How To Keyframe In Adobe After Effects

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Keyframing is an essential talent that every motion graphics designer must have in Adobe After Effects. It forms the basis of producing lively and dynamic animations. Our tutorial will walk you through the keyframing process in Adobe After Effects.

What is Keyframing?

Keyframing is a process used in animation to change the position, scale, rotation, or any other property of an object over time. Each change is captured as a keyframe, and the software interpolates between these keyframes to create smooth animations.

Setting up Keyframes in Adobe After Effects

Let’s dive into the process of creating keyframes in Adobe After Effects.

  1. Step 1: Open your project in Adobe After Effects and select the layer you want to animate.
  2. Step 2: Hit the “P” key to bring up the Position property of the layer.
  3. Step 3: Click on the stopwatch icon next to the Position property. This will create the first keyframe at the start of your timeline.
  4. Step 4: Move the Current Time Indicator (CTI) to a future point in the timeline where you want the next change to happen.
  5. Step 5: Change the value of the Position property. This will automatically create a new keyframe at the CTI’s current position.

These steps will create a basic animation where your layer moves from the position of the first keyframe to the position of the second keyframe over the course of the timeline between the two keyframes.

    // Click on the stopwatch icon next to the Position property.
    layer("Layer 1").property("Position").setValue([0,0]);

    // Move the CTI to a future point in the timeline.
    current_time = app.project.activeItem.time;
    app.project.activeItem.time = current_time + 2;

    // Change the value of the Position property.
    layer("Layer 1").property("Position").setValue([100,200]);

Conclusion

Keyframing in Adobe After Effects is a simple and effective way to bring life and dynamism to your animations. By understanding and mastering this tool, you can create captivating and professional animations. Happy animating!