What a keyframe does and when you need one
A keyframe in After Effects is a marker that tells the program to remember a specific value — like position, opacity, scale, or rotation — at a specific moment in your timeline. When you set two keyframes with different values, After Effects automatically creates the motion or change between them. Without keyframes, nothing moves or changes in your composition.
You use keyframes whenever you want something to happen over time. That might be an object sliding across the screen, text fading in, a layer growing larger, or a color shifting. Each keyframe is a snapshot of where that property stands at that exact frame.
The most common mistake is trying to move or change something without setting a keyframe first. After Effects won't animate what you haven't marked. You need at least two keyframes — one showing the starting state and one showing the ending state — for any animation to occur.
Key Takeaways
- A keyframe marks a specific value for a property at a specific time; After Effects fills in the motion between two keyframes automatically.
- You must enable keyframing for a property before you can set keyframes on it, using the stopwatch icon next to that property name.
- The fastest way to set a keyframe is to move the playhead to the time you want, change the property value, and click the keyframe button.
- You can see all your keyframes in the timeline panel, where you can move, delete, or adjust them by dragging.
- Different properties animate at different speeds by default; you can change how fast or smooth the motion is by adjusting keyframe interpolation.
Enable keyframing for the property you want to animate
Before you can set any keyframe, you must turn on keyframing for that specific property. Open the layer in the timeline by clicking the arrow next to its name. This shows you all the properties available on that layer — Position, Scale, Opacity, Rotation, and many others depending on the layer type.
Find the property you want to animate. Next to the property name, you will see a stopwatch icon. Click it once. The stopwatch will fill in with color, and a keyframe will automatically appear at the current playhead position. This first keyframe marks the starting point for your animation.
Once the stopwatch is active, you can set more keyframes on that property. If you click the stopwatch again, it turns off keyframing for that property and deletes all keyframes you set on it, so be careful not to click it twice by accident.
Move your playhead and set the second keyframe
After you have enabled keyframing and set your first keyframe, move the playhead to the time where you want the animation to end. You can click directly on the timeline ruler at the top, or drag the playhead (the vertical line with the current frame number) to a new position. Watch the timecode in the upper left to see exactly where you are.
Now change the property value. If you enabled keyframing on Position, drag the layer to a new location on the canvas. If you enabled keyframing on Opacity, change the opacity percentage in the properties panel. If you enabled keyframing on Scale, adjust the scale value. The moment you change the value, After Effects automatically creates a second keyframe at your current playhead position.
Play back your composition by pressing the spacebar. You should see the property animate smoothly from the first keyframe value to the second. If the motion looks wrong, you can adjust either keyframe by moving the playhead to that keyframe's time, changing the value again, and After Effects will update it.
Add more keyframes to create complex motion
You are not limited to two keyframes. Set as many as you need to create the motion you want. Move the playhead to a new time, change the property value, and a new keyframe appears. This is how you create motion that changes direction, speeds up, slows down, or bounces.
For example, to make a layer move in an L-shape, set a keyframe at the starting position, move forward in time and set a keyframe at the corner point, then move forward again and set a keyframe at the final position. After Effects will animate the layer from point to point in order.
You can see all your keyframes displayed as small diamonds in the timeline. Each diamond represents one keyframe at that specific time. Hover over a keyframe to see its exact time and value.
Delete or move keyframes you no longer need
To delete a keyframe, move the playhead directly to that keyframe (the diamond will highlight) and click the keyframe button next to the property name. The keyframe disappears, and the animation adjusts. Alternatively, right-click the keyframe diamond in the timeline and select Delete Keyframe from the menu.
To move a keyframe to a different time without changing its value, click and drag the keyframe diamond left or right in the timeline. The keyframe will slide to the new time, and the animation will adjust accordingly. This is useful when you want to speed up or slow down part of an animation without re-entering values.
To change a keyframe's value without moving it in time, move the playhead to that keyframe and adjust the property value in the properties panel. The keyframe updates instantly.
Adjust how fast the animation moves between keyframes
By default, After Effects creates a smooth, even motion between two keyframes. But you can change this by adjusting keyframe interpolation — the method After Effects uses to calculate the in-between frames.
Right-click a keyframe diamond in the timeline and look at the Keyframe Interpolation options. Linear interpolation moves at a constant speed. Bezier interpolation creates a curve that can ease in or ease out, making motion feel more natural. Hold the keyframe to see options like Ease High, Ease Low, or Ease In/Out.
You can also adjust interpolation by selecting a keyframe and using the Graph Editor, which shows a visual curve of how the property changes over time. Steeper curves mean faster motion; flatter curves mean slower motion. This is more advanced, but it gives you precise control over the feel of your animation.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
The most common problem is forgetting to enable the stopwatch before trying to set keyframes. If you change a property value and nothing happens, check whether the stopwatch icon is active. If it is not, click it to turn on keyframing, and After Effects will create a keyframe at your current playhead position with the value you just set.
Another frequent issue is setting both keyframes at the same time. If you enable the stopwatch and then immediately change the value without moving the playhead, both keyframes land at the same time and nothing animates. Always move the playhead to a different time before changing the value for the second keyframe.
If your animation looks jerky or wrong, check the keyframe interpolation. Right-click the keyframe and make sure it is set to an interpolation type that makes sense for your motion. Linear works for steady motion; Bezier works better for natural-looking easing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I set keyframes on multiple properties at once?
Yes. Enable the stopwatch for each property you want to animate, then move the playhead and change all the values you want. After Effects will create keyframes for each property at that time. This is how you create complex animations where an object moves, scales, and fades all at the same time.
What happens if I delete a keyframe in the middle of an animation?
After Effects recalculates the motion to go directly from the keyframe before it to the keyframe after it. If you had three keyframes creating an L-shape and you delete the middle one, the motion becomes a straight diagonal line instead. You can undo this by pressing Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac).
How do I make an animation repeat without setting keyframes over and over?
Set your keyframes for one cycle of the animation, then right-click the property name in the timeline and select Add Expression. Use the loopOut() expression to repeat the animation infinitely, or loopOut(type = "cycle", numKeyframes = 2) to repeat a specific number of times. This is more advanced but saves time on repetitive motion.
Can I copy keyframes from one layer to another?
Yes. Select the layer with the keyframes you want to copy, then copy the entire layer (Ctrl+C or Command+C). Paste it as a new layer (Ctrl+V or Command+V), and all keyframes come with it. You can also copy just the keyframes by selecting them in the timeline, copying, then pasting them onto a different property or layer.
Why does my animation look different when I play it back versus when I scrub through the timeline?
Scrubbing (dragging the playhead manually) does not always show interpolation correctly. Press the spacebar to play the composition at real speed, or press the 0 key on the numeric keypad to preview it. This shows you exactly how the animation will look when exported or rendered.