After Effects for Absolute Beginners: Keyframes and the Logic of Animation

Keyframes: values changing over time

In After Effects, animation is usually not “moving something around” directly. It’s changing a property’s value over time. A keyframe is a recorded value at a specific moment. After Effects fills in the in-between values automatically (this is called interpolation).

Think in pairs: you define a start state (value at time A) and an end state (value at time B). If the values differ, you get motion/change between them. If the values are the same, nothing changes (even if you have multiple keyframes).

Common properties you’ll animate

• Position (where a layer is)
• Scale (how big it is)
• Rotation (how much it’s turned)
• Opacity (how visible it is)

The playhead and time navigation (what you’re actually controlling)

The Current Time Indicator (CTI) is the blue playhead in the Timeline. Wherever the CTI is, that’s the time at which you’re viewing (and potentially setting keyframes).

Fast, practical time navigation

• Scrub time: drag the CTI left/right.
• Jump to start/end: use Home / End (or the equivalent on your keyboard).
• Step one frame: Page Up / Page Down (or equivalent). This is useful when you want a keyframe to land on an exact frame.
• Go to a specific time: click the timecode display and type a time (for example 00:00:01:00).

Zooming the timeline (so you can place keyframes accurately)

• Zoom in/out: use the Timeline zoom controls (or common shortcuts like +/- depending on your setup).
• Zoom to fit: use “fit” options so you can see your whole work area at once.
• Scroll horizontally: use the scrollbar at the bottom of the Timeline to move through time without changing zoom.

Practical rule: zoom in when placing keyframes, zoom out when judging timing.

How to set keyframes (and what the stopwatch really does)

Most animatable properties have a stopwatch icon. Clicking it turns on keyframing for that property.

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• If the stopwatch is off, changing the value changes it for the whole layer (no animation).
• If the stopwatch is on, changing the value at the CTI creates a keyframe (or updates an existing keyframe at that time).

A reliable keyframing workflow

1. Move the CTI to the time you want the first state.
2. Turn on the stopwatch for the property (this creates the first keyframe with the current value).
3. Move the CTI to a later time.
4. Change the value to create the second keyframe.

If you only do step 2 and never change the value later, you have keyframes but no change—so no visible animation.

Move, copy, and delete keyframes (the everyday editing tools)

Move keyframes (change timing)

Select one or more keyframes in the Timeline and drag them left/right to change when they happen. This changes the timing without changing the values.

• Drag earlier = animation starts sooner.
• Drag later = animation starts later.
• Move keyframes closer together = faster change.
• Move keyframes farther apart = slower change.

Copy/paste keyframes (reuse motion)

You can copy keyframes like text:

• Select keyframes
• Ctrl+C / Cmd+C
• Move the CTI to where you want the first pasted keyframe to land
• Ctrl+V / Cmd+V

Important: pasting uses the CTI as the starting point. If your CTI is in the wrong place, your animation lands in the wrong time.

Delete keyframes (remove animation)

• Select keyframes and press Delete / Backspace.
• To remove all keyframes for a property, you can also turn off the stopwatch (After Effects will warn you that it removes keyframes).

Holding vs. changing values (the logic that prevents “mystery motion”)

Between keyframes, After Effects assumes the value is changing. If you want a value to hold (stay constant) for a while, you need to make that hold explicit.

Three common “hold” scenarios

Beginner-friendly habit: when you want something to “wait,” place a keyframe at the moment it should stop waiting (even if the value is the same as before). That makes your intent visible in the Timeline.

RAM Preview: how to actually see your animation smoothly

After Effects often needs to cache frames before playback is smooth. A RAM Preview (Preview panel playback) plays cached frames so you can judge timing and motion accurately.

Practical RAM Preview habits

• Preview a short range: set a small work area around your animation so caching is faster.
• Lower preview resolution if needed: if playback stutters, reduce preview resolution to get real-time feel.
• Wait for caching: if you hit play and it’s choppy, let it build cache, then play again.

If your animation “looks wrong” while scrubbing, trust the RAM Preview more than scrubbing. Scrubbing is for placement; preview is for timing.

Step-by-step exercise: logo slide-in + fade-in

Goal: animate a logo so it starts off-screen and invisible, then slides into place while fading up to 100% opacity. You’ll practice start/end states, keyframe placement, and troubleshooting.

Setup (before keyframes)

1. In your active composition, place your logo layer where you want it to end (final resting position). This is your “end state” position.
2. Make sure you can see the layer’s properties in the Timeline. Select the logo layer.

1) Define the end state first (a beginner-proof approach)

1. Move the CTI to the time where the animation should end (example: 1 second).
2. Reveal transform properties quickly by pressing P (Position) and T (Opacity) while the layer is selected.
3. For Position, click the stopwatch to enable keyframes. A keyframe appears at the CTI with the current (final) position.
4. For Opacity, click the stopwatch to enable keyframes. A keyframe appears at the CTI with the current opacity (set it to 100% if it isn’t already).

At this point, you have two keyframes at the end time: Position (final) and Opacity (100%). Nothing animates yet because you haven’t defined a different start value.

2) Create the start state (off-screen + invisible)

1. Move the CTI back to where the animation should start (example: 0 seconds).
2. Click the Position value and drag the logo off-screen to the left (or right). This creates a new Position keyframe at the start time.
3. Set Opacity to 0%. This creates a new Opacity keyframe at the start time.

Now you have a clear start state (off-screen, invisible) and end state (on-screen, visible). After Effects will interpolate between them, producing a slide-in and fade-in.

3) Preview and adjust timing

1. Do a RAM Preview over the section containing the animation.
2. If it feels too slow, select the end keyframes (Position and Opacity at the end time) and drag them earlier.
3. If it feels too fast, drag the end keyframes later.
4. If the fade should finish sooner than the slide, drag only the Opacity end keyframe earlier (you can stagger properties).

4) Practice keyframe editing: move, copy, delete

Do these mini-edits to build confidence:

• Move: box-select both start keyframes and drag them later in time. Notice the whole animation shifts later without changing its speed.
• Copy: select both Position keyframes, copy/paste them later to repeat the slide (then undo). Observe how the CTI determines paste placement.
• Delete: delete only the Opacity keyframes. The logo will still slide, but it will no longer fade (it will remain at whatever opacity value is currently set).

Troubleshooting: when your animation doesn’t play as expected

Problem: “I set keyframes but nothing moves”

• Check that values actually change: compare the start and end values. If Position is the same at both times, there’s no motion.
• Make sure you’re looking at the right property: Position vs. Anchor Point vs. Scale can be confused when you’re new.
• Confirm the stopwatch is on: if it’s off, you’re not animating—just changing a static value.

Problem: “It jumps instantly instead of animating”

• Keyframes may be on the same frame: zoom in on the Timeline and check if start/end keyframes are stacked together.
• You may have created a hold keyframe: if a keyframe is set to hold, it won’t interpolate gradually.

Problem: “My keyframes are there, but playback is choppy or seems wrong”

• Use RAM Preview: scrubbing can mislead you about timing.
• Shorten the preview range: preview only the few seconds you’re adjusting.
• Lower preview resolution: smoother playback helps you judge motion.

Problem: “I can’t see my keyframes”

• Reveal animated properties: select the layer and use the command to reveal animated properties (or manually twirl down Transform).
• Zoom out in time: your keyframes may be outside your current view.
• Make sure you’re on the correct layer: keyframes belong to the layer you animated, not necessarily the one selected now.

Problem: “The logo doesn’t appear even though opacity is 100% at the end”

• Layer timing: the layer might start later in time (trimmed in the Timeline). Move the layer’s in-point earlier.
• Visibility switches: the layer could be hidden (shy/solo/visibility toggles). Check the layer switches.
• Off-screen position: your end Position keyframe might still be outside the comp frame. Jump to the end keyframe time and verify the logo is in view.