After Effects timeline tips every designer should know

For many, the After Effects timeline can appear quite odd the first time you see it. It doesn’t appear like a traditional editing timeline you might see in Premiere Pro or Final Cut. And it isn’t a node-based editor either, like you see in Davinci Resolve. Instead, After Effects treats everything on the composition timeline like a layer. Almost like a blend between Photoshop and a traditional video editing app. This can create some unique challenges when you are navigating the After Effects timeline.

Shortcuts

Move frame by frame

Need to move down the After Effects timeline one frame at a time? This is simple, just push Page Up or Page Down to move forward or backwards one frame at a time. You can also move in 10-frame segments by holding Shift+Page Up (or Page Down).

Toggle Switches / Modes

There are several different ways you can toggle between Switches and Modes in After Effects. The Switches column contains options for layers like turning on motion blur or making a layer 3D.

The Modes column has options for setting layers to different blending modes and using Track Mattes.

You can quickly cycle between them using the shortcut F4. You can also switch between them manually using the Toggle Button at the bottom of the timeline panel.

If you would like to turn them both on at the same time (or off), you have another option at the bottom-left corner of the timeline panel. You will see two small boxes. You can check them on or off to toggle their visibility together as well.

Cycle Blending Modes

Speaking of Blending Modes, if you ever need to quickly cycle through them, there is a much faster way than individually selecting each blending mode in the Modes column. Simply select your layer on the timeline, then press Shift++ or Shift+– and you will now be able to cycle through all of the different Modes.

Audio waveform

If you ever need to edit something to the beat of music in After Effects, I highly suggest editing to the audio waveform and not what you “hear” from your speakers. (This is due to After Effects notoriously being a little out of sync at times with audio.) So it is better to play it safe and make sure your animations align with the audio waves. To toggle an audio track’s waveform, select it in the timeline and press the shortcut L, L in quick succession. This will reveal the audio waveform for the layer in the composition timeline.

Duplicate a layer

To duplicate a layer (or anything you’ve selected in After Effects), select it and press Ctrl+D. This shortcut works for layers, compositions, and even things like effects in the Effects panel or footage selected in the Project panel.

Move, trim, and split layers

You can speed up the basics of how you edit layers using these layer shortcuts. To quickly move a layer to start at your current time in the timeline, select the layer and press the left square brace [. Alternatively you can press ] to move the end of your selected layer to the current time. These will move your layer to begin or end wherever your Current Time Indicator (CTI) is in the timeline.

To trim a layer to your current time, select it and press Alt+[. To trim the layer backwards press Alt+]. These won’t move your layer down in the timeline, they’ll just trim them to that point in time.

To split a layer, select it and press Ctrl+Shift+D. This will split the layer into two layers at the point in time you have it selected.

Work Area

The Work Area on your composition timeline is important, because it allows you to narrow in and select a specific section to preview. (This is helpful so you don’t have to render the entire length of your composition everytime you want to preview something back.) You can set the beginning and the end of the Work Area with the shortcuts B and N.

Another valuable thing you can do with the Work Area is trim the composition to the Work Area length. This is much faster than jumping into the composition settings and setting the length manually. Right-click in the Work Area on the timeline and select Trim Comp to Work Area.

Keyframes

There are plenty of keyframe shortcuts in After Effects, but the two I use the most are Easy Ease and Reveal Modified Properties. To convert a standard linear keyframe into an Easy Ease one, select it and press F9. This will help smooth out the movement in your animation. (You can then refine it more in the Spee Graph.)

Next, to reveal all of the keyframes in your composition (and all properties that have been modified from their default settings) press U, U in quick succession. This is an easy way to reveal all of your keyframes at once and make timing changes as needed.

Timeline Organization

Now let’s look at some workflow tips that will help with organization in your After Effects timeline.

Markers

Sometimes you may want to mark certain areas on your timeline or on your layers for timing purposes. Markers work perfectly for this. To add a Marker, press the asterisk key * on the numeric keypad. If you have a layer selected, this will add a marker on that layer. If no layer is selected, this will add a marker to the composition timeline.

You can also drag markers onto the composition timeline from the Marker Bin located on the far-right of the timeline.

To delete a marker, right-click on it and select Delete this Marker. If you double-click on a Marker, you will open up the Composition Marker settings. You can then add text labels to the marker, customize the color, length, and more. This can make it really easy to identify different areas on your After Effects timeline.

Labels

It may seem obvious, but you can easily change the color of different layers on your timeline. This can make it a lot easier to “visually” group things together. Right-click the label color box of your layer on the timeline.

You will then see a list of colors you can quickly change the label to, or you can select Edit Label Colors if you would like to fully customize the look of all of the label options.

Reveal layer source

Sometimes when you are working in your timeline, you may want to know where a file is in your project, or to open the folder on your computer where the original file is saved at. Luckily, After Effects makes this really easy to do. Just left-click on the layer in your timeline and navigate to Reveal>Reveal Layer Source in Project. This will highlight the original footage file in your project.

Alternatively, to reveal where the footage is saved on your computer, navigate to Reveal>Reveal in Explorer. This is really handy when you may want to quickly navigate footage folders and find a specific shot.

How to Copy and Paste layers in the same order

Have you ever copied and pasted layers in After Effects, only to have them paste in a different order? This is because After Effects takes into account which layers you select first when you copy and paste. To make sure your copied layers paste in the same order, always select your layers from the top down, then copy and paste them.

Cache frames when idle

Another timeline tip for After Effects that can really speed up your previews and renders is to turn on Cache Frames when Idle. To do this, navigate to Composition>Preview>Cache Frames When Idle. With this turned on, After Effects will start caching previews automatically whenever you aren’t actively working in it. (Perfect if you leave for a short coffee break!)

Conclusion

Hopefully this list of timeline tips will help you speed up your workflow and give you a better user experience in After Effects. These are the ones that I’ve utilized the most over the years using After Effects. Be sure to check out some of our other After Effects tutorials on Envato Tuts+!