type into a property from the Blender Manual:

Globals

frame

Constants

pi, True, False

Operators

+, -, *, /, ==, !=, <, <=, >, >=, and, or, not, conditional operator/ ternary if

Functions

min, max, radians, degrees, abs, fabs, floor, ceil, trunc, int, sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2, exp, log, sqrt, pow, fmod

Note: You need to have a # symbol in front of the expression, e.g. #frame * 2. In the case of 'Constants', 'Operators' and 'Functions' (but not frame), if you omit the # Blender will simply change the property to be the result of the expression, but it won't be driven by it.

• thank you. that was what I was looking for. I thought it was called a "driver" but all the searching I did brought up things that use other objects as drivers and not just math. Thank you. – Chris Jul 1 '20 at 16:00
• Ray Note in link also answers blender.stackexchange.com/questions/134270/… since self is not in list. On your note, can type cos(pi) directly into a field and it will be the result. However cannot do same with frame as it doesn't appear to be in the "UI namespace" only the driver namespace. – batFINGER Jul 1 '20 at 16:58