Adobe AFTER EFFECTS 5.5 Help Manual page 103

Adobe After Effects Help
Using Help | Contents
To set multiple keyframes to the same value:
1 Select the keyframes you want to change. See "Navigating and selecting keyframes" on
page 99. All keyframes you select must be for the same property.
2 Change the value of any selected keyframe.
Determining where to set and modify keyframes
You can freely change any keyframe attribute. Because After Effects provides more than
one view of a keyframe, where you modify it depends on what you want to do as well as
the type of keyframe and layer property. All layer properties are temporal—they can
change the layer over time. Some layer properties, such as Position, are also spatial—they
can move the layer across composition space. You modify some attributes of a spatial layer
property in different windows than you do temporal properties. See "Comparing interpo-
lation methods" on page 123.
Before you make any changes to a keyframe, make sure that the current-time marker is
positioned at an existing keyframe. If you change a property value when the current-time
marker is not at an existing keyframe, After Effects adds a new keyframe. However, if you
double-click a keyframe to modify it, the current-time marker location is not relevant, nor
is it relevant when you change a keyframe's interpolation method. See "Comparing inter-
polation methods" on page 123.
Note: You can also copy and paste keyframes into a tab-delimited spreadsheet appli-
cation, such as Microsoft Excel, and modify the values. This method works for all keyframe
types except masks and some effects properties.
Setting layer position
Every layer appears at a specific position in the Composition window. You determine the
initial position when you add a layer to a composition. You can move the layer in the
Composition window, in the Timeline window, or by using keys on your keyboard. For
information on layer coordinates, see "Info palette" on page 23.
When you animate position values, After Effects displays the movement as a motion path.
(For information on animating position values, see "Setting and animating a layer property
in the Timeline window" on page 114.) The position motion path displays in the Compo-
sition window. The anchor point motion path displays in the Layer window. A motion path
appears as a sequence of dots, where each dot marks the position of the layer at each
frame. An X in the path marks the position of a keyframe. The density of dots between the
Xs indicates the layer's relative speed. Dots close together indicate a slower speed; dots
farther apart indicate a greater speed.
To move a layer by dragging in the Composition window:
In the Composition window, drag the layer to a new location.
If you have difficulty selecting a layer in the Composition window, first select it in the
Timeline window, and then drag it in the Composition window. Make sure that you do
not drag the layer by its layer handle.
To move a layer precisely:
To move a layer by a specific amount, do one of the following:
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Animating Layers
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